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If you
live by the numbers, you die by the numbers.
Bubuwit
was tipped of about a company with its short-term
earning focus and gets bullied into doing enormous
damage to themselves in their efforts to show
ever-increasing percentage gains in sales and profits.
Nothing
illustrated this problem better for Bubuwit than a
session he/she had with a division of one of the
country’s preeminent drug companies. Bubuwit’s
assignment was to spend several days in a group meeting
of their marketing folks, kibitzing the following year’s
marketing plans. Asking stupid about obvious questions.
One
bright person stood up and started in with his
15-percent sales-increase objective. Then, in almost the
same breadth, he talked about the arrival of some new,
very difficult competition.
Bubuwit
stopped him right there, and quizzed him on exactly how
sales were going to increase in that kind of competitive
environment. His answer was some line extension, new
flavors and a little tinkering.
When
pressed about these efforts, he admitted that his
sales-increase figure wasn’t realistic, but said that
his boss’s boss had made him put that number into his
plan.
Because
of the stir Bubuwit caused, three weeks later Bubuwit
received a call from the boss’s boss. He wanted to sit
on a similar session. The same stuff happened, only this
time the big boss took Bubuwit aside and quietly
explained that all this was being caused by his boss,
the CEO.
Marketing is an exercise in reality. You can’t let what
the numbers people want you to earn affect your
decisions. Going up every year isn’t really realistic.
Sometimes, given the stiff competition out there, just
staying even is a major accomplishment.
Implementing endless product variations, just to pump
sales, only clutters the shelves and shifts the balance
of power to the retailer who owns the shelf space.
(Consider the shampoos/conditioners aisle in your
average supermarket. There are so many variations you
can’t even find what you’re looking for.)
Running
out endless line extensions just to get bigger numbers
only mucks up brand perceptions and opens the door for
specialized competition. “Get your positioning and
programs implemented properly and the numbers will come.
But you’ve got to have some patience,” Bubuwit said. |
