Valuing marketing's contribution

Abstract Marketing has not had the impact in the boardroom that its importance justifies. The major reason is that marketers have failed to show how marketing activities and costs influence shareholder value. Instead they have relied on metrics such as sales volume and customer awareness that are unrelated to financial performance. This paper redefines marketing in value terms and explains how shareholder value analysis can be used to demonstrate the importance of marketing, value brands and test marketing strategies.