What do you do if your project managers and marketing teams aren't aligned on brand development?

I would completely disagree, let them both move forward with their perspective ideas. Make sure that they are aware that a failure will me mean their jobs. If they come together on a singular solution remove the threat.

Best way to get everyone on the same page is to workshop it. Having a facilitator take the team through some key elements and find alignment to speed up the process. Start with understanding the organizations values and build the brand from there. If you can't align on values, there's a bigger issue – you might not have the right people on the team.

I agree. Identify the issues, discuss the team’s perspective and then communicate clearly the brands vision. Everyone must buy into the vision of the brand and work together to fulfill the goals. The entire organization should be considered Brand Ambassadors.

Understanding both perspectives is vital: project managers prioritize technical aspects, ensuring functionality and efficiency, while marketing teams focus on sales implications. Recognizing the importance of technical aspects, especially if they enhance sales, is crucial. Defining the project's purpose and Unique Selling Proposition (USP) helps align both teams effectively. This collaboration ensures that technical advancements contribute meaningfully to project success, fostering synergy between teams.

Host collaborative workshops to define shared goals, establish clear communication channels, and create a unified brand strategy. Regular check-ins and cross-functional teams can help ensure consistent understanding and execution of the brand’s vision and objectives across all departments.

In any organization, synergy between project managers and marketing teams is crucial for successful brand development Recognize Issues: Start by identifying the root causes of misalignment. This could range from differing priorities, communication breakdowns, or a lack of understanding of each other's roles and objectives. Facilitate open dialogues and collaborative sessions between project managers and marketing teams. Encourage them to share insights, challenges, and goals to foster mutual understanding and respect. By recognizing issues and building bridges, organizations can bridge the gap between project managers and marketing teams, fostering alignment and driving effective brand development initiatives.

Building bridges between project management and marketing is crucial for a successful brand strategy. By establishing shared goals and metrics, both teams can work cohesively towards a common vision. Cross-functional workshops and training sessions can enhance mutual understanding and collaboration, fostering a stronger brand development process. - Establish shared goals and metrics - Organize cross-functional workshops - Conduct training sessions for mutual understanding

In my experience alignment has to happen across the entire group. Not just between departments. The strategy is the strategy. Meeting and getting each others take to see if their are other opportunities will be necessary to get back on track. Alignment on the strategy is vital in my opinion.

Nailing it with the first move: Know your crew and what makes them tick! From customers to competitors, it’s all about getting into their heads. With stakeholder maps and a bit of detective work via surveys and chats, you're setting the stage for success.

One of the reasons may be the team members are not clear on objectives and brand guidelines. Thus I'd prefer to arrange regular meetings between project managers and marketing teams to discuss ongoing projects, brand strategies and objectives. I would also encourage open communication and collaboration to ensure everyone is on the same page. I'd also provide training sessions or workshops to educate both teams on the importance of brand consistency and how it impacts the company's overall success.

I firmly believe in the effectiveness of clear communication. Marketers understand that having the right brief is crucial for managing time efficiently. Additionally, during debriefs, teams are more adept at conveying direct messages.

Effective communication plays a vital role in bridging the communication gap and ensuring alignment across functional teams. Examples of effective communication include weekly or daily stand-ups to provide team members with an opportunity to discuss roadblocks and upcoming tasks. Additionally, end-of-week roundup notes can be shared with all team members to summarize the week's achievements, preview upcoming tasks, and clarify ownership of tasks. These tasks can be accomplished using project management tools such as Monday, WorkFront, Asana, and Basecamp.

Effective communication is like a secret ingredient that makes everything better. As they say, "The art of communication is the language of leadership." I've learned that regular check-ins and updates are ?? essential to keep everyone on the same page. ?? Clarifying misunderstandings and adjusting plans promptly ensures smooth progress. ?? This approach helps us stay focused on our brand goals and prevents any misalignment issues.

Clear chat is key Picture it as passing a ball in a game of catch You want your throw to be so precise that the other person catches it every time Thats how your communication should be direct understandable and right on target - Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

It begins at the top. A clear vision (North Star), mission (what we desire for our customers and how we build a business), and values (what we believe in and care about) are the foundation for measurable and trackable objectives. Marketers and Project Managers must align to the above to work productively together towards the same outcome. In my experience, organizations who become clear and follow a published CEO agenda with an inspired vision, mission and set of values are significantly more successful. I am reminded of Univision under Randy Falco’s leadership as a great example.

As I delve into the realm of aligning objectives for success, I recall a profound truth: "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." ?? ?? Understand Core Values: Aligning objectives starts with grasping the brand's essence. It's crucial to comprehend how our actions reflect the core values. ?? Long-Term Vision: Embrace the future outlook. Aligning objectives means working towards a shared long-term vision, ensuring sustainability and growth. ?? Consistent Decisions: When objectives intertwine, decisions align effortlessly. Consistency in choices leads to a unified direction, propelling us towards success.

Remind to everybody where is the magnetic north of the project by giving more meaning to all of it. Check the inputs of each team and show them how both can have synergies. Naturally, the teams will realign.

Get back to the very basics of the brand - why was it created? If your mission, values and goals are right, your business, brand and marketing goals are also aligned. Do a reminder brand inspo, if need be. I very much love the saying - branding is not the icing on the cake, it’s the cake (business) itself.

Stop the process and get alignment. Full stop. Otherwise you are wasting limited resources because it will inevitably go off track.

1: Let's mix it up! ?? 2: Blend brains for mega ideas! ???? 3: Team up for supercharged success! ???? 4: Double the teams, double the wins! ???? 5: Marketing + Projects = Magic! ???? 6: Project managers + Marketers = Dream Team! ???? 7: Together we rock, divided we meh! ???? 8: Innovation party with teamwork vibes! ???? 9: Break silos, build bridges! ???? 10: Plan together, conquer together! ????? 11: Marketing meets Projects, sparks fly! ???? 12: Let's create, collaborate, celebrate! ????

I always encourage regular meetings where all team members can share insights and perspectives freely. During our meetings, our new team members often bring fresh, innovative ideas to the table, while senior members may lean towards adhering strictly to branding guidelines. I believe that we should try to emphasize the value of experimentation in branding strategies, highlighting that trying new approaches can lead to greater impact. It is very important to create an environment where both creativity and consistency are valued, allowing for the exploration of new ideas while respecting the core principles of the brand.

Encouraging collaboration can be achieved by organizing workshops where all team members can contribute their insights and ideas, fostering a sense of unity. Recognizing each person's unique contributions can also build a more inclusive environment, where diverse 'thinkology' is not just heard but valued. This approach not only motivates the team but also leads to a more robust and innovative brand development process.

Once we have figured out differences and aligned objectives, increasing interactions between the two teams comes as a natural next step. Having a clear understanding of dependencies and timelines for brand development further aids collaboration. A clear demarcation of requirements from both teams would bring out opportunities for collaboration. For e.g. In one of the projects we had handled, the improving the stability of packaging was the prerogative for the ops team, to reduce spillage. On the other hand it would push costs. The marketing team brought in the idea of off-setting the additional costs by letting the packaging have ads/branded content that can be charged to the brands.

Colaborar no implica discrepar.. discrepar entre todos para llegar a la solución adecuada: intercambiar ideas, opiniones, comentarios, y mejor un no a tiempo que un probemos y veamos como responde el mercado

It's beneficial to establish clear communication channels and regular meetings to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding brand objectives and progress. Collecting feedback and suggestions from team members can provide valuable insights into both successful and unsuccessful initiatives. Analyzing these insights helps in understanding the underlying factors contributing to the outcomes, enabling the team to adapt and refine strategies for improved brand development.

And again, set up a brand committee. Whatever progress the individual departments make, openly measure and discuss it during the weekly meeting. Then everybody will be on the same page of the overall progress, and not the individual department's progress.

The perception of the brand is often not very tangible and therefore a lot of people have their own point of view. How to mesure a brand is quite difficult.

Queremos saber si hemos hecho un buen trabajo o si hemos incrementado ventas? Sin ventas, todo el esfuerzo se diluye: será una campa?a alucinante, ka idea innovadora, pero al final sí te compran es porque la naranja te convence.. cuidado con mezclar: campa?a de proyecto+marketing- incremento de ventas = resultado negativo y dinero desperdiciado

Progress - however incremental - must be identified and credit shared. Even if it means, formally active combantants merely stopped obstructive behavior. Find out what's working and share the word.

"Brand vision rules" and therefore the brand guardian needs to define the "where-how-when" for the marketing and product teams. It′s not a democracy. It′s not tyranny either. A clear brand vision allows for open discussions, listening to opinions, self-questioning..etc If marketing and product are not aligned either (1) there is no clear vision, (2) the brand guardian is not resolving questions as he/she should, (3) or teamwork is not functioning properly. The action course to fix it is very different depending on the issue.

Me ha pasado en la gente de proyectos, MKT y comercial que no estén alineados. Considero importante al momento de construir una marca entender cuál es la Audiencia y la oferta de valor que estos valoran. Desde ahí construir la esencia de la marca, sus valores, beneficios, audiencia y colaboradores. Con esto es más simple construir la estrategia. Luego de esto alinear a todas las áreas y unificar los objetivos Gracias

Return to the mission of the organization and build from there. Staff can’t argue with the mission, that’s why they are at the organization in the first place. Removes the back and forth.

What this may reflect is clarity and alignment with the highest company's goals, so they do not have a clear picture on how to bring the most value. Besides this there might be a "silo"effect How to solve it? By properly cascading throughout the organization, setting expectations and feed-forwarding. It could mean some challenges but worthy ones!