Marketing consultants – they aren’t what they used to be

November 2011

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1. 2. 3. 4. Bad press, for good reasons? Outside in, not inside out So what’s different? Talk is cheap – but it could be priceless

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Marketing consultants – they aren’t what they used to be

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Bad press, for good reasons?

In some quarters, the term ‘consultant’ has become a dirty word — and it is, perhaps, the business or marketing consultant that has received the worst press of all in recent years.

There are valid reasons for this, not least the fact that consultants appear when we are struggling to solve a problem for ourselves. Often parachuted in by senior management, employees may perceive the consultant’s arrival as a vote of organisational no confidence in their abilities. Few people would think twice about using a specialist consultant for a medical problem, but this attitude doesn’t always transition into the workplace. Perhaps because businesses don’t need someone coming in and telling them what they already know. In many cases it feels like consultants have come in, stolen your watch, and then told you the time!

We can all recount stories of a critical business issue being posed to a team of highly paid consultants who come in, disrupt the workplace for a few weeks, disappear for a couple of months and then return to tell you something you already know, backed up by a 200 page plan so complex that it’s completely unworkable given real-life business conditions and resources. But does it really need to be like this? The essence of success is being able to identify relevant and important aspects of your marketing activity that an external perspective and additional expertise can truly add value to.

The essence of success is being able