Strategy's worth remains underestimated, according to WARC
The 2023 WARC Future of Strategy report, published on September 30, sheds light on key challenges and opportunities for marketing strategists worldwide. The report emphasises the need for a holistic approach to strategy, known as 'whole strategy thinking'.
The lack of 'whole strategy thinking' is a significant issue, with both teams and clients struggling to align on broader goals due to the absence of a comprehensive strategy. This integrated approach unifies creative, commercial, and technological aspects, aiming for transformational growth through the combination of insights from behavioural science, demand analytics, and business transformation.
Another key finding of the report is the importance of understanding customers. Poor customer experiences risk $3.7 trillion in spending lost due to customers switching or cutting back. Marketers must deeply understand customer behaviours and preferences, continuously mining insights to tailor relevant experiences throughout the customer journey, thereby nurturing both emotional and behavioural loyalty.
In-person research, while not directly highlighted in the report, is implied as a valuable methodology to gain nuanced understanding that complements digital data, enabling richer, experiential insight for strategic decision-making.
The report also discusses the impact of AI on marketing strategy. AI is recognised as a powerful enabler reshaping marketing strategy, with widespread adoption in brand safety, programmatic advertising, and curation. However, only about a third of marketers are currently factoring in AI-related sustainability concerns, indicating an area for development.
Opportunities for strategists include leveraging AI tools to enhance media buying outcomes, adopting cookie-free and privacy-compliant targeting methods, closing the customer experience gap, and embracing system-level strategy development that integrates marketing with broader business transformation and growth imperatives.
The report advises strategists to focus on the skills that AI cannot replace to prove their value. As budget cuts and AI developments threaten the value of strategy, strategists must demonstrate their worth by focusing on areas such as creative transformation, deep human understanding, and strategic decision-making.
In addition, the report identifies adopting 'whole strategy thinking' as a means to address the client-strategy divide. Clients should provide detailed information about their target audience to help strategists better understand their customers. Strategists, on the other hand, should spend more time conducting in-person research to avoid disconnection from their audience.
In summary, the 2023 WARC Future of Strategy report encourages marketing strategists to blend 'whole strategy thinking, deep customer understanding through research, and AI-driven tools' into an integrated approach that drives sustainable brand growth and competitive advantage.
- The absence of 'whole strategy thinking' in business practices can lead to misaligned goals between teams and clients, thus necessitating a holistic approach that unifies creative, commercial, and technological aspects for transformational growth.
- Understanding customer behaviors and preferences is crucial for marketers, as poor customer experiences can lead to a significant loss of spending due to customer switching or cuts, with strategists continuously mining insights to tailor relevant experiences throughout the customer journey.
- The integration of AI-driven tools, coupled with 'whole strategy thinking' and deep customer understanding gained through research, can provide marketing strategists with an opportunity to drive sustainable brand growth and competitive advantage.
