CASE STUDY
Cella’s Marketing Operations Assessment Drives Client’s Strategy and Long-Term Success
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Problem: The client's Marketing team had experienced rapid growth and several organizational changes that resulted in a need for foundational structure to be implemented across the department. There was a need to future proof and stay ahead of the growth curve, while maximizing efficiencies. They faced several challenges that prevented them from being an optimized team that could achieve business objectives.
Solution: Our Consulting team evaluated the client’s operational structure from the top down by interviewing stakeholders, identifying emerging themes and highlighting areas for improvement. Next, they presented the client with a summary of the assessment findings, including critical success factors to enable the department to work cohesively towards common goals and drive overall organizational efficiency and success.
Results: Putting it all together, Cella equipped the client with a prioritized list of strategic next steps, guidance and resources. Starting with the department’s foundations, marketing operations, organizational model and an operational metric strategy, the recommendations enabled our client to transform its Marketing team to achieve operational excellence.
The Problem
Our client, a leading human capital management technology firm, identified the need to future proof the marketing team to stay ahead of the growth curve and optimize efficiencies. Their organization had gone through a series of organizational changes. However, those changes had resulted in a lack of structured processes and disciplined approaches to marketing operations resulting in inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and difficulties in managing workload and priorities.
To manage through those changes, the client’s Marketing leadership had implemented a Marketing Operations Center of Excellence (CoE), aiming to provide foundational support and drive efficiencies across the marketing department. The CoE was a positive step, but without a solid structure, it wasn’t yielding the desired results.
Enter Cella.
The Solution
Our team of consultants worked with the client to establish an operating model that enabled its Marketing team to work smarter and achieve business objectives more effectively and efficiently. Cella conducted an objective assessment and provided recommendations based on industry expertise and best practices, strategy, process, capabilities and performance, moving the team toward an optimized future state.
Our Consulting team provided a comprehensive assessment that included:
- Top-down alignment to understand company goals and Marketing objectives to unify and ensure each supports the level above.
- Operational efficiency that included a diagnostic of the current day operational practices to optimize cost control and gain efficiencies that are measurable.
- Organizational strategy to optimize Marketing Operations functions, roles and levels and implement a foundational organization structure
- Process improvement analysis to evolve workflow processes and identify improvements.
Insightful Methods
By taking the time to examine every aspect of the client’s Marketing team from objectives, structure, operational practices and capabilities, Cella’s consultants were able to gather comprehensive data to guide the client to a customized solution.
The Discovery phase combined interviews and a comprehensive review of key operational documentation. This process included evaluating department strategy, business partner experience and partnership, a review of the organization as a whole, process and project management structures, and metrics and reporting
The Findings included opportunities and recommendations the client could embrace to improve the current state of its marketing operations.
Client-specific Recommendations/Resources were given to the client in the form of a playbook to help them consider next steps based on categories from the findings that were prioritized based on the value and the effort required to plan for and implement them.
Benchmarking data was pulled from Cella’s 2023 In-House Marketing and Creative Industry Report, including nearly 90+ unique participants from marketing in-house agencies representing Fortune 500 companies, middle-market and not-for-profit organizations across 22 industries.
Cella’s Consulting team identified several key factors that contributed to the client’s challenges and limited their team’s ability to reach their full potential. To address those challenges, Cella offered customized solutions with specific action points for our client:
- Organizational Alignment: Aligning the marketing department to contribute towards the company's overall goals and objectives will clarify a path for prioritization and goal setting, and operational planning can be implemented.
- Process Optimization: Implementing standardized and optimized processes will result in eliminating redundancies, reducing errors, and enhancing productivity across the marketing team.
- Systems and Technology: Implementing suitable technologies can improve the team’s ability to automate repetitive tasks, gather actionable insights, and streamline decision-making processes.
- Operational Performance Measurement and Reporting: Providing accurate and timely reporting, teams can identify areas for improvement and demonstrate the value of marketing efforts while supporting a culture of continuous improvement.
The Results
Cella’s team of consultants were able to take an objective view of our client’s Marketing operations process. Their custom recommendations ranged from department-level to organization-wide solutions. By examining cross-functional partner relationships and project management best practices, Cella equipped this team with tools they needed to both carry out the day-to-day functions of the CoE and implement proper metrics and measurement tools to help them stay on track.
Conclusion
When organizations go through significant organizational change, its team members often know what’s lacking or needs to be improved. They just may not know how to get started or prioritize the necessary improvements. Cella’s MOPS Assessment provides an outside perspective with a neutral voice to help express issues, provide perspective to leadership and set your organization on a course to thrive.
How can I know if I need a MOPS Assessment?
- Do you need top-down direction for your Marketing team’s goals and strategic objectives?
- Do you know your level of operational maturity?
- Do you have an annual operating plan and process?
- Have you reviewed your Marketing team’s financial model?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may need a MOPS Assessment.
