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8/11/2019 Achieving Digital Excellence: Why Smart Strategy Matters Even More in the Digital Age
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ACHIEVING
DIGITAL EXCELLENCEWhy Smart Strategy Matters Even More in the Digital Age
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
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INTRODUCTIONOver the course of more than two decades, digital has
become central to our lives. Yet many companies still
struggle to make digital central to their business.
Achieving Digital Excellence
This begs the question: Why?
In our work with top executives
at some of the worlds largest
enterprises, we have found thatthe struggle to achieve digital
transformation stems not from an
inability to see the change as it
happens outside the business.
Instead, the struggle stems from
an insufficient focus on formulating
the right strategy to drive digital
forward inside the business.
In fact, according to research we
conducted this year, 78% of Chief
Marketing Officers report that they
do not have a company-wide digital
strategy1
. This is a sobering statisticthat we see echoed in a recent
Forrester study, in which 79% of
respondents reported that their
CEOs have failed to set a clear vision
for digital2. As a result of patterns
like these, far too many corporations
find themselves trapped in tactics,
conducting a disjointed array of
digital experiments that arent always
aligned to key growth drivers and
often dont achieve key business
objectives in a meaningful way.
In an age when 87% of CMOs are
under increasing pressure to deliver
a positive return on every
investment3, this isnt good enough.
However, our aim here is not to point
out shortcomings but to lead the
way toward success. A clear digital
strategy empowers marketers to
Know their customers.When 93%4of organisations dont know their
customers digital habits, an evidence-based digital
strategy provides a clear understanding of how your
customers use digital today.
Make smarter choices.At a time when 73%5of marketers believe they have
too many digital assets, and a majority struggle to
manage them and fail to recognise their current value.
The right digital strategy allows you to focus your efforts
on the assets that create the most value for your
customers and capture the most value for your company.
Do what works.In a market where only 40%6of brand leaders
believe their marketing is effective, an effective
digital strategy creates marketing confidence through
accountability and measurable results.
Achieve more for less.A global digital strategy helps organisations eliminate
the duplication of effort and expenditure that comes
from scattershot tactical execution, delivering
upwards of 38%7in global savings.
With this report, we will arm you with a clear and compelling case for strategy in the digital age. Then, we will
help you take your first, confident steps toward digital excellence by bringing focus to four strategic imperatives
that are practical, actionable and most importantly achievable for businesses of just about any type.
78%of Chief Marketing Officers
report that they do not have
a company-widedigital strategy1
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
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A CASE FOR STRATEGY IN THE DIGITAL AGEA look at even a small handful of the many ways in which digital is shifting the
balance paints a vivid picture of an utterly transformed business environment.
Billions are hyper-connected throughtechnology.
As the result of a digital revolution,
already more than 20 years in the
making, the web, social media,
mobile, cloud computing and big
data analytics (not to mention the
new and next waves of wearables
and the Internet of Things), billions
of people are more connected to
each other, to content and
information, and to the companies
they keep wherever, whenever and
however they wish.
Empowered buyersdemand more.
Always-on access to information,
experts and each other has shifted
control to consumers and
customers, allowing them to
consider more options and make
smarter choices. And consumers
expect the companies they choose
to give their business to be
hyper-connected too. Rewarding
(with their hard earned money) those
who match marketing promise with
real world proof, those who meet
needs efficiently and right wrongs
swiftly and completely, and those
who deliver the best and most
seamless total customer experience
both online and off.
Traditional competitiveadvantages have beenrendered obsolete.
Industrial advantages derived from
scale are giving way to digital era
advantages like agility, innovation,
collaboration and true customer-
centricity. Where once the big ate
the small, in the digital age it is the
fast that eat the slow.
Kodakonce led their sector but were driven into bankruptcy by their inability to respond to not just one, butthree successive changes in their industry: digital cameras supplanting traditional film cameras (this, despite
having registered one of the first patents for digital camera technology decades before the first digital camera
was introduced by a competitor), the growing prevalence of digital photo storage over photo printing, and thepopularity of online photo sharing.
Blockbusterpassed on several early opportunities to acquire Netflix, viewing the company as a decidedlyniche play. Today, Blockbuster is out of business, while Netflix continues to reinvent its business to keep pace
with changing media consumption habits and boasts a multi-billion dollar valuation.
The New York Times, who have struggled to replace traditional dollars with digital dimes, continuesto lean too heavily on a 100-year heritage that has grown less and less relevant to the next generation of
media consumers. In a dense 90+ page report leaked to the media in April 2014, the Times team provides
ample evidence of its digital problems but recommends little more than the formation of a task force to explore
solutions their transformation is just getting started. Meanwhile, the new generation ofinfojunkies have
already abandoned newspapers in favor of quick hit digital media powerhouses like Huffington Post and
Buzzfeed and instant peer-to-peer knowledge networks like Twitter.
For companies slow to adapt to this
new normal, the penalties are severe.
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For businesses that embrace digital fully not simply from a technology
standpoint; not merely as a new way to market; but as a new way of doing business acrossevery area of the enterprise the benefits are positive, tangible, and impressive.
Achieving Digital Excellence
This holds true not only for digital native businesses like Amazon, Apple and Google,
but also for traditional enterprises as diverse as Burberry, Ford and Asian Paints
(Indias largest coatings manufacturer).
9%
More Revenue from their
Physical Assets
26%
More Profitablility
12.8%
Higher Market Valuations
The signals are clear.
In order to thrive in the digital age, you must formulate
and execute a sound digital strategy one that spans all
areas of your business, one that is embraced at the topof the organisation, one that aligns the entire organisation
around efficient execution, and one that recognises that
digital strategy is not simply a matter of technology, nor
merely a mode of marketing, but an entirely new way of
being in business.
Your company wins when you have the right business
answers to the most fundamental digital questions: How
must our business evolve to thrive in an environment that
is increasingly digital, social and mobile?
How must it evolve to meet the needs of digital consumers
and customers who are hyper-connected, always on, and
more demanding than ever before?
These are big questions, for sure and their implications on
your business can be massive. Its not surprising that digital
transformation has made its way onto the boardroom
agenda, even as CEOs struggle to set the vision and CMOs
worry that their strategy isnt solid. But even in a game with
such high stakes, we believe that action comes from distilling
strategy down to its most fundamental components.
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
THE
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CONSULTANCY
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THE FOUR IMPERATIVES OFGOOD DIGITAL STRATEGY
Strategy whether business or marketing, digital orotherwise is all about making informed choices among
the many options available to you. You dont need to do
everything (even if your competition does). Remember,
73% of marketers believe theyre doing too much and
achieving too little. Their agency partners and mediavendors arent making matters any better, as they bring
forward a dizzying array of tactical ideas without the
backing of proper diligence. Thats hardly strategic.
Instead, you need to do the right things for your
business, and for your customers and you need to do
them consistently, efficiently and effectively across your
entire organisation, in order to get the best possible
results. This is the essence of good strategy.
Done correctly, a digital strategy provides you with a clear,
high-level plan for achieving your most important goals,
even under constantly changing market conditions. By
defining a clear strategy for doing business and engaging
customers in the digital age, you establish a set of rules
that focus everyone in your organisation on the right digital
activities to achieve a single, powerful set of overarching
business outcomes.
While no two strategies are the same and in a constantly
shifting business environment, no single strategy is
set-and-forget our work with clients has shown that all
good digital strategies share the following four
imperatives:
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
1Data-driven
decision-making
2A clear roadmap of
activities, deliverables
and goals
3The right metrics
for success
4A consistent
focus for all internal
and external
stakeholders
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A CLEAR ROADMAP OF ACTIVITIES,DELIVERABLES & GOALS2.
Make smarter choices.
At a time when 73%10of marketers believe they
have too many digital assets,and a majority struggle
to manage them and fail to recognise their current
value, the right digital strategy allows you to focus
your efforts on the assets that create the most valuefor your customers and capture the most value for
your company.
In a recent TDC review of the top 100 global brands, we
found that the average company maintains 14 different
digital platforms from their website and mobile
applications, to social networks like Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram. And thats even before breaking it down
further to account for product and campaign microsites
or multiple profiles on any single network. Weve worked
with some brands that have 18 Facebook pages alone often where one would do the job just fine.
Whats worse, these digital assets are often not managed as a
single, integrated ecosystem of presences but instead suffer
from a notable lack of coordination, significant inconsistencies
in level of activity or engagement, and even substantial
duplication at the product or regional levels.
Yet, for every instance of a brand doing too much, we can find
instances where brands are doing too little. For example,
87% of the marketers we surveyed do not invest in search
marketing to drive audiences to their properties and, when
they do, 63% do nothing more than point traffic to their main
page (even where other, more targeted pages exist online11).
A focused digital strategy should be manageable, integrated
with your core business and marketing strategies, easy
to understand and implement by all stakeholders. Mostimportantly, it should translate data-driven insights into a
clear and justifiable set of recommendations that make sense
for your company and your consumer.
A well-coordinated system of prioritiseddigital channels, each with its own defined
role in conveying your brands value proposition
and delivering benefit to your consumers.
A balance between long-term commitmentsthat result in greater loyalty and advocacy
among your most passionate customers and
quick win campaigns that deliver near-term
results and valuable learning.
Clear criteria for evaluating any newopportunity or idea, allowing for innovation but
protecting against shiny object syndrome.
A basis for establishing and managing the rightresources financial, human and otherwise
to sustain the planned programs and activities.
And finally, the basis for measuring success and optimising for performance.
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DIGITAL
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THE RIGHT METRICSFOR SUCCESS3.
Do what works.
In a market where only 40%12of brand leaders
believe their marketing is effective, an effective digital
strategy creates marketing confidence through
accountability and measurable results.
There is a popular business adage that goes, Cheap,fast, or good. Pick any two. Although this saying
originated in project management circles, it happens to
highlight some common misconceptions about
what matters most when measuring digital success:
That digital marketing is (and should be) cheap
That the only digital results that matter are the onesyou get fast (even immediate)
Naturally, its good that often gets lost in the shuffle.
After all, what good is a like if it doesnt contribute
to a deeper, more meaningful relationship between a
brand and its customer? What good is a click if your
back-end systems cant track that user through to the
sale?
A robust digital strategy is insight-driven and validated by
data. It allows your business to measure and analyse
every digital action the ones you take and the ones your
audiences make against the right set of measures. But
even where results rule, there is increased evidence to prove
that digital builds brand value over the long term. Its not that
cost efficiencies and short-term gains dont matter anymore;
its that they are merely two viable measures among a range of
metrics that (depending on your business objectives) might
include digitals contribution to:
Overall brand awareness and perception(brand value)
Lead generation (for subsequent conversion)
Attribution and/or lifts to response rates forother marketing channels
Sales and cost-per-sale
Relationship management
Retention
Loyalty
Advocacy (increased positive word-of-mouth)
A proper measurement plan balances cost per impression (or cost per engagement) efficiencies and simple
click data with a richer, more nuanced set of key performance indicators in order to paint a more vivid picture
of how digital contributes to the strength of the business overall.
More importantly, proper measurement gives you the data you need to optimise the performance of your
digital programs, and the proof you can use to demonstrate the value that digital provides to your
organisation as a whole not to mention to each and every stakeholder, both inside and outside your walls.
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
Cheap, fast, or good.
Pick any two.
P P
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ALIGNMENT OF ALL INTERNAL& EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS4.
Achieve more for less.A global digital strategy helps organisations eliminate
the duplication of effort and expenditure that comes
from scattershot tactical execution, delivering
upwards of 38%13in global savings.
Even the best strategy is worthless if it cant be executedby the organisation. As companies invest more budget
into digital by some estimates, as much as 75% of
marketing money may be allocated to digital within the
next five years it becomes vital that organisations excel
in four key areas of execution:
Clear internal communication of the strategy,
so that there is organisational alignment around
actions and accountabilities.
As digital strategies become more robust and
investments more significant, it is critical that your
strategy can not only be explained but also understood in
every department and at every level of the organisation.
Alignment of external partners such as agencies,
technical vendors and media partners.
Smart strategy results in flawless execution when you
have the tools to brief, challenge and evaluate external
stakeholders and the approaches they take to deliver
upon strategic mandates. Reviewing outside work
against an evidence-based strategy is more objective,
while creating clear guardrails within which creative and
innovation can thrive.
Consistency across all programs and de-duplication
of efforts between teams and regions.
In our work, weve seen instances where online brand
consistency is as low as 13%14when viewed across
campaigns and markets. As various stakeholders inside
and outside the company, and across multiple regions,
execute similar programs in absence of a unified strategy
to steer them or governance to guide them. This not only
results in wasted time, effort and money but also in
confusion among consumers who often cant distinguish
between new messages and old.
Digital competency-building that ensures the
organisation has the right skills to deliver on the
digital strategy.
In our recent Marketing Survey, only 48% of marketers
said they feel highly proficient in digital marketing and
only 56% do not believe they have the skills to implement
agency recommendations15. Rather than putting digital in
the hands of a few carefully recruited experts, wed
suggest that enterprises infuse digital thinking and skill sets
throughout the entire organisation ensuring commitment
at the highest levels of leadership and involvement across
every business function.
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
Online Brand consistency is as low as 13%14
when viewed across campaigns and markets
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CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES
93% of companies dont
know their customers
digital habits
Know Your Customers Conduct Data-Driven
Decision-Making
73% of marketers believe they
have too many digital assets
Make Smarter ChoicesCreate a Clear Roadmap
of Activities, Deliverables
and Goals
Only 40% of marketing leaders
believe their digital marketing
is effective
Do What WorksEstablish and Measure the
Right Metrics for Success
Duplication and
misalignmentAchieve More for Less
/ 38% in global savings
Align All Internal and External
Stakeholders Around FlawlessExecution
Achieving Digital Excellence
ACHIEVE DIGITAL EXCELLENCE
Business success today requires a customer-focused digital strategy that is focused, actionable, and results-oriented.
An effective strategy is built upon a solid foundation of data-driven decision-making, a clear roadmap, the right metrics,
and stakeholder alignment. In this report, weve shown you why digital strategy matters and weve given you a high level
framework for thinking about digital strategy in your organisation.
In Stepping Up To The Challenge 2014, IBM16reported that 63% of top executives turn to their Chief Marketing Officer
for strategic input on digital strategy. Similarly, according to Altimeter Groups latest report on The State of DigitalTransformation, 54% of the business leaders surveyed expect the CMO to champion their companys digital
transformation initiatives17.
Wed say the next step is yours if digital creates challenges for your enterprise, it also creates opportunities for
marketing leaders who are ready, willing and able to push their companies to the forefront of digital excellence.
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
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1. Does your organisation have a single, global digital strategy?
2. Is that strategy clear and simple enough to be understood byevery member of your team and all your outside partners (e.g.,
agencies, media partners, technology vendors)?
3. Do you feel that your digital strategy is being executed consist- ently by all team members and outside partners?
4. Have you researched and documented your customers digital consumer journey as a basis for data-driven decision making?
5. Can you gauge how well your current digital activities meet themost important needs of your customers and prospects?
6. Have you audited your current digital assets to ensure globalconsistency, minimal duplication or efforts, and adherence to
quality standards?
7. Can you articulate the specific role each digital asset plays in youroverall marketing mix, and do you understand how effective that
asset is in achieving its purpose?
8. Are you measuring success consistently with a robustmeasurement framework and routine reporting then optimising
your digital efforts to drive both near- and long term results?
9. Do you feel your organisation, as it stands today, has all necessaryskills to implement your digital strategy?
10.Do you feel your outside partners especially your agencies have the necessary skills to provide you with strategic guidance
and implement your digital strategy efficiently, effectively, and with
minimum duplication of effort?
Achieving Digital Excellence
You may not have all the insight into
how your business operates but you
will certainly have a sense from what
you know and see around you.
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
ARE YOU READY
TO BE A DIGITAL
STRATEGY LEADER?
Digital Strategy Self-Assement
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Strategy.Our recommendations are always
analytics-driven with clear,
actionable next steps and timings.
We use proven methodologies and
tools that add value to the business,
create true consumer understanding
around audiences and customers
and ensure the right strategic
framework is in place to be able to
gain collective understanding and
adherence to the agreed strategy.
Capabilities.Without the right capabilities in place
across an organisation the strategy
will be difficult to land effectively. Our
capabilities team assesses existing
and future capability needs and
develops the right training tools,
which are tailored to the needs of
global or regional management
boards and local marketing and
sales teams.
Engagement.In order to embed the digital strategy,
we work with our clients to effectively
engage the right stakeholders across
geographies and functions. By
ensuring they buy in to the strategy,
we help create the right environment
to ensure the agreed company
approach is understood, embraced
and exploited.
ABOUT THE DIGITAL CONSULTANCY
The Digital Consultancy enables senior management to understand and exploit digital strategy as a key driver
of brand value and business growth. Objective Strategic Digital Expertise is at the heart of our business; every
engagement is different and as such we tailor every assignment to provide a bespoke approach and
recommendation. Our proven experience and expertise encompasses three main areas:
For additional information please contact:
UK
Andrew Phillips
Tel: +44 (0)20 7902 0664
Mobile: +44 (0)7970 840063
Email: [email protected]
US
Greg Verdino
Tel: +1 631 543 1910
Email: [email protected]
THE
DIGITAL
CONSULTANCY
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END NOTES
1. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
2. State of Digital Business.Forrester Research, 2014
3. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
4. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
5. Marketing Survey.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
6. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
7. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
8. The Digital Advantage: How Digital Leaders Outperform Their Peers in Every Industry.
Capgemini Consulting and MIT Sloan School of Management, 2013
9. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
10.Marketing Survey.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
11. Marketing Survey.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
12. Marketing Survey.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
13. Marketing Survey.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
14. The Strategy Review.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
15.Marketing Survey.The Digital Consultancy, 2014
16.Stepping up to the challenge.IBM, 2014
17. The State of Digital Transformation.Altimeter Group, 2014
THE