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Is your entire company thinking like a marketer? It should be.

Marketing *is* the company ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌   ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
McKinsey Classics
McKinsey Classics

Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Welcome to the latest edition of McKinsey Classics. We hope you find our perspectives useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com

—Alex and Axel

December 2024

In honor of the 60th birthday of McKinsey Quarterly, the McKinsey Classics newsletter is dedicating a full year to enduring Quarterly articles that were ahead of their time. Enjoy, and check out other celebration highlights such as special themed issues and bonus digital features.

An image linking to the web page “We’re all marketers now” on McKinsey.com.

One thing is certain: you can never be too certain about consumer behavior. Where and how shoppers interact with a company’s product is always evolving. An organization’s marketing function should evolve as well. Even back in 2011, the authors of this McKinsey Quarterly classic observed that a successful marketing function can no longer rely on the traditional approach of disparate marketing efforts. Instead, marketers must engage effectively with customers across the entire consumer journey. And to achieve that, everyone in an organization needs to think like a marketer.

Ensuring that a company’s marketing function is firing on all cylinders across the entire organization involves four crucial dimensions: embed core marketing activities across multiple functions; establish marketing councils to help boost management coordination; prioritize the gathering of customer insights and behavior; and engage in comprehensive data analysis to act on new consumer data.

Today’s consumer environment is only getting more complex, and consumers themselves ever savvier. To learn how to meet the marketing moment, read our 2011 classic “We’re all marketers now.”

Read our latest thinking on this classic topic

— Edited by Drew Holzfeind, editor, Chicago 

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by "McKinsey Classics" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 11:12 - 21 Dec 2024