Why Marketers Excel as General Managers: Solving Every Problem through Marketing Strategy

General managers (GMs) face a challenging task upon their appointment. Suddenly, they are entrusted with the performance and development of functions even if they have no personal experience in them. However, according to two GMs who transitioned from marketing roles, marketers are particularly well-suited for this responsibility compared to individuals from other divisions within a business.

During The Marketing Society’s Global Conference 2023 on 14 November, Eve Williams, GM of eBay UK, and Ben Pearman, VP Managing Director for Europe & Australia at General Mills, shared how their professional journey in the marketing industry prepared them for the role of general managers.

According to Pearman, any issue in a business can be considered a marketing problem. This includes tasks such as handling investment requests and determining strategic objectives. He believes that marketers are better equipped for these responsibilities due to their broader scope of expertise.

Pearman pointed out that in many companies, individuals with financial backgrounds tend to assume vacant general manager positions. However, at General Mills, the majority of CEOs actually come from the marketing department. This is because the company greatly emphasizes consumer focus.

Williams, who transitioned from the role of CMO to GM in March 2023, attributed the effective assimilation of marketers into general manager positions to the versatility inherent in the marketing function. According to Williams, the customer-centric focus of marketing roles serves as a valuable guiding principle for general managers, complementing their experience in profit and loss management. Williams emphasized that marketing greatly enhances one's understanding of customer needs and facilitates the alignment of these needs with the organization's business objectives.

Marketing leaders

Williams highlighted eBay's collaboration with Love Island as an example of a marketing-driven concept that prioritized consumer needs and provided value throughout the company. Despite skepticism from external sources, the campaign successfully increased customer interest in eBay's pre-owned clothing market. Consequently, Williams emphasized the importance of integrating a sense of purpose throughout the business, typically managed by the marketing department, to align strategies and maintain a strong focus on meeting consumer demands.

Pearman acknowledged the existence of universal challenges that come with assuming the GM role, regardless of one's marketing background. He specifically mentioned that managing people could be a potential obstacle, considering that the managers reporting to the GM have different skill sets and responsibilities. He compared the experience to being a child in a candy store, having numerous options to drive change and growth integration.

Both panelists agreed that the multitude of people reporting to the GM means they don't have to be experts in every role. Williams expressed concern about spending nights immersed in spreadsheets, but that did not turn out to be the case. Instead, she emphasized using the communication skills gained from marketing to effectively delegate tasks. She highlighted that marketing involves collaboration and changing customers' perception of a brand, necessitating working with pricing, product development, and tech teams.

Marketing is a collaborative effort that aims to alter the customer's perception of a brand from start to finish. This involves working closely with pricing, product development, and tech teams.

In addition, Pearman emphasizes that the marketing focus on execution and collaboration helps break down team silos. He states, "We have bridged the gap between strategy and execution, resulting in highly integrated and agile teams." This approach has embraced a more experimental mindset at General Mills, moving away from a perfectionist approach.

Junior marketers, tomorrow’s leaders

According to the panellists, there are valuable lessons from marketing teams that can be implemented more extensively in businesses. Similar to how marketers depend on their junior and younger team members to create strategies for emerging social platforms, Williams stresses the importance of incorporating the expertise of younger individuals throughout the entire organization.

She reflected on her time at Asos, noting that there were ideas that had not been considered before and ideas that she had pushed beyond what had been done previously. She questioned whether these advancements would have been possible without the contribution of new leaders. One aspect she specifically mentioned was her regret of not strongly advocating for better LGBTQ+ representation in her role at Asos. She believed that younger marketers could have provided valuable insights as a business strategy.

Both Williams and Pearman emphasized that having a marketing background is not a solution for all the challenges of becoming a general manager. However, they acknowledged that the lessons learned in a marketing division are highly applicable to the strategic functions of a general manager role.