Marketing and the Chicken and the Egg

What comes first, the chicken, the egg or marketing?  Or, I mean what comes first the egg, the chicken or marketing?  Oh, I mean what comes first marketing, the chicken or the egg?  Oh no!

I guess I just mean what comes first the chicken or the egg; but what I really want to say is what comes first marketing or business development?

This question has come into play most recently as I have watched businesses cut back on marketing  and then put more resources into business development.  But even what does that mean?

The questions:

1.  Can business development really develop business if the brand of the business isn’t established, marketing plan or at least creative calendar set, and graphic identity and marketing support materials established and also maintained and on, and on and on…

2.  Can a business afford to pay the marketing expenses if business development isn’t bring in the business to support marketing?

3.  Can the business thrive without either or just with one?

With the turn downward in the economy there are several theories that I have heard mentioned:

1.  Those who continue to market will be those who are remembered when this economy recovers.

2.  Don’t cut back on your marketing; instead increase revenues to pay for the marketing so that you are remembered long after the recovery.  Look at marketing as an investment for now and in the future.

3.  Yes, there are ways to market without spending the budget you might have spent five years ago.  Email marketing, public relations, social media are only some of those that can be used to support the business development of your organization whether it is a small or large business, or a non-profit.