I just finished my first official week as
Director of Marketing at CDG. In January, Scott and I met for what was supposed to be my performance review. In fact, both of us had independently been thinking about what my role in the company should be. Fortunately, we'd both come to essentially the same conclusion -- that the best use of my skills and abilities was in a more strategic position.
As importantly, Scott had also reconceived a significant portion of our process, realizing that up until that point, project managers were expected to be specialists (writing documents, creating information architecture deliverables, writing copy), producers (having qualitative opinions about the direction of a project), project managers (ensuring tasks were completed on time and on budget) and account managers (interfacing with clients, developing new work). In the end, it was too much to expect of one position and too hard to find people to fill it.
So not only was I going to leave the position of Director of Client Services, it was going away entirely. Strict coordination of projects -- making sure stuff gets done -- is now handled by more entry-level project coordinators. Leading a project strategically, and engaging with clients on that level, is now the responsibility of one of the directors. Who is tapped as project lead depends on the nature of the project. The other bonus of eliminating project managers -- or the old role, anyway -- is that Jenn is now full-time copywriter, which we needed, and she's always wanted; and Lisa, who came back in a contract position to PM, is now one of my marketing analysts.
Furthermore, the way we talk about ourselves as a company is changing. We used to lead with design or development but it's become increasingly important as the space matures, and as our client size grows, to view everything in terms of how we can help those clients do business. What is the strategic goal of a web site? Lead generation? Sales? Revenue? To that end, we're not just an interactive agency -- we're a
marketing agency.
I started transitioning to my new role nearly 2 months ago and it's a good thing I did. We're now suddenly so booked in the marketing department that we'll probably need to bring on more people. It's a great position to be in and I'm thrilled to be back in the thick of it. After all, the majority of the work I did back in the iDev days was online marketing for Stuart Weitzman. It was fun then, and it's fun now.
Labels: CDG, Director, IDEV, marketing, Weitzman
