Unfair

As I sit here today and witness history in the making with the swearing in of Barack Obama as the President of the United States of America, I have to reflect on the topic of change. We live in a new day and a new time and while this may sound like the same refrain, this current tide of change is different and significant. It does not represent just a generational change. It is a historical change which takes us all into unchartered territory with no going back! What we will see and what we will experience in our lives based on this singular event is awe inspiring and yet, we can only begin to imagine what this change will mean. What we are sure about is that this is a change that is here to stay and it will shape our lives for many years to come.

The same is true for this new generation of marketers focused on working with sales to create leads and ultimately new streams of revenue. This latest reshaping of the role of the marketer is significant and has caught many people off-guard and unprepared. We constantly hear marketers talking about "getting an education" and in fact, we often bake this into our consulting offerings. And the education around this change goes beyond marketing to include sales and senior management. People "hear" about these new practices and given the search for revenue in 2009, are open to what marketing can do and how marketing can contribute like never before. The challenge for marketing is to be ready to lead this change and to help their companies leverage new technologies and strategies to make a revenue contribution.

This is not going to go away or abate. It is a new day for the role of marketing for every size organization. Get ready for your swearing in and taking a leadership role in these exciting times.