The roadmap to maturity

CMOs may be able to help their companies move from ‘doing digital’ to ‘being digital’ by understanding 23 traits of digital-first marketing organisations.

While many marketing organisations are using digital tools to enhance their existing capabilities, most have not fully integrated digital technologies, processes, and mindsets into their current business operations, according to the “Digital DNA Marketing Organisations Assessment Report” from Deloitte Digital and Facebook. The study evaluated the digital maturity of marketing organisations across a range of industries by assessing their “digital DNA” – 23 traits that define digital-first organisations, from agility and fluidity to constant disruption and morphing team structures.

“In digitally mature organisations, legacy marketing systems, organisational structures, and workflows have evolved—and in some cases been replaced—to enable marketing to drive growth for the business,” says Jane Schachtel, global director of agency development at Facebook, which recently formed an alliance with Deloitte Digital focused on transforming marketing models for the digital age to become predictable growth engines. “Digitally mature organisations are constantly moving forward on the digital continuum—always assessing and adopting new technologies, processes, and strategies.”

In the study, respondents were asked to rate their marketing organisation’s maturity level for each of the 23 traits on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing “exploring digital” and 7 representing “being digital,” which means an organisation’s business, operating, and talent models are leveraged for digital and are profoundly different from prior models.

On average, marketing organisations report a digital maturity score of 4.9. This falls into the “doing digital” level on the maturity spectrum, meaning companies are using digital technologies but are still focused on current business methods.

Digital Maturity by Industry

The travel industry ranks itself highest in overall digital maturity (5.2), according to the survey. The top-ranking traits within the travel industry are a changing mix of traditional and nontraditional stakeholders (6.0), intentional collaboration (5.9), and morphing team structures (5.5).

“Organisations often start by setting up a digital team that operates in a silo,” Schachtel says. “In some travel organisations, those silos are starting to break down. Digital teams are working with brand teams to create new ways of doing business—via mobile apps and e-commerce sites, for instance—to drive customer acquisition and retention. Some travel organisations are investing in digital resources, technologies, and data flows to support consumers’ preference for interacting with them using mobile.”

The automotive industry also ranks itself high in overall digital maturity (5.1), according to the survey. Some of its top-scoring traits are a changing mix of traditional and nontraditional stakeholders (5.7), intentional collaboration (5.6), and continuous innovation (5.4).

“The automotive industry has been challenged by an increase in nontraditional stakeholders,” says Garth Andrus, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, and global human capital leader at Deloitte Digital. He notes that 80 percent of car buyers now use the internet for car-buying research, visiting an average of 10 auto websites before making a purchase, and almost half of car buyers visit only one dealer before making a purchase, according to a recent survey.

“In this new environment, automotive brands, dealers, and finance companies are intentionally collaborating to provide effective integration,” Andrus says. Intentional collaboration is defined in the study as a mix of virtual and physical participation and cooperation for a common overarching cause. For example, some automotive companies appoint a personal guide to take car buyers through the entire experience, from searching on an automotive website to servicing the vehicle post-purchase, rather than passing them off to different points of contact during the car-buying journey.

Accelerating Digital Transformation

To develop their digital DNA and help move their organisations toward digital maturity, CMOs and other leaders can consider some of the following approaches:

Set a digital business goal. Organisations may have different motivations for beginning a digital transformation. In some industries—retail being a prime example— companies may face disruption from e-commerce players, and they may want to become more digital in order to compete. In other industries, such as consumer packaged goods, companies may want to add digital technologies to become more customercentric. “If an organisation’s digital intention is to become even more customercentric, its areas of focus in a digital transformation may differ from those of a company dealing with disruption to its business model,” Andrus says.

Start with a win. Rather than tackling all 23 digital DNA traits at once, organisations might start with three or four areas in which they already have some strength. “Focusing on minimum viable change enables companies to begin to move the needle on digital maturity so it becomes a natural way of working, reduces the rejection that can sometimes occur during a transformation, and increases the probability of success,” Andrus says. For example, organisations may already have a culture of innovation or employ Agile work processes, and they can build on these areas, showcase successes, and build momentum throughout the organisation before introducing further changes.

Create a culture of experimentation.

Organisations scored an average of 4.9 on continuous innovation, which falls into the doing digital level on the maturity spectrum. To help foster continuous innovation, organisations can begin by experimenting in one or two areas. “Companies can enable teams to implement a test, learn, and iterate process for mobile content production, for example,” Schachtel says. “Leaders can capture insights about effective mobile content production, develop workflows, then scale those across the rest of the organisation.”

Accept failure as learning. Marketing leaders can help build their organisation’s digital maturity by creating an environment in which failure is seen as part of the learning process. Overall, survey respondents give their organisations an average of 4.8 rating on this trait. Organisations may consider steps such as recognising employees who take risks and try new approaches. “Rather than just telling people to fail fast, it’s important to demonstrate that failure is acceptable – if there is learning,” Andrus says.

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Organisations vary widely in their digital maturity levels. Leading digital-first marketing organisations have digital DNA embedded in their structures, cultures, and operations. They think, act, and operate differently than traditional legacy organisations. By understanding traits of leading organisations and taking tactical steps to develop these traits, CMOs and other company leaders may be able to infuse digital DNA into their organisations to thrive in the digital era.