Building Competitive Advantage
Through Effective Marketing
Operations Management
EXECUTIVE BRIEF
The purpose of this brief is to help organizations understand the fundamental role marketing operations plays in building competitive advantage. This compilation and examination of the latest industry research, analyses and expert opinions brings the keys to building competitive advantage into focus, and reveals why marketing operations is a vital function in businesses today and those of the future.
Achieving competitive advantage requires a company-wide effort. Below we’ll explore how that company-wide effort begins with the marketing function and the 3 keys to unlocking competitive advantage through effective marketing operations management.
“The ability to gather, organize, interpret, and act on data and analytics will be the defining competitive differentiator of our lifetimes.” – McKinsey
Most marketers understand that data has become essential to achieving their objectives. But not all organizations have learned how to leverage data to impact their competitive position.
Knowing your customers and what is important to them requires not only actionable data, but the ability to analyze it properly. It is through this data and analysis that a company comes to understand what matters to its customers and how its organization is responding. With this insight, an organization can focus its resources and efforts throughout the company to differentiate and build competitive advantage
Adaptability
“Instead of being really good at doing some particular thing, companies must be really good at learning how to do new things.” – Harvard Business Review
Nearly 10 years ago, Harvard Business Review published a paper titled, “Adaptability: The New Competitive Advantage.” The HBR paper offers ideas that are as relevant today, or perhaps more so, than they were in 2011. The authors suggested that “In this period of risk and uncertainty, more and more managers are finding competitive advantage in organizational capabilities that foster rapid adaptation.”
Three sources of advantage that are called out in the HBR paper clearly relate to marketing operations and merit examination by today’s marketers seeking opportunities for competitive advantage:
1. The Ability to Read and Act on Signals
2. The Ability to Experiment
3. The Ability to Mobilize
Effective Marketing Spend
“The companies that prepare for the unknown—by focusing not just on top-line growth but also on cost excellence—will be well positioned to prosper in any environment.” – Boston Consulting Group
In a survey of 1,000 marketers worldwide by Rakuten Marketing, respondents estimated they waste an average of 26% of their budgets on ineffective channels and strategies. And about half of respondents said they misspend at least 20% of their budgets.
Cost inefficiencies in marketing impact a range of resources, including money, time, and personnel. Marketers who find a way to spend more effectively are able to invest in areas that can contribute to competitive advantage. Think growth areas, like new product launches or establishing a broader market presence.
NEXT STEPS
Competitive advantage is essential to achieving success in an increasingly competitive business environment, driven in part by rising customer expectations and new, disruptive business models. Marketing operations is not only vital to this effort, it is where competitive advantage takes root.
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