Navigating the New Uncertainty

According to a recent paper from the McKinsey Global Institute, we have entered a period of change that is less like a traditional business cycle and more akin to “a cluster of earthquakes ... reshaping our world.” The whitepaper compares this current transformation to the aftermath of World War II or the fall of the Soviet Union in terms of its structural upheaval and enduring impact. 

Driving this seismic change are multiple events and trends playing out simultaneously in a relatively brief timeframe:

• Transformational technologies like generative AI, the impact of which is now becoming apparent

• Generational upheaval, including mass boomer retirement, millennial economic frustration, and GenZ's political presence

• Ongoing talent and skills shortages creating challenges for businesses and highlighting a mismatch between job openings and workforce skills

• The pandemic and its massive impact on families, the workplace and social norms

• Climate change with its increasingly visible and devastating effects, along with the disruptive economic transition from fossil fuels to renewables

• Geopolitical instability as evinced by extremist political movements around the world and belligerent actions by nuclear-armed Russia and China

Disruptions here or there can butterfly-effect into profound consequences elsewhere in the system. Little wonder, then, that Gartner predicts “customer demand and buying behaviors will fluctuate unpredictably.” 

Assuming we’ve entered a stage in which uncertainty is the new normal, then marketing leaders must implement strategies to make their organizations better able to pivot with agility and respond rapidly to shifting customer demands and marketplace imperatives.

Historically, business continuity and organizational resilience planning has been the domain of IT and operations, as those departments are responsible for facilities, networks and applications upkeep. However, this exclusive approach is by its nature limiting and insufficient. The inward focus fails to address the concerns of the organization’s customers. Thus marketing, with responsibility for addressing the customer perspective, must prepare to handle crises and disruptions as part of the wider business continuity planning process.

The tectonic shifts impacting our world demand a new playbook for marketing leaders.

A key element of marketing’s planning activity must include gaming out mock disruption scenarios to stress test resiliency strategies and run through drills and simulations.

• Game out various scenarios by creating a matrix of potential disruptions and each one’s probable impact (high/medium/low) on customers and product or service offerings. Set aside scenarios of low and medium importance and focus on the handful likely to have significant repercussions.

• Stress-test your organizational response by running each scenario beginning to end more than once, evaluating how different decisions at key inflection points would likely help or hurt the business’s efforts to respond to customer needs.

• Increase marketing’s operational independence by decoupling digital engagement platforms (e.g., email, social media, advertising) from core systems of record (e.g., customer and account data) so marketing can deploy vital communications rapidly without reliance on IT or other departments that will have their hands full in the event of a crisis.

• Ensure the resilience planning is cross-functional and inclusive, with governance clearly delineating key decision-making authority. The midst of a crisis is no time for a turf war.

• Adopt a product-led approach – with an empowered product management function – to facilitate rapid decision-making and implementation. Efficiency in crisis is often challenging in siloed organizations where IT and marketing are misaligned in their interests, objectives and timeframes. The cross-functional operating model transcends the typical IT and marketing silos and is designed for speed and encourages flexibility – exactly what is required in a world of dynamic and unpredictable customer needs and preferences.

The tectonic shifts impacting our world – spinning off crises the way a thunderstorm spawns tornados – demand a new playbook for marketing leaders. Large-scale changes and out-of-the-ordinary events have become the new normal, and any given day is unpredictable. In these disruptive, transformative times, the advantage will go to marketing organizations structured for speed and agility, and with proven, ready-to-execute resiliency plans in place.