David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, said once, “Marketing is too important to be left to the Marketing Department.”

Is David Packard saying marketing professionals don’t have anything to contribute?  Of course not. He’s pointing to the underlying priority marketing must have throughout every fiber of a successful company. If marketing is thought to be the concern of only a portion of the company’s workforce, of just one department, that company will suffer an endless string of both missteps and missed opportunities.

As you’re thinking about marketing for 2014, you have just such an opportunity before you as well. In an economic environment in which marketing and business in general are re-thinking everything, and the “old way of doing business” truly was based on an old way, this is an excellent time to approach the task of building a global brand with a fresh set of eyes and an outside perspective.  Is marketing part of your organization’s culture?  Is it part of your organization’s priorities?