The aim of Agile Marketing is to improve the speed and responsiveness of the main marketing function. This is a move towards a more reactive approach to marketing with the overall aim of getting tasks completed within a shorter time scale whilst creating the best possible content. To break down the term, Agile Marketing, ‘agile’ means to be able to move quickly. This is relevant because to be an agile marketer, you need to be able to adjust your marketing mix quickly to deliver the best and most relevant service for your customers. The speed at which you can change your price or product and be able to deliver a new message before your customers change their requirements will determine your levels of marketing agility.
Agile marketing improves responsiveness by speeding up the marketing management cycle – ideas > work > results etc. It enables projects and tasks to be completed more quickly and to be prioritised over less important projects. By prioritising customer’s needs and projects, it allows you to be able to see what strategy of marketing is working. If it’s not, discontinuing it early will improve competitiveness. The ability to respond and change specific aspects of a campaign quickly is also a source of competitive advantage you could gain through agile marketing.
Increasingly, we are seeing signs that marketing teams are becoming more agile. This could be due to the growth and recognition of the importance of social media. Brands know that a presence on Facebook and Twitter is vital, and frequent posts according to what their customers require is key for engagement. One great example of a company with an Agile marketing focus is Oreo. There have been a few examples of events over the years where Oreo have switched up their original ideas to support or promote them. For example, Oreo supported Gay Pride by posting a picture of a multi coloured Oreo biscuit on Facebook. They also posted a picture to support the birth of Princess Charlotte – an Oreo next to a ‘royal bottle’. Perhaps their most striking and widely celebrated example of agile marketing was their response to the blackout at the 2013 Superbowl. Oreo are a fantastic example of agile marketing because they show that they have adjusted their strategy to allow them to respond with real-time marketing, to unexpected events and create relevant content that strikes a chord.
The primary objectives of agile marketing are to satisfy the consumer and to improve brand awareness through the process of early and continuous delivery of marketing. It allows customers’ needs to be met quickly and aims to keep satisfaction rates high. Although there are clear benefits for the customer, within the business, relationships between staff members improve as a more teamwork focussed approach to work is adopted and skills are exchanged. Agile marketing doesn’t just allow you to improve the business by speeding up marketing processes and encouraging collaboration, it can do wonders for your brand.
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