Christmas is over, summer is years away and that cigarette/cake/beer/wine (delete as appropriate) you promised you wouldn’t have, has found its way into your hand. But don’t worry, all is not lost.
Enjoy the contraband items because you may need some support to help you with your next task. Professional development has been a talking point over the last few months. Now the beginning of the year has rolled round again, it is the perfect time to kick-start your professional development. Use the momentum January gives you to create a plan for what’s needed to further your career.
You may have found yourself in marketing after years in sales, or perhaps a stint in the navy firing missiles like this month’s profile interviewee Naresh Chouhan, UK marketing director at Truphone, but perhaps you don’t have the traditional skills some of your peers have. Or maybe you studied marketing, have been working in the industry for years, are familiar with the fundamentals but your peers are running rings round you as far as digital skills are concerned.
January’s cover story delves into the issue of fundamental marketing skills. We ask if traditional skills are more important than digital and we also list our top five fundamental skills B2B marketers need.
Following the theme of new year, new start, January sees the launch of a new representative body for the B2B marketing industry. The Business Marketing Collective (BMC) is a standalone organisation, governed by a constitution and a board of directors, and owned by its members. If you’re passionate about B2B (I’d like to think because you’re reading this you automatically tick that box), tired of seeing it play second fiddle to B2C, then join like-minded peers to stand up and ensure B2B marketing is heard.
Joel Harrison, editor-in-chief of B2B Marketing and one of the founding members of the BMC, explains the aims of the organisation in more detail.
