Our takeaways from the country’s top marketing execs, as heard at M-Planet 2009 in Orlando last week.

We’d love to hear what you thought if you attended.  What was the most important takeaway for your business?   How did it change your outlook for marketing in 2009? Contribute to the conversation by commenting or sending us email.

1. Strike a left-brain / right brain balance in your marketing organization. We need all types of thinking to produce innovative products: analytical minds collaborating with blue-sky thinkers is the winning combination. Mix up teams: pair engineers with marketers, designers with analysts.

2. Put your customer to work. Do more than listen to their feedback: initiate a back and forth dialogue with them, open yourself up to brainstorming in a blue-sky format, co-create. Put the people who make products for them in front of them: involve all job functions in focus groups, take engineers along on ethnographies, and introduce your CEO to customers in person or virtually. Consumers are in control of their brand experiences: harness their empowerment, using it to create deeper connections with your brand.

3. Utilize social media. It’s not going away, so don’t fight it. Try it yourself first, getting involved in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other web properties you think your customers might be. Immerse yourself in it for a month while you get comfortable, then work with your marketing teams to decide how you can use it effectively. Meet consumers where they gather on a daily basis, and participate in your brand conversation along with them.

4. Be bold. Crisis times are the best times to experiment: a risky investment now may pay long dividends in the long-term. Test-and-learn is key: start small with test cells and expand as you figure out what works. If there’s any expectation that you’re a change agent within your organization, you have permission to experiment. Think broadly in your use of channels and media. Let your employees make up their job titles based on the contributions they make to the brand. Think globally: are there opportunities to open new markets? Be open-minded. Do it now.

5. Collaborate. Partner with other marketers in your category and outside. Seek out professionals in other categories – the arts, education, and science. Get a mentor and meet with him/her regularly to gain new perspectives. Open your mind to the possibility that none of us can do this alone, and we can make each other stronger by thinking together.

6. Quantify your marketing spend. Set clear performance measures for everything you do, and use the tools available to us to measure results effectively. All kinds of marketing – even social media – can be measured. Even qualitative research – including ethnographic research and focus groups – can be quantified by utilizing a hybrid approach in your programs.

7. Be disruptive. Get your customers’ attention by presenting your brand in unexpected ways. “Experiential” marketing includes advertising in unusual places like taxicabs, the roofs of buildings, and on people themselves, and in non-traditional formats like video, light and sound. Street marketing and guerilla initiatives can be cheaper than traditional advertising, but be sure to develop performance measures before letting 10,000 leaflets rain down over Manhattan. Also note that sometimes, entertainment trumps fact: e.g. Saturday Night Live skits legitimately influenced the vote in 2008.

8. Lose the marketing-ese. The proliferation of information coming at consumers at all times is confusing, and inaccurate information makes them suspicious. Give them straight talk, inform them about your brand. Allow them to make decisions that are best for them, and they’ll see your brand as an ally – not a company out to exploit them to make a buck.

9. Activate your employees. Your employees are your best brand ambassadors: first make sure they buy into your brand promise, then enable and equip them with the right resources to advocate for your brand. Bring them face-to-face with your customers to learn from each other.

10. Focus on the future. We’re not going to be in this slump forever, and the things we do now will affect how our brand is seen in the long-term. Don’t discount wildly just to move product. Don’t sacrifice your brand’s image. Companies acting out of desperation will be seen as weak, under confident, and inauthentic. Stay the course with your brand, evolving it for today’s consumer needs, but staying true to who you are.