Is sales overtaking the marketing function? Industry experts weigh in

With how things stand in the business world, the relationship between sales and marketing has become increasingly intertwined, prompting industry leaders to question whether sales is overtaking the traditional marketing function. A recent panel discussion, hosted by Tushar Malhotra, director of sales and marketing at Bisleri, brought together key voices to explore this dynamic shift.

Historically, the marketing function has encompassed activities such as brand building, consumer awareness, and creating demand for products or services. In contrast, the sales function has typically focused on converting leads into customers and closing deals. However, as digital technologies and consumer behaviours continue to evolve, the lines between these two functions have begun to blur.

In a panel discussion, held at the Marketers' Excellence Conference 2024, hosted by afaqs!, industry experts mapped the evolving role of sales and its impact on the marketing function. The speakers on the panel included Jahid Ahmed, who is the SVP and head of digital acquisition, website, social media and content marketing at HDFC Bank; Jiteen Aggarwal, who is the head of marketing at Hettich India; Oindrila Roy, who is the managing director of Publicis India, Rohan Chincholi, who is the chief digital officer at Havas Media India, and Shrinivas Khanolkar, who is the head of products, marketing & corporate communication at Mirae Asset Investment Managers India. The panel was moderated by Tushar Malhotra, director of sales and marketing at Bisleri.

Jahid Ahmed kicked off the discussion by emphasising that it's not an either-or situation. "Today, sales have become one more measurement in marketing," he stated. "The efficacy of a brand's marketing is now determined by the end sales it garners." Ahmed highlighted how marketing has evolved from merely creating brand awareness to actively facilitating the consumer journey from awareness to consumption, particularly in the banking sector.

Jiteen Aggarwal echoed this sentiment, noting the expanded responsibilities of modern marketers. "Traditionally, the role of a marketer was to create awareness, build consideration and imagery for the brand. And the sales would monitor and take care of conversion," he explained. "But now, the marketing person is responsible for so many other things. He is now responsible for the customer's lifetime value, he is also responsible for converting the leads, especially in tech-driven companies. The lines have been blurred."

Oindrila Roy emphasised the continued importance of both functions. "Sales is becoming increasingly important. But you need marketing to be able to support it," she asserted. Roy highlighted the need for brand building to prevent high acquisition costs, especially when consumer decision journeys have become increasingly unconventional.

Rohan Chincholi provided insight into the long-term perspective. "In the short term, if the goals are met then the sales are doing well. But if in the long-term the scalability is not happening, then the marketing function is not doing well," he observed. Chincholi likened the consumer journey to a "fishbowl design" with multiple touchpoints, emphasising the crucial role of marketing in providing reasons for purchase decisions.

Shrinivas Khanolkar brought a product-centric view to the discussion. "In the world of investments, a product sells largely because of its performance. If you don't have a business sense for the product and only focus on marketing, then you're in for a disaster," he cautioned.

The conversation then turned to budget allocation trends. Roy noted that the balance between marketing and sales budgets varies depending on the industry and product category. E-commerce-driven categories tend to focus more on performance marketing, while sectors with longer decision-making processes, such as BFSI, maintain a more balanced approach.

Chincholi observed a shift towards performance-driven budgets across many advertisers. "Typically, the ideal mix between branding used to be a 60:40 split of the budget. What we are currently seeing is that the advertisers are expecting returns for both kinds of investments," he explained.

Aggarwal added insights on B2B performance marketing, highlighting its role in lead nurturing. "If you look at the performance marketing play as far as the B2B brands are concerned, it is about the entire life-cycle of the lead that you want to convert. And performance marketing plays a very important role in ensuring that there is proper nurturing of the leads generated," he stated.

We would like to thank our Marketers’ Excellence Awards 2024 sponsors, MiQ, JioAds, and RedFM 93.5.