Skip to main content
Search Icon
Quick Links
  • Adobe Completes Workfront Acquisition
  • Workfront + Adobe
  • Why Workfront is different
  • Leap Virtual Conference
  • Interactive Product Tour
  • Work Management Guide
Language Select Icon
US (English) UK (English) Dutch German Swedish
Login
Workfront ProofHQ
Contact Sales
Language Select Icon
US (English) UK (English) Dutch German Swedish
Workfront - An Adobe Company logo
Search Icon
Quick Links
  • Adobe Completes Workfront Acquisition
  • Workfront + Adobe
  • Why Workfront is different
  • Leap Virtual Conference
  • Interactive Product Tour
  • Work Management Guide
  • Why Workfront

    Overview

    Why We Are Different

    See what makes us stand out from the competition and why top brands trust us.

    Customers

    Learn how Workfront customers benefit from our work management solution.

    Partners

    Consult our extensive global partner network of digital transformation experts.

    Services

    Get comprehensive support, training, and a tailored implementation of Workfront.

    Recommended Content

    Workfront Overview

    With Workfront, enterprise work management can help your company, departments plan, predict, collaborate, evolve, and deliver their best work.

    Learn more
    Why workfront product screen.
    Learn more
    Up button icon
  • Solutions

    By Department

    Marketing

    Align marketing strategy to execution and launch campaigns faster.

    IT

    Transform the enterprise and deliver impact with data-driven decisions.

    Product Development

    Manage processes and automate work to launch winning products.

    Professional Services

    Manage client needs and deliver services faster.

    Agency

    Streamline workflows, manage resources, and deliver results.

    Explore all solutions

    By Use Case

    Project Management

    Plan projects, track progress, and deliver work that achieves results.

    Resource Management

    View capacity, make assignments, and prove your impact.

    Digital Collaboration

    Centralize communication, project planning, and work execution.

    Portfolio Planning

    Decide which projects to prioritize or pause, and identify those at risk.

    Strategic Planning

    Define business direction and outline a path for achieving your goals.

    Explore all use cases

    Recommended Content

    Mighty Guide: 7 Experts on Flawless Campaign Execution

    Read this Mighty Guide for advice from seven marketing experts on how to execute flawless campaigns under pressure.

    Learn more
    grey background with mighty guide logo
    Learn more
    Up button icon
  • Platform

    By Product

    Workfront

    Manage the entire lifecycle of work in a single, centralized solution.

    • Goals

      Align strategic goals to work, monitor progress, and drive amazing results.

    • Scenario Planner

      Plan continuously, compare scenarios, and determine the best path forward.

    • Fusion

      Integrate your favorite applications and automate work in one platform.

    Adobe Experience Cloud

    Digital experience solutions

    Explore the platform

    Tours & Demos

    Interactive Product Tour

    Get a hands-on look at managing all your work in Workfront.

    Scenario Planner Demo

    Experience how Scenario Planner simplifies the continuous planning process.

    Workfront Goals

    Align strategic goals to work, monitor progress, and drive amazing results.

    Explore all tours & demos

    Recommended Content

    Work Management Maturity Assessment

    The journey toward work optimization starts with understanding your organization’s current level of work maturity. Take the assessment and learn how to optimize work—at every level.

    Take the assessment
    Work Management Maturity Assessment
    Take the assessment
    Up button icon
  • Plans
  • Resources

    Learn

    Resource Center

    View webinars, reports, and studies to learn about the Workfront solution.

    Work Management Guide

    Learn everything you need to know about enterprise work management.

    Blog

    Prepare for the future of work with insights from work management leaders.

    Events

    Join Workfront at one of these events.

    Customers

    Workfront One

    Get product updates, connect with other users, and request product support.

    Training

    Become a Workfront expert with our library of training resources.

    Innovation Lab

    Submit and vote on product ideas.

    Workfront System Status

    Check on Workfront status, scheduled maintenance, and incidents.

    Recommended Content

    State of Work 2021

    Covid-19 changed digital work. Read the report to learn how leaders can support their digital workforces through uncertainty.

    Read the report
    State of Work 2021
    Read the report
    Up button icon
Search Icon
Quick Links
  • Adobe Completes Workfront Acquisition
  • Workfront + Adobe
  • Why Workfront is different
  • Leap Virtual Conference
  • Interactive Product Tour
  • Work Management Guide
Language Select Icon
US (English) UK (English) Dutch German Swedish
Login
Workfront ProofHQ
Contact Sales
Why Workfront
Overview

Why We Are Different

Customers

Partners

Services

Solutions
By Department

Marketing

IT

Product Development

Professional Services

Agency

By Use Case

Project Management

Resource Management

Digital Collaboration

Portfolio Planning

Strategic Planning

Platform
By Product

Workfront

  • Goals

  • Scenario Planner

  • Fusion

Adobe Experience Cloud

Tours & Demos

Interactive Product Tour

Scenario Planner Demo

Workfront Goals

Plans
Resources
Learn

Resource Center

Work Management Guide

Blog

Events

Customers

Workfront One

Training

Innovation Lab

Workfront System Status

Login
Workfront ProofHQ
Contact Sales
Someone sits at their desk viewing Gartner Marketing Symposium content
December 16, 2020

The future of marketing leadership—3 imperatives from the 2020 Gartner Marketing Symposium

By the team at Workfront

***

The Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo 2020 was a three-day virtual event billed as the world’s most important gathering of CMOs and marketing executives. It promised to help CMOs hone their leadership skills, refine their marketing strategies, and find innovative solutions to deliver growth during the transition from crisis to recovery in 2021. With a packed agenda covering a wide range of topics, we wanted to pick out three key insights for marketing leaders to consider in preparation for the year ahead.

 

The agile marketing imperative. 

Richard DeLisi, VP of Advisory at Gartner dubbed 2020 “the year of the pivot,” in his keynote address. Marketing leaders found so many ways to do more with less this year. They streamlined content production, switched to digital and virtual content, prioritized and clarified business goals, and constantly realigned marketing plans. 

These tactics and strategies will become the playbook for marketing in the future. Marketing success will be defined by the ability to adapt. Strategies must be focused on optimizing resources and delivering meaning and value to customers. A 2020 Gartner study, How to Prove the Value of Marketing to the Enterprise, found that 70% of CEOs expect CMOs to lead revenue growth. The pressure is on for marketing leaders to deliver results as we all adjust to whatever 2021 throws at us.

In her session on agile marketing, Nicole Keel, Senior Marketing Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, demonstrated the need for operational agility in marketing. Thermo Fisher’s marketing team harnessed the power of work management technology and implemented agile marketing as a department-wide methodology to get more done while providing visibility and transparency to stakeholders.

Gartner found that 66% of leaders say planning processes should be more adaptive. But only 2% had actually embraced agility. In 2021, agile marketing will be essential for staying ahead of the competition. 

 

The customer experience imperative.

We’d all love to have a crystal ball after the uncertainties of 2020. Jennifer Polk, VP Analyst at Gartner, provided the next best thing in her talk on top marketing predictions for 2021 and beyond. Here are a few of her insights on the importance of delivering amazing digital experiences with a customer-first mindset:

  • Consumers have embraced digital channels, but videoconferencing fatigue is setting in and people crave real-life experiences. Marketers can redeploy cost savings from in-person events to enhance virtual experiences. There’s an opportunity to explore the full extent of virtual events and incorporate elements of real-life, such as live streaming.

  • Similarly, while 50% of consumers have increased online shopping, many have no plans to abandon in-person retail. Omni-channel strategies can help to close the gap between digital and in-person shopping. To capitalize on this, CMOs should align teams around functions, rather than channels—switching the focus from the channel to the needs of the customer.

  • The pandemic exposed weaknesses in many enterprises’ ability to respond to disruption and continue to meet customer needs. Boards are pressing for greater cross-functional collaboration. Gartner expects that by 2023, 25% of organizations will combine marketing, sales, and customer experience into a single function. Accelerated digitalization will help to overcome cost constraints and create more nimble operations based around shared customer and marketing insights.

 

The integrated martech stack imperative.

One thought-provoking session offered CMO perspectives on martech leadership. The panel noted the rise in spending on marketing technology alongside the expansion of solutions on offer—up to 7,000 solutions/tools from just 150 in recent years. This proliferation requires a new level of rigor when it comes to investing in the right technology solutions. Marketing teams need to manage their martech stacks with a single marketing system of record to avoid redundancy and duplication, while ensuring people have access to the integrated tools and data they need for seamless collaboration. The panel asserted that, in the future, CMOs need to take greater ownership of technology investments within their organizations. 

A great example of the value of marketing technology is in scenario planning. Gartner data shows that scenario planning is rarely a formal capability in marketing, and half of marketing teams don’t do it at all. But the disruption experienced in 2020 has highlighted the importance of scenario evaluation in the planning process—helping marketers to adapt quickly amid a fast-moving crisis. Technology can significantly accelerate scenario planning, by enabling multiple options to be assessed objectively and efficiently. Now that volatility and change are a constant, the ability to quickly analyze scenarios to support decision-making could be a game-changer for marketing teams. 

For more on how Thermo Fisher Scientific embraced work management technology to boost operational agility and process efficiency, read the case study.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Get Workfront blog updates straight to your inbox.

Why Workfront
  • Why We Are Different
  • Customers
  • Partners
  • Services
Solutions
  • Departments
  • Use Cases
Platform
  • Products
  • Plans
  • Tours & Demos
Resources
  • News & Press
  • Resource Center
  • Blog
  • Workfront One
Support
  • System Status
  • Help
Adobe logo
  • Careers
  • Privacy Notice
  • Security
  • Terms of Service
  • Cookie Policy
  • Resources Index
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
Instagram
Contact Us
Copyright © 2021 Workfront, Inc. All Rights Reserved.