Does no one know what the definition of "marketing" is?

167 B2B marketers, 86 B2C marketers and 130 hybrid marketers answered a survey conducted by the Association of National Advertisers and BtoB. Some of the findings of the study are below. As I sometimes do in email conversations...my comments below in ALL CAPS.

• Among companies that had undergone a reorganization (some 70 percent in the past three years, according to another ANA strudy), 62 percent of the B2B marketers cited marketing communications as the primary role of marketing prior to the reorganization. TRULY AMAZING. THE WHOLE WORLD SEEMS TO CHOOSE TO DEFINE MARKETING BY ITS ORGANIZATIONAL TITLE RATHER THAN WHAT IT REALLY IS. HAS NO ONE EVER HEARD OF THE 4 P'S? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO PHILIP KOTLER IS? THESE PEOPLE SHOULD READ KOTLER FOR GOODNESS SAKE!
  
• Marcom was cited as the primary role following reorganization by 47 percent of B2B marketers. SAME COMMENT, SAME DISGUST.
  
• One of the biggest shifts has been in the primacy of strategy: Only 14 percent of B2B marketers identified strategy/innovation as their primary role prior to reorganization; 24 percent said strategy/innovation was their primary role following reorganization. STILL TOO LOW, THESE RESPONDENTS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE THERE TO DO, WHICH IS SELL MORE PRODUCTS TO MORE PEOPLE MORE OFTEN FOR MORE MONEY (TO PARAPHRASE SERGIO ZYMAN, SOMEONE ELSE I'M SURE THEY DON'T KNOW).
  
• Another function seeing elevated status among marketers is directing new business development: Only 10 percent of B2B marketers said new business development was a primary goal prior to reorganization, compared with 23 percent following reorganization. RUNNING OUT OF WAYS TO VOICE THE SAME COMMENT...
• Though B2B marketers' role has become more strategic, only 11 percent said marketing "always" makes strategic decisions in the organization; 37 percent said "most of the time." PAIN TOO GREAT...CAN'T...GO...ON...
  
• That's in contrast to the 17 percent of B2C marketers who said marketing "always" makes strategic decisions, and 39 percent who said "most of the time." I WOULD VENTURE A GUESS THAT THIS IS BECAUSE B2C MARKETERS FEEL THAT THEY ARE CLOSER TO THE CONSUMER THAN IN B2B CASES, WHERE OFTEN THE SALES FUNCTION COMMANDEERS THAT ROLE.
  
• Just 49 percent of B2B marketers said marketing works in partnership with the CEO "most of the time" or "always." That's in contrast to 58 percent of the B2C marketers who said so. BOTH OF THESE ARE PRETTY HIGH, WHICH GIVES ME HOPE, AND ENDS THIS POST MERCIFULLY ON A HIGH NOTE.
  

From MarketingCharts