To celebrate the year Ahead, for 2018 and the Year of the Dog, we held our Welcome Back Drinks in the company of our clients, Business partners and associates. Our guests bring their own business journeys and it was fantastic to see Pat Slattery at our event, who was one of our first clients from almost ten years ago.

Our focus on Marketing Governance continues, with our work ensuring organisations can measure marketing outcomes, along with providing clarity for roles and delegations. It is increasingly apparent that the Australian Marketing Institute, which in theory, is the peak body representing the marketing profession, is absent from the policy and advocacy activities needed to define the role and purpose of marketing.

We are filling this void, with an emphasis on industry research for the year ahead. Industry events are planned for aged care and disability providers to assist organisations in utilising marketing to overcome increasing business uncertainty.

Our small business consultancy, Business Growth Partners, is developing industry-leading research on the critical success factors for startups and growing businesses. The statistic that nine out of ten new businesses fail in the first twelve months, should not be considered as a fait accompli, rather we should be exploring the toolsets necessary to stimulate business growth.

The lack of barriers to entry into the marketing profession results in unqualified advice that creates a punitive cost to businesses and not-for-profit organisations. It is the role of Marketing Governance to provide the right marketing information to encourage decisions that build and sustain market presence.

Thank you for joining us on this journey and we look forward to working with you in the year ahead.

Read this item at Welcome to 2018: A look at the year ahead