Holistic marketing is an approach to business motivated by the understanding that all elements of strategy are intimately interconnected–and that to build a great brand, marketing strategy must be applied to the inner-workings of the organization as a whole.
Since we now agree that a brand is a feeling, it follows that brand-building is not the ambit of marketing departments alone. It takes the whole tribe to build a brand: marketing, business development, sales, operations, technology–definitely operations and technology–and even finance and accounting have to be on board with strategy. If your brand essence implies (for example) speed, then every operational process and the technology that supports speed should be prioritized so that it will deliver that speed.
Consider the sad tale of an imaginary company that has recently developed a platform manufacturing process to enable rapid customization. With its new proprietary manufacturing line, this well-established manufacturer can now deliver a prototype in 24 hours and ramp up high volume production in a matter of days. This is big–disruptive even. Nobody in the industry even comes close. The leaders decide it’s time to modernize the company’s brand to fit its new charge. They file a DBA as “FlashCo,” redesign the logo to resemble Herme’s winged shoes and settle on a tagline, “Go for Speed.” The shiny new web site is beautiful. The brand launch attracts industry-wide attention, and in the first week, they get dozens of serious web inquiries. Then things go terribly wrong.
- Although the new web site had been tested and accurately passing leads to CRM system, the company’s sales and marketing teams had different ideas about what constituted a qualified lead. Besides, CRM was cluttered with dated and duplicate records, and sales managers generally preferred to use spreadsheets to manage their territories. Needless to say, follow-up on web leads did not communicate speed.
- Scoping and quoting custom projects had always been left to the company’s technical experts. These were problem-solvers, free thinkers who generally preferred his or her own approach to getting bids out the door. Swatting away salespeople nagging for proposals soon became sport.
- Project handoffs to prototype engineers often lacked mechanical details–or the purchase orders required by Finance. This resulted in countless backtracking conversations with customers, expensive rework and unproductive finger-pointing.
- Milestones were missed, but due to lack of systems integration, milestone invoices were automatically sent, irritating already unhappy customers. The Accounts Receivable team were trained in collections, not on how to resolve customer complaints. Conversations generally did not go well.
You get the picture. Although they had a great new strategy, FlashCo’s systems and business processes were not built to reliably deliver its brand promise. And very importantly, the company culture was not wired for speed. As a result, customers left unhappy, margins tanked and employee morale plummeted.
What went wrong? The leaders of FlashCo failed to examine their strategy holistically. They may have communicated “the WHAT” of their vision to the entire organization, but they probably forgot to explain “the How.” And clearly, they did not involve functional area managers in the plan, or require detailed operating plans to support their new brand promise.
Ugh. That’s depressing. I prefer stories with happier outcomes, don’t you? Stay tuned! In the next B2X blog, we’ll reintroduce “The Cycle of Happy” and illustrate how holistic marketing can turn your organization into a flywheel for success!
Until next time, I wish you good health and safety, the kindness of strangers, and the ability to greet each morning with gratitude.
Only My Very Best,
Kristein
B2X Strategies, LLC 