Surprises During Fleet Week 2024 in San Francisco
We were flying colors above board on the Navy Vessel SS Jeremiah O’Brien on Friday. I first viewed the partly exposed propeller churning, then later sat in a gun turret crows nest to observe the fantastic Navy Blue Angels’ air show. From stem to stern the day turned wonderment into emotions.
The airshow coupled with being on a Navy ship during Fleet Week exercises gave rise to a groundswell of emotions anchored in my childhood to a Navy family. The reason I am a Californian is because my father chose to join the Navy and our family became stationed here during the Vietnam war.
The airshow stirred memories and convictions about American Freedom and the promise of peaceful times. I reflected on the duty of sailors and airmen who volunteer to defend our country against threats from overseas. The sacrifice they make for our safety. The feeling of gratitude for their service.
Fantastic Blue Angels Air Show on Fleet Week
We spent hours below deck discussing challenges and opportunities for Chief Marketing Officers today. All is not hunky-dory with many of our would-be customers, software companies, silicon valley startups, growth companies, scaleups in a hot chase to grow revenues, build pipeline, burnish their brands.
Marketer’s Engine Room
Today CEOs are skeptical of CMOs’ ability to drive growth. CMOs need to batten down the hatches of budgets provided to be successful. While visiting the Engine Room of the Jeremiah O’Brien I learned that it has a triple expansion steam engine, similar to the one on the Titanic vessel. SS O’Brien’s is fully operational and the ship is seaworthy. I heard the reciprocating engine thundering, running smoothly dressed in lubricants. The walking planks and surfaces were completely clean of oil. The heat was present from boiler furnaces, generating steam. The fire boxes were lit burning fuel and pressure from steam could be felt too.
Salty marketers who won’t sling their hook find themselves in the doldrums. One example, the spam cannon lost it’s effectiveness. There are many other examples: misalignment or not partnering with the finance team, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), the Chief Revenue Officer or RevOps. Celebrating MQL targets when the sales team misses quota.
Marketers who know the ropes grip today’s strategy of PEG (‘profitable efficient growth’) over yesterday’s GAAC (‘growth at all costs’). They can clearly navigate marketing spend to revenue.
Unfortunately for others who don’t understand these distinctions, they may be taken aback because they don’t know their unit economics. All is not blue skies. Some marketers will settle for any port in a storm, and they soon will become the ones high and dry.
Haze for Marketers that Ignore Metrics
C-suite executive team and investors have finished pushing the boat out with the CMO who doesn’t toe the line. Successful marketers who toe the line won’t depend on windfalls.
They need to provide air cover for brand building. How do we become a category leader? How do we measure and grow brand equity? How do we build a vibrant community?
They know arguments about attribution may lead to loggerheads. They clear the deck with objective results of contribution, how much new business will marketing source? They have a lead forecast and know the cost per lead to arrive at an estimated budget.
Unit Economics
They might use what mariners call nautical guidance with a logbook to arrive at a theory of enterprise value, the order of operations, phases of growth, and the importance of unit economics.
The NorthStar is profitably and repeatedly generate a return on invested capital. Today it is known as unit economics, backed by data-driven analysis. Some metrics examples:
| Metrics | Description |
| CAC | Customer Acquisition Cost |
| Gross Margin | The incremental cost of delivering the service to a customer |
| LTV | Lifetime Value or Average Gross Margin Contribution per User / Churn Rate |
| LTV:CAC | How much money the firm makes per customer over how much it cost to acquire them |
Inspiration for Marketers to Take Aim with ICP and Validate the Buyers Journey
Many companies underinvest in marketing based on a lack of understanding of unit economics. ~Sam Jacobs
Enterprise Example:
Average deal size is $1,000,000 with 80% margins
Customers stay onboard for four years
Company offering the services wants a 5:1 LTV:CAC ratio
The amount OK to invest in marketing and sales to acquire a customer is $640,000.
We evaluated the first rate Premonio assessment and design strategy platform, offered by Johannes Hoech. Jim McHugh and Daniel Raskin offer similar guidance for their clients at Mperative too. I could fathom from the sounds of jets swooping overhead that it was time to cut and run from the marketing approach demonstration.
If you’re at a loose end to reach an even keel with your customer over marketing strategy it may be a great excursion to leave the boardroom behind and have them meet you onboard the Jeremiah O’Brien instead. This landlubber found the crew onboard showing their true colors. They were welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable, and shared their wisdom about seafaring ways. I recommend you give the Jeremiah O’Brien a visit.