DWS

Founded: 1998

Business type: Enterprise Software Developer and Testing Specialist

Team Size: 61

Service: Marketing Audit

Find out more: dws-global.com

The Context

DWS is a global Oracle specialist software development company offering a range of custom application development services and testing products. As part of a larger Japanese-based software business, DWS has a global workforce and client base.

With a strong 20+ year track record, DWS were keen to refocus on their marketing strategy, amid a period of transition for the business and with an impending new product launch in the US market around the corner.

With the business wishing to make the most of its new product launch, and bolster its marketing strategy for the year ahead, they approached us about carrying out a marketing audit to help identify current performance and future opportunities.

The Audit

Our audit process started with a series of workshops and stakeholder calls with input from the sales and product teams, senior management team and their external digital marketing agency. 

These conversations, combined with our own research on the competitor landscape, enabled us to analyse and score the existing sales and marketing activity in four broad capability categories, which themselves broke down into eleven more specific sales and marketing criteria (what we call ‘performance drivers’):

Interpret – the extent to which DWS were successfully interpreting the needs and motivations of the market and turning that into a value proposition focused and relevant to their target market. 

Translate – the ability of DWS to successfully turn their market insights into action, looking at brand building, strategically-led marketing activity and reputation management. 

Execute – the proficiency with which DWS were implementing their strategy, analysing customer journey management, sales effectiveness and pipeline management.

Learn and adapt – the degree to which the sales and marketing function was evolving over time, with insights and experience being fed back into the process, considering factors such as performance measurement and data intelligence.

A few weeks after the initial kick off calls the OV and DWS teams were back round the table discussing the findings of the report. The report extended to 30 pages and provided a lot of detail for both the process and the audit’s findings. DWS was also presented with a Red / Amber / Green breakdown of the recommendations, which in turn OV had aligned to DWS’s business goals and were then prioritised accordingly.

There was plenty of discussion about the findings – some were short term tactical changes (e.g. identifying efficiencies within their paid ad campaigns) and some were more strategic in nature (e.g. proposed marketing budget re-distribution).

Jon Paget, Senior Partner at OV:

“Some of the audit’s findings I think confirmed DWS’s own internal views, whilst other recommendations came as new opportunities to drive growth and efficiency. The fact the DWS team was so open to adopting the audit’s findings made this a great project to be a part of”.

Pat Neary, Sales and Business Development Leader, DWS:

“I have nothing but good things to say about our experience of Open Velocity.  From our initial contact we got the sense that they are a group with whom we could see ourselves working, learning and improving.

Once we had made the decision to engage, things moved quickly.  They were thorough and professional.  Their assessment was fair and accurate.  Their recommendations made sense to us and we are confident that in time will improve the way we go to market and our results.”