By Jerry Rackley
Gone are the days when a marketing executive could report in vague terms to the CEO about things like brand equity, saying, “it’s at an all time high!” Right. And you know this how? “Show me the data” says the wise CEO. Measurements really matter. Lord Kelvin’s quote has oft been paraphrased, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t measure it.” This is truth, but at the same time, it’s not the whole picture. We marketers love metrics for what it they tell us, but if we're honest, we get a little nervous about being held accountable to them.
Recently I presented at an American Marketing Association conference. At the end of my session, one of the attendees came up to me and began chatting about his situation. He has a CEO who micromanages his marketing department. It’s so bad, that when his CEO is on vacation, he can’t get anything done because the CEO has to see everything. I’ve been where this guy is, and it is not a happy place.
