Cambridge Marketing College, annual dinner: 9 Jul 08

The Cambridge Marketing College is perhaps the leading marketing college in the UK and provides a comprehensive range of course for Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications. Over the last few years I have lectured a number of such courses at the Certificate, Diploma and post graduate Diploma levels. And as a lecturer I get invited to the annual dinner at which the ‘Annual Cambridge Marketing Lecture’ is delivered. This year the lecture took place at St Johns’ and was delivered by Paul Fifield, Visiting Professor in Marketing Strategy at the Southampton University School of Management.

Paul’s lecture was entitled ‘marketing in a cold climate” and challenged whether thinking that has developed over the recent years of plenty was appropriate for the forthcoming recession. He particularly challenged ideas such as:

it’s all digital. If you’re thinking analogue somehow you’re out of step;

agile is enough. it’s no longer necessary to lay down plans; and

promotion is everything. Don’t worry about the other marketing Ps!

He also talked about brands and the habit that successful but mypoic companies have of ‘hollowing out the brand’. He quoted many examples not all of which i agreed with. My favourite is Boddington’s the Manchester brewery as was. As soon as Boddington’s became successful, developed a brand, its management decided it could do without the brewery!

The other great example is the Post Office which is a remarkabley trusted brand despite everything the government’s accountants throw at it. There latest wheeze is not just to close post offices but to refuse to open new ones even though substantial new towns are being developed. Close to my home is the new town of Cambourne with over 3500 homes, plenty big enough to support a post office but no polotocal will to provide the service for which the Post Office exists!