Innovation boom: Why B2B marketing should now focus on architectures instead of measures.

1. Strategy is an integrated set of choices that positions a company to win.
2. Planning deals with controllable resources and costs, whereas strategy focuses on uncontrollable outcomes and revenues.
3. Strategy development requires stepping out of one's comfort zone and taking calculated risks.

A similar misunderstanding often occurs in marketing organizations, where strategy is equated with marketing actions. Actions are specific activities such as campaigns or events, focusing on controllable elements. A marketing strategy, however, is a comprehensive approach that considers unpredictable market conditions and customer behavior. Equating actions with strategy can lead companies to focus too much on short-term goals and lose sight of the bigger picture.

A genuine marketing strategy, as Martin emphasizes, requires taking calculated risks and stepping out of the comfort zone. Additionally, a strategy needs a vision and a desired outcome that looks to the future, rather than merely analyzing the past.

To achieve this outcome, more than a series of actions is needed – a well-thought-out architecture is required. This is the only way to achieve sustainable competitive advantages and long-term success, including a coherent customer experience that is rewarded by people.

Actions vs. Architectures in the Innovation Boom.

In today's flood of innovations and data, it's understandable that marketers rely on the latter to avoid facing the former. Data-driven optimization of already launched actions only takes a company so far. This may seem like a long stretch today, but with the advent of AI and technologies that make working with data, creating content, and flooding the digital space with messages easier, the end of this stretch is quickly reached. It's like a race: when everyone has an F1 car, everyone gets to the finish line very quickly. But what comes after? Perhaps the goal is not set far enough, not thought through enough. What happens when all actions are evaluated, optimized, and relaunched, evaluated, optimized, and relaunched, evaluated…?

Exactly, stagnation sets in. The actions of all competitors begin to resemble each other. We've seen this in the past in product development across various industries. While this has led to consistently high quality for consumers (e.g., smartphones, laptops, razors), it has the potential to fatally bore or annoy recipients of corporate communications.

So what to do? The answer can only be: take calculated risks, keep the vision at the end of all actions in mind, continually develop, and not lose sight of it – not during personnel changes, not during technology changes, not during market turbulence.

Does this seem almost impossible through the lens of everyday business? Perhaps, but the future belongs to architectures, not actions. Plus: everyday business itself is also rapidly evolving, opening up new possibilities and new flexibility.

Thought follows Tech: Why the AI Explosion necessitates Architectures.

By architectures, we mean long-term plans. Plans that consider a certain degree of the unknown and allow flexibility despite a fixed goal – accounting for the new partner, the new innovation, the new competitor, without breaking down. It's about creating strategic plans, platforms, and creative ideas that are designed for development from the outset – no more "one-shots." Because with increasing complexity and the rising possibilities of the already visible content explosion and the resulting changes in user behavior, differentiation becomes a "long game."

Here is a current example that – with a little transfer of performance – shows that users in the digital space appreciate longevity:

To stand out from the competition, British GQ is now focusing on a long-term content strategy that does not aim at quick, algorithm-driven articles but at long-lasting and relevant content.

Neha-Tamara Patel, Director of Audience Development, explained that this shift helped strengthen audience engagement and reduce churn.

GQ's architecture is not only designed for the long term, but long-term itself – a natural vision for such a publication – is the vision on the horizon. GQ has recognized the AI-enabled explosion of content and convenience and is trying not to compete on these two points anymore.

Cost and Culture: Why Controllers and Colleagues love true Architects too.

Thinking in architectures also pays off internally: After all, it costs a lot of money to take advantage of the ever-increasing number of opportunities to reach your customers and prospects. Expensive "one-shots" are not advantageous here either. Ideally, created and/or used touchpoints by corporate marketing can be further developed, linked, repurposed – and not by the one partner sitting on the technology and benefiting from his small monopoly, but by any partner or internal expert tasked with it.

These architectures must be designed to be open and flexible enough for anyone – internally or externally – to be involved without exploding costs to work towards the set goal. A goal that ideally evolves and moves forward steadily.

Such a progressive goal may seem unattainable, but it can motivate teams like a guiding star and drive development.

"A progressive goal in marketing means continuously working to improve the customer experience, always responding flexibly to market changes, and promoting innovative approaches. It can serve as a guiding star for marketers and motivate teams."

More Complexity, more Competence, more Colleagues – more Planning?

With new possibilities come new specialists who can take advantage of these possibilities but also need to delve deeply into them. Specialization in certain fields becomes even more specialized. This means further fragmentation of deep competencies within teams and among external partners. The result: More colleagues contribute key elements to a marketing architecture at specific points.

Like in music, more subgenres of competencies are emerging. Skills are branching out in specific fields, such as technical disciplines, through "new" disciplines and sub-disciplines. Overlap at the ends of the spectrum – in the depth of these competencies – becomes smaller, while in other fields, colleagues find empowerment through AI by now accessing "old" skills and resources in copywriting, HTML, and image creation.

The talent pool is growing, the distribution of skills is changing, a plan is needed for this. But who plans?

When many roles  converge into one: The Architects.

So, let's get to the point: architects are needed to design, steer, and continually develop these plans, maintain the view from above, and defend the vision – whether internally or externally. This role involves not only strategic and creative expertise but also social skills: the architect's role must be friendly but neutral – strong feelings should be evoked in the target groups, not within teams. The architect is also a translator, mediator, and occasionally a coach.

The architect also plays the role of an impulse giver. In the midst of innovation, marketing teams, embedded in organizational structures and navigating daily politics, need someone who brings things from the outside in. (Hence our inevitable plea for partners like us.) It is also a matter of time whether one can perform this role within their job in an organization. And let's be honest: even the most neutral internal innovation scout will eventually start seeing through the company lens. It's only natural, as they live within a hierarchy where the path to the top dictates the direction of action.

Finally, another argument for external architects: impulses from other industries, from other clients. The architect brings the experience of two skyscrapers, an opera hall, seven single-family homes, and three bungalows when projecting a new building with the client.

Conclusion.

In the complex world of B2B marketing, well-thought-out architectures are key to long-term success. They allow companies to react flexibly to changes while pursuing a clear vision. Architects, whether internal or external, play a crucial role by combining strategic and creative expertise with social skills, thereby creating sustainable competitive advantages.

If you want to learn more about how to strengthen your marketing strategy through architectures, contact us. Let’s create inspiring experiences together that will drive your business forward.