Based loosely around modern warfare: “Combined Arms Warfare”, Combined Channel Marketing (CCM) encompasses a number of core beliefs and approaches:
1. Partnerships: All parties are a partner in the venture, there is no room for client-vendor or boss-staffer type relationships as all parties strive side-by-side to achieve goals. Unpacking is kept to a minimum and focussed on learning quickly moving on. There is no formal hierarchy and everyone is bought in.
2. Speed trumps accuracy: Born in the heady days of “move fast and break things” (FB 2010), the premise is that agility in itself is a competitive advantage and the decision-making process is devolved with the architects doing little more than laying out core aims and objectives. Perfection is, as we all know, the enemy of progress. Rapidity also play to the strength of continual innovation and deployment.
3. Clear strategic aims: Devolved, not micromanagement is the key to success here but requires absolute clarity of the overarching business objectives and the honest dispersal of this information to everyone involved in the operating process.
4. Run, stop, run, stop: We operate in a series of defined sprints, with clear aims and a plan to deliver as much as we can in the time given but no more or no less. We then rest and review progress, adjust our trajectory, and off we go again. The ideal time period is 7-14 days for each stage. If folks can’t keep up then others jump into help and the next sprint will be adjusted accordingly.
5. Multi-channel: All the time: All channels impact other channels so must be combined and operationally delivered in parallel to multiply the effects. Critically in here is the relation between paid-for and organic traffic within each core channel.
6. Competitive-minded: We are stealing someone’s lunch as it’s always easier to do that that create demand. But, we don’t operate in a vacuum so we much adapt to competitive pressures. This means playing to our strengths and other’s weaknesses. It means knowing who are our competition and how we can kill them. It means stopping competitive activity before it forms a bridgehead, it means ruthlessly driving competitors from our space and fiercely defending our territory.
7. Communication: Key to front-line independence is peer-to-peer agile communication; that means chat channels, co-working, documentation, and clearly-defined concise meet-ups. No ranting, no HiPPOs, no bullying, and no distractions.
8. Lots of slack: We need backups, alternative approaches, and lots of headroom in resources and budgets.
9. No vanity.No ego. All marketing efforts are 100% driven by business goals, there is no space for vanity or golf-club car park projects. This reduces waste by allocating the right resources to the right places at the right time.
10. Right-skilling: Those that can do, do: Those that cannot, stay out of the way. Clear R&R need agreeing and reviewing regularly.
