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Capability

The three elements of capability

Brilliant Noise

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August 4, 2021 | 5 min read

The common complaint

The common complaint

Why is the grass always greener elsewhere?

Digital expertise sometimes feels like something only other marketers have. Even when talking to directors from some of the biggest, most established brands out there, we hear a similar lament time and time again:

“Did you see what X-brand are up to? I just wish my team’s capability could match theirs.”

We get it. It’s tricky. Building brilliant in-house marketing capability takes the right combination of strategy, talent and ways of working to improve performance in a complex world.

In 2021, we know that supercharged capability is key to any brand’s health and survival. But it’s hard to define exactly what that looks like when there isn’t a clear agreement or vision on what the priorities should be. Without that visible goal, how can you even begin to improve?

If only there were a kindly GP for marketing teams, who could ask you exactly where it hurts.

Luckily, there is the next best thing — Us.

From our experience leading capability programmes for brands, we know the three key levers for reaching the next level. It’s a jungle out there, but by beginning with these core pain-points, we’ll have you surviving and thriving, fast.

#1 Purpose

Start here, with the focus that sets a shared strategy for growth.

It’s not enough to know what you’re doing, or even why you’re doing it. Everyone must be equipped to clearly and concisely communicate the shared purpose of their team and their work, so that all hands can pull in the same direction — otherwise you’ll end up with a tug-of-war. And that’s just a waste of energy you can’t afford.

Make sure your objectives aren’t misaligned. You’ll only force marketers to rely on central teams for direction. With this essential element unlocked, we can move on to priority number two.

Which is...

#2 People

This isn’t so much about the team you assemble, but the mindset, skills and confidence needed for them to work efficiently and effectively. Unlocking that brilliance is a team effort.

These things aren’t always evenly distributed. Sometimes knowledge clusters in silos. Central teams can be reluctant to provide local markets with autonomy. There is a missing element of trust and access that takes time to develop — and can be eroded in a flash if you aren’t careful. But hope isn’t lost.

A culture of learning and communication is essential to the development of your in-house capability. How can we learn and innovate at scale? What’s needed is a shared language and respect throughout all of your teams, driven by a mindset for growth and a laser-focus on that shared purpose mentioned earlier.

With the right people-first mindset in place, you can finally address priority number three.

Which is...

#3 Process

When we say process, we don’t mean a checklist or a set of responsibilities. It’s all about taking the time to selectively curate the right ways of working and the best tools for continual improvement.

How do we challenge legacy processes to work smarter, not harder? Marketers are too busy to test new ways of working or see them beyond just extra work on top of the day job. As a leader, the process you embed has to serve your purpose and your people, directly, while also being flexible enough to keep pace with the ever-changing digital landscape.

Any capability initiative must come prepared to quantify the value of current systems and distribute meaningful change, all without derailing existing activity. Is that too much to ask? Only if you don’t have the right guidance behind you.

Brilliant Noise can help you

We’ve given you the three most important elements of any digital marketing capability plan. Not quite a road-map for solving all of your capability qualms — because we don’t believe in cookie-cutter solutions. But with these areas optimised, we can begin to unite teams and streamline processes around a single purpose.

Capability is a conversation, not a dictatorship. By framing the challenge in the words of the marketing community, we make it a shared objective. Then, by creating a people movement, we allow for bottom-up communication, as well as-top down. With this in place, we can decode modern marketing with transparent, powerful processes that flex the muscles your business needs.

How do we know? We speak from experience. We’ve devised and delivered capability initiatives for clients all over the world. This includes an ongoing programme for global CPG giant Barilla, that resulted in:

  • 86% of participants feeling that they have a common language for digital marketing as a result of our programme, increased from just 4%.
  • 95% of participants being confident that they can apply a digital mindset to their work as a result of our programme.
  • 90% saying that learnings from the programme will change their approach to content.
  • 86% reporting that their new knowledge will have a tangible impact on their work in the coming weeks and months.

We’ll leave you with one last piece of advice; perhaps the most important priority of all, so listen up. Before you even worry about your purpose, your people, or your process… first worry about this:

Just get started. Big or small, act today to make an impact and create demand for change.

And we’d love to be there with you, so get in touch to learn more about how we can help.

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