In sickness and in health

Apologies to my regular readers/fans (I can dream!) but I was very ill last week, hence the delay in posting.

Without going into too much detail I was rushed to hospital with food poisoning and ended up being looked after by one of my CIM members, for which I am very grateful.

This lead me to thinking how lucky we are are to have a wide network of people that we can call friends, drawn together with one common purpose - professional marketing. It is all about belonging and for good or bad, in sickness or in health!, we all are in this together.

In this current climate of uncertainty, where 'economic downturn' is all we are hearing and once again marketers are under pressure to deliver ROI, we need to stick together to remain positive and strong. What I mean is stick to long term strategies and don't revert to short term tactics as a 'quick fix', otherwise we will forever be 'the colouring in department'.

Fellowship

The North West Regional Board was talking at their meeting this week about fellowship.

In all The Institute's literature it states that 'You may be elected to Fellowship after a period of membership or upon entry to The Institute provided you meet Member (MCIM) criteria.'

The word 'elected' suggests that you cannot apply for fellowship, which is in fact not the case. Most fellows are indeed approached by The Institute after reviewing a members records, but that is only as good at the information you give us! Therefore we are urging senior members to apply for fellowship. You can do this by emailing denapearce@cim.co.uk, who will send you the criteria and application form.

Picking up on the information that we have for you, if you have stopped receiving communications from us it could mean that you have forgotten to tell us about a change in address, email or phone number so update your records with us today at http://www.cim.co.uk/MyCIM/MyAccount.aspx or call Membership Services on 01628 427210 and don't miss out on information and potentially fellowship!

Don't re-invent the wheel...

...if you don't have to.

One of the great things about The Chartered Institute of Marketing is knowing that you have a wealth of knowledge and experience behind you to achieve your goals - be they personal or business.

What got me thinking about it this week was an email from a studying member asking me for clarification on some marketing jargon. I replied, drawing on my knowledge and experience, and felt very pleased that I could help a fellow marketer - my good deed for the day!

I met this person at an event, but I could have quite easily met her online at http://www.cim.mvine.com/, or through another member - that doesn't matter. What matters is we are a family and families help eachother. Extending that further, and contrary to popular belief, The Institute really does want all it's studying members to pass their exams, and there is a vast amount of help and information on our website (http://www.cim.co.uk/). Just one element of which is the case study section (http://www.cim.co.uk/KnowledgeHub/CaseStudies/CaseStudies.aspx) where you can learn from other people and might find that you don't have to re-invent the wheel!

Copyright

The issue of who owns your logo and corporate designs has been brought to my attention this week. Members should be more clued up on copyright laws, but just in case, make sure you establish who owns what right from the very beginning...

'I’m hearing of several companies in Cumbria who are now facing legal battles over who owns the copyright to their logos and corporate designs. The design agencies seem to have picked up the fact that they own the copyright unless written into the contract at the beginning and a lot of small companies just don’t appreciate this. Therefore when they try to leave the agency – they are being told – you can’t use your logos etc.'

This problem has been around probably as long as the copyright law and it is something that gives marketing a bad name. So, whoever you are that is practicing this nasty exercise just think why the client is leaving you in the first place and don't try to hang on to them in this way.

If you are doing this and you are a member, be warned that The Chartered Institute of Marketing doesn't take too kindly to treating clients this way.