We worked with our long-time partner Sojourn Solutions to help us analyze our “opportunities for improvement,” looking to develop a plan focused on driving measurable results aligned to key business outcomes. Sojourn’s Peak Performance Strategic Framework played a critical role in our initiative, laying out where we were in terms of people, processes, and technology, and then mapping a plan for next steps.”
Paul Stevenson, Head of Marketing Operations, O2
A leading mobile network operator, O2 competes in both B2B and B2C markets. Over the past few years, the UK-based communications and IT services company has been planning – and driving – transformation in its marketing operations, boosting its marketing ROI through streamlined processes, the right martech, and enhanced human capabilities.
Challenge
O2’s Head of Marketing Operations, Paul Stevenson, explained that “we needed to transform due to increasing competitive pressures and the diversification of the business into new areas. O2 identified multiple areas for improvement in its marketing operations. One was data: “we were challenged with our data, which was siloed in multiple areas within the company. We wanted to use our data to drive insights and to better understand our audience, but we weren’t set up to do this effectively.”
Solution: O2 Business implementation - Start small and iterate
O2’s ultimately-successful and award-winning approach therefore had two main pillars: (1) getting its “data house” in order and (2) building its human capabilities. As Sojourn Solutions Managing Partner Rebecca Le Grange explains it, “strategy, processes, and martech are only as good as your people.” In terms of its key martech platforms, O2 Business uses Salesforce.com, Oracle Eloqua, and Tableau.
Results: Keep rolling in
Stevenson summarizes some of the eye-popping indicators of success related to O2’s transformation efforts, which have not only impacted marketing operations but the entire organization: customer opt outs from email decreased 50%; 3 times more leads generated in 2019 Q1 over 2018 Q1; and a 266% increase in marketing-influenced revenue.
All marketers know that optimizing performance in marketing operations is never complete, because it’s a dynamic and ongoing effort involving people, processes, and martech. “We are continuing to, and will continue to, optimize all we’re doing. We keep on learning, iterating, and scaling.
-Paul Stevenson, Head of Marketing Operations, O2
Working with Sojourn Solutions, O2 Business has been exceptionally successful in driving transformation in its marketing operations – boosting its marketing ROI through streamlined processes, the right martech, and enhanced human capabilities. Indeed, so much so that in late March O2 was honored at the 2019 B2B Marketing Awards in London, winning “Transformation Project of the Year.”
