Embracing marketing agility: ADP’s strategic leap forward with Bright

ADP, established in 1949 and listed on the NASDAQ, is a Fortune 500 company and a global leader in payroll services and HR solutions. With a heritage of over 75 years, ADP manages global operations across many countries and sectors. Partnering with Bright, ADP launched an ambitious initiative to instil agility within its International marketing team (known as ESI), improving responsiveness and aligning operations closely with sales and business goals.

Bright developed a bespoke agile marketing training and activation programme, tailored to the teams specific requirements and incorporating use cases that the ADP ESI marketing team would use as the pilots to activate the new ways of working and thinking.

The initiative began with an in-depth discovery phase, followed by an interactive agile marketing training programme delivered across the global marketing teams. Introducing the agile marketing principals and best practice in a way that fit the ADP ESI marketing environment, the programme focused on the role of experimentation and taking a test and learn approach, through measurement and KPIs to sustainably use agile to overcome barriers. Over 60 marketers worldwide were engaged in this transformative process.

Leadership engagement

A critical component of the solution was leadership training to help the marketing leadership team role model a growth mindset and allow the new ways of working to flourish. As well as embracing experimentation, reflecting the agile principles instilled across the function.

Activation and support

The training was hands-on, involving over 30 hours of virtual classroom instruction & interactive sessions segmented into five strategic modules. This approach ensured that the concepts taught were not only understood but also immediately implemented, fostering a learning-by- doing culture. Bright’s team, comprising B2B marketing practitioners and agile experts, provided ongoing practical support, particularly as teams transitioned into pilot phases, ensuring the new ways of working were successfully adopted and marketing effectiveness was enhanced.

Agile marketing is not just a methodology; it’s a mindset that has helped propel the ADP international teams to new levels of excellence, delivering significant improvements across several key performance metrics:

• Increased speed to market: Campaigns were launched faster, with a marked increase in creativity and innovation due to greater experimentation encouraged by a culture fostering curiosity and a growth mindset
• Data-driven marketing: A strong emphasis on data-driven decisions and continuous improvement allowed the team to access campaign results during whilst the campaign was running and pivot activity, rather than waiting for final results.
• Data-driven marketing: By prioritising data-driven decisions and continuous improvement, the marketing team gained real-time access to results, enabling them to adjust their strategies throughout the campaign.
• Professional development: Marketers appreciated the investment in their skills and career development, acquiring valuable new capabilities that bolstered their professional growth
• Cross-functional collaboration: Enhanced collaboration across the teams throughout campaign lifecycles aligned KPIs, shared regional learnings, and underscored the benefits of integrated marketing strategies.

Team insights

Els Humphreys-Davies, the ESI Senior Director of Field Marketing and programme sponsor, reflects on the journey: “Agile marketing has been a game changer for us. Whilst asking the teams to change their way of working was challenging at times, it bore fruit in the end once they understood that it’s not just about speed; it’s about being strategically aligned and responsive. The clarity and focus that Bright’s training brought have enabled us to be more adaptive and impactful.” Catharina Rozendaal, Marketing Growth Director for Emerging Markets, noted operational improvements: “Agile marketing allows me to reconnect with the wider marketing team faster. Using workflow tools and kanban boards means that projects & campaign information is centralised and accessible.”

Leadership perspective

Graham Wylie, VP of Marketing, whose vision was foundational to this initiative, reflected on its success: ” Agile marketing offers a method to enhance our capacity and efficiency without merely adding more staff or increasing costs. This approach allows us to continue delivering exceptional results while adapting to meet increased demands.”

Summary

Looking ahead, ADP ESI Marketing is committed to further refining agile marketing practices to continue driving operational efficiencies as well as ensuring they engage their audiences through effective marketing. The focus will be on scaling these successes to drive even greater business impact and market leadership.

ADP’s strategic partnership with Bright has redefined standards in agile marketing. By successfully integrating agile methodologies, ADP’s ESI marketing team has become more dynamic, empowered, and effective — driving both increased revenue for the business as well as operational efficiencies.