Throughout my time as a marketer, I have always found it surprising how in so often marketing comes as an afterthought in many projects, especially those that are focused on capital development. Whether the project is launching a new website, developing a building, launching a new product or delivering an event. Too often, the focus is on the delivery of the project, rather than on the marketing of it in the longer term. In my opinion, this is a big mistake! If I can take two examples (admittedly from very different markets) to illustrate my point.
How it should be done…
The latest Bond film, Skyfall, reportedly cost $200m to produce, and they then spent an estimated $100 (50% of the production budget) on marketing & promotion. The result was that the film grossed over $1 billion worldwide, which in anyone’s books is a pretty healthy return!
….and how it should not be done
Recently, I have heard reports of a centre developed as a resource providing flexible office space an associated services to local business in order to deliver growth and to drive local economic development. The building was developed with a seven figure capital budget and a marketing budget of less than 2% of the capital cost. The result -a significantly under-utilised resource.
The moral of the Story!
There is no doubt that in the modern world, to be a success a project needs to be marketed effectively, and this process should be considered as an integral part of any capital project. You wouldn’t undertake a significant capital project without a carefully considered plan & budget. All I am suggesting is that this plan should extend to include the marketing of the project once complete in order to ensure that it is a blockbuster rather than a flop!
