Method

High-performance marketing practice

When companies require their marketing to improve, the focus is often on changing the output: the campaigns, products, retail presentation, marketing material etc. While this may have an short-term effect, we cannot achieve strong and sustainable marketing performance by adjusting the logo, running more campaigns, getting a Facebook page, or adding incremental products to the mix. Or simply measuring them more. That’s letting the tail wag the dog.

The key to sustained high-performance
The path to sustained high-performance in marketing starts before any market-facing activity, and it starts within: The key is to transform marketing from a tactical department fixed on (often disconnected) lower-value tasks and execution to a visible function that manages marketing as a systematic, strategic business contributor.

Build high standards from the core
Such level of marketing capability is achieved by instilling a strong business-orientation in the marketing function and by linking marketing directly to the business strategically and operationally. In other words: By improving the way the company’s marketing practice operates and the very standards it operates by, ie changing the input: The processes, strategies, research, briefings, skills, etc.

The return is multiple benefits
The result is a marketing practice that is well integrated in the business and market and which operates in sync with business strategy. The return for the company is stronger alignment and readiness internally, and deeper relevance and appreciation among your customers.

3 key levers to a high-performance marketing practice
Achieving marketing high-performance starts with an audit of the existing marketing practice. Switchmode uses its own integrated framework for this, The Switchmodel®. It analyzes 3 key levers to a high-performance marketing practice – People, Process, Plan – and determines what needs to change and how.

The emphasis varies from company to company although all 3 dimensions are critical and must be aligned. The 3 dimensions reinforce each other. When managed together, they provide the means for exceptional marketing performance.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if youd’ like to hear more about marketing audits and building marketing high-performance.

Or find out how the model works – go to the Switchmodel®.


Benefits to the business

A high-performance marketing practice can yield a number of benefits that contribute significantly to business growth:

Internally, it can produce significant efficiencies which:

Externally, it can produce more effective and aligned in-market execution which:


The Switchmodel®

The Switchmodel® is an integrated framework that uses 3 key levers to improve the input essential to creating excellent output, and build a high-performance marketing practice: People, Plan, Process.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions/comments or would like a walk-through of the model and method.

Or try out the Switchmodel on your own company’s marketing practice and feel free to get in touch if you’d like to talk about your findings.


Core principles

1. Input determines output.
Just focusing on the marketing output does not improve performance in the longer run. Only better input can yield better output and hence performance, continuously.

Switchmode uses the Switchmodel to analyze the input essential to creating excellent output: People, Plan, and Process. This helps establish how the company’s marketing practice can be optimized to increase its contribution to the business, and become a high-performance marketing practice.

2. Marketing is equal parts operations and strategy.
We can have the best strategy in the world but if the skills, structure, systems, processes, and relationships are not in place to carry it out, it’s pointless. And vice versa. So Switchmode focuses as much on the operational side of things as the strategic.

3. A strong foundation will get you far.
A key objective is to make the marketing function self-supporting through sustainable development of capabilities so that after our collaboration, the client can continue the work smoothly and independently. Switchmode’s deliverables often include structures, briefing guides, tools and other types of frameworks that are easy to adopt in the day-to-day work thus saving time, ensuring alignment of standards, and avoiding constant re-invention of the wheel.

Check out some concrete Tips to improve your company’s marketing practice.