Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Marketing report finds consulting firms grappling with their key differentiator.

Consultants have never had a reputation for being lost for words, but a new Sourceforconsulting.com report, in conjunction with Dow Jones, has found that finding something distinctive to say is the single biggest marketing challenge across the UK’s £8billion consulting industry.
 
The report, which surveyed[1] marketeers, managers/partners and consultants from the consulting industry, also found that procurement and preferred supplier lists were big concerns.  
 
Some of the other key findings from the report included:
-          The challenge of finding something different to say grows as the firms get bigger.
-          Nearly two thirds of those surveyed see the role of marketing as more important to the consulting industry than it was five years ago. In larger firms (Tier 1[2] ),this figure rises to almost three quarters. However, the increased importance amongst larger firms isn’t translating into increased expenditure.
-          Opportunities are being missed through a focus on downstream marketing activities like communications.
-          More than half of those surveyed agreed with the general statement ‘we could do a lot more if we had better information tools’.
Ed Haigh, Report Author and Head of Content and Marketing at Sourceforconsulting.com commented: “Consulting firms’ attempts to shout ‘pick me!’ louder and in more exciting ways than their competitors – as well as their declining belief in the effectiveness of marketing as firms get bigger - hints at the need to do more than simply increase investment in their marketing function.
 
In fact the report findings suggest that a fundamental reappraisal of what marketing is, and what it can achieve might be in order. This is about a shift in the marketing paradigm itself, from one that focuses on differentiation to one that delivers it.”
 
The report also found that the marketing priorities for the industry are expected to shift in the future, and there is the following consensus from firms of all sizes:
·         Spend more time – Developing online content, thought leadership, case studies, PR, planning, market/client research and industry-specific marketing
·         Spend less time – Developing brochures, advertising, sponsorship and direct mailings
 
Conflicting views on the importance of marketing
Running through the report is evidence that different groups of people in consulting firms have conflicting views. Consultants reveal themselves to be the biggest believers in marketing that a firm has, while only 38 per cent of marketing people within those same firms appear to think that marketing is important to consultants at all. And while marketers are warmer to the idea that management think marketing is important (76 per cent), management offer an unequivocally supportive view of the importance of marketing.
 
Ken Sickles, Director of Product Strategy, Dow Jones, commented:
“If finding something distinctive to stay is indeed the biggest challenge, then what is the solution? The answer of course is the thing that differentiates firms and consultants from one another – knowledge and expertise. Of course knowledge and expertise are gained through experience, and the acquisition of information. Information about the industry in which you work, and the news, trends, technologies, and events that are shaping that industry.”
The report also found that input from consultants – vital for effective marketing – is hard to come by and of varying quality when it arrives. Broadly speaking, consultants are happy talking, at events for example, but not so happy writing case studies, thought leadership or blogs.
 

For further information on the Sourceforconsulting.com report, Marketing consulting firms in the new decade, sponsored by Dow Jones, or to order your copy, please email julie.cleasby@sourceforconsulting.com, or telephone 0845 293 0992.



[1] The survey was undertaken across 50 management consulting firms in the UK.
[2] Tier 1 Firms are very large firms with more than 1000 consultants.