Marketing and Communications Organization Design and Talent Management Excellence

The 2025 winner is Prudential for their work in creating the Prudential USB Creative House. 

Prudential transformed its marketing with the creation of Prudential USB’s Creative House. By assessing skillsets, appointing creative directors, and streamlining approvals, they aligned Agile work with trust-building and used GenAI to minimize routine tasks, enhancing creativity. This led to a 50% cost reduction, a 50-90% productivity increase, and over 20 awards, boosting revenue. Judges praised this turnaround, highlighting Prudential's bold organizational redesign and modern marketing practices. Their resource realignment, Agile implementation, and AI integration have set the marketing team up for long-term success, delivering strong business results and improved employee engagement within a year.

Watch their video to discover more!

 

Prudential’s marketing transformation, exemplifies the importance of addressing key strategic decisions before organizational redesign—a point emphasized by Gartner’s latest research.

Download our latest research to:

  • Identify 5 key decision areas before redesigning your marketing organization
  • Align marketing efforts with C-suite priorities and manage talent
  • Sustain and structure your marketing operations for long-term success and prove marketing’s value

What CMOs Must Decide Prior to Marketing Org Redesign

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    Q&A with Gartner Expert on Org Design & Talent Management

    Gartner experts address some common and pressing questions that are most relevant to chief marketing and communications officers today about managing marketing and communications organization design and talent. Read through to navigate this ever-evolving landscape effectively.

    Before a CMO or CCO takes any action on their marketing team organizational design and structure, they should consider five key decision areas:

    1. Enterprise decisions within the current business environment and context of C-Suite priorities.

    2. Expertise decisions in required competencies and talent, and propensity to learn.

    3. Hybrid model decisions such as insourcing and outsourcing, and global and local splits.

    4. Sustenance decisions for marketing operations, marketing technology and external resources.

    5. Structural decisions to include business segments, internal service operating models and roles.

    The most effective upskilling/learning programs involve on-the-job, versus purely academic learning. On the job training may involve rotations, shadowing, or applying new martech to a pilot program. Balance hard skills, such as data analysis, with soft skills like strategic thinking to prepare the marketing team to support cross-functional business initiatives. CMOs and CCOs can leverage Gartner Marketing Score ensure the right processes are in place to hire, retain, and nurture talent. 

    Hard skills around AI are increasingly in demand and necessary for the marketing team of the future's success. However, an analysis of Genius Brands hiring practices found that those brands emphasize intellectual curiosity and the ability to deal with ambiguity. Business acumen — especially at the junior levels — is a priority skill in Genius brands’ hiring, and technical data science and machine learning expertise are emphasized in Genius brands’ job descriptions.

    Before redesigning the marketing team, the CMO must identify the priorities of the C-suite and how they make decisions on behalf of the enterprise. Doing this eliminates future surprises and misalignment post-redesign.

    Broaden the talent pool by expanding hiring criteria, such as education and experience, and welcoming nontraditional candidates. Digital marketing leaders should work with HR leaders to redesign the screening and assessment process to effectively hire for skills rather than credentials. Bridge the deficit in digital talent on the marketing team by identifying gaps, defining competencies needed and targeting talent with specific, clearly defined skills. 

    Rearranging your org chart is not the only way to solve “structure problems.” Before seeking approvals for org chart change (and inciting panic), CMOs and CCOs should consider lower-effort, less frightening solutions in their governance and operating models. Thorough preparation is crucial, and you can improve your chances by:

    1. Enhancing org documentation by adding roles, objectives, and performance metrics to org charts, mapping your operating model, and reviewing governance alongside it.
    2. Conducting root cause analysis with input from all relevant staff, not just managers.
    3. Using the above insights gathered to identify the least disruptive, most effective solutions.