CMOs are increasingly concerned that tight budgets and the lack
of a clear digital strategy across the enterprise are hurting their
company's ability to compete in the digital age. They are being
squeezed by the need to support major corporate objectives --
profitable growth and operational efficiency -- while maintaining a
loyal customer base and increasing sales amidst stiffer competition
and higher customer expectations.
Despite huge investments in the tools, technologies and
resources to better connect with customers, four in 10 of the
executives surveyed -- over 400 senior marketers in 10 countries --
say that they are still not prepared to meet their marketing
objectives. Considering that 65 percent of the CMOs reported that
consumers' expectations for relevant, targeted experiences are
having the greatest long-term impact on marketing strategy, the
road to success will depend on the ability to drive digital
technology beyond marketing and into the enterprise as a whole.
Based on the survey's key findings, there are four broad steps
that marketers need to take if they hope to meet customer demands
and grow market share. ?
Fundamentally Change the Marketing Experience.
CMOs must drive a shift in organizational culture that makes
consumer relevance at scale a key operating principle, shared by
every department beyond marketing that affects the consumer
experience -- R&D, sales, manufacturing, supply-chain
management and services. Building a marketing organization powered
by analytics and technology and focused on business outcomes will
play a critical integration role across channels and business
units.
Embrace a Digital Orientation. As digital
technology plays an increasingly vital role in transforming the
customer experience and enhancing corporate success, CMOs must lead
the organization in embracing a digital orientation. The
performance of digital orientation in high-growth companies is 21
percent greater than in negative sales-growth companies. Yet,
survey respondents say that when it comes to the capabilities
considered most essential to improving their company's performance
-- offering innovation, customer analytics, digital orientation,
customer engagement and marketing operations -- their weakest
performance is in digital engagement.
Invest in Analytics and Talent. One in five
CMOs rates him or herself below average in multichannel
attribution, correlating advertising to sales and measuring media
and buying effectiveness. When a company's fortunes rise or fall
based on understanding of and response to customers' needs, this is
a major issue that must be addressed. While CMOs do plan to invest
more in their analytics capabilities, a major focus of that
investment must also be on hiring, retraining and redeploying
people to improve efficiency, agility and responsiveness of the
organization. Marketing talent must be able to create consistent,
multichannel experiences that meet customers' needs, expectations
and demands for relevance.
Pick a Partner. Agencies must help CMOs make
sense of complexity in the marketplace by improving their levels of
execution and delivery and providing a broader set of capabilities
and deeper integration across the agency ecosystem. While 55
percent of CMOs said they were satisfied with the level of
collaboration with their outside agencies and give external
providers satisfaction scores of nine to 12 points higher than
internal resources on a range of capabilities -- from customer
insights and analytics to multichannel campaign management –-
there remains a disconnect between what the brands expect and what
agencies deliver.
By making additional investments in talent, analytics and, most
importantly, digital marketing capabilities, marketing executives
will position themselves to reap the rewards from creating seamless
customer experiences and ensuring that their brands capture the
hearts, minds -- and wallets -- of their customers.
Brian Whipple is Global Managing Director and
Baiju Shah is Managing Director of Strategy &
Innovation, Accenture Interactive.