Overreacting to events, tackling symptoms rather than underlying fundamental problems and jumping to please the boss can prove fatal. Crippled marketing efforts can leave promising companies in the dust, or at least handicapped at the starting gate. Admired companies are leveraging Marketing Operations to improve performance and measure ROI as they refine their marketing organizations using an operational focus.

1. 06 white paper
delivering the customer experience
Solving Marketing’s
Seven Deadly Sins
The emerging discipline of Marketing Operations can cut through many
of the barriers to efficient, strategic marketing teams and measurable ROI.
b
usy corporate marketing SiN #1: ill-Defined Metrics and missed opportunities to leverage
groups can be so focused on Today’s corporate marketing departments important but ownerless programs.
tactics and firefighting, they must justify their existence. The need to SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations
jeopardize their marketing measure results is inevitable. However, addresses resource limitations by ensur­
investment. Overreacting the instincts and skills that make a cor­ ing that workload is effectively allocated,
to events, tackling symptoms rather than porate marketing professional great – a roles are clearly defined, interdependen­
underlying fundamental problems and bias toward action, verbal and written cies are understood, team members feel
jumping to please the boss can prove fatal. acuity, and a talent for relationship build­ satisfied with their jobs and valued-added
Crippled marketing efforts can leave prom­ ing – often don’t translate into an ability or programs and associated resources can
ising companies in the dust or, at least, willingness to scientifically and objectively be justified to executive management.
handicapped at the starting gate. evaluate success.
Admired technology companies Broken systems and the unwilling­ SiN #3: Sketchy
are leveraging Marketing Operations to ness of the organization to pay for institutional Memory
improve performance and measure ROI as marketing measurement also conspire Successful marketing programs depend on
they refine their marketing organizations. against the effort to define meaningful accurate information, a historical view into
Marketing Operations is an emerging dis­ success metrics. past successes and failures, and the ability
cipline that increases efficiency and drives SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations to recognize patterns that link seemingly
consistent results in complex marketing ensures that correct processes are in unrelated data points.
organizations. It builds a foundation for place to establish meaningful metrics Unfortunately, in many marketing
excellence by reinforcing marketing strat­ at the front end of the marketing process, organizations, this crucial knowledge is
egy with processes, technology, guidance enabling success measurement processes scattered all over the company. It’s in the
(including rules of engagement, knowledge at key intervals and as each program heads of individual workers, on shelves, on
management, marketing intelligence and concludes. hard drives and in long-forgotten filing sys­
best practices) and metrics. tems. Often, when people leave, a big piece
While Marketing Operations is uniquely SiN #2: Slammed resources of organizational knowledge goes with
suited to tackle marketing’s most challeng­ The prevailing attitude of “doing more with them. Information loss is a huge productiv­
ing problems in Fortune 500 companies, less” can leave key people discouraged, ity killer for marketing teams, and trying to
you don’t have to be a Cisco or an Adobe overwhelmed and near burnout – eventu­ regain this lost insight wastes previous
to benefit. The following describes the ally, leading them to circulate their résumés. marketing investments.
seven deadliest marketing sins that plague For organizations, the consequences are SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations
companies of all sizes and how Marketing costly mistakes, high turnover and col­ facilitates knowledge sharing, creates an
Operations addresses them: lapsed programs when key people leave enduring repository of information and
encourages decision making based on fact,
by Gary M. Katz, Marketing Operations Partners rather than on hunches or gut feelings.
gARy M. KATz is cEO of Marketing Operations Partners (www.mopartners.com) and commPros group, SiN #4: Constipated Creativity
Inc. (www.commprosgroup.com). He is a 20-year marketing veteran with extensive experience directing The best creative solutions come from the
corporate marketing, strategic planning, change management, lead generation, public relations, collaboration of many brains. The age of
investor relations and employee communications programs. the “individual-contributor/director” has
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led to constrained creativity. When the of marketing department failture, rather • Focus is instinctively on high-visibility
entire creative burden falls mostly on one than poor vendor performance. Unfortu­ marketing activities and C-level executive
corporate marketer, thinking out of the box nately, companies that have had consis­ requests over good fiscal management;
can be severely impacted. Creative synergy tently bad relationships with outside ven­ • Most marketing types are inclined
results from many minds thinking as one. dors and suppliers often react by bringing toward creativity rather than finance .
SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations everything in-house. While this strategy
enables the creative process to benefit may provide the illusion of control, it allows Poor budgeting processes and kludged
from the synergy of team. marketing managers to deflect the blame financial/marketing systems also contrib­
for failures, rather than teaching them how ute to perpetuating this sin.
SiN #5: Dysfunctional Team to manage their outsourcig program by SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations
and Supplier relationships taking responsibility for the results. In addi­ facilitates implementation of the system­
Team collaboration is a real challenge in tion, this “Band-Aid” strategy won’t scale support infrastructure and financial
stagnant, mature – and even dynamic – with the organization as it grows. management discipline needed to protect
organizations typically modeled on com­ SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations valuable marketing budgets.
petition, power and control strucures. Over­ helps set realistic expectations and mutual
reliance on legacy systems and tools also accountability between suppliers and SiN #7: inadequate
perpetuates this problem. At a Marketing the organization, thereby increasing the Marketing Portfolio
Operations symposium I attended, effectiveness of outsourced partners by Many companies align their fate with the
one MO leader at a large financial institu­ empowering them to act as an extension success of too few marketing programs,
tion proudly shared how his department of the internal team. whether it’s lead generation, public rela­
was using Excel speadsheets to capture tions, trade shows or advertising. Over­
knowledge that required more than 100 SiN #6: Poor Fiscal and reliance on any one particular program
columns in width. Many companies are Tactical Decision Making can derail a company, especially if a key
stretching the capabilities of everyday Budgets are never set in stone. Often, it’s a program unexpectedly loses momentum.
resources like Excel well beyond their “use it or lose it” situation. For some man­ In the meantime, programs that could have
intended capabiliies. This misuse of tech­ agers, it’s “misuse it and lose it anyway.” had strong leverage never get a chance
nology only perpetuates the siloed nature Unfortunately, many corporate marketing to prove their mettle and are forever
of organizations and the rampant overde­ departments end up leaving program relegated to the “B” list. Classic examples
pendency on individuals who closely pro­ budget on the table or allocating it to the include customer references, lead nurtur­
tect their specialized knowledge as a source wrong initiatives. This “catch-22 marketing ing and leveraging investments in analyst
of power, potentially leaving the company budget dilemma” occurs because: research and consulting subscriptions.
in the lurch when they are unavailable or • It’s very time-consuming to manage the In addition, poor intelligence about
decide to leave the organization. Real col­ budget effectively, especially in compa­ program ROI creates a challenge in sustain­
laboration and traceable decision-making nies with broken financial systems; ing the right marketing mix.
processes are fantasies in such companies. • Each marketing-spend decision creates SOLuTiON: Marketing Operations
Problematic supplier relationships are more work for the one-person or small­ puts the means in place to launch poten­
also an indicator of trouble. Most success­ team marketing department in terms tially high-value marketing programs
ful companies can point to numerous of project management, measurement, that would otherwise never get out of
strong, long-term marketing supplier rela­ supplier management, etc.; the starting gate, and understand the
tionships they consider to be integral to • Doubt persists about the ability to contribution of each marketing program
their success. Likewise, a pattern of failed successfully justify the expenditure to in the context of the overall marketing
supplier relationships is often an indicator management; portfolio.
WiNNiNg COLLAbOrATiON
THE bOTTOM LiNE Implementing a Marketing Operations
program takes buy-in from key executives
In a nutshell, Marketing Operations is your company’s best way to: and the commitment of the entire market­
• Ensure that success can be measured and replicated; ing team. However, considering the posi­
• Leverage process, technology, guidance and metrics to enable consistently tive results and high return on investment
excellent performance; and experienced by Fortune 500 companies
• Run its marketing department like a fully accountable business. and those that wish to emulate them, it is
well worth the effort. n
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