A presentation by Russ Lange of CMG Partners and Roland Smart of Oracle on how Agile Marketing is ripe for today's digital, always-on marketing.

1. Market 2016:
Technology & Agile Marketing
CharlotteAMA
May 26, 2016
Russ Lange, Founding Partner, CMG
Roland Smart, VP Community Marketing, Oracle

2. Traditional Marketing

3. Agile Marketing

4. The difference hinges on this
statement
As a person, I am seeking to do /understand /
achieve something, so that I can .....
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5. Which is a key
representation of Agile
Marketing
Agile Marketing is an organization’s
commitment to prioritize the creation and
delivery of value to people (e.g.
customers) above all else.
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6. Agile Marketing: inspired by the software industry

7. DRAFTMarketing usually operates from the business’ perspective
• “How do we grow the
business?”
• “We need to
grow bank
revenues by
x% in y%
months”
• “In order to do this,
we will increase
new customers for
our wealth
management group
by xy#”
• “In order to sign
up xy# new
customers, we’ll
send xy# direct
mail pieces, and
seek xy%
conversion”
• Agency work
stream
• Internal team work
stream
• Legal/compliance,
etc. work stream
Direct mail
piece
created and
sent
Goal =
revenues
Strategy: new
customers
Tactic: direct
mail
Execution Result

8. DRAFTBeing agile marketers changes our perspective to that of our
customer.
“As a customer, I want … so that I
can …”
“I’m 42 and
would like to
retire one day.”
“I don’t know if I’m
saving enough for
retirement.”
“My 401K is a black
box, and I have no
idea if I’m making
the right moves.”
Sprint 1: customer input for a savings
forecaster tool
Sprint 2: savings forecaster
scenario tool: build
Sprint 3: launch/test tool with
beta group, adjust with inputs
Sprint 4: test/launch/test
comms with user inputs
Sprint 5: customer input for tying tool to
automated saving
“I’m saving
and investing
more because
knew I was
taking the
right steps.”
Goal =
retirement
Unmet need
= savings
Gap = DIY
information
Execution* Result
*Execution is iterative and flexible, and designed around the user’s immediate need
(information) toward deeper need = savings, toward deeper goal = retirement

9. © 2015 CMG Consulting - CONFIDENTIAL
Being Agile is:
Creating value for customers that accrues value for your company
1. Adaptive & Iterative campaigns over big bets
2. Many small experiments
3. Adjusting based on what you learn
Business
value
1
Time 
2
3
4
5
3
Agile
Traditional
Being Agile:
CustomerValue
BusinessValue
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10. Stella wants to buy an electric car…
Stella’sLevelofExpectation
Customer
Desire/Want/Need
Value Electric Car
Company Delivers
Awareness Consideration Evaluation Purchase Loyalty
Value
Gap to
Close
No
Gap Expectatio
n
ExceededValue Gap
Value
Gap
High
Low
Stella’s Buying Journey for an Electric Car
Value Competitors
Deliver

11. To help Stella and start being agile, we 1st change
hats
And recast our views and goals from Stella’s perspective, starting with:
• What do our customers actually look like, what are their personas?
• How do our customers make their buying decisions, what is their buying
journey?
• What are they attempting to do, what are their stories?

12. DRAFT
How do we put their perspective in context?
• Which customers should we focus
on/prioritize to achieve our business
goals?
• What are their personas?
• What value (benefits) do we create
and deliver to these customers?
• What needs do they have?
• What problem am I trying to solve?
• How do I buy or use a product or
service to solve my problem?
• What am I trying to do as I become
aware of, evaluate, buy and continue
to use potential solutions?
• What is my experience like? Where
am I satisfied or not?
• What do I need at each stage in my
journey as a person (user) seeking to
solve my problem?
• What information/help/support do I
need along my journey? Why?
• What’s the best way, that I know of, to
get help as I move through my
journey?
Customer Personas Buying Journey
Who Am I?
What do I do over time and why?
At any one time, what am I wanting,
needing or trying to do??
Business Strategy
Which customers should we
target?
Our knowledge, beliefs and estimates of our customers and
their behaviors are informed sources of user stories.

13. 2nd, Prioritize User Stories based on Value and Effort
To create a prioritized backlog of our work initiatives
Priority User Story Size of Value Create Level of Effort
Very High As a new buyer of an electric car, I
want to easily find a leasing option that
fits my needs.
Large Medium
High As a new buyer of an electric car, I
want to be able to arrange its delivery
time to my home.
Medium Low
Medium As a person wanting an electric car, I
want to quickly know what options I
have
Medium Medium

14. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Title: Priority: Size:Owner:
User Story:
As a <<target customer/persona>>, I want or need to <<do something>>
so that I can <<expected benefit/ value>>.
Acceptance Criteria:
Expected Business Benefit:
User Story #:
Sprint Period:
Title: Priority: Size:Owner:
User Story:
As a <<target customer/persona>>, I want or need to <<do something>>
so that I can <<expected benefit/ value>>.
Acceptance Criteria:
Expected Business Benefit:
User Story #:
Sprint Period:
Title: Priority: Size:Owner:
User Story:
As a <<target customer/persona>>, I want or need to <<do something>>
so that I can <<expected benefit/ value>>.
Acceptance Criteria:
Expected Business Benefit:
User Story #:
Sprint Period:
3rd: Execute short, iterative learning cycles with
priorities synched to customers’ needs & value
desires:
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15. Agile Marketers experience early and lasting benefits
Client
Commercial Performance
Global Internet Media Company
Operational Performance
North America Telecom
Team Performance
SaaS Tech Company
Challenge Missed commercial objectives. Lengthy go-to-market cycles
Marketing team reactive, order
takers, not strategic
Time Frame 3 months 4 months 6 months
Results
“Within 90 days, we turned around business
performance. Empowered teams felt more
engaged and ‘had each other’s back.”
“The A4M pilot accelerated time to market by
5 months, reducing time to first sale. We
were in the strongest pipeline position going
into Q4 with several new sales reps with
opportunities.”
“We’ve embraced a lot of additional
responsibility. We drive differently than
we would otherwise. Agile forces us to
look at the business purpose of what
we’re doing. It’s made us smarter.
127%
Of goal achieved
23%
Efficiency
31%
Team Satisfaction
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16. DRAFTTime and fortitude fosters an agile organization
Learning Operational Innovative Fully Engaged
Learning and adapting; managing
through mindset change.
Strong operational effectiveness and
efficiency.
Making it your own and being
innovative with the tools
Coordinated teams manage risk and
fiduciary responsibilities.
• Clear team charters
• Solidified teams
• Strong customer-driven
backlogs
• Learning & Improving
• Greater efficiency in how
teams work; stronger
learning and iteration
• Skills Transfer
• More well-rounded
team members
• Agile is full internalized
• More efficient business
operations.
• Teams achieving goals
LevelofAdoption
Stage of Adoption
Adoption
Journey
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17. Being Agile Marketers – Our Mindsets
We are customer focused
We create value
We experiment & learn
We break things, and that’s ok
We are collaborative
We are empowered
We are transparent
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18. Being Agile – The Methodology
Focus on what’s important
to our customer
Small, Cross
Functional Teams
Disciplined Process,
Short Cycles to Learn,
Improve Value Creation
Data Driven
Communicate
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19. 20%

20. DRAFTRecap: Agile for Marketing
What makes it work?
4. Rapid Learning Cycles
5. Active management
6. Create value
1. Focus on Customers
2. Empowered teams
3. Solve problems, not tasks
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