Marketing Teams and Tunnel Ball

Do you remember playing Tunnel Ball? There are some striking parallels with how large marketing departments tend to operate when organised into functional teams. Bear with me. ⚠️ Disclaimer – some scenes are exaggerated for emphasis. Imagine a staff member from each functional area, i.e. PR, Digital, Brand and Creative, Events etc., on one tunnel […]
Why you must eliminate BAU to achieve Marketing Agility

Is BAU the hand brake on your team’s performance? Firstly, what do we mean by Business as Usual? Merriam-Webster dictionary describes it as “something is working or continuing to work in the normal or usual way”. It’s also known “as maintaining the status quo, or maintaining the status quo despite difficulties.” The phrase was popularised […]
Broken processes equals broken promises

Processes. Done wrong, they create a pinball experience that yields disbelief, frustration and anger. Yes, I’ll hold… Sure, I’ll give you my name and DOB, again. Done well, they’re the red carpet that gets customers exactly where they need to go, the first time. Ahhhh. Internally, processes can create the same friction or magic for […]
A boss who has all the answers, hasn’t hired well enough

Confidence doesn’t come from knowing it all, it comes from knowing you have the agency to learn what you need to know, when you need to know it. In marketing the world advances so fast it’s neck-snapping. From NFTs, to the metaverse, to the impact of the next iOS change. There’s always something new to […]
Failing to plan means saying ‘yes’ far more often than you should

Gone are the days of the set and forget annual marketing strategy. The world changes too fast. But you still must plan. Set a direction. A north star. An intention. Make bets. Capture assumptions. Outline objectives. Key results. And initiatives. Be proactive first. Reactive second. If you don’t. You suffer. The team suffers. You end […]
Nine signs of a misaligned marketing team

It’s time we addressed the monster in the room. There’s something we need to talk about. It affects many marketing teams out there. Do you no longer recognise how your team structure fits together? Have you accidentally ‘created a Frankenstructure’?