There’s plenty to learn from the new book, Marketing in the Round. If it isn’t because it teaches an integrated marketing approach, it’s because it reinforces what I’ve found to be a worthwhile methodology.
In the development of SmartMPM and other applications developed by Smartbridge, we have always practiced an agile methodology – Scrum, to be exact. It’s known to be a method for agile software development, but it’s slowly being adapted to other projects and departments. Its appeal could be because it challenges the conventional practice of having a project manager and dealing with tasks outside the original scope of work.
I’m more aware than ever of discussions popping up about agile marketing. In fact, here’s a good one from MarketingProfs.com. It seems like such an obvious pairing of practice and process.
The phrase ‘scrum’ originated from rugby.
The marketing round, as it turns out, basically takes the shape of Scrum – Sprints (campaigns), Standups (weekly meetings) and The Team (a small group each with their own skillset, but with working knowledge of other necessary skills).
What makes these two methods a match made for marketing is their shared characteristic of forcing you to question conventional leadership. For example, Scrum doesn’t require a project manager. Only a ScrumMaster, that facilitates, leads and protects the team.
When marketing in the round, the leader is the strategist with firsthand knowledge of as many disciplines as possible – which doesn’t necessarily have to be the CMO. The book even suggests: “The birth of the marketing round at your company might mean the death of the title of chief marketing officer.” The CMO must be versatile enough in their experience in order to stay relevant.
Do you practice an agile methodology? If so, you may already be marketing in the round. It’s worth making the effort to apply the steps it takes to master both arts. And if you have, don’t keep it to yourself! Share it all the conferences you can speak at – you’re sitting in a spot most marketers would die for.
See how SmartMPM compliments agile methodology in the free sandbox >
