People in senior marketing jobs across all industries in the UK need to reassess where their business is going as well as reignite some confidence within their own profession. This would appear to be the message coming from research done by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).

The research process was conducted over a few months in lieu of an online survey being launched by the CIM, which will explore marketing capability for growth and value over the next 10 year period. The CIM interviewed 30 business leaders and people in senior marketing jobs to get their perspective on how marketing is valued in this country.

The results outlined the importance of marketing for a business during and after a recession, where companies need to re-evaluate their customer base and whole business model. Interestingly a survey by the CIM also showed that senior finance officers recognised the importance of marketing, perhaps more than the marketers themselves.

Ian Exall writing for building.co.uk argues that the recession is not the time for businesses to slash their marketing budget. Doing this can lead to a lack of skills needed for development and implementation work, which will be necessary to take full advantage of the time when market growth finally returns.

One of the drawbacks is that a marketing department cannot always easily display a financial return for its actions, but it seems the message is clear that it is a critical role in any organisation. However, men and women in senior marketing jobs will need to continue to convey the importance of employing excellent staff, in order to push their business forward over the next few years.