MMA Impact Germany: How to Future-Proof Your Marketing Organisation

The pandemic and other chaotic global events have not only accelerated changes in how companies do business; they’ve also shifted consumer expectations about brands and what they stand for. Marketing leaders are concerned about their organisations’ ability to survive and thrive in this environment: In a survey conducted by the MMA and Harvard Business Review, only 20% of marketing managers at traditional corporations said they were satisfied with the effectiveness of their departments.

In light of this reality, how do marketing leaders help their teams become more agile and creative, in order to keep their brands relevant for the future?

We received valuable answers to this question recently at the masterclass How to Future-proof Your Marketing Organisation — part of MMA IMPACT Germany 2022, presented by the MMA Germany and sponsored by Meta, Mission Female, and Adzine. As with all content from this marketing leadership virtual conference, the masterclass is now available for viewing online.

How to Future-proof Your Marketing Organisation was moderated by Peggy Anne Salz, Chief Content Officer of MMA Germany, and featured Jessica Claar, VP Marketing and Communications Central Europe for Mastercard; and Àgnes Kovacs, CMO of Europe’s leading juice producer, The Eckes-Granini Group. Both Claar and Kovacs offered sage advice for marketers on preparing for the future of the industry, as well as strategies for driving growth in uncertain times.

Become More Agile Through an Ecosystem of Innovation

According to Kovacs, one key to future-proofing a marketing organisation is to develop and maintain an ecosystem of innovation, designed to keep the brand relevant for modern consumers. For the Eckes-Granini Group, this means continually collaborating with nutrition experts, suppliers, universities, and others. She particularly endorsed the idea of working with startups: “We can use startups to co-create an idea [and] even to execute, or find a route to market strategy, to be more efficient in terms of bringing a product to a consumer.”

The entire system of managing innovation at the Eckes-Granini Group has changed to become more agile, Kovacs added. Whereas product planning once involved an extensive, multi-step process before going to market, “now, we want to validate quickly with the consumer at the early stage of the innovation, and then go fast, and test and learn. In case it doesn’t work, it’s okay. Let’s try something else. We are much more agile in the way we lead.”

Give Teams the Flexibility They Need to Create and Analyse

For Claar, the pandemic-fuelled shift towards flexible, remote work is further proof that marketing leaders must give their teams the tools — and the independence — to work in new ways. “For me, it’s about allowing people to change positions within divisions, go on stretch assignments but also flexible working hours, making time for the family,” she said. “I don’t really care where people are working or how long they will work as long as they’re on track with their KPIs.”

Claar added that when building a marketing team, it’s best to seek professionals who have an ideal balance of left-brain and right-brain capabilities. Mastercard, she said, refers to this as building “da Vinci marketing teams,” in honor of the visionary who flourished as both an artist and a scientist. “da Vinci marketers can at the same time create and analyse,” Claar explained. “They can also innovate or invent and redefine processes.”

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