This is the IRG growth study as presented to the MMA in Turkey and the MENA region in late 2020. The premise is that traditional business growth formulas are lacking and that marketing has suffered a loss of influence, and the content was updated after COVID struck.
Key findings
- On reading the market, 86 percent of overperformers assess and understand market developments, against 36 percent.
- Sixty-seven percent build an ecosystem with complementary partners against 39 percent, which the deck files under external connectivity.
- Half of overperformers prioritize breaking down internal barriers and effectively remove them, against 24 percent.
- On creativity, 59 percent develop creative solutions inspired by the data, and the deck contrasts linear television with Netflix at 20, 14 and 30 percent.
- On ambition, top-line revenue indexes 98 and 93 and separates nobody, while bottom-line profit indexes 85 and 130 and impact on people indexes 120 and 76.
- IRG’s 2020 CMO survey recorded 78 percent against 4 percent reporting a significant shift to humanized growth, and 65 percent against 11 percent saying the CMO plays a more important role.
Markets, models and experiences
Abundant markets is about the breadth of a leader’s reference points and about the ability to read change. Overperformers are described as thinking about Nielsen, Amazon and Kickstarter, and 86 percent against 36 percent assess and understand market developments. Mars moving from pet food to pet care is the worked example.
On multiple models, 71 percent are willing to accept new business models against 39 percent, illustrated by a move from supermarket shelves to cafes and subscription models. On experiences, 81 percent focus on eliminating friction and delivering ever-evolving experiences, against 32 percent.
Culture, organization and data
Open culture is characterized as rewriting the culture script. Sixty-seven percent build ecosystems with complementary partners against 39 percent, and 70 percent show diversity in strategic decision making against 45 percent.
The anticipative organization is measured four ways: competitive agility at 68 percent against 16 percent, effectively removing internal barriers at 50 against 24, connections running 3.5 times higher with other functions and 5.5 times higher with senior leaders, and integration of marketing and sales for e-commerce at 68 percent against 37 percent.
Whole brained working combines technology with human creativity. Sixty-five percent can attract whole-brain talent against 25 percent, 66 percent put data and analytics at the core of strategic decision making against 36 percent, and 59 percent develop creative solutions inspired by the data.
The new reality and the marketer’s place in it
The seventh block is ambition. Everyone focuses on top-line growth, so it distinguishes nobody. Underperformers weight the bottom line and overperformers weight impact on people. Cisco moving from a product focus to what it calls the People Deal is offered as the example.
The context is a new reality in which the future is unknown and systems are being questioned. Before COVID the stakeholder emphasis fell on customers and the capital markets. After it, colleagues and community joined them, and the personal version of that is a move from professional facade to family reality.
On the marketing function itself the deck is unsparing. It notes the documented CMO crisis and the 2018 CMO shuffle, and lists the charges: perceived over-focus on communication, shiny and distracting digital toys, and being insufficiently commercial. The counter is that chief executives need the help, put to the room as if not now, when, and if not me, who.
Scope and limitations
Every comparison is between overperformers and underperformers as the IRG study defines them, and this presentation reports the figures without stating the definition or the sample. The closing update figures come from IRG’s own 2020 CMO survey.
Source
This page summarises IRG Update & COVID Lessons Learned: MMA, Turkey & MENA, by Marc, 2020-12.