Drive growth, relevance with a Maestro approach to marketing

What it means to be a marketer is changing—and with big changes come major opportunities.

Global volatility and a boom in new technologies, led by generative AI, are shaking up entire industries. People from every part of an organization are now involved in activities that were once the sole domain of marketers. And constantly evolving customer expectations, along with an explosion in digital touchpoints, leave everyone navigating uncharted (and unpredictable) territory.

Heading into Adobe Summit 2024, many marketing leaders are looking for ways to turn that chaos into new relevance and faster growth. According to Accenture's latest research, the answer may be to stop trying to do it alone.

Marketing, the Maestro way

Our global survey of 1,150 executives found that top-performing companies—just 9%—recognize that marketing is no longer a solo performance; rather, it's a symphony. They're taking what we're calling a Maestro approach, in which players across the organization come together to play their parts, while marketing leaders step into the spotlight to conduct the music. 

When marketing is seen as an enterprise-wide capability, rather than an isolated function, marketers themselves become invaluable connectors, bringing disparate parts into harmony. With a Maestro approach, they can break down silos and direct everyone's contributions in ways that serve larger business goals. Our survey found that all companies with strong collaborative relationships between marketing and other functions saw up to 4% more revenue growth than their peers. With the added benefits of a Maestro approach, they were 33% more likely than their peers to say they had "more control over our brand than ever."

The key to a Maestro approach? Seamless simplicity, grounded in greater connectivity between data and experience. To achieve this, companies need to align their vision across the entire organization, and use generative AI and other technologies to drive the automation and optimization that frees up marketers to conduct their most meaningful work. Through Accenture's collaboration with Adobe, we've been able to help businesses not only adapt their marketing strategies for a new world, but transform their entire organization from the inside out for greater productivity, efficiency and collaboration. 

From chaos to collaborative concert, in four steps

Adopting a Maestro approach to marketing can be done with four key steps: See, solve, simplify and scale.

See customers in a new light and marketing as an enterprise-wide capability:

Customers are changing rapidly as they grapple with changing times; organizations, too, must adapt rapidly to meet them. A Maestro approach can help because it is inherently life-centric: it sees customers as multidimensional individuals constantly evolving in response to unpredictable external forces. Powered by data, our B2B and B2C Adobe clients can tailor services and communicate with greater authenticity. This ensures brands can grow through hyper-relevance and evolve with their customers. A clearer vision of customers—and the ability to adapt to them—can keep companies aligned with their own visions for the future.

Solve for layered customer journeys:

To keep up with increasingly complex customer journeys, marketers must be able to reach customers anytime, anywhere, with greater levels of personalization than ever before. Understanding customers and how to reach them, while fostering strong cross-functional relationships, is key to a Maestro approach. For example, we helped dsm-firmenich integrate Marketo Engage with Adobe Experience Cloud applications to improve sales and marketing efficiency with a new omnichannel approach. The science-based nutrition, health, and beauty company wanted to utilize its technology stack to increase engagement and conversion rates and gain visibility of end-to-end customer journeys. The Adobe-enabled solution has helped dsm-firmenich capture and nurture more leads with highly personalized, compelling experiences and develop the data for better-informed decision-making.

Simplify for relevance by streamlining operations:

Companies need to seek simplicity—not just in what they offer but in how they operate. That means they must rewire internally with technology investments, and activate automation to make day-to-day tasks more efficient. For example, with Adobe-powered generative AI and content supply chain solutions, communication efforts are simplified, optimized and aligned with brand strategies. Accenture's own content supply chain transformation is a prime example: with Adobe-driven tools, we've seen savings of $70M annually and a 55% reduction in manual processes.

Meanwhile, we helped French hospitality company Accor implement its own "Content Atelier" to improve efficiency globally and help ensure guests are always served relevant, individual experiences aligned to the marketing ambitions of specific brands. Generative AI has been essential to the project's strategic roadmap, and Adobe has supported the journey through intelligent capabilities like Photoshop's Generative Fill and Generative Expand features, powered by Adobe Firefly. The technology augments how people work, encouraging rapid iteration and creative experimentation with no specialized skills necessary.

Scale for growth by connecting data, technology and talent in new ways:

To scale their wins, marketers can connect human ingenuity and technology. With a cloud-based digital core, data-driven insights and AI-powered innovation, they can optimize experiences, respond faster to changes and deliver more with their existing resources. For example, at NatWest, we integrated Adobe's tech stack with the bank's in-house technology, enabling it to send billions of messages to customers in a matter of seconds, reaching them exactly when they need it via their channel of choice and based on real-time demand to increase engagement and trust. 

Maestros of the future

When companies adopt a Maestro approach to marketing, generative AI, global disruptions and changes in the way we work don’t create dissonance—they create opportunity. They can cut through the noise by aligning the entire organization in service of a common strategy, and using technology to empower marketers to lead the way with creativity and innovation. This allows marketing to thrive as a cross-functional capability involving a multitude of players freed from traditional operational silos. With an eye toward the future, marketers themselves become conductors of a company-wide symphony, with technology and talent working in strategic harmony. And the businesses that embrace them are positioned to adapt to ongoing change—while opening the door to innovation, relevance and growth. 

Bringing a Maestro approach to your organization 

Throughout our partnership of 20+ years, Accenture and Adobe have taken a holistic approach to the customer journey, and used the power of technology innovation to get to value faster. Adobe's technology stack connects data and talent to make the customer journey come alive, while Accenture's industry and consumer expertise, along with change management strategies, are the catalyst that make continuous evolution and exponential growth achievable. These combined capabilities can help businesses transform the way they work. Contact us to discuss how to bring the Maestro approach to your organization