Marketing Alignment

Marketing is never and easy process, but in telecommunications it can be especially difficult. Many of the problems are similar to the one's that marketers must face in every industry. Finicky customers, volatile marketplaces and a never ending stream of change.

However, in telco, all of the "normal" problems are greatly exacerbated by a large number of different conditions that are unique to telecommunications. The problem is basically this, whereas the people marketing products and other types of services have a clearly defined set of "things" that they must sell to their customers, the telecommunications marketer has to deal with the fact that his or her company is constantly changing and shifting:

• what they can or cannot sell

• how profitable the sales are

• the channels available for the sale

In telco, the infrastructure, network support capabilities and channel configuration change on a daily basis, and with each change comes a need to re-align your strategy and campaigns in order to stay in synch.

Special Challenges - Marketing Strategy Alignment

Keeping the entire organization on the same agenda is incredibly challenging in the telco environment. You must constantly be sure that:

• the current network infrastructure can support the products and services you are promoting

• the current sales force and channel organizations can do a good job of selling the products and services you want to promote

• the customer service organization is capable of supporting the level of activity a new campaign is likely to generate

• the products and services that are currently under development will fit into your overall strategic direction

• your current brand image is consistent with your levels of customer service and offerings portfolio

• your pricing, sales, credit and support policies are in alignment with your objectives

• you have the right kind of market research, analytics and forecasts to accurately predict and prepare the organization for what is expected to happen

Marketing Alignment Solutions

TTA can help you and your team better alignment between your marketing strategy and the rest of the organization with our marketing alignment solutions. These solutions provide management, the marketing team and the rest of the organization a clear perspective on the directions in which everyone is going, and the requirements for making sure that everyone ends up at the same place at the same time. Our alignment solution involves the following steps:

• Development of a clear operational roadmap (current state and future state) for each of the major operational areas of import to marketing

  • Network capacity

  • Network roll out / upgrade schedule

  • New product roll out forecast and planning

  • Billing Operations capacity and upgrades schedule

  • Accounts Receivables and Credit Positioning

  • Customer Service Capacity and Forecast

  • Sales and Channel Capacity and Forecast

• Development of a clear and concise marketing positioning statement

  • Current market share

  • Current brand image and position

  • Current marketing and promotion schedule 

• Development of a clear and concise marketing strategy statement including:

  • Statement of marketing plan and objectives

  • Current strategic directions and campaign objectives

• Analysis of the alignment of the non-marketing and marketing positions and the creation of a "gap analysis" which highlights the areas of marketing alignment risk