It’s been more than five years since I began working on marketing tech strategy projects. Technology has changed rapidly, and new players have entered the market. However, I believe the fundamentals of strategy planning and execution management have remained consistent. At its core, these projects rely on understanding your current capabilities, your industry, benchmark performance, and use cases—and, of course, aligning these with your ambitions.
Now, I want to create a mock case, modeled after real-world projects, to demonstrate the steps I generally suggest for getting everyone in the company on board for radical transformation. Imagine a company, Client X, operating in the spirits industry. In such projects, the management or client isn’t just looking for advice—they’re looking for a way to keep pace with a world that isn’t slowing down. The mission rarely changes: rethink their marketing strategy to meet evolving consumer behavior.
Listening to Stakeholders
The process always starts with listening. Not just to leadership but to all stakeholders across the organization. From marketing and IT to customer service and sales, everyone holds a piece of the puzzle. This isn’t just about identifying gaps; it’s about understanding what is working and what isn’t. As we pieced it all together, one thing became clear: their marketing technology stack was falling behind. The tools weren’t speaking the same language, and it was holding them back in four critical areas: consumer experience, analytics, digital asset management, and performance measurement.
Imagining the Future
Then came the fun part: imagining what could be. We ran an “art of the possible” workshop with their team, asking questions that forced them to think bigger. What would a frictionless customer journey look like? How could technology enable personalization at scale? What would it take to get there? By the end of the session, we had a blueprint for the future—a shared vision that everyone could rally around.
These types of workshops also require strong external research, as different stakeholders often have varying levels of understanding and knowledge. Aligning them with market trends, technology advancements, and compelling use cases is critical. However, the goal isn’t to steer them toward specific use cases or technologies. Instead, it’s about empowering them to envision possibilities within their unique context.
Building the Roadmap
With the vision in place, it was time to build the roadmap. Quick wins are essential; they provide the momentum needed to show that change is possible. For instance, we recommended integrating a customer data platform to unify fragmented data and automating parts of their content production process to accelerate campaign delivery. Mid- and long-term initiatives followed, including deploying advanced analytics platforms and building an in-house team to interpret and leverage data effectively. Every recommendation came with a cost-benefit analysis, ensuring they knew exactly where to invest and why.
Beyond the Technology
But technology doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It’s shaped by the people, processes, and data that surround it. We dug deeper, streamlining campaign workflows to reduce time-to-market, recommending new roles to support their analytics ambitions, and developing a plan to improve data governance. This wasn’t just about fixing the tools—it was about creating an environment where those tools could thrive.
By the end, Client X had more than just a roadmap. They had a business case that quantified the financial impact of their transformation, a clear set of priorities, and the confidence to move forward. This wasn’t just a technology upgrade; it was a reimagining of how marketing could drive their business forward.
If you’re planning a marketing technology enablement project, start by asking the right questions. Where are your gaps? What does success look like? And how will technology help you get there? Listen to your team, imagine what’s possible, and don’t forget the bigger picture. Because technology is just the beginning. Real transformation happens when you align tools, people, and strategy to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
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