Matt Jauchius, CMO of Nationwide, discusses how he brought speed and agility to his marketing organization. The first step was to focus on changing parts of the organization rather than the entire organization. He hired new talent and made process changes. For decision making to be fast, a set of capabilities needs to be centralized while still empowering edge units that interact with customers.
Good food for thought that triggers the classic centralization vs. decentralization argument. At various stages of maturity, a marketing organization needs to get good at one or the other until it ultimately faces the reality that it must master both. Companies that know how to work both ends and the middle of the swinging pendulum are rewarded with marketing organizations with a foundation of both stability and agility. These organizations are characterized by transparent decision-making, pervasive team learning, mobilized action behind clearly-articulated strategy and integrated brand governance.