The Secret to Agile Marketing

We know that in today’s world, customers are constantly changing shopping patterns, accompanied by an explosion of customer touchpoints and fast-changing competitive and technological dynamics, which have led to an increased emphasis on Agile Marketing. During the October 18th UWEBC Marketing Peer Group meeting, business professionals gathered to discuss a roadmap for the successful integration of Agile in marketing.

Led by UWEBC’s Marketing Practice Director Bill Carrier, participants discussed how companies can use Agile practices to build familiarity and momentum within existing teams. The question isn’t whether or not teams should be agile. Instead, the question is how they can apply Agile to their ways of working.

This meeting opened with a presentation by Andrea Fryrear, CEO and Co-Founder of AgileSherpas. Andrea explained the “Good, Better, and Best for Agile.” Under the “Good” category, she proposed having a daily standup meeting and retrospective discussions every two weeks. The daily standups are brief strategy sessions that leave the team with a short-term plan, while the retrospectives are serious discussions about processes and are crucial for continuous improvement. Under “Better,” she talked about running proper pilots for 90 days to prove the impact of dedicated teams and agility. Lastly, under “Best,” she urged participants to adjust their team structures to embed Agile ways of working across the department. This includes having an Agile organization set up including an execution team, strategy group, and leadership team.

Following Andrea’s presentation, Rome Seifert (COO, Laughlin Constable) and Jenny Maglio (Director, Marketing Automation, Laughlin Constable) gave insight into how their company applies Agile to agency operations. Their view of Agile is that it is a set of principles aimed at freeing teams so they can work more efficiently. They invest in up-front work in order to understand the project and achieve overall success. As a result, their teams and clients have a higher level of ownership and accountability.

“The session was very beneficial. It was great to meet the various presenters and learn from their expertise.”

The meeting concluded with a presentation by Aquiles Flores, Director of Ecommerce at The Master Lock Company, who explained how Master Lock successfully launched Agile marketing. Master Lock, with support from Fortune Brands, is investing in digital transformation to accelerate eCommerce and omnichannel growth. Master Lock’s mission is to meet consumers’ security needs by offering a best-in-class digital experience that builds trust. To achieve this, Master Lock uses in-house studios allowing “Agile pods” to accelerate the testing and scaling of photo and video content across multiple channels. Their four growth levers are advertising, digital self, assortment, and promo.

Each speaker brought different perspectives to the meeting. As the world is an ever-changing and evolving place, organizations need to be able to rapidly adapt to change and face uncertainty. There is not an easy answer to how to become truly Agile, and it is a discussion we’re still having today.