We sell products under our own Pen Werks brand name, and we also work with retailers to import products for proprietary and private labels. Those other concerns include customer service, operations, and finance. Every aspect of the business affects marketing, and it's important to ensure that our marketing strategy effectively complements all of the other strategies with which we work. All four of the earlier positions allowed me to hone different skills, thereby equiping me for the decisions I must make today. Each created an opportunity to learn about managing a different facet of the business, and managing a business is really what marketing is about.
Every day presents challenges.
Some of the more constant include trying to develop a truly global business strategy, achieving efficiency in our current systems, and fulfilling the goals of a fully-integrated enterprise. In my first few months as director of marketing, I quickly realized that marketing was just one part of my job. I also had to become an expert in production planning, procurement, and forecasting. These and other facets of a business need to be understood and integrated into marketing in order to be truly successful. For example, each time a new product is run through the packaging cycle, I am there on the production floor to check and double-check each stage of the process.