Journey to Marketing Operations Maturity one can read that high-value MO goes beyond automation, measurement and administration to include higher value-add tools such as cross-functional collaboration, change management, metrics alignment, competency development, predictive analytics, and the like.
According to the survey, companies showed clear tendencies to extend the scope of MO. Thus, the scope of MO typically includes fundamental, expanded, and sophisticated elements:
- Fundamental MO Scope — Includes budget management, customer relationship management (CRM), vendor management, marketing outcomes measurement, and marketing services (e.g., bill of materials, licensing, pricing, creative, production management).
- Expanded MO Scope — Expands beyond the Fundamental MO Scope to comprise marketing campaign automation, process mapping and design, best practices and knowledge management, cross-functional and behavior-rewards alignment, marketing operations management (MOM), marketing resource management (MRM), digital asset management (DAM), and marketing process metrics.
- Sophisticated MO Scope — Evolves to higher sophistication than the Expanded MO Scope to include advanced processes (e.g., LEAN Enterprise, Six Sigma, and supply chain management), marketing governance, portfolio management, customer profitability, change management, competency development, shared vision and strategic management, enterprise marketing management, metrics alignment, and predictive analytics.
The graph shows the progression over time from Fundamental to Expanded to Sophisticated practices
Implications: Companies with Fundamental or Expanded MO Scope can reap much greater value from their MO initiative by tapping into the full potential of the Sophisticated MO Scope. Sophisticated MO organizations view MO as not just a means to add left-brain, scientific thinking to Marketing but also as a vehicle to obtain more holistic and strategic results.
Todays Marketing textbooks(1) emphasize the need for the Marketing function to be the voice of the market for the corporation, taking a holistic view of the companys stakeholders and acting as a conduit for stakeholders interests to be addressed throughout the company. Additionally, current Marketing thought leaders advocate that Marketing take ownership of—or at least collaborate with—the Quality function to guide fulfillment of value propositions. This is key to effective internal marketing, ensuring that everyone in the organization promotes brand promise delivery, from senior management to back-office personnel to customer-facing professionals. Traditional techniques used for quality management and organizational development are now making their way into the Marketing function as mechanisms to improve its accountability, efficiency, and morale.
(1) Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane, Marketing Management, 12th ed. (New York: Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2006. See Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 22.
Your challenge in 2013: increase the value that Marketing Ops can bring to your company by expanding your MO scope. As pointed out in the study, a sophisticated Marketing Ops approach gives the Marketing department the capability to influence the entire company toward greater savvy and flexibility (agility) in dealing effectively with ever-shifting market forces. Join us all on the journey to Marketing Operations maturity!
This article was also published on AMA Connect
