The Marketing Department Resource

To: Directors, Brand Managers, Dealer Principals

Cc Steve Baynes, Jason Lewis, Caira Day, Helen Redfern, Katy Smart,
Departmental Managers (as selected by the above)

From: Jeremy Cuff, Claire Ellis & Steve Mawby

Date: 14th February 2011
___________________________________________________________

The Marketing Department & Last Minute.com

“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”.

During the recent past, the broad topic that encompasses advertising and marketing has expanded dramatically, and will continue to place growing demands on all involved parties going forward, as new media takes root in our regular activities, co-existing alongside more traditional (but still important) forms of communication.

In response to this increasing demand, the company has continued to invest in its marketing infrastructure, with the development of the Direct Marketing Department team headed by Steve Mawby, and the appointment of Helen Redfern at the Head Office in addition to Claire Ellis and myself. Allied to this is the ongoing long term infrastructure support in the form of services provided by Impact Design, Trinity Web and other selected associates.

During the last 12 months in particular, we’ve been aware of a trend of working within our group that could best be summed as “Last Minute.com”.

What is meant by this is that more and more frequently, we are being asked to produce marketing related work with very little notice, or with very little time to deadline.

Though the Marketing Team has, and always will, provide quick turnarounds on jobs and react to events where it’s essential, it’s very important that this practice doesn’t become the norm, making all jobs a “rush job”. We will explain the practical outcome of this in following paragraphs.

What Does This Mean In Practice?

Though we have an adequate infrastructure for our marketing related needs, that infrastructure is still limited, and has to be managed in order to juggle the many and varied requests and requirements from around the group.

It can be likened in some respects to running a service department, where days and weeks are planned in advance by “booking in” the necessary time for all the required tasks to be worked on and completed.

If we get “surprised” by last minute requests, it not only means that the “new” job in hand must be hurried, but that other pre-planned/scheduled tasks have to be abandoned. This affects both the “new” job and the “planned” jobs.

This type of working practice also results in inadequate time spent on each task, in particular the “think and consider” phase that ideally needs to happen before a job is placed anywhere near the design studio. It also gives us no time to “explore” a design idea or concept, as there is little time for creativity – instead it becomes a production line. The same also applies with data chooses, where the different ways/options of selecting data can only be explored if adequate time/notice is given.

Additionally, this “fast and loose” approach makes it much more likely that poorly thought out ideas and mistakes could make it out into the public domain.

In short, the overall quality of the work is compromised as a result. 

The Demands of the Franchises

As we all know, the franchises have a daily influence over events within the group, and can often dominate the priorities of the businesses, including aspects of marketing.

We’ve also seen a “Last Minute.com” tendency relating to franchise driven marketing requests – such as showroom events, launches, mandatory promotions and so on.

To best combat this, please alert us at the first opportunity to any franchise driven activity that we may need to participate in, and ensure that we are copied any relevant materials received from the franchises (usually by email these days).

If there is a significant “time lag” between relevant information being received at branch level, and being passed on as a marketing request, it can make the difference between having adequate time to action/complete the task, and it becoming a “Last Minute.com” situation.

Also, if there are any “auto issue” marketing materials received at the start of trading periods (i.e. quarters) for campaigns, new model launches etc, please ensure that we are made aware of them, so that we can arrange distribution and/or mailings etc. Much better for this, than for them to remain in a box in the corner of an office.

What Would We Like To See Going Forward?

We are not demanding a wholesale rethink about how we work, but we are looking to make some improvements by achieving a more coherent and planned approach (where that approach is lacking) to allow the best work to be created for each of the businesses.

As a general rule of thumb, we will be pursuing the following:

1. A planned approach for each trading period with adequate lead times to produce the required work
2. We will not undertake any design work without a complete and agreed brief for each task (for which we have produced a new job sheet to assist in this task – see attached)
3. We will not undertake any data selections without a clear understanding as to reason it is being obtained and/or the objective (we may also produce a similar job/capture sheet as the one attached, but specifically used for data).
4. Earlier awareness (where possible) of any franchise driven initiatives, requirements and launches
5. That the “last minute” tendency is reduced to a minimum

Please consider carefully at the outset of each trading period any marketing related items that might be required and assist us in bringing them into existence, by allowing us to work in a coherent, efficient, planned and creative way.

It’s essential to ensure that we make the best use of our group resource, and that we do our best to eradicate “Last Minute.com” from our working practices. It should be an exception, not a rule.

Should there be any questions regarding the content of this communication, please contact one of us.

Please share this communication with relevant line managers who regularly get involved with aspects of marketing.

With best regards

Jeremy, Claire & Morph

PS. Remember the expression “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail”.