Tony Varey has written a book to help Marketers brush up on their figures
“Marketers are weak with numbers and cannot speak the language of the boardroom.” A sweeping generalisation, yes, but how true is it? As he says…………….
I believe that a sizable minority of marketers feel uncomfortable with the quantitative aspects of business. Indeed, some may have chosen marketing precisely because they perceived it as largely a creative art.
Numeracy is of high importance of course, but in my opinion there is little to fear since the level of skill and knowledge required (the “essentials”, the “need to know”) is not very great, and is also not very difficult.
After a career of marketing communications, planning and line management roles in a wide variety of business settings, plus some marketing tutoring and exam setting, I have now produced a short book – BUSINESS MATHS ESSENTIALS – designed to help any marketer or business generalist who is uncomfortable with numbers. It is available from Oriel Marketing Limited (Resources page) for £13-00 including UK postage (http://www.orielmarketing.com/resources/) and covers all the basic day-to-day numeracy one is ever likely to need in one’s career in business.
As you can see, this is a topic close to my heart. Other books on the same subject frighten even me off the subject! However, this book contains ONLY the things that I have found essential in my career, and it excludes everything else!
Forgive the advertisement, but I believe that the book could be of value to some group members (and their siblings, partners, mates and offspring).
I would be interested to hear the opinions of other marketers on this subject, and particularly of those who are at an early stage in their career.