MARKETING

RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

HOW-TO GUIDE
 Marketing Resource Management
HOW-TO GUIDE

Marketing Resource Management (MRM) systems control the administrative processes that
support customer-facing marketing programs. This distinguishes MRM from marketing execution
systems that store customer databases and deliver marketing messages through email, Web
ads, and other channels. MRM may be sold independently or as a component of comprehensive
marketing management systems that also provide execution.

MRM functions fall into two primary clusters. The first involves functions related to company-level
marketing management, including program planning, scheduling, budgeting, and cost reporting.
The other cluster relates to program management, including task lists, purchasing media and
materials, content creation, approvals, storage, and distribution. Some MRM systems specialize in
a few of these functions.

Others specialize in additional functions such as customizing content for local offices or dealers,
or in marketing reporting and analysis. Systems may also be tailored to specific industries or
companies of a certain size.

Companies buy MRM systems when their marketing programs become too complicated to run
in a less systematic fashion. This, along with the systems' high cost, originally meant that MRM
was used almost exclusively by large marketing organizations with hundreds of marketers in
multiple offices.

More recently, the growth of digital marketing means that even small marketing organizations need
to manage many different programs and content versions across multiple channels, and to quickly
introduce new versions.

This expanded complexity has rarely been accompanied by a corresponding expansion of staff,
adding to the pressure for more efficient operations. At the same time, costs have decreased as
MRM capabilities were added to integrated marketing suites and as stand-alone MRM products
became available as vendor-hosted services (Software as a Service, or SaaS). The result has
been increased use of MRM systems among companies of all sizes.

2 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

MRM Components
Here is a closer look at the main features found in MRM systems.

Program Planning and Scheduling — Users are able to set up a list of marketing programs or
campaigns, often building a multi- level hierarchy, such as multiple campaigns within a program
and multiple events within a campaign. Programs are often assigned to categories based on
purpose (acquisition, retention, cross-sell, etc.), brand, product line, region, and other attrib-
utes. These categories are used for reporting roll-ups and to limit access, to the people respon-
sible for a particular type of program. Programs, or their components, typically have other
attributes, such as start and end dates, budgets for cost and response, and owners. Most MRM
systems let users define these attributes and their labels, making it easier to adapt the system
to their particular organization. Nearly all systems can produce a marketing calendar showing
programs and their dates, often with options to display the calendar in different formats and to
filter which programs are included.

Budgets and Actual Costs — Budgeting options can range from a single value per program
to detailed estimates by cost category and time period. Some systems can calculate program
cost based on user-entered quantities and cost per unit. This approach may extend to standard
assumptions, such as postage cost per piece, that are applied to all programs automatically.
Beyond cost budgets, the system may allow users to enter other estimated values, such as
number of messages sent (direct mail pieces, emails, telephone calls, ad impressions, etc.) and
responses received. Actual costs and other values may be entered manually by the user, or
posted automatically from accounting and customer management systems. Some systems let
users enter overall budgets for program categories, which can then be compared with budgets
for specific programs to see how much of the total budget has been spent or allocated.

Task Management — Some systems provide project management features to track the develop-
ment of individual programs. These can be anything from simple checklists to templates that
automatically create a project schedule based on the start date and number of work days
between tasks. An advanced system could include dependencies of one task on others, stan-
dard cost and labor hours, automatic task assignments to roles or individuals, notification of
new tasks to the assigned person or department head, posting of actual labor time and task
status, workload analysis, notification of completed tasks, approval tracking, and alerts for
tasks that are overdue. The system might be linked to corporate human resources and security
systems to automatically update roles and responsibilities.

Reporting and Analytics — Because MRM systems capture plans and cost information, they
sometimes provide a platform for reporting on marketing results. This reporting may extend
to marketing performance, but only if the system can import response information from the
customer database or accounting systems. Typical MRM reports would cover planned vs. actual
expenses, show costs over time, and possibly calculate return on investment. The systems also
provide operational reporting on functions they manage, such as project tasks, purchasing activ-
ities, content creation, and utilization. MRM analytics would rarely extend to detailed analysis of
program results, customer profiling, segmentation, or predictive modeling.

3 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

The goal of MRM is to control the internal business processes of a marketing department. This
means that any MRM deployment must focus on process change first and technology second.
It also means that MRM is only adopted by organizations whose leaders recognize the need for
process change and, in most cases, are willing to make the investments needed to ensure success.

Because MRM is about process management, your action plan can draw on the extensive body of
techniques developed to improve manufacturing and other production processes. Your organiza-
tion may already have its own process improvement experts such as "six sigma black belts," who
can help manage improvements to marketing processes. If not, there are many external resources
including services staff at the MRM vendors.

In general, the stages in process improvement are understanding the process, identifying sources
of problems, and making changes to eliminate the problems. Problem areas are identified by
setting standards for the cost and outputs of each step in the process and comparing the stan-
dards with actual costs and outputs. Managers then research the causes of major variances and
make changes to reduce them. The long-term goal is to continuously improve performance by
removing problems and finding improved approaches that allow you to raise the standards.

Where MRM projects diverge from generic process improvement is that most MRM projects are
triggered by a specific problem the organization needs to solve, such as better control over budgets
or easier access to content. This makes MRM more focused than an approach that looks at the
entire process and addresses the most costly problems first. The action plan combines standard
process improvement methods with the unique requirements of MRM. Follow the steps below to
implement your MRM plan.

Bottom Line
The complexity of today's multi-­channel, highly segmented marketing programs means that nearly
every company needs a systematic approach to managing its marketing processes. Marketing
resource management supports this approach, whether it is delivered in a stand-­alone MRM
system or embedded in a larger marketing management suite.

Marketers must realize that MRM technology is only as good as the processes it manages, and
ensure they devote enough effort to defining the processes they want and training the staff to
implement those processes correctly.

4 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 1 - Define Goals

Specific Goals Offer Visible

1 Define Goals
Metrics for Marketing Flow

Document Most MRM projects start with

2 Existing an identified problem. But
Processes because so many marketing
processes are interrelated,
addressing this one problem
can easily lead to a project
that touches nearly every
3 Set Priorities marketing operation.

The challenge at this stage

is to define a specific set of
goals that can be achieved
Define Future without disrupting the entire
4 Processes marketing department.

Your definition should include

metrics that can be translated
into business value, such as
reduced expense, higher staff
5 Find Software productivity, or faster project
delivery. These will show
whether you have achieved
your goals.

Execute, Modify,
6 and improve

5 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 2 - Document Existing Processes

Develop A Model for Each

1 Define Goals
Process and Its Expectation

Document Once you have identified your

2 Existing
Processes
project goals, the next step is to
analyze the existing processes
related to those goals.

This assumes these processes

exist; if things are really out
3 Set Priorities of control, the relevant tasks
may be performed without a
consistent process at all.

Even in this case, you'll want to

identify the ideal process under
Define Future
4 Processes
the current conditions.

Once you identify (or for the

first time define) the processes,
and the people who perform
them, you'll have a model that
helps you understand the impli-
5 Find Software
cations of any future changes.

Execute, Modify,
6 and improve

6 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 3 - Set Priorities

Choose Your Priorities

1 Define Goals
Wisely for Positive Impact

Document Even a constrained set of

2 Existing goals may include more
Processes change than the department
can handle at once.

You'll need to prioritize the

project components based

3 Set Priorities on a combination of factors,

including the value of each
improvement, the number
of people and processes
affected, and dependencies
Define Future among changes.
4 Processes But this may not be possible
in practice; even small
changes often impact large
numbers of people across
multiple groups. This would
5 Find Software mean that even your first
change has a major impact.

Execute, Modify,
6 and improve

7 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 4 - Define Future Processes

Setting Proper Processes

1 Define Goals
and Steps Along the Way

Document Now you are ready to look

2 Existing closely at the first processes
Processes you want to change and to
define how the improved
processes will work.

This will require specifying

3 Set Priorities the steps in the process, and
then the inputs, tasks, and
outputs of each step, along
with who will do the work.
You'll also need to define
the criteria that determine
4 Define Future
Processes when each step has been
completed successfully, such
as checklists to evaluate
when a piece of content has
been properly approved.

5 Find Software Test the new processes by

running through them manu-
ally to be sure they make
sense and are truly complete.
Assign measures to each
Execute, Modify, correctly and whether costs
6 and improve are in line with expectations.

8 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 5 - Find Software

Discover the Right Software

1 Define Goals
to Get It Done

Document Once you've defined the new

2 Existing processes, you can look for
Processes software that fits your desired
process flows and captures the
required data.

Beyond support for your

3 Set Priorities desired processes, consider
ease of learning, ease of use,
compatibility with organiza-
tional and planning structures,
control over which users
Define Future perform which tasks, numbers
4 Processes of users and languages
supported, and integration with
other systems.

Be sure to look beyond your

initial changes to ensure the
5 Find Software system is compatible with your
long-term needs for additional
functions. Of course, standard
software purchasing consider-
ations including price, support,
Execute, Modify, technology, and vendor stability
6 and improve will also play into your decision.

9 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 Action Plan
STEP 6 - Execute, Modify, and Improve

Moving Wisely from Pilot

1 Define Goals
Tests to Full Implementation

Document Plan your actual deployment

2 Existing carefully, making sure to allow
Processes enough time and budget for
system configuration, testing
and user training. It's always
a good idea to start with pilot
projects that ensure the system
3 Set Priorities works correctly before you
switch everything over from
your previous processes.

Provide ample support to

Define Future ensure that new users under-
4 Processes stand the changes and are
using the system correctly.
Measure performance at each
stage of the process, and make
adjustments as you uncover
unexpected problems and
5 Find Software
opportunities.

Use the metrics you defined

up front to measure cost, time,
and quality across the entire
Execute,
6
process to document the value
Modify, and of your improvements.
Improve

10 MARKETING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT HOW-TO GUIDE

 About ANA

The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) makes a difference for

individuals, brands, and the industry by driving growth, advancing the
interests of marketers and promoting and protecting the well-being of the
marketing community.

Founded in 1910, the ANA provides leadership that advances marketing

excellence and shapes the future of the industry. The ANA’s membership
includes more than 1,000 companies with 15,000 brands that collectively
spend or support more than $400 billion in marketing and advertising annu-
ally. The membership is comprised of more than 750 client-side marketers
and 300 associate members, which include leading agencies, law firms,
suppliers, consultants, and vendors.

Further enriching the ecosystem is the work of the nonprofit ANA

Educational Foundation (AEF), which has the mission of enhancing the
understanding of advertising and marketing within the academic and
marketing communities.
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