You are walking right past a key function of a sharp marketing director and that would be knowing everything about the market the current product plays in and what the current and evolving market wants, why you win or lost a sale, who is on the hot sheet, how to undo competitive threats, how to spot opportunities and key product features that must be in future products if you want to make sales and how to write better sales presentations/quotes.
I would say the r-d dept. and all that it achieves is in direct correlation to the marketing dept. Sometimes, some things are painfully obvious. For instance, gas prices go up, then so do cars with better mpgs. But if you look deeper, the real gains are how a marketing swot grid spots new trends and new potentials ( pollution requirements drive mpg-friendly sales as much as the price of oil) to develop that winning mpg.
I would say that this is self evident through all the features that IMSC now offers its clients. Boiling it down, if a sale can be made to a etd user, IMSC will make it. They lead in every head to head feature and certification(s) within this space. Thank your marketing department as much as your r-d dept. To not recognize this is foolish, in my opinion because it is the way that it is.
Best of Luck to all IMSC Longs!
