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Episode 007 · Marketing Strategy · CMO · Business

Marketing as a Strategic Business Function

Marketing drifted into promotion. Alexander Schulze wants to pull it back into business strategy where it belongs.

With Alexander Schulze, Manager · Vivaldi Group

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Artwork for The Evergreen Playbook episode "Marketing as a Strategic Business Function" featuring Alexander Schulze.

Show notes

Alexander Schulze and David Göz examine the shift from a holistic marketing approach to a predominantly promotional focus — and what it costs businesses that make this shift.

They discuss how CMOs can reclaim strategic relevance by providing the market-oriented insights that make every other business function better at its job.

Marketing is not here for creating art or the most creative assets out there, but really to support the company in fulfilling its goals.

— Alexander Schulze

Everyone in the business world would agree that marketing as a function is very important, like having the right price, having the right product, having the right go-to-market timing. Marketing as a department? Not so sure.

— Alexander Schulze

If you have those insights, everyone loves to have you in the discussion, because the moment you can provide the rest of the team, the moment you can provide the strategic leadership even with insights from the actual customer, you will almost automatically gain relevance internally.

— Alexander Schulze

Maybe it shouldn't be integrated communications. Maybe we need to think about integrated marketing again and how to incorporate the brand message across all platforms.

— David Göz

The Playbook

The core principles from this conversation.

  1. 1 Position marketing beyond communication
  2. 2 Build internal credibility through lighthouse projects
  3. 3 Understand your market across four dimensions
Read the full playbook

The Guest

Alexander Schulze

Manager · Vivaldi Group

Alexander works at a global marketing consultancy specialising in brand strategy, innovation and digital transformation across nutrition, retail, automotive and energy.

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