Why We Hate Marketing Committees
I am not a fan of marketing committees. I see them fail too often, cause endless angst, and operate in the fog created by the lack of clear objectives about the purpose of the committee. It may surprise you to know that members of these committees feel the strain of unproductivity as much as you do.
This failure is almost always caused by a significant gap between the organization’s goals and the defined tasks of the committee. It is all too common for these committee’s key objectives to be “ensuring high-quality marketing.” This is NOT an objective - High-quality marketing. What does that even mean?
There are three key reasons why this inactivity is the norm and not an exception.
1. If you do not have clear, outcome-driven objectives for the committee; it will fail to meet the needs of the organization. When there is a disconnect between the organization’s goals and objectives and the committee’s charter, you have given the committee a disadvantage that they will never recover from. The committee will flounder in outputs and not focus on strategy.
2. Marketing committees are too often filled with people with the best intentions but lacking the necessary skills. You would not hire someone as your Marketing Manager who had no experience or knowledge in the field. So why would you add individuals to a marketing committee that do not have the necessary skills? Whether intention or at no fault of your own, this committee then becomes the place you designate for volunteers that you do not know what to do with. Your staff struggles to define projects for them and results in the committee typically reviewing and approving timelines, artwork, or copy. Some committee members want to define projects themselves (creating unnecessary work) and some are simply happy to critique (Make the logo bigger!).
3. The circle of unproductive work is often accepted without question. When you combine the lack of strategic driven objectives and the missing experience among committee members, this committee essentially functions as a treadmill – always moving, but never getting anywhere. Because of this endless cycle, your staff feels burdened by this committee - often receiving additional work and lengthen decision making time on projects. The feedback I hear from staff in charge of marketing committees is that managing the committee takes time away from their necessary tasks and burdens them with work they had not planned for. Now, this committee has become a procedural burden that is hindering your organization’s movement towards your goals internally and externally.
Leaders can create value from the marketing committee concept! The first step is to evaluate if a marketing committee is needed and if so, what are the expected outcomes for that committee. A strategic setup that will result in increased revenue, reduced risk, and enhanced brand begins with clear objectives, the right people, and purposeful actions.
