“Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” – Peter Drucker
The quote by Peter Drucker isn’t talking about marketing communications. The marketing he’s referring to is what I call marketing with a capital M – everything that’s related to matching up your new idea or the unique twist you’re offering with people who need it, want it, will love you for offering it, and are willing to exchange value with you for it.
Looking for that intersection and nurturing it, building it – that is Marketing and involves your choices about:
- How to get your offering to your customers,
- Who to partner with that’s aligned with you,
- What additions to your offering you need to include to really make it work for your customers,
- Pricing that reflects the exchange of all the value you deliver, and,
- Lastly, your communication with your prospects and customers.
Your business requires resources to create and deliver your offering, marketing with a capital M, and then all the other supporting activities that go along with keeping your business running. How you allocate those resources reflects your priorities and understanding of what’s going to give you the best return, whether you have a business with no employees, 10 employees or 110,000 employees.
This week let’s think about how we spend our resources when we’re working on our business. Are we spending most of our time on supporting functions, like finances, legal issues, office work, etc.? How much time are we giving to strategic, revenue-producing functions like Marketing (with a capital M)? New product development?
I’d love to hear how this goes for you.
