How Marketing Becomes the ROI Driver Within the Company

Abstract

In Fig. 1.2 it already became clear that 56 % of the CMOs felt insufficiently prepared to take over the responsibility for the ROI. In order to overcome this deficit, important benchmarks will be conveyed in this chapter. A key term to this end for the entire company and for marketing in particular is the customer value. It is imperative to recognize the customer value in both of its perspectives of significance: On the one hand, it is the value a company provides its customer and motivates him to make a purchase (hereinafter “value for the customer”). On the other hand, it involves the value a customer generates for the company (hereinafter “customer value”). Both value contributions must be put into balance because otherwise, no company can survive in the long run (cf. Fig. 5.1). As a consequence, the important do ut des principle (i.e., “I give so that you might give”) must be taken into consideration with regard to the balance between the “value for the customer” and “customer value.” The equation thus reads as follows: the customers develop the greatest “customer value” for us when we generate the greatest “value for the customer.”