Marketers can enhance corporate boards

Having worked at that level for BMW SA as well as having been chairman of Bizcommunity.com and The Catholic Newspaper & Publishing Co Limited, I never thought I would see the day that marketing came into its own.

I say this because, marketing, particularly through its often naughty child, advertising, manages to shoot itself in the foot with ill-considered strategies costing billions a year and the disdain of the business community.

Nowadays, marketers are taking their rightful place on boards and making valuable contributions. It doesn't seem all that long that Colin Adcock, one of South Africa's most acclaimed marketers, was appointed MD of Toyota SA - the first marketer to be given change of a big company.

I am finding that with social media having grown into so powerful a business tool, I am being called on to not only unravel its mysteries for board members who want to know more about it, but also to improve measurement, reduce risk and cut down on advertising wastage.

Exciting times are ahead for those marketers who have their feet on the ground and who see it as a process and not some sort of mystical witchcraft.