Problem/Situation

A marketing organization's leader approached us with the following problems:

1. The organization losing market at a rate we find unacceptable (Where?)
2. The organization lacks a clear path forward or a clear, market and culture focused/centric vision of the future state (success)
3. As a result, the Leadership team is not aligned or coordinated – fractures, disagreement, misalignment, strong personalities
4. Finally, the organization lacks a clear definition of their offer and how to scale and adjust it to localities
5. Team is over-revving – lack of collaboration and cohesion

Uncovering root causes - The need for a deeper understanding

we talked to the immediate reports AKA  managers to gain their perspective on:

1. The challenges & frustrations they face & see as the organization seeks to reinvent itself into a marketing company
2. Their hopes & fears for the future of the organization and;
3. What they seek out of the time spent with team together

Channel vs Segment: There is lack of clarity due to the absence of a clear vision of the end users, their segments and the overall team goals

“Corporation hasn’t figured out the role of retail. Retail is an afterthought. We are the poor unwanted child who is kept alive by being fed instant noodles”

“We don't understand B2C. We are just porting B2B concepts to B2C”

Alignment with Marketing: There is a need for a better understanding of roles & responsibilities, which in turn affect the understanding of ownership and potentials overlaps

“I am not sure everyone is clear about who does what”

“There's no ownership in terms of who would be driving customer centricity”

“We need to stop talking about high level and be more specific on what each function’s R&R and specific deliverables”

The marketing organization is suffering from an identity crisis, which is leading to struggles with making themselves as well as others understand what they do

“In the past, Sales was the big guy. In the new world, we are trying to become a marketing company and that is leading to lack of clarity”

“We need to do better as an organization at defining what marketing is”

Alignment with Marketing: There is a need for a better understanding of roles & responsibilities, which in turn affect the understanding of ownership and potentials overlaps

“I am not sure everyone is clear about who does what”

“There's no ownership in terms of who would be driving customer centricity”

“We need to stop talking about high level and be more specific on what each function’s R&R and specific deliverables”

Customer Centricity: There are doubts as to whether: are we really putting customers first?

“We are limited from looking beyond our core business. Our definition of customer is too narrow. We only look at parts that give us money e.g. fueling”

“Before we go out and do things have we thought about what customer really wants?”