Download Organizing for Marketing in a Digital Age

Organizing for
Marketing in a
Digital Age
SUMMARY PAPER – OCTOBER 2014
thinkbrand
with
Organizing for Marketing in a Digital Age
People
People
Structure
Structure
Tools
Proces
Tools
One Strategy
Proces
One Strategy
Overview
People
New consumer touch points, solutions, brand experiences, and
The right people must be in place to successfully create a total
categories that are being redefined have exploded within the digital
consumer experience and integrated solutions. “Right people”
age, prompting marketers to develop new strategies and ways of
embrace the company culture, values, behaviors, and competencies
working. In an age when conversations start and spread both on- and
required to deliver the brand strategy. In over-performing
offline, organizations have to be agile to capture opportunities in real
organizations, leaders ignite change and lead from the start. They
time.
think differently about talent and advocate learning, partnering with
HR to recruit and train. They empower employees, moving away
But most marketing organizations continue to operate by standards
from “command and control.” Further, they create future leaders by
set in the 1950’s. Outdated organization charts fuel departmental
motivating Millennial employees.
and divisional silo-ism, where collaboration and integration remains
too limited. The days when a generalist marketing team developed
Practical initiatives you can implement in your organization:
static, long-term brand strategies based on generic market research
are over. Indeed, Marketers understand the need to overhaul their
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Assess your company culture to determine your readiness to
organizations, but the question is how.
embrace and build a culture of innovation, curiosity, risk taking and
empowerment – capitalize on quick wins and close gaps
To answer this question, Millward Brown Vermeer, the global
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marketing consultancy, led an unprecedented global research
new partners to help solve business issues
Form pilot teams to think and act outside “corporate”; invite in
initiative: “Marketing2020 – Organizing for Growth.” Based on 10,000
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surveys with marketers across 92 countries, and 350 in-depth
beyond the usual candidate pool
interviews with CMO’s and opinion leaders from the world’s leading
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brands, Marketing2020 examined how over-performing brands
flex time for personal passions)
and marketing companies align marketing strategy, structure and
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capability to unleash business growth.
Performance Indicators
Work with HR to ensure job specs and hiring profiles push
Create programs that appeal to Millennials (e.g., mentorship,
Tie rewards and Personal Development Plans to shared Key
Taking Marketing2020 a step further, Vermeer and Google partnered
to undertake an extensive deep dive to determine HOW overperformers organize marketing differently to win in a digital age.
The study concluded that today’s businesses require a cultural
mindset shift and an organizational model that is designed to deliver
more flexibility in expertise and more speed in supporting highly
connected and empowered teams. Over-performing companies
think holistically about what operating model will enable delivery of
its brand purpose, strategies, and consistent consumer experiences
across all touch points. Let’s take a closer look at what winning
companies do in each element of their operating models – structure,
people, process, tools – and what practical things you can implement
in a relatively short time.
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Organizing for Marketing in a Digital Age
People
People
Structure
Structure
Tools
Proces
Tools
One Strategy
Proces
One Strategy
Structure
Process
Structure is not just about the org chart: it is about one networked
In addition to having the right structure and people in place to
organization collaborating to achieve an aligned strategy. Marketers
support the company’s strategy, marketers must define how the
must embrace a more fluid and integrated organization capable
actual work happens in the organization. Well-defined processes
of delivering a total consumer experience around their brand’s
lead to predictability, stability and higher quality, while reducing
positioning. The organization must be networked across functions,
inefficiencies.
teams, and partners. The structure that supports such strategic
success requires marketing leaders to break down silos, orchestrate a
The key is to prioritize the most critical processes to define – those
team of specialists, build communities of excellence, refine decision-
that differentiate your company from competitors and allow your
making flows, and clearly establish business KPI’s.
company to excel. Once the processes are defined, marketing
leaders need to activate and embed throughout the organization.
Practical initiatives you can implement in your organization:
Over-performing organizations create strategic clarity with simple
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guardrails and push decision making rights down to the right
Break down organizational silos that dilute
brand experience or hamper collaboration; make sure that legal and
levels. They also ensure interdependencies between functions to
HR are closely connected with your change process
dramatically shorten approval times – befriending legal is a prime
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example of such an interdependency.
Bring together teams with a balance of data & analytics
(THINK), consumer engagement (FEEL), content production (DO).
Determine the balance based on the task at hand
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Practical initiatives you can implement in your organization:
Assess and balance the digital specialist capabilities you bring
in-house with those that you outsource to agencies,
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ensuring you treat both as true partners
decision making
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Create communities of digital expertise across your business
and begin paving the road to enterprise-wide digital excellence
Create simple guardrails for your brands to guide real time
Make sure accountability and decision making rights are at the
right levels. No power plays.
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Establish an approval process that honors effective community
and social management. Try the 24-hour clock model: if approval is
not given in 24 hours, then the content can be pushed
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Sync decision-making bio-rhythms and meeting cadences to
your activities.
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Organizing for Marketing in a Digital Age
People
People
Structure
Structure
Tools
Proces
Tools
Proces
One Strategy
One Strategy
Tools
Conclusion
In today’s digital world, decisions must be based and dealt with
Re-engineering an organization’s operating model across structure,
in real-time. Over-performers recognize the need for iterative
people, process and tools is a critical success factor for marketing in
improvement, capturing what works and hardcoding collaboration,
investing in excellence programs, and ensuring communication and
a digital age.
connectivity within the organization. The best tools allow you to
answer Yes to questions such as: “does it increase responsiveness?”,
“does it feel organic to how we work?”, “does it help us share and
codify best practices?”, “does it foster collaboration?” and “does
Findings of this study represent the shared principles of the
organizational approaches of over-performing companies, which
it equip my team to win and serve as brand ambassadors to the
THINK marketing in a digital age, not digital marketing, BELIEVE in
outside world?”
integration, not hand-offs, and ORGANIZE within a holistic operating
Practical initiatives you can implement in your organization:
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Remove barriers in the office and internal communication tools
model, not just with organigrams. The result? Thriving companies
successfully leveraging technology to deliver winning products,
services, and total consumer experiences in the digital era.
to help employees connect and collaborate across functions
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Assess digital competencies; develop on-demand learning
programs to bridge gaps
Read the full Marketing2020 article
in HBR: http://goo.gl/e5IZgv
About
Millward Brown Vermeer
MB Vermeer is the leading marketing consultancy focused on aligning marketing strategy,
structure and capability to unleash brand-led business growth. Our teams bring a “wholebrain” advisory offer for clients across categories and continents.
Besides our extensive client work, we are proud of our thought leadership initiatives
including Marketing2020, ‘Grow” with Jim Stengel, ‘The Global Brand CEO’, and the annual
BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands rankings.
For more information please contact Marc.
[email protected]
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