Agile Marketing Manifesto: A call to action for decision makers

Bam💥: The trigger!

I'd like to start with a little story. If you have already visited the platform Agilité Marketing, you know, I'm a big fan of agile marketing.

But where does this enthusiasm come from? It's simple. From the day I found myself in front of the document that described its values and principles. Bam, something clicked 💥 !

All the solutions to the difficulties I had encountered at one time or another in my career were before my eyes.

It was through the work of the early leaders of the agile marketing movement that this pillar document was born in 2012. Its name: "The Agile Marketing Manifesto".

As Andrea Fryrear explains in her book Mastering Marketing Agility (you can read the summary by clicking on the link), its origins lie in the principles of Agile Software Development Manifesto (ASDM) and Scrum methodology.

But it is far from being a pale copy. The Agile Marketing Manifesto was written by marketers for marketers. And that's probably why it immediately resonated with me.

I therefore propose to distil the content to give you a quick and clear view of its richness for the future of your marketing organisation. If you want to have a look at the original document, you can consult it here.

The essential values for your marketing today

We live in a time of unprecedented change. Can you keep up with the pace🤔?

Agile marketing is a revolutionary new approach, a paradigm shift in the way we think about our marketing.

The 5 values of the Agile Marketing Manifesto

But what are the values that underpin this approach? Originally there were 6, the updated version in 2021 has kept 5:

1. CREATE VALUE: Focus on customer value and business outcomes rather than activity and deliverables
2. DELIVER QUICKLY AND FREQUENTLY: Focus on creating value quickly and consistently rather than spending time trying to achieve perfection
3. RATIONALIZE YOUR CHOICES: Learn from experiences and data rather than from opinions and preconceptions
4. COLLABORATE: Collaborate cross-functionally instead of working in silos and hierarchies
5. BE REACTIVE: Respond to change rather than follow a static plan

Developing the "right stuff".

The values of agile marketing are based on the importance of developing marketing that, instead of creating "more things" will create the "right things".Of course, the aim is to work with shorter campaign development cycles. But they are still customer-oriented and rationalised by the systematic use of market data and feedback.

This allows us to develop more targeted and relevant marketing to our target audience.

This is why the rapid production of initiatives is essential. It allows us to quickly obtain the opinion of our consumers and to optimise the solution we wish to offer them in each cycle. It is a real partnership. Just like the one that must be set up between the different departments involved in a project.

Indeed, if cross-functional collaboration is focused on the needs of the customer, then it produces better marketing. Well more efficient than silo-based turf wars, departmental wars or strict adherence to hierarchical decision making.

These five inspiring values do not live alone. The editors of the .. have accompanied them with several principles. These make the values even more concrete.

The 10 principles that explain the values of agile marketing

What attitudes and actions could you put in place to move towards an agile marketing organisation in line with its values?

Here are the 10 paths recommended by the Agile Marketing Manifesto:

1. Ask for close alignment, transparency and quality interactions with your internal and external customers.
2. Look for different and varied points of view..
3. Embrace and respond to change afin d’améliorer la valeur pour vos clients.
4. Don't plan only at a sufficient level pour garantir une priorisation et une exécution efficaces.
5. Take risks and learn from failures..
6. Organise your marketing by small cross-functional teams, where possible.
7. Create marketing programs aroundmotivated individuals and trust them to conduct their work.
8. Operate at a sustainable rate (et donc tenable) pour garantir le succès de votre marketing sur le long terme.
9. Give a constant attention to the mastery of marketing fundamentals. Aim for excellence.
10. Aim for simplicity.

It is therefore a question of adopting a different mindset from what is generally observed within traditional marketing structures. This is regularly referred to as the "agile mindset".

The agile mindset is the beginning of the story for companies that want to improve their performance and deliver their projects efficiently. This mindset, which is worth devoting a full article to, must be embraced at all levels of the company, starting with its leaders.

This includes giving up the desire for control, perfection and detailed planning.

What are the risks of not adopting more agile marketing?

By ignoring the existence of agile marketing values and principles, you simply risk amplifying the bad habits of traditional marketing. I say amplify because as technology rapidly advances, as our VUCA world changes unpredictably, agility has the potential to become the royal road to ensuring your business grows.

A rigid, non-collaborative approach no longer works.

With it, you risk especially :

1. To increase rigidity in project management i.e. not being able to react quickly to changes in the market or consumer expectations.
2. To limit collaborations and therefore risk not making the most of everyone's skills, ideas and knowledge.
3. To extend miscommunication : without clear communication between the different parties involved in a marketing campaign, you risk not being able to implement projects in a coherent way. Especially as they increasingly require a combination of technical, technological and legal expertise.
4. To aggravate the lack of flexibility : by not following the principles of the .., you may find yourself stuck in strategies that are no longer adapted to the needs of the market and consumers.
5. To decrease your customers' satisfaction : without an approach focused on this satisfaction, you may not be able to understand and meet the needs of your consumer segments, diminishing their loyalty.

Take action

Agile marketing is the future of marketing. That is my belief. The way we identify our profession must change.

That is why I wanted to share the manifesto, its values and principles with you today.

Many companies that have embarked on the agile journey have seen their results explode. Their agile marketing teams generate much more value because they work better. Not more, better. I insist on this difference.

Agile marketing, once understood, adopted and implemented, simplifies everyone's daily work. At the end of the day, it's all about creating a corporate culture. The one where people feel confident and empowered with a single priority in their thinking: customer satisfaction.

Given the magnitude of the task, many companies engage the services of an external agile marketing coach.

This has multiple benefits:

1. Objectivity : an external coach can provide an unbiased perspective on existing processes and practices, which can help identify potential barriers to implementing agile marketing.
2. Experience : a coach often has extensive experience of successful implementation of agile marketing in various companies, which can be a valuable asset in avoiding common mistakes.
3. Speeding up the process : a coach can help speed up the implementation process by providing practical advice and strategies to overcome challenges.
4. Better understanding A coach can help employees better understand agile marketing and related methods, which can help them adopt a more efficient and productive approach.

In short, working with an external coach can provide valuable assistance in implementing agile marketing.

And if you are looking for one, look no further 😉. You read the words of one of them.

Get in touch with me now if reading this article sounds like a no-brainer. And if it corresponds to the future you wish to give to your company's marketing. I will accompany you with enthusiasm in this flight 🦅.