How breaking down marketing silos helped PwC reimagine its global strategy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In June 2021, PwC announced the launch of ‘The New Equation’, a new global strategy that re-imagined its value exchange with its customers. The New Equation is designed to help PwC build trust and deliver sustained outcomes. The strategy represented a major shift for PwC, putting them in a position to better help their clients navigate a rapidly changing society

To effectively accelerate the strategy, J.C. Lapierre, PwC’s Chief Strategy and Communications Officer for the U.S. & Mexico, and her team worked to break down the siloes across marketing, communications, client experience, brand, content, and even an in-house agency, to get everyone rowing in the same direction.

Best practices for breaking down marketing silos

Per its 2022 Annual Global Review, PwC employs 327,947 people in 688 cities in 152 countries. It supports 191,000+ clients across its global network, including 84% of the Fortune Global 500. In the U.S. and Mexico, the firm is 65,000 people strong, with over 700 of them sitting on J.C.’s team.

Prioritize communication

Firstly, PwC recognizes the importance of people when breaking down silos. Not everyone has the full picture of the market forces driving change. Spend time walking each team through the strategy and connecting the change affecting them to the bigger picture.

“We run monthly coffee chats with around twenty people each asking me about the strategy. We repeat what the North Star is and emphasize that change will be permanent as our clients are constantly changing too.”

Define your North Stars

Secondly, set clear North Stars. As a company, PwC is now united under The New Equation and aims to make sure people are cared for and treated with respect. However, there are also specific North Stars for the marketing team.

“Firstly, accelerate your digital marketing strategy. Secondly, grow and protect your brand. Thirdly, drive demand generation.”

These clear goals provide a clear direction for strategic change on the scale that PwC was aiming for. Moreover, it prevents PwC from putting multiple messages out to the market.

Use the power of storytelling

Thirdly, breaking down silos requires marketers to do what they do best: Tell stories. A huge restructuring such as the New Equation is disruptive. People change teams. They have to work with new partners. Marketing should champion the importance of breaking down silos across the organization.

“Marketing took on the role of storytelling within the organization to explain the power of its investments. It showed how these changes would impact the customer. It made sure people understood where they were, and where they were headed. Marketing should start to tell tomorrow’s story, today.”

Marketing departments have limited dollars and resources. Capital resource allocation is a major challenge. By setting a clear purpose such as ‘The New Equation’, barriers between teams can be broken down and resources allocated with the client or customer in mind.

To learn more about ‘The New Equation’ as a textbook model for breaking down marketing silos, tune in to the latest ClickZ Marketing Masters podcast episode.

Timestamps

00:12 – Introduction

00:41 – What do you think makes a great marketing leader?

02:33 – What are the biggest challenges involved in breaking down marketing silos?

04:36 – What tips do you have for bringing people along on the journey?

06:14 – What North Stars exist for breaking down marketing silos?

08:30 – What was the initial roadmap for the New Equation?

10:36 – Why has the New Equation been such a success?

13:08 – What quantitative metrics do you follow to measure the success of a strategic change like this?

14:35 – Why is breaking down silos so important?

16:32 – What future threats will there be for marketing leaders to communicate across divisions or teams?

To get regular insights from digital marketing industry leaders, remember to hit subscribe on your podcast platform of choice! Help us to accelerate the digital marketing conversation by sharing and leaving a review.

---

J.C. serves as Chief Strategy and Communications Officer for the U.S. & Mexico, PwC, based in the firm’s Boston office. A visionary leader, J.C. creates strategy and collaborates with leaders to help develop, communicate, and sustain corporate initiatives. J.C. has created investment capacity, designed digital transformation, and helped launch PwC’s Trust Leadership Institute. She also helped create and guide PwC’s CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion – the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She advises clients on strategy, change & communications and transformation, and has held leadership roles at PwC in human capital and marketing and sales.