#1NLab16: Breaking The Bimodal Cycle: Taking the Lead with Continous Innovation

NOV 2-4, 2016
Breaking the
Bimodal Cycle
Taking the Lead with
Continuous Innovation

NOV 2-4, 2016
Kalev Peekna
@kpeekna

NOV 2-4, 2016
We Sure Do Like a Good Theme…
Each year One North selects a theme to inspire us in how we
think about digital.
2013: Relationships 2014: Reinvention 2015: Orchestration

2016: The Long Game
NOV 2-4, 2016

Normal people watching
sports
Kalev watching sports

My Complicated Relationship with Sports
We are told that in sports, natural talent
does not matter as much as
dedication and hard work.
I think my parents might disagree.
Es tut mir leid, Mutti und Vatti!

NOV 2-4, 2016
Things Kalev Has Actually
Said about Sports

“I dunno… it all looks like
millionaires in their pajamas
to me.”
NOV 2-4, 2016

Kalev: “So is that the one with the orange
bouncy ball, or the one with the pillows?”
Colleague: “Pillows?”
Kalev: “You know, the pillows on the lawn.
And then they throw something at the guy
running around the pillows… Throwball?”
NOV 2-4, 2016

Colleague: “Want to join me and the
client for golf?”
Kalev: “I don’t understand. What have
I done to offend you?”
NOV 2-4, 2016

“If one more person interrupts this
meeting to congratulate a grown-a**
man who plays a game for a living, I
swear I will loop the Paris fashion
shows on every monitor in this office
for the next two weeks.”
NOV 2-4, 2016

NOV 2-4, 2016
An Outsider’s Perspective

NOV 2-4, 2016
Sport Is a Huge Industry
$498.4B
Size of sports industry, US
$34.9B
Spent in sports advertising, US
US professional athletes
earn a median annual pay of
$1,500B
Size of sports industry, Global
14,000
$45K

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Love Sports, But Probably Not All Sports
Each year, The Harris Poll surveys the US, asking respondents to name
their favorite sport. In 2016, the winners were:
1. Football
2. Baseball
3. College Football
4. Auto Racing
5. Basketball ♂
6. Hockey
7. Soccer ♂
8. College Basketball ♂
9. Golf ♂
10. Boxing
11. Swimming
12. Track & Field
13. Horse Racing
14. Soccer ♀
15. College Basketball ♀
16. Basketball ♀
17. Tennis ♂
18. (Not sure)

NOV 2-4, 2016
Some Observations
Women’s sports still have a long
way to go. Most people would
rather watch male students than
female professionals.
Americans’ ideas about
athleticism are… quirky – i.e.
“auto racing” and “golf.”
We like our sports FAST.
1. Football
2. Baseball
3. College Football
4. Auto Racing
5. Basketball ♂
6. Hockey
7. Soccer ♂
9. Golf ♂
10. Boxing
11. Swimming
12. Track & Field
13. Horse Racing
14. Soccer ♀
16. Basketball ♀
17. Tennis ♂
18. (Not sure)

NOV 2-4, 2016
Where Are the Endurance Sports?
Of the top sports in America, only 4*
are considered “endurance” sports
that require athletes to train for
sustained performance over long
periods of time.
They all require effort (cough, ahem,
golf), but most of these athletes train
for specific skills and short bursts of
activity.
1. Football
2. Baseball
3. College Football
4. Auto Racing
5. Basketball ♂
6. Hockey
7. Soccer ♂
9. Golf ♂
10. Boxing
11. Swimming
12. Track & Field
13. Horse Racing
14. Soccer ♀
16. Basketball ♀
17. Tennis ♂
18. (Not sure)
*Source: ESPN. Only 3 if you count men’s and women’s
soccer together
Not on this list:
• Cycling
• Triathlons
• Hiking
• Distance Swimming
• Skiing
• Field Hockey
• Canoeing/Kayaking
• Rugby
• Wrestling
• Skating (speed &
figure)

NOV 2-4, 2016
Why Not Endurance?
It doesn’t seem hard to guess why we don’t
connect with endurance sports so easily:
§ “Favorite” = “entertaining”
§ Holding your attention is as popular in
modern life as darning socks.
§ Two words: commercial break
§ We all like a quick win.

What Does That Have to Do
with Marketing?
NOV 2-4, 2016

NOV 2-4, 2016
Introducing the
Bimodal Problem
Sports Fact: Only 2 days of the year have no professional (MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL) games.

NOV 2-4, 2016
We Have a Problem, and It Looks Like ThisEffort
Time
$$$ $$$

NOV 2-4, 2016
Why “Bimodal?”
Economists and analysts call camel-hump
curves like this “bimodal” because they
reflect two different “modes” or clusters.
In digital marketing, the bimodal problem
works like this:
§ Years 1-2: Large investment to create a new platform (e.g., website)
§ Years 3-5: “Run the platform” with minimal reinvestment
§ Years 6-7: Replace with a newer, bigger, better platform

NOV 2-4, 2016
Introducing the
Bipolar Problem
Sports Fact: There are only 18 minutes of action in an average baseball game.

NOV 2-4, 2016
So Exciting at the Start…
“Yay! We got our funding!”
“Thanks, suckers… I
mean… stakeholders!”

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Dig in with Gusto
“Kickoff! So cool!”
“I wonder if it comes in
purple.”
“I sure hope so.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Start to Get Slammed…
“This is harder than I
thought. But still cool.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Now It’s Pushing Everything Else Aside
“This is way harder than I
thought…”

NOV 2-4, 2016
But You’re Dedicated – You’re in It to Win
“So close to the finish!
Go go go”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Success!
“Launch! You’re awesome!
We’re awesome! You know
what this deserves? Team
T-shirts!”

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Deal with the Aftermath
“Wait, we can’t be out of
money. We didn’t do
everything we planned…”

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Try to Stick to the Plan
“Just a few things to fix on
the Phase 2 list”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Your Real Job Needs You Back
“I’d love to… but I gotta get
back to everything else I
neglected. Maybe next
quarter.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
A Competitor Launches Something New
“Yes, I did see what the
other guys did. Yes, it’s
cool. We’re still cool, right?”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Regret Sets In
“I really need that de-
scoped feature, but I don’t
dare ask for money.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Indifference Sets In
“Eh. I guess it still looks OK,
but maintenance is such a
pain.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Same Old, Same Old
“I’m so sick of looking at this
thing.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
The Tide Turns
“I’m embarrassed to show it
to people. Why can’t we
ever have nice things?”

NOV 2-4, 2016
Blamestorms Are Good at Hiding Irony
“Who the heck agreed to
this? This is terrible.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Hit Bottom
“I hate this thing with the
intensity of a thousand
burning suns."

NOV 2-4, 2016
You Get an Idea
“The partners hate it too? I
know what to do.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Your Devious Plan Knows No Equal
“Dear stakeholders: The
struggle is real. This thing
is single-handedly
responsible for everything
wrong in your lives.”

NOV 2-4, 2016
…And It Starts All Over
“Yay! We got our funding!”
“Thanks, suckers… I
mean… stakeholders!”

NOV 2-4, 2016
But Wait, It’s Worse Than
You Think

NOV 2-4, 2016
Cycles Overlap as They Repeat
Chances are good that you approach most of your major investments this way –
leading to a staggered but relentless shift of attention from one thing to the
next.
Web CRM Brand EMM Proposals WebEvents

NOV 2-4, 2016
Existing
Capabilities
Existing
Capabilities
Over Time, the $$$ Only Goes Up
New
Abilities
When you approach your major digital
investments as a “redesign” or
“replatform,” then improvements can
only be achieved as supplements to the
replacement of existing capabilities.

NOV 2-4, 2016
So What Is This Costing Us?
Aside from the emotional whiplash, the Bimodal Curve presents you with
bigger obstacles than you may realize:
§ Feature hoarding leads to too much spend
§ “Strategy” happens in only one dimension, one moment at a time
§ Narrow focus on platforms and toolsets at the expense of what
you’re using them to accomplish
§ Inability to react to emerging needs and market conditions
§ Out-of-sync, siloed digital capabilities

NOV 2-4, 2016
So Why Does It Keep
Happening?
Sports Fact: Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Why Are We Stuck on the Bimodal Curve?
Because “projects” are
how your partners -
consultants, lawyers,
bankers, etc.- solve
problems
Effort spikes tightly
limit your attention
We tend to think in
campaigns
We like shiny new
things
Fear that once the
project is over, you can
never touch it again
Only a big, quick win
can make all the work
worthwhile
Because you need to
be terrible in order to
convince others to be
great

NOV 2-4, 2016
Let’s Look at an Alternative
Sports Fact: Michael Phelps has won more medals than 97 countries – in their entire history.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Welcome to the Endurance CurveEffort
Time

NOV 2-4, 2016
What About Spend?
Web
CRM
Brand
EMM
$$$

NOV 2-4, 2016
Hallmark Benefits of the Endurance Curve
The Endurance Curve involves a completely different mindset, one closer to
product (and software) development than a typical marketing campaign:
§ No presumption of obsolescence. Platforms are here to stay.
§ Investments and improvements are iterative, incremental, sustained.
§ Predictability of spend over time.
§ Increased ability to assess market conditions and refactor strategies.
§ Coordination with other platforms is easier.
§ No more redesigns / replacements!

NOV 2-4, 2016
Any Real Life Examples?
Sports Fact: Golf is the only sport to be played on the moon.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Let’s Start with the Usual Suspects
The best examples of organizations who are
training for digital endurance are precisely
those known for repeated innovation and
differentiation.
So we’ll start with names you’ve heard a lot
about: Amazon and Apple.
(Keep your groaning to a minimum. We’ll get to
the PSOs soon enough.)

NOV 2-4, 2016
When Was the Last
Amazon.com Redesign?

2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

NOV 2-4, 2016
When Was the Last
Apple.com Redesign?

NOV 2-4, 2016
So, When Did Apple and Amazon “Redesign”?
It’s a philosophical question.
Depending on your perspective, the
answer is either “never” or “always.”
You only see slight differences year
over year. But comparing views over
long periods reveals as big a change as
any “redesign.”

amazon.com, ca. 2006
amazon.com, ca. 2016

apple.com, ca. 2006
apple.com, ca. 2016

NOV 2-4, 2016
But we are not
Apple nor Amazon.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Even Boring, Old PSOs Can Plan for Endurance
You may find it surprising that this
incremental approach, though rooted in
the technology sector, is not limited to
high-tech companies.
We’ve observed several leading PSOs,
including Deloitte, McKinsey, and BCG
take similar approaches to their digital
platforms. PSOs may never be “cool enough” to
be Apple or Amazon, but they usually
make up for it in strategy. And bowties.

Deloitte.com
2012
2013
2014
2015
(early)
2015
(late)
2016

Deloitte
Careers
2014
2015
2016

McKinsey
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

McKinsey
Careers
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016

NOV 2-4, 2016
Wait. All I See Is a Redesign.
Screenshots don’t do McKinsey’s strategy justice. You have to look
deeper than looks to understand their strategy:
§ 2010-11: New main .com design
§ 2012: Selective integration of Quarterly content. Individual logins + personalization
§ 2013: Integration of separate careers site into main .com.
§ 2014: Quarterly content now on main .com, in iOS app, and available as webapp
under new Insights brand. Complete restructuring of Careers content/branding.
§ 2015: Dynamic globalization and folding in of multiple location-based sites. Second
restructuring of Careers content.
§ 2016: Visual redesign of main.com following direction of Careers branding.

NOV 2-4, 2016
McKinsey’s Endurance Program
Redesign
Thought
Leadership
Integration
Globalization
& Site
Consolidation
App
Integration
Careers
Integration
Brand
Reposition
Visual
Redesign
McKinsey’s efforts may not be apparent on the homepage, but if you take a
deeper look, you see continuous, significant improvements over time. The
visual update was simply positioned at the end.
McKinsey executed a long-term vision of a consolidated, global, brand-aligned
website not as an overnight redesign, but as a multi-year program leading
ultimately to what you see today.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Boston Consulting Group

NOV 2-4, 2016
BCG’s Digital Strategy
In 2012, BCG launched a new program of “digital renovation” involving nearly
every digital touchpoint.
The long-term vision focused on the creation of a completely new, cross-
channel “digital presence” based on an updated brand:
1. New Careers site with updated visual branding
2. New main .com site with branding borrowed from Careers
3. Re-integration of Careers into main .com
4. Globalization of main .com, progressive folding of location sites
5. (Current Phase) Integration of separate Perspectives site into main.com

BCG
2012
(main)
2012
(careers)
2013
2014
(careers)
2015
2016

NOV 2-4, 2016
Going for Endurance
Sports Fact: NFL linemen shed up to 9 pounds of water – equal to 1.5 Chihuahuas – per game.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Training for the Endurance Curve
Digital Endurance requires an entirely different mindset – in perspective,
planning, skills, budgeting, measurement, and so on. And just like marathon
training, most of the changes have to start with you:
§ Moving from project execution to program management
§ Dedicated leadership, both in and out of marketing
§ Data-driven, results-oriented decision making
§ Iterative budgeting and dynamic adjustment of goals

NOV 2-4, 2016
From Project to Program Management
Perhaps the biggest change needed is to stop thinking about your major digital
efforts – Email, CRM, Website, even Brand – as projects. It’s much better to think
of your digital efforts as ongoing programs rather than discrete projects:
Project Management Program Management
• Defined beginning, middle and end • Ongoing – literally never ends
• One big effort • Arrangement of successive efforts
• Isolated schedule • Tied to financial/governance schedules
• Manager-level leadership • Executive-level leadership
• Execution focused • Vision focused

NOV 2-4, 2016
Long-Term Vision, Short-Term Actions
One important discipline program management inherits from its roots in software
development is the arrangement of efforts into a release schedule rather than a big
launch followed by minor tweaks:
A release structure doesn’t just even out effort and spend. It is the key to providing better
control, predictability, and flexibility into your efforts. It ensures continued progress
while also discouraging focus on tactical, ad hoc adjustments.
Project Tweak Tweak
Release 1 Release 2 Release 3 Release 4

NOV 2-4, 2016
Rethinking How You Scope
In a program managed on a release schedule, success is only possible if you
break down larger efforts into components that build on each other. A traditional
project often squeezes too much into a single effort, making it very hard to
control your focus:
Website Problems?
Let’s Do a
Big, Giant,
Redesign
Project!
Brand Alignment
Visual Design
Tech Platform
Data Integration
Services Structure
Content Focus
SEO
Analytics
Internal Engagement
Geographic LocalizationSearch

NOV 2-4, 2016
Rethinking the Redesign
Of course, sometimes you really just need to replace a broken, out-of-date platform. But
that doesn’t mean you can’t rethink how you arrange your efforts, especially if you remain
flexible about the duration and effort for each release.
You can gain even more flexibility if an immediate replacement isn’t necessary. Once
you escape a “redesign” mindset, you can re-order to your actual priorities:
Planning & Visual
Design
Release 1
Tech Build /
Replatform
Release 2
Data
Integrations
Release 3
Localization &
Content
Rewrite
Release 4
Personalization
Release 5 Release 6
Brand
Reposition
Brand
Reposition
Release 1
Localization
Release 2
Service
Restructuring
Release 3
Marketing
Automation
Release 4
CRM
Integration
Release 6
Visual Design
Update
Release 5

NOV 2-4, 2016
But What About Longer-Term Efforts?
Of course, some marketing efforts just won’t fit into a single release. The key to
arranging that work is to understand how that effort might span across multiple
releases:
Structuring efforts this way not only allows more control, but also leaves room
for other strategic needs.
User Research
Release 1
Bio Updates
Integration Prep
Release 2
Homepage
Refresh
Personalization
Design & Build
Release 3
Content Rewrite
Run & Collect Data
Release 4
Personalization
Design & Build 2
New Language
Support
Personalization

NOV 2-4, 2016
Establishing New Marketing Leadership
Many “digital leaders” in marketing are actually
communications directors who try to manage digital
projects in what is essentially their spare time.
A digital program requires dedicated leadership of the
sort that few PSOs have in place today:
§ Executive-level interaction (i.e. Director)
§ Focused on business vision, governance and performance
§ Develops digital capabilities across tools and platforms
§ Manages cross-functional teams of Marketing, IT, BD, etc.
§ Does not have 100+ other things to do
So what happens to the
Comms Director?
They go back to handling
actual communications! That
is, they focus on using the
tools and capabilities to
achieve strategic aims, not
on the tools themselves.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Establishing New Business Leadership
You’ll need engaged leadership outside of Marketing as
well:
§ Focused and consistent set of people
§ Exposed to the aims of digital marketing & able to retain
institutional knowledge over time
§ Regularly review performance of prior releases
§ Decide on scope, budget, and focus for future releases
Don’t ask this one
Digital
Director
Comms
Director
CMO CIO
Exec.
Leadership
Partners

NOV 2-4, 2016
Data Is a Habit, Not a Fad
Most PSOs have lots of data to look at, but in a bimodal cycle, where there’s no
promise of being able to do anything in response, it can seem a little pointless.
Data tends to be used only when you have to ask for money.
A well-run digital program should operate like it’s addicted to data. Absolutely,
it requires discipline. But by breaking down efforts into multiple releases, you
gain the chance for the data to guide your strategy, and not just to fill out the
charts in a business case.
Release 1 Release 2 Release 3 Release 4
Review
&
Decide
Review
&
Decide
Review
&
Decide
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
Data
Review
&
Decide

NOV 2-4, 2016
Go on, Get Judgy with Your Data
Of course, you don’t look at the data just
because it’s interesting. In the planning for
each release, you should use data to:
§ Assess performance of previous releases.
Be ready to admit failure.
§ Revisit and adjust your vision
§ Scope the next release
§ Set performance measurements for each
element of upcoming work

NOV 2-4, 2016
Test and Learn Is Not a Fad
To understand the point of breaking up your efforts and using data along the
way, consider a content personalization effort on a website:
It’s not just good discipline. It’s the key to spending your time and effort on what
works.
Personalization
Project
Homepage,
Email, Industry
Feed, Login
Results
L Only the Email
personalization
actually works.
Research
Homepage
Test
Weak
Results
Email Test
Good
Results
More Email
Login Test
Mixed
Results
New Login
Design

NOV 2-4, 2016
Data Scientists… OK, So That’s a Fad
In 2012, Harvard Business Review named “data
scientist” the “sexiest job in the 21st century.”
So that was funny… in a sad way. You may never need
a true “data scientist,” but you will probably want a
solid data analyst who can:
§ Understand your efforts and help identify how to
measure “success”
§ Gather data from across different sources
§ Analyze and report on performance across all digital
marketing efforts & activities

NOV 2-4, 2016
Budgeting Dynamically, Iteratively
We’ve already acknowledged that your firms are probably not used to
budgeting this way. Here are some benefits you can use to convince them:
§ “Big asks” become smaller, less frequent
§ Spend predictability
§ Avoiding sunk costs
§ Ability to pivot on priorities
Also, make sure you fill your
partner’s food bowl before the
budget meeting.
Of course, you still need to set an annual budget. And you
need to explain how it will be spent. The big difference is
that instead of “extraordinary” projects, you build the cost of
your digital program into your regular operating budget.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Changing How You Think about Budget
Your thinking about budget also needs to change. One of the biggest shifts is to
start thinking about your efforts as budget and/or schedule-constrained, rather
than scope-constrained.
You won’t know (even one year ahead) everything that will be in each release.
This approach may seem risky, but it actually limits feature hoarding and trains
your team to focus on the highest-impact investments.
Budget to
Scope
How much will all
this cost?
Scope to
Budget
How much can we
get for this much $$

NOV 2-4, 2016
Parting Thoughts Paradoxes
Sports Fact: Each US Cow has a 1 in 17,420,000 chance of being made into a superbowl football.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Paradox 1:
Endurance Requires Change

NOV 2-4, 2016
Endurance ≠ Lack of Change
It’s true, some things endure because they never change. But more
things endure because they can, and do, change continually.
Happy 130th birthday, Lady Liberty! Thank you, Times Square, for never
being the same.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Poor, Poor Twitter
Twitter has been looking for a buyer almost since Jack Dorsey re-took control in
2014. Salesforce seemed like a likely choice, but Marc Benioff’s board rebelled
against the idea.
The problem isn’t usage; it’s
momentum:
Twitter hasn’t significantly
improved its offering in years, and
because of that, investors aren’t
confident they can turn usage into
revenue.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Snap This Slide
Consider, on the other hand, Snapchat. Despite the same revenue model as
Twitter (advertising) and lower projections, the one-time “sexting” app is set to
be one of the largest tech IPOs in history: $4,000,000,000.
The secret? Snapchat has
made a regular habit of
new features and
integrations, creating
confidence about its ability
to grow in the future.

NOV 2-4, 2016
Paradox 2:
Slowing Down Can
Win the Race

NOV 2-4, 2016
Slow and Steady FTW
You’ve heard the cliché; you’ve
heard your parents’ lecture about
the tortoise and the hare.
But real digital experts don’t go in
for fables. They look for the
coldest, hardest proof available to
humankind:
YouTube Videos!
https://youtu.be/QYdwui9jBuU

#1NLab16: Breaking The Bimodal Cycle: Taking the Lead with Continous Innovation

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#1NLab16: Breaking The Bimodal Cycle: Taking the Lead with Continous Innovation