ORLANDO, FL: Marketers who want to exert a greater influence in the C-suite must ensure they “speak as businesspeople” rather than using the language of “artisans”, according to Antonio Lucio, Global Chief Marketing & Communication Officer at HP Inc.
Lucio discussed this subject during a keynote session at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2017 Masters of Marketing Conference.
“If we want to be at the business table, we have to speak as businesspeople first, and marketing artisans second,” he said. (For more details, read WARC’s in-depth report: How HP Inc.’s marketing team built its in-house influence.)
While this might sound like a semantic shift, its scope is much broader in practice, with HP’s marketers now required to be conversant in the vernacular favoured at the pinnacle of the company.
“They clearly know that when there is a conflict between an internal marketing meaning and a business meaning, they are going to go to the business meaning first,” Lucio said.
“They understand that they need to know the business goal, and that they earn the seat at the business table every day by showing their ability to drive revenue and providing real and tangible ROI. My team speaks numbers first and marketing concepts last.”
Lucio joined Hewlett-Packard in May 2015, a few months before the organisation split into two distinct corporations, with HP Inc. selling laptops, printers and related services, while Hewlett Packard Enterprises offers various business services.
Alongside spending time embedded with members of the C-suite and positioning the new HP brand, Lucio has pursued a more integrated approach within the marketing function.
To help “prove our capability to drive meaningful results”, he also spearheaded efforts at making effective use of data, an initiative beginning with the media plan and creative process, and following right through to campaign measurement.
“If we want a seat at the business table, we have an amazing tool. We must leverage the power of insights and analytics. I cannot think of a more relevant way to become, once again, the voice of the customer in that journey,” Lucio said.
Lucio discussed this subject during a keynote session at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) 2017 Masters of Marketing Conference.
“If we want to be at the business table, we have to speak as businesspeople first, and marketing artisans second,” he said. (For more details, read WARC’s in-depth report: How HP Inc.’s marketing team built its in-house influence.)
While this might sound like a semantic shift, its scope is much broader in practice, with HP’s marketers now required to be conversant in the vernacular favoured at the pinnacle of the company.
“They clearly know that when there is a conflict between an internal marketing meaning and a business meaning, they are going to go to the business meaning first,” Lucio said.
“They understand that they need to know the business goal, and that they earn the seat at the business table every day by showing their ability to drive revenue and providing real and tangible ROI. My team speaks numbers first and marketing concepts last.”
Lucio joined Hewlett-Packard in May 2015, a few months before the organisation split into two distinct corporations, with HP Inc. selling laptops, printers and related services, while Hewlett Packard Enterprises offers various business services.
Alongside spending time embedded with members of the C-suite and positioning the new HP brand, Lucio has pursued a more integrated approach within the marketing function.
To help “prove our capability to drive meaningful results”, he also spearheaded efforts at making effective use of data, an initiative beginning with the media plan and creative process, and following right through to campaign measurement.
“If we want a seat at the business table, we have an amazing tool. We must leverage the power of insights and analytics. I cannot think of a more relevant way to become, once again, the voice of the customer in that journey,” Lucio said.
Data sourced from WARC
