Four Key Themes in Shifting from a Digital Communications Team to a Digital Product Organization

Over the past couple decades, digital departments inside large organizations have steadily and organically grown. As the digital capabilities and platforms for information delivery expanded, these departments assembled by organizing the individuals initially recruited to handle the increasing requests for digital things to flank traditional campaign strategies into a cohesive team.

To support the ever-increasing intake, teams organized like agencies — creating project request forms, running programs, and delivering assets according to program timelines. The model was largely based in managing demand and coordinating work to insure quality, timely deliverables at the end of the requested program or scope of work.

Meanwhile, the digital industry was maturing—growing sophisticated platforms to connect and convert audiences across the continuum of the customer journey. This underlying measurement capability available through digital experience platforms now offered digital marketing teams the ability to shift from downstream digital delivery teams focused on precision creative and expert delivery into digital laboratories focused in growth.

With real-time analytic tooling and flexible front-end user experience frameworks, the value of digital departments shifted. The real fun in the making of digital things now started at the end of the program. The final artifact transitioned from the deliverable at…