As the job market for entry level marketers tightens, some students ask how to ‘get on’ (be assigned to) a winning brand rather than a brand being ‘milked‘. The question emerges if a student is interviewing at an employer w a portfolio of brands, or when we cover BCG’s Matrix. Few Brands or Biz Units can delay an inevitable ‘Cash Cow’ to ‘Dog’ transition, given shortening Product Life Cycles. Who wants a funeral on their watch? (reminder: BCG Matrix labels all Low Growth/ High Market Share businesses ‘Cash Cows’ yet some get adequate reinvestment, whereas some others are rampantly sucked dry, hastening a decline to Low Growth/ Low Market Share -ie a ‘Dog’.
Regrettably a recruit isn’t empowered to choose which brand or biz unit they’re assigned to, when joining.
No CEO or Corporate Statement admits which of an organization’s brands or biz units are being milked over-aggressively (it’d be like admitting which military bases abroad are most under-resourced!)
To identify which brands or biz units are not getting sufficient management attention & reinvestment: talk to a mentor! It’s something TIME & EXPERIENCE teaches a professional. I’ve been assigned to several brands at different orgs that were being hastily milked into Dog status. The signs?
There’s an adage that “if you don’t know who the sucker in the room is….” it’s probably… you! Look around the company: if you can’t identify which brand(s) are being milked, it’s probably your brand. Firms with a portfolio reinvest differently in each, given a CEO’s view of their potential; profit from some business(es) must be funding the ‘growth-worthy’ businesses!
So… a few ‘tells’ :
Your Brand/ Brand Team seems not to ‘qualify’ for some perks (other brands get’em… & you don’t): Travel perks, Team Event spending, logo wear, deluxe lunch meetings, new hardware, software, training…
Who is invited: eg their lowliest staffer goes to ad productions, budget meetings, off-site Sales meetings. And for your brand? “Things are tight- we need to watch those line items”
Marcom Budget approval– your 1st request is almost always denied, no matter how well justified. They start high and stay high & get the support they request.
QA/ Product Performance Specs: eg a facial tissue maker milked their once#1 brand by cutting ‘base sheet’ (thickness of a sheet) every couple years until a sheet was ….transparent- ie incapable of containing even a “Bless You” sneeze.
Who the Visiting /Head Office Execs spend time with; a sign of relationship management. Big Guns spend time/attention ‘where it matters’; if little of their time is spent with your brand, …yours doesn’t matter.
Any other signs? –‘worthy’ brands get full time headcount hires; ‘Empty-It-Fast’ milked brands get contract or part time hires. Another? How OTHER departments treat your Brand; their seasoned staffers… know!
Resource Slights: At 1 org, Management shut a Brand’s staff offices mid-project, telling’em No Offices For You (“No Soup For You!”). A trail of once-motivated pro’s had to pack up, carry own cardboard boxes of personal fx to their auto’s. No help or empathy/sympathy; their Brand didn’t matter. You can’t take it personally, but you can’t change Top Mngmt views, either (like Musical Chairs: where r u when the music stops?). If you have years left in a career & see signs your brand is entering an Empty-It-Fast era, cultivate Mentors/Allies in a ‘Keeper’ Brand or Biz Unit (some college teachers, when interest in ‘Sustainability’ waned, repositioned selves as AI subject matter experts. Wise!)
Can’t we tell what’s being milked via published material? I’m adept at analysing Annual Reports, extracting Big Picture insights, yet few orgs break out planned spending by Brand. Companies are cagey on which of their Brands they see as Reinvestment-Worthy Cash Cows vs which are Empty-It-Fast Cash Cows. Trended media spend by brand is revealing…. but typ. not disclosed to investors, new recruits.
I’d welcome your insights & examples (from distant ex-employers! no need to put one’s career at risk!).
In future, when I teach BCG’s Matrix, I’ll cut the ‘Cash Cow’ quadrant in half, label its left side Reinvestment-Worthy (‘RW’) Cash Cows; the right side Empty It Fast (‘EIF’) Cash Cows. If you have other label suggestions (‘Homogenized’ on left; ‘2%’ on right?) pls let me know.