The theory behind Objective driven marketing (or ODM) is that any activity that is not directly associated with the achievement of one of your set objectives is surplus to requirements.

The objectives of any business must be supported by the activities of the people within it.

It’s logical and probably obvious too. And yet, it seems that whenever this simple concept is applied to a marketing department everyone else believes that they have the right to input, the right to veto, the right to question and cajole. Of course they do – in many instances your objectives are their objectives – so get used to it and include them.

The big question is: how many people are truly driven by their objectives in their daily routine and how many feel accountable in this way? Moreover, how many marketing managers can organise and manage their staff down to task level and still maintain a clear sense of their progress against their objectives? Okay, you all can, but wouldn’t you all like a little help in doing it?

We have assembled a set of implementation tools and methods that enable you to think and work more effectively. It’s partly about pulling together your resources, partly about understanding the dynamics and occasional unpredictability of the doing process, and it’s partly about finding a method that sort of governs your behaviour. But in a nice way.

The components of the marketing implementation framework are designed to separate out those key elements of the marketing job that require your management before bringing them together in a way that ensures your effort is focused on the things that matter most – the corporate objectives that should be driving everyone in the organisation. The components are listed below and if this intrigues you enough, we would love to share with you the detailed version:

• Objective setting
• The roles of the stakeholders
• Resourcing
• Scheduling
• Keeping on top of your financial numbers
• Marketing inventory
• Results, the feedback loop and recognising success
• Programme planning units (or PPUs)

These elements are drawn together into a simple method which can be learned in a workshop environment with the rest of your marketing team (it’s a hymn sheet thing). Now, sing after me.

What you get

• More effective implementation of your marketing strategy
• Closer cooperation with sales, finance and other marketing stakeholders
• More successful marketing programmes

Applying the Marketing Implementation Framework helps you to 'live' your marketing strategy - it becomes part of your daily activity. Consequently you become more effective in realising your corporate objectives and each marketing task will feel part of an integrated effort.

In addition to this you should see a new level of cooperation with your peers in sales, finance, and amongst senior management as your transparency improves and your successes become more apparent.