Scott MacStravic, Ph.D.
For marketing to be accountable, it must maintain and report an account of its benefits vs. costs to the organization. The easiest way to design such an account is to think of and treat the marketing function as if it were outsourced, and paid for its performance. This can also pave the way for a gainsharing system in which the marketing staff, to the extent agreeable to the organization, receives bonuses based on its net margin contribution.
This means counting its total costs, including its entire operating budget and share of overhead, as well as its expenditures for research, advertising, etc. Some expenditures, such as staff time, research and advertising expenditures aimed at specific objectives, may be charged to campaign accounts, as well as the overall functional account, to track their particular ROI, though on a multi-year basis, since these tend to pay off gradually rather than in the same year as their costs.
