It may seem like a cliché, but in many companies around the world, Marketing and Engineering often don’t see eye to eye. Whether it’s a marketer taking offense because Engineering says a potentially world-changing new product idea can’t be produced and sold for less than a small fortune, or Engineering accusing Marketing of exaggerating the technical capabilities of a new design, we’ve all been on one side of the divide at some point. Can the relationship between Marketing and Engineering be constructive? Based on years of observation, we believe the answer is yes. It may not be easy, but we have some suggestions sure to facilitate peace, love and understanding—not only between Marketing and Engineering, but across your organization as a whole. See the complete article at: http://blogs.solidworks.com/solidworksblog/2014/04/marketing-vs-engineering-5-rules-for-peaceful-coexistence.html

1. 1
Stereotypes:
They’re fun because
they’re true!
Engineering vs. Marketing
5 Rules for
Peaceful
Coexistence

2. 2
Marketeerish to Engineerian Translation
Marketer: “It needs more sex
appeal…”
Marketer: “We need
something disruptive*…”
(*insert marketing buzzword of
the month)
Marketer: “The market study
we purchased says…”
What Engineering hears: “I have
no idea what I want. Now go do it!”
What Engineering hears: “I read
the dust cover on a Malcolm
Gladwell book this morning. The
words sounded smart, which made
me feel empowered.”
What Engineering hears: “We
spent your annual salary on some
charts illustrating common sense!
Carry on.”

3. 3
Engineerian to Marketeerish Translation
Engineer: “It’s a program
risk.”
Engineer: “It’s technically
infeasible.”
Engineer: “How are you
going to pull that out of the
mold tool?”
What Marketing hears: “That
sounds like work.”
What Marketing hears: “That
sounds like a lot of work.”
What Marketing hears:
“When will you openly worship
my innate superiority?”

4. 4
RULE No.1:
Use plain English
(or your language
of choice)
One plain-English sentence is
worth a thousand industry
buzzwords. All too often, we try
to hide a lack of real insight by
using important-sounding lingo.

5. 5
RULE No.2: Cede all authority
outside your areas of expertise
Allowing competent
professionals to do what
they do best. Marketing
serves a crucial role in a
successful business, as
does Engineering. For
these to mesh well
together, strong, mutual
respect is vital.

6. 6
RULE No.3: Assume every request is difficult
Nothing makes an
engineer angrier than
when someone in
management asks if he or
she might “just” do
something with a design.
When making requests, I
find it’s best to always
assume that it will require
a herculean effort on the
part of the person being
asked, and to show
appropriate gratitude for
the work involved.

7. 7
RULE No.4: Be forthright
When one group
feels they can’t trust
the other—as is all
too often the case—
it’s impossible to
collaborate
effectively.
Whatever!?! Sure!?!Is that
True???

8. 8
RULE No.5: Humility
wins the day
If there’s one thing common to all productive
exchanges, it’s humility. When smart people sit
down together believing that their collective
intelligence is greater than that of any one
individual, good things happen.

9. 9
See the full article at:
http://www.solidworks.com/marketing-vs-engineering