Should you keep your business strategy secret, even from employees? Some top marketers invite the entire firm into the huddle. How to build a top-flight game plan:

Open the book. At data center tech firm Egenera, any employee can read the marketing playbook by clicking on an online calendar.

Chief Marketing Officer Christine Crandell says making marketing transparent eliminates the Monday-morning quarterbacking that goes on in organizations. "It removed a lot of the questions," she told IBD.

Instead of asking how money is being spent, employees offer more constructive input. "The conversation changed within the company," Crandell said. "They started asking the right kinds of questions."

Keep it safe. Persuading marketing staffers to put their work on the companywide chalkboard isn't easy. "For a lot of people it feels like an unnatural act," Crandell said.

She calms fears by telling her people that being public doesn't mean being perfect. "It has to be OK if there's experiential failure," she said. "It's OK to share, and it's OK if stuff doesn't work."

Welcome the walk-on. Crandell noticed that salespeople weren't taking marketing-generated leads and running with them, so she placed top salespeople on marketing committees for six-month rotations.

The hands-on experience has an impact on those rookies.

"What happens is they start to evangelize" about what marketing can do for sales, Crandell said.

Respect the divisions. Getting an entire organization behind a marketing leader can be tough. Some departments want more attention. Others want to work out their own plays. "Spanning Silos" author David Aaker says many CMOs push too hard for a cohesive approach.

"They typically move too aggressively and the silos push back," he told IBD. Using a lighter touch shows that you respect the differences inside those special teams.

"Mainly the CMO has got to facilitate conversation," Aaker said. "The goal should be to replace isolation and competition with cooperation and communication."

Kick it off. Start a marketing-oriented discussion across disciplines by picking a topic everyone can run with. A food firm might ask how it can better serve consumers who have diabetes.

"It's an area that all the silos have an interest in," Aaker said. "It advances the ball and opens up communication and cooperation."

Build a fan base. With dozens of product lines, ConAgra Foods (NYSE:CAG - News) had an identity crisis. Its Chef Boyardee employees knew their pastas, "but they didn't always know so much about all the other brands in the portfolio," said Teresa Paulsen, ConAgra's vice president for corporate communications.

The firm decided to drill its workers on all its lines in a lighthearted way. Its "Food you love" campaign features staff members talking about their favorite ConAgra products and why they love them.

The company also declared a food amnesty day. Employees were encouraged to empty their pantries of non-ConAgra items. The loot was donated to food banks. "The real goal is to step up employee engagement," Paulsen said.