This document locks down the scope of an article on humanized growth. Its finding is that companies achieving sustained topline revenue growth take a people-centric approach, with a broader stakeholder view of the market and a longer time horizon.
Those companies set objectives around growing value for the consumers they serve, the colleagues they work with and the communities they operate in, on the conviction that profit follows value to people.
Key findings
- The study ran for nine months across 73 markets, with over 500 senior vision interviews, more than 1,500 benchmarking survey respondents, AI analysis of interview transcripts and over 3,000 growth publications, and analysis of LinkedIn data covering 800 million connections.
- Overperformers are better at assessing and understanding market developments, at 85 percent against 33 percent, and take a longer-term market development perspective, at 63 percent against 29 percent.
- They put data and analytics at the core of strategic decision making, at 64 percent against 35 percent, and focus on delivering ever-evolving experiences, at 77 percent against 22 percent.
- They are more willing to work with new partners, at 72 percent against 38 percent, and with multiple business models, at 66 percent against 38 percent.
- They prioritize breaking down internal barriers, at 47 percent against 25 percent, and over-index on a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation and change while underperformers over-index on procedures, structure and quality.
Why the old growth formulas stopped working
Three traditional routes are described as exhausted. Focusing on core competencies is insufficient when almost anything can be outsourced. Barriers to entry no longer protect anyone because digital platforms let new players compete without heavy investment. And global scale is harder to use as markets fragment into niches that resist standardization.
Consumers have changed as well. They reject growth at all costs, want more local, authentic and sustainable products, and do not want to be treated as a number.
Investors are rejecting what the document calls fake growth, with value extraction criticized in place of value creation and demands rising for long-term, purposeful strategies that recognize all stakeholders.
Growth still exists, but in less comfortable places: smaller niche segments, new channels and partners, direct-to-consumer routes, and offers that carry functional, emotional and societal benefits together.
Abundant markets
The myth being challenged is that growth means taking share from direct competitors. Overperformers instead define their market in terms of broader and deeper human needs, so the market is bigger and their share is smaller.
The haircare example makes it concrete. The same company holds about 27 percent of a narrow retail definition, about 11 percent under a broader one that includes dryers and curlers, and no more than 3 percent under a definition that includes styling channels and new hair solutions.
The data practice behind it is one shared source. Overperformers give the insights function an orchestrating role in strategic planning and give everyone access to one version of the truth, as with a central snack data depository holding all commissioned research in one place.
The teams are described as whole-brained. Where many firms make heroes of either the data specialists or the creative ones, overperformers build rare teams of equals. A glue brand’s sudden sales growth was explained by such a team, who found that children were using it to make slime.
The recommended action is deliberately uncomfortable: redefine your market so that your share does not exceed 3 percent, then ask which new competitors and partners you can learn from and whether the growth ambition changes.
Ever-evolving experiences
The received wisdom challenged here is that rising satisfaction and net promoter scores produce growth. The alternative is to design for the consumer who is always beautifully dissatisfied.
The value exchange around data is stated plainly: people will give their information as long as they get better and more personalized solutions in return, and their expectations transfer across unrelated categories.
The method is continuous improvement, described as a marketing kaizen approach, illustrated by an ice cream brand that keeps introducing flavors, pop-up shops and events on an ongoing basis.
Partnership widens the offer. One energy company runs a program that gives start-ups support, expertise and seed funding for early-stage ideas while leaving them independent, and one hotel group turned itself into a business solutions provider by partnering rather than building.
One recommendation is about capability rather than experience. Overperformers build financial acumen among marketers, moving them from media and marketing spend return on investment to commercialization, with dedicated finance training for marketing.
Open and connected organizations
The document rejects the idea that culture cannot be changed because it is part of a company’s DNA, and is equally sceptical of elaborate operating model redesigns built around who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed.
The connection data is specific. Senior leaders in overperforming organizations connect 5.5 times more with junior colleagues than their underperforming peers, and marketing and sales staff are 3.5 times more connected to HR, finance and IT colleagues.
The examples are about removing internal friction. One innovation group replaced corporate HR measures that rewarded individual achievement with team-centric KPIs and incentives. One company delegates creative approval to employees closest to the customer within a day.
Connection is also institutionalized through movement of people, with programs that rotate younger colleagues across clients and creative agencies and career paths that resemble a jungle gym rather than a ladder.
The actions recommended are about authority and framing: empower the people closest to the consumer to decide the response, promote freedom within a strategic framework by inspiring a type of response rather than dictating it, and create micro-battle teams that form and disband as needed.
Real growth leadership
The document is direct about marketing’s standing. Respect for the function has declined among peers, CEOs and boards, and marketing has fallen as a career choice, sitting alongside real estate brokers in the United States and below teachers in the United Kingdom.
Two causes are given: a perceived distraction by digital novelty and overfocus on communication with metrics disconnected from the language of business, and an explosion in CMO appointments where many holders have communications experience but not the full remit.
The consequence is turnover and title inflation, with chief digital, experience and growth officers appointed instead. The document argues this is a missed opportunity, because marketing is best placed to lead the journey to humanized growth.
Four leadership characteristics are identified. Humble leaders learn from everywhere rather than performing as star executives. Empowering leaders delegate authority and resources to the people closest to the consumer.
Passionate leaders keep pressing on purpose, insight and creative use of technology. Courageous leaders resist investor pressure for next-quarter profit and rally stakeholders behind making a positive impact on people’s lives.
The case that ties it together
The closing case follows a marketing leader who, on taking a global CMO role, did not start with a campaign but with the growth strategy, developed jointly with the head of strategy and the chief executive.
A more abundant view of the market produced two moves: doubling down on the breakfast occasion, and opening up delivery as an untapped opportunity.
Experience was made digital throughout, with the largest acquisition in a decade bringing AI capability that personalizes what a customer is shown, from number plate recognition at the drive-in to the menu on the screen.
The part that did not change is the people ambition, expressed as making a difference in the lives of colleagues, consumers and communities.
The closing argument is stated in four lines: short-termism carries real risk, purpose has to be defined, companies can and should keep growing, and the value equation for colleagues, consumers and communities has to improve.
Scope and limitations
The document says explicitly that it is not a draft of the article. Its purpose is to lock down scope, so several claims are listed with target word counts and placeholder references to data still to be supplied.
Source
This page summarises Humanizing Growth, by Marc de Swaan Arons, Frank van den Driest, Silvia Lagnado, 2019-05-20.