The disruption of a
global pandemic, the associated changes in consumer behaviour and the economic
consequences of both are all having an impact on marketing, no matter what
category you’re in. Marketing strategies are being reviewed and updated,
looking for competitive advantage and the opportunity to drive greater
performance.
But it is too easy to
overlook the importance of aligning marketing structure to the demands of any
new strategy direction. “Structure follows strategy”, as we all know. And
structure also defines the capabilities and processes that are required to
deliver the marketing plan the strategy demands. But process is more than just
the way we do things; it also defines ‘the
way we do it around here’
. In other words, it influences organisational
culture.
Making changes to any
one of strategy, structure or process, without considering the implications
across all aspects of the marketing ecosystem, can lead to conflict, waste and
loss of productivity and performance. So, this month we are sharing the
insights and lessons we have drawn from more than a decade of advising our
clients on marketing strategy, structure, and process alignment.
Restructure marketing for success
How often in your daily work do you stop and think about the structure of your marketing team and the impact it’s having on how you are going to market? Honestly?
With mounting pressures on marketing to do more for less, deliver more tangible business results, become more customer oriented or be more agile, it’s something we at TrinityP3 feel needs to be thought about. Often.
We regularly work with CMOs who are looking to improve and optimise their marketing output by engaging us to investigate and assess their marketing processes, technology, agency rosters and structures.
Their briefs tell us they want to be faster to market, more responsive to customer needs, more innovative, more adaptable – or a combination of all the above.
One of the greatest challenges in marketing today is how to align internal teams, approaches, and performance measures.
The complexity of channels, the ongoing digitisation of society in a Covid-impacted world, global uncertainty impacting business confidence, and the need better to manage the cost/value equation of marketing activity have all added pressure to marketing management.
Leaders are under more and more pressure to cut costs, whilst trying to prove that their marketing activity is making a positive impact. As a result, alignment has become the focus to achieving success.
TrinityP3 is facilitating projects with marketers on how best to balance top of the marketing funnel activity, driving brand health and brand preference, with bottom of the funnel, performance-focused activity.
Is marketing positioned for success in your organisation?
No matter the size of your company or organisation, from a micro-business of one or two to a multinational corporation of many thousands, there is a need for a marketing function or discipline. But as Peter Drucker famously observed “Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business”.
It is important to remember that when Drucker refers to marketing, he does so with the broadest definition. This is not simply marketing communications, but the practice and discipline of how the organisation and its products and services are presented to the market. Traditionally this was considered to be the 4Ps of marketing, being Product, Pricing, Placement and Promotion.
So, as the CEO or Managing Director or leader of an organisation, the question is not whether marketing should be a function in your business. Instead, the question is – have you integrated the marketing discipline into your organisation in a way that drives success rather than failure?
