Marketer’s inward focus

This is an general observation about marketing not something specific about the 50-plus.

The Marketing Forum is an interesting event. It takes a pile of marketers and their suppliers – puts them on a boat- sails them around for a couple of days so there is no escape and arranges for them to speak to each other. Rather like speed-dating for marketers.

There is always a bit of research conducted to give focus to the entertainment that is put on for this event. Some of this is true entertainment, mainly it is consultants and gurus putting the world to rights. I got hold of the research report for 2007/8.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the the results of the “Main management challenges facing marketing professionals”. Of the eight top factors, only two are outward facing (brand management and competiton). Top of the list is budgets.

Maybe this tells us something about the priorities of the UK’s marketers? Dick Stroud