The Fifth P in Marketing: People

You probably know the 4Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. But there’s one more P that’s critical in creating a great brand—people.

You can have the greatest product, a ripe market, a killer marketing plan, and a strong brand to command a premium price. But if you don’t have the right people in place to deliver on your brand promise, everything will fall apart.

Just ask Volkswagen. When their engineers decided to fit cars with devices to cheat emission level tests and marketers followed up with a campaign trumpeting low emissions, they hoped to sell more cars in the US. Instead, the scandal shattered their brand promise and led to a huge financial impact to the company’s bottom line—in fines, in declining sales, in stock price, and in possibly unrepairable brand loyalty.

Creating a culture that delivers on a brand promise starts at the top and requires you have commitment and accountability with a dedicated marketing manager.

So what makes for a good marketing manager? Here are five traits we think really help:

Adaptability. Marketing is an ever-evolving job and the people in charge need to be ready and open to responding quickly to changing markets, customer needs, and new technologies.

Leadership. Not the “my way or the highway” type, but true leadership which listens to others, considers all options, and then takes decisive actions based on a thoughtful process.

Creativity. To be effective in a noisy marketplace, marketers need to be innovative in the way the look at problems, find solutions, and reach audiences.

Integrity. Staying true to the ethics of your brand promise can be challenging, but leaders with a good moral compass make smart decisions that pay off in the long run.

Passion. Good brands evolve into great brands when the people behind them passionately believe in the work that they do.