Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
In the early, primitive days of marketing professional services, there weren't enough people doing marketing for law, accounting, and consulting firms to think much about marketing department management. The exceptions, of course, were the larger firms, particularly those for which, in the beginning, having more people on staff was readily equated to better marketing. Marketing, at the beginning, was invariably assigned to a partner, who had only a vague idea about marketing and the marketing process, and certainly, no marketing experience.
The newly appointed marketing partner was then charged with hiring and managing a marketing director. The partner, who generally knew nothing about marketing, knew even less about managing a marketing operation. This often led to chaos, as well as poor marketing, no matter how good the marketing director was.
This practice still exists today, although to a lesser extent than before. After all this time, though, some ' not all, but some ' professionals have learned better.
Where this poor management by marketing partners still exists, it usually represents a traditional distrust in law and accounting firms of any non-lawyer or non-accountant in the professional office. And by now, many more lawyers and accountants than ever before are beginning to learn about marketing. But many more marketers are learning about law and accounting firms, and how to market them. Still, it's not uncommon for many partners in charge of marketing to insist on designing the marketing program, and directing the marketing manager to execute it. In too many firms, reasonably high-paid and experienced marketing professionals are directed by marketing partners with no marketing skills, no marketing experience, and no foundation for their projects. This is not only disastrous, but also expensive and wasteful.
A favorite story about this is the lawyer who once said to me that if you're smart enough to be a lawyer, you're smart enough to do your own advertising. True, I said. And if you're smart enough to be a lawyer, you're smart enough to be a nuclear physicist ' but it doesn't make you one.
And if you think you're smart enough to manage a marketing program, you're smart enough to trust the marketing professional you hired to do it. If you don't trust your marketer to do his or her job, then fire the marketer. Or at least, ask yourself whether you're smart enough to let the marketing professional do his job. There's still plenty for you to do in managing the professionals. Professional marketers, it's safe to assume, have the skills, the techniques, and the experience to serve you well. With luck, and your good hiring skills, they have the talent and imagination to do a superb job for you.
One thing is certain ' the ability to execute the marketing process is not the same as the ability to manage that performance in others. The mistake comes in not understanding the difference between the ability to do and the ability to manage.
Without doing a full treatise on management ' the library is full of good books on it ' there are some simple factors that should be considered before accepting management responsibility. They begin with understanding what managing is and isn't.
What Managing Is
What managing is and what managers do are two different things. There are as many definitions as there are definers, but essentially, managing is getting things done the way they should be done, to effectively accomplish a predetermined objective with the help of other people, and to motivate other people to do well in their own specialties. Essentially, managing ' all managing ' boils down to three major things:
For the partner in charge of marketing, managing your firm's marketing activities is at least:
If you accept this definition ' and of course, it's shorthand, because there are many more nuances to it ' then the list of skills for a marketing partner becomes clear. For the partner in charge of marketing, there are three more responsibilities:
The partner responsible for the marketing process cannot and should not second-guess the professional marketer. If the marketing director can't relate effectively to the firm's culture or objectives, the marketer should be fired. If the marketing professional allows himself or herself to be second-guessed, or is asked to perform marketing tasks that are obviously nonproductive, the result is going to be disaster, and the marketing professional should quit.
It helps to keep in mind that there's a difference between managing marketers and managing staff in other kinds of organizations. The added ingredients are:
At the same time, there are specific factors that preclude good management. For example:
Teamwork is good, but it shouldn't be mistaken for homogenization. In an arena such as marketing, in which ideas and originality matter, the ability to understand and accept idiosyncrasy and individuality is important, as long as the attendant behavior isn't disruptive to the point of being counterproductive.
Confusing being temperamental with temperament doesn't help much, either. Screaming fits don't seem to accomplish a thing.
There are people who think that managing by sadism accomplishes something. It does for the sadist, and maybe for the masochist ' but not for the business. Ruling by terrorizing, by threatening, or by having two people compete against one another by giving them both the same task, may do something for the personality of the manager, but doesn't do a thing for the business.
Indecisiveness and inconsistency both preclude good management. The leader who can't make a decision, and the leader who makes the decision one way today and another way tomorrow, is no leader. He or she is a perpetrator of chaos.
Conclusion
Entire books have been written about managing, and you can major in it at your local MBA program. But pragmatically, other factors, such as the foregoing, must be used to make a decision about who to hire as a marketing director.
The problem is that marketing isn't a science ' it's a skill that's enhanced by artistry. So, too ' in fact ' is management.
Bruce W. Marcus is a Connecticut-based consultant in marketing and strategic planning for professional firms, the editor of The Marcus Letter on Professional Services, (www.marcusletter.com) and the co-author of Client at the Core (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). His e-mail address is [email protected]. ' Bruce W. Marcus. All rights reserved.
In the early, primitive days of marketing professional services, there weren't enough people doing marketing for law, accounting, and consulting firms to think much about marketing department management. The exceptions, of course, were the larger firms, particularly those for which, in the beginning, having more people on staff was readily equated to better marketing. Marketing, at the beginning, was invariably assigned to a partner, who had only a vague idea about marketing and the marketing process, and certainly, no marketing experience.
The newly appointed marketing partner was then charged with hiring and managing a marketing director. The partner, who generally knew nothing about marketing, knew even less about managing a marketing operation. This often led to chaos, as well as poor marketing, no matter how good the marketing director was.
This practice still exists today, although to a lesser extent than before. After all this time, though, some ' not all, but some ' professionals have learned better.
Where this poor management by marketing partners still exists, it usually represents a traditional distrust in law and accounting firms of any non-lawyer or non-accountant in the professional office. And by now, many more lawyers and accountants than ever before are beginning to learn about marketing. But many more marketers are learning about law and accounting firms, and how to market them. Still, it's not uncommon for many partners in charge of marketing to insist on designing the marketing program, and directing the marketing manager to execute it. In too many firms, reasonably high-paid and experienced marketing professionals are directed by marketing partners with no marketing skills, no marketing experience, and no foundation for their projects. This is not only disastrous, but also expensive and wasteful.
A favorite story about this is the lawyer who once said to me that if you're smart enough to be a lawyer, you're smart enough to do your own advertising. True, I said. And if you're smart enough to be a lawyer, you're smart enough to be a nuclear physicist ' but it doesn't make you one.
And if you think you're smart enough to manage a marketing program, you're smart enough to trust the marketing professional you hired to do it. If you don't trust your marketer to do his or her job, then fire the marketer. Or at least, ask yourself whether you're smart enough to let the marketing professional do his job. There's still plenty for you to do in managing the professionals. Professional marketers, it's safe to assume, have the skills, the techniques, and the experience to serve you well. With luck, and your good hiring skills, they have the talent and imagination to do a superb job for you.
One thing is certain ' the ability to execute the marketing process is not the same as the ability to manage that performance in others. The mistake comes in not understanding the difference between the ability to do and the ability to manage.
Without doing a full treatise on management ' the library is full of good books on it ' there are some simple factors that should be considered before accepting management responsibility. They begin with understanding what managing is and isn't.
What Managing Is
What managing is and what managers do are two different things. There are as many definitions as there are definers, but essentially, managing is getting things done the way they should be done, to effectively accomplish a predetermined objective with the help of other people, and to motivate other people to do well in their own specialties. Essentially, managing ' all managing ' boils down to three major things:
For the partner in charge of marketing, managing your firm's marketing activities is at least:
If you accept this definition ' and of course, it's shorthand, because there are many more nuances to it ' then the list of skills for a marketing partner becomes clear. For the partner in charge of marketing, there are three more responsibilities:
The partner responsible for the marketing process cannot and should not second-guess the professional marketer. If the marketing director can't relate effectively to the firm's culture or objectives, the marketer should be fired. If the marketing professional allows himself or herself to be second-guessed, or is asked to perform marketing tasks that are obviously nonproductive, the result is going to be disaster, and the marketing professional should quit.
It helps to keep in mind that there's a difference between managing marketers and managing staff in other kinds of organizations. The added ingredients are:
At the same time, there are specific factors that preclude good management. For example:
Teamwork is good, but it shouldn't be mistaken for homogenization. In an arena such as marketing, in which ideas and originality matter, the ability to understand and accept idiosyncrasy and individuality is important, as long as the attendant behavior isn't disruptive to the point of being counterproductive.
Confusing being temperamental with temperament doesn't help much, either. Screaming fits don't seem to accomplish a thing.
There are people who think that managing by sadism accomplishes something. It does for the sadist, and maybe for the masochist ' but not for the business. Ruling by terrorizing, by threatening, or by having two people compete against one another by giving them both the same task, may do something for the personality of the manager, but doesn't do a thing for the business.
Indecisiveness and inconsistency both preclude good management. The leader who can't make a decision, and the leader who makes the decision one way today and another way tomorrow, is no leader. He or she is a perpetrator of chaos.
Conclusion
Entire books have been written about managing, and you can major in it at your local MBA program. But pragmatically, other factors, such as the foregoing, must be used to make a decision about who to hire as a marketing director.
The problem is that marketing isn't a science ' it's a skill that's enhanced by artistry. So, too ' in fact ' is management.
Bruce W. Marcus is a Connecticut-based consultant in marketing and strategic planning for professional firms, the editor of The Marcus Letter on Professional Services, (www.marcusletter.com) and the co-author of Client at the Core (John Wiley & Sons, 2004). His e-mail address is [email protected]. ' Bruce W. Marcus. All rights reserved.
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
In advance of Legalweek '25, a Q&A with conference speaker Ryan Phelan, a partner at Marshall, Gerstein & Borun and founder and moderator of legal blog PatentNext, to discuss how courts and jurisdictions are handling novel technologies, the copyrightability of AI-assisted art, and more.
Businesses have long embraced the use of computer technology in the workplace as a means of improving efficiency and productivity of their operations. In recent years, businesses have incorporated artificial intelligence and other automated and algorithmic technologies into their computer systems. This article provides an overview of the federal regulatory guidance and the state and local rules in place so far and suggests ways in which employers may wish to address these developments with policies and practices to reduce legal risk.
This two-part article dives into the massive shifts AI is bringing to Google Search and SEO and why traditional searches are no longer part of the solution for marketers. It’s not theoretical, it’s happening, and firms that adapt will come out ahead.
For decades, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has been the only law to expressly address privacy for minors’ information other than student data. In the absence of more robust federal requirements, states are stepping in to regulate not only the processing of all minors’ data, but also online platforms used by teens and children.
In an era where the workplace is constantly evolving, law firms face unique challenges and opportunities in facilities management, real estate, and design. Across the industry, firms are reevaluating their office spaces to adapt to hybrid work models, prioritize collaboration, and enhance employee experience. Trends such as flexible seating, technology-driven planning, and the creation of multifunctional spaces are shaping the future of law firm offices.