Vision Setting and Strategic Marketing Consultancy
As marketers leading the long-term agenda, it’s for us to create (or significantly contribute to) the marketing strategy for the wider business and to translate what that vision means for marketing – where you want to take the team and its role in the coming years.
Our team of experienced strategic marketing consultants work with you to develop your vision, that will not only provide clarity, but when developed effectively can aid as a much-needed source of alignment and motivation to your team, so that they can grow the brands and businesses of tomorrow.
GREAT Marketing STRATEGY STARTS WITH A GREAT VISION
A marketing strategy provides clarity on the future position of where you want to take your brand or business, the north star that you are all working towards.
Defining the future state, either as a leader or with a cross-functional team, is extremely powerful especially during times of change. Facing into where you are and where you want to head to provides clearly marked start and end points of a period of transition.
But the desired end state, with clear milestones, goals and KPIs is only the start…
We need to ensure that this is delivered in a way that the engages, emotionally connects and can palpably feel and see the benefits of this change, across the whole team and or business.
Why develop a vision and long-term Marketing strategy?
We see too many marketing strageties crafted in a room and inspirational words posed on a wall, yet very few members of the organisation able to recall where they are heading, why and how they are going to get there, as well as the all-important ‘why?’
It’s becoming a problem at all levels. Execs and mid-level marketers are being asked to brief without the context of what they need to deliver. Senior marketers are being tasked with last-minute comms requests that just need to ‘get out’ by the end of play.
Yes, we need to pivot and be responsive to trends, competitive landscape, and sometimes we will need to act at pace, but as leaders, we mustn’t lose sight of the bigger picture of what the brand or business is trying to achieve.
It’s our role to ensure individuals at all levels of the organisation are aligned with the vision, goals and marketing strategic direction. Providing clarity over the context of their role and the initiatives they lead. Defining what success looks like, so they know when they have delivered.
Whether clarity on the direction of travel comes from the top, from senior marketers leading cross-functional teams, or marketers presenting bottom-up growth potential, the key is we all fully understand our roles in delivering the vision – and are motivated to do so.
Ready to get clear on where you’re heading? Get in touch for a conversation on how we can help.
STOP ASKING PEOPLE JUST TO ‘RUN’
Imagine asking the people in your team, function or organisation to run a race, but you haven’t told them why they are running…
How motivated will they be at the start line? How will they know if they are running at the right speed, when they need to sprint or pace themselves…
Who would run a race without knowing where they are running to, for how long and why?
Without this clarity, they would struggle to maintain their energy, feel frustrated and never feel a sense of accomplishment or satisfaction from approaching the finish line.
Give them the motivation by telling them why they are being asked to run, clarity on the what the journey may look like, scoping key milestones along the journey, how they will know when they have crossed the finished line, potential benefits (personally and for others) and the challenges and support they will get on the journey.
Don’t forget to celebrate when they arrive and reflect on success and learnings, before regrouping and getting ready for the next race.
We believe that marketers have the power to be change-makers
Without a vision, there are clarity gaps we frequently see at all levels when training and consulting:
1
Work being briefed without SMART objectives or clear KPIs that doesn’t ladder up to deliver strategic, brand or commercial goals. This results in investment that doesn’t help reach long or short-term goals. There are knock-on implications for the performance and perceptions of marketing.
2
Leading strategic brand planning without clarity on the desired commercial movement or growth expected at a corporate level. As a result, plans have to be reworked later, causing additional workload and demotivation for all involved.
3
Innovation pipelines being built when the business doesn’t have the investment needed, meaning launch dates are pushed back to the point the work is no longer competitive or relevant.
4
Tasks being allocated with a quick turnaround requested, often with the person setting the tasks doing so to appease someone and remaining unclear as to why the work needs to deliver in that timeframe. Resources are stretched and allocated away from tasks that deliver growth.
All of the above are demotivating and result in wasted time, taking energy and resource away from initiatives that are delivering growth, as well as personal and professional fulfilment.
Like all other great leadership qualities, providing clarity is a key responsibility. You need to carve out time to ensure you are clear. Clear on the bigger picture, the company’s wider agenda for growth, the desired vision and what success looks like.
This may mean slowing down to speed up, to give yourself the time to define context and clarity before you share it in a way that motivates and inspires.
We cannot stress enough the importance of providing clarity to your stakeholders and the marketers in your care, and we’re right with you every step to bring your vision to life.
HOW WE HELP
We work with you to define your vision or purpose for your brand or business; to provide clarity and motivation to your teams, including:
Vision
Defining the future vision, direction and commercial goals
strategy
Developing your long-term strategy, with clear strategic objectives that outline your choices around how you will grow, in which markets, who you are targeting and what you are expecting to shift.
Growth
Identifying the growth drivers and activities to be developed, with clarity on how they will ultimately ladder up and are embedded, in order to make this vision or purpose a reality
Alignment
Gaining alignment with stakeholders and your team so that they feel emotionally connected to what we’re working towards
roadmap
Defining the goal roadmaps and the timeframe they are to be delivered
KPI’s
Setting KPIs for your team and individuals within your team, with clarity on the definitions of success/KPI’s and their role in delivering these, demonstrating that this vision is actionable to ensure belief with the team.
We also help you define the all-important ‘why’ whether that’s a purpose or mission statement we’ll look to define why should your team want to help and be part of the journey to deliver this vision and change.
“Working with Abby Dixon and The Whole Marketer has been a fantastic experience for our marketing leadership team at Reconomy. Having delivered a brilliant workshop for the full team at our summer meeting, they then helped us define a clear and compelling vision and purpose that truly reflects who we are and where we’re headed. Their ability to guide us through meaningful conversations, challenge our thinking, and align us around shared goals has brought clarity, energy and further motivation to a rapidly evolving team.”
“Working with The Whole Marketer team has been really enjoyable, they’ve taken the time to really understand our needs and those of the business: bringing clarity, energy and positive challenge which has created an honest and open discussion throughout. The team have played a pivotal role in our marketing transformation journey, crafting a clear and compelling vision and purpose for the future our of European Marketing organisation, defined our marketing way and importantly built understanding how we embed this within our day to day to have a meaningful impact across our European business.”
