1. Strategy &
The Agency Model
Adapt, evolve or else
Laura McFarlane, VP SapientNitro

2. We can no longer look at change
as a transition. Rather, we need to
permanently embrace it as a
catalyst for growth.
Agencies need an “un-model”

3. What’s Changed?
FROM
TO
Rethinking strategic planning

4. Fundamental Changes in
How We Go About our Business
“Your remit now includes being
a data jockey, a brand leader, and an innovator.”
- David Cooperstein, Forrester

5. In fact the whole Shape of our work has changed
PLAN
EXPERIENCE
MEASURE
Rapid cycle testing and ongoing interpretation – analysis fuels optimization and adaptation

6. We Make Strategies
Organize Around Three Principles:
Intelligence
Experience
Evolvability

7. Intelligence

8. Every two days now, we create as much information as
we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003.
- Eric Schmidt

9. One billion pieces of content are shared
via Facebook’s Open Graph daily.

10. The volume of data created by US companies alone
is enough to fill 10,000 Libraries of Congress.

11. A retailer using big data to the fullest could increase its
operating margins by more than 60%.
-McKinsey

12. Data
Evolution of Data. Where we’re going and when.

13. More than just data:
Intelligence

14. Breadth of Inquiry, Skills, Methods
STRATEGIC
ANALYSIS
“What
do
you
want
to
have
happen?”
BUSINESS
VALUE
TACTICAL
ANALYSIS
“Why
has
it
happened?”
“What
has
happened”
Standard
Metrics
‘Historical’
analyCcs
(sales
data,
etc)
User
profiles
AJtudinal
segmentaCons
Behavioral
segmentaCons
Life
stage
segmentaCons
Process
descripCons
&
models
Modes
of
behavior
Modes
of
use
Agent-­‐based
modeling
Strategic
planning
acCviCes
Inventory
planning
MarkeCng
mix
COMPLEXITY OF ANALYSIS
DATA
INFORMATION
INSIGHT
RECOMMENDED
ACTIONS

15. Deep Analysis
Type
Macro-trends
Research Activity & Insight Depth
longitudinal forces influencing societal
or platform shifts
Human-intelligence
blended qualitative and quantitative
understanding of why trends and behavior
are what they are
Micro-behavioral
the actual behavior of people captured
through analytics across digital touch
points
Machine-driven
real-time responsiveness driven by
both immediate behavior and
regressed behavioral frames
Purpose
Time scale
Strategy
Monthly – quarterly
Strategy /
Operations
Weekly – quarterly
Operations /
Optimization
Daily – monthly
Touch-point
Optimization
Real-time

16. Consumer Intelligence Process

17. Mission Control

19. What it Means for Strategists
Evolve and organize around new notions of intelligence
Getting good with data
Designing experiences that not only generate
data but can continuously be improved by it.

20. Experience

21. Connected Consumers,
High Expectations

22. Challenge: Putting consumers into context
How consumers live their lives.
View
Product on
a PC
Connection with the category
and marketplace.
Identify and model the
opportunities.
BUY
Website
Check
Twitter
Text
Picture to a
Friend
Identify connections and
nature of the experience.
Assign role and function and
metrics to each connection.
Determine Return on
Experience.
Watch
Video on
Tablet
Download
An App
View
Banner Ad
Connection (if at all) with the
brand.
Out of
Home
Poster
“Like” a
Product on
Facebook
TV Ad
Join
Loyalty
Program
Read Blogs
Interact
With A
Kiosk
Go to
Retail
Store
Interaction
With A
Sales
Associate
Seek
Opinions
on Social
Read
Ratings
and
Reviews
Add to
Cart
Share Link
on
Facebook

23. Build Worlds not Ads
STORIES = VALUE + MEANING
SYSTEMS = CONTEXT + ACTION
“STORYSCAPING”

24. Building “Worlds”
that Don’t Need Marketing
Purpose, People and Product are all we need.
•
Nike's spending on TV and print
advertising in the US has
dropped by 40% in just three
years, even as its total
marketing budget has steadily
climbed upward to hit a record
$2.4 billion last year
•
Where is the money moving? To
connected product
development, digital and social
service platforms where
communities can engage more
deeply with the brand.

25. Vail Epic Mix

26. What did Vail get?
Millions of USD Total Mountain Net Revenue
$752
$766
$638
Return on Media
& Channels:
300,000+ members, and counting
38,000+ using the app. growing
Over 300M social impressions, growing
Traditional ROI Benefits:
2013 revenue up 13.1% sequentially
2010
2011
2012
Overall, 30% growth in revenue from 2009
Skier visits up 5.5% in 2013

27. • The role of content in the story – social,
location, context
What’s
Different?
• Allows hero in the story to craft the
narrative
• Enables connection between people,
places & brands
• Always-on, joined at any time or place
• Has an underlying connections platform
• Real-time data and analytics
• Aggregating data over time yields massive
advantages

28. New tools for understanding
and measuring experience
• Sensors and instruments
• Always on, dynamic models of
behaviors
• Qualitative as well as quantitative
data sources
• Analytic tools
PEOPLE
Interactions
Perceptions
PLACES
THINGS

29. New dimensions for assessing…
CONTROL
ACCESS
And new
models for
measuring
ROX
FIT
SENSE
CONTINUITY
BRAND &
MARKETING
ROI
RETURN ON
MEDIA &
CHANNELS
EXPERIENCE
OPTIMIZATION

30. What it Means for Strategists
“Crowdsourcing” the Strategy
CREATIVITY
MEDIA
SOCIAL
UX
STRATEGY
CONTENT
ANALYTICS
TECHNOLOGY
INSIGHTS

31. Evolvability

32. 1. the capacity of a system for adaptive evolution.

33. PLAN MORE LIKE A
HACKER

34. Driving Growth
Creating a system for incremental innovation
Agility to continually adapt to the changing landscape of
consumer and technology
Designing growth into service and product
Having a “Growth Hacking” department

35. What it Means for Strategists
Speed & Agility
Rapid cycles between Intelligence, Marketing and Product.
Leverage data and insights to generate hypotheses, put in
market and test on an ongoing basis.
Refine, course correct.

36. To Sum Up…

37. The Un-Model; New Skills and New
Processes Required to Work in Concert
4 RULES:
Strategy is drawn from a wider range of disciplines;
Intelligence, Experience and “Growth Hacking”.
Technology is now table-stakes.
Deep and continuous investment in consumer intelligence and data will define us.
Massively distributed skills and deep, constant, agile collaboration.
From disciplines to ‘pods’.
From waterfall to agile or scrum.
A nimbler approach: continuously iterate technology and experience based on findings.

38. THANK
YOU