From the rise digital commerce to hyper-personalisation to the individual customer level, consumer marketing has gone through a paradigm shift in the last ten years. However, despite that level of change the marketing departments of many organisations have barely changed in their structure or the way they operate.
Most marketing functions still develop and roll out large and infrequent campaigns, rely on agencies to make the same old media purchases, and are organised by geography or product.
Coping with multiple channels and media types requires agile and cross-functional ways of working. To improve their organisational models, marketing functions need to shift structures away from ‘boxes and lines’ to a fluid ecosystem of internal and external partners and scale agile ways of working.
The traditional view of managing a roster of a single media agency and one or two creative agencies is becoming increasingly outdated. Today’s world features multiple channels and capabilities, such as search, social, programmatic, and content management, all of which need to be closely co-ordinated to be effective.
The teams which deliver these services, whether internal or external, need to function as an interconnected ‘ecosystem.’ They need to be partners collaborating with brands and each other to create campaigns and assets.
To do this effectively, marketing managers need to put in place shared KPIs, communicate clear accountability to each partner, develop a ‘rapid reaction’ governance structure, and create flexible guidelines so that partners can make decisions on the front lines quickly.
Some of the common questions we hear from our brand and marketing clients are:
How can I set clear KPIs and accountability across multiple teams and partners?
What are our core competencies, and what can be handled by external partners?
Which activities can be brought in-house at a later stage and how would we develop these capabilities?
How do we create incentives to reward teams for their ability to work together, rather than just their individual contributions?
How do we design and implement agile and scalable marketing processes?
Which tools can we use to enable our teams to work more seamlessly with external partners?
We clarify the role of marketing and sales within a company and then help design the organisational structure and set the KPIs which best support that function. We also help clients organise for digital leadership so that they can adapt and succeed in an increasingly digital world.
Henderton helps companies conduct complex marketing and sales transformations, getting things in the right order, and build the capabilities they need in a co-ordinated and sustainable way. We collaborate with clients across a number of activities:
Role definition: clarifying the role marketing plays within the organisation, from simply stewarding the corporate brand to playing the central role in all key brand and business decisions.
Core competencies: defining core versus non-core competencies and activities, increasing efficiency and performance by identifying and either repurposing or discarding less essential activities, and a roadmap for which activities should be done in-house now and which brought in later.
Partnerships: identifying and negotiating partnerships as part of a marketing ecosystem, covering creative and digital agencies, advertising networks, platforms, data providers, search and analytics agencies, CMS provider.
Operating model: design and structure of the marketing function, including central versus local governance and control, in-house versus partnered capabilities, shared or distributed services, and from this governance aspects, policies, and roles and responsibilities.
Alignment: aligning the wider organisation, from sales, product, finance and operations, to engage their customers across proliferating media and interactive channels within the rapid time cycles digital media demand.
Agency engagement model: establishment of shared targets and alignment of objectives, joint-working group, contract terms, and milestone and deliverables definition.
KPI setting: design and build marketing metrics and measurement capabilities to enable tracking and measurement of the value of marketing investments.
Tools: to enable closer working which co-ordinate internal teams and external agencies, creating greater transparency in tracking progress.
If you would like to learn more about our experience, please contact our Marketing practice team.
Please contact us for more information on our past projects.
XXX: xxx.
Helped a media company stem rapid market-share erosion by working with its marketing group to emphasize customer retention, resulting in a 3-5 percent increase in retention rate in its highest priority customer segments.
Collaborated with a global pharmaceutical company to transform marketing capabilities and sales execution at the local level. This effort led to improved brand positioning, a dramatic turnaround in sales, and an approximately three point gain in market share.
Worked with a global electronics company to transition from an engineering- to a consumer-driven culture by designing and deploying new marketing and sales functions in local markets.
Helped a leading high-tech firm to upgrade top talent, redesign core decision rights, and hire a topflight CMO who would report directly to the CEO.
Want to learn more about how we can help you grow?
Henderton acts as independent, trusted advisors to innovative companies throughout their growth lifecycle.
Get in touch and understand how we can help you achieve your objectives.
