Many companies are thinking about how they can make their communication and marketing fit for the future. This is not a task for which a standard blueprint can help, but a transformation that must bring together a wide range of competences - both at the client's as well as in the project-accompanying consultancy, and not only from one house.
This was also the case at Deutsche Telekom in 2021, which transformed a communications set-up characterised by independent divisions into a cross-divisional cooperation. On board: Telekom's in-house consulting (CSP) and CYAN, the C3 organisational design unit. On this basis and the cooperation of the two consultancies, the project "Kraftwerk Kommunikation" was created, with which the CSP made it onto the winner's podium of the "Best of Consulting Awards" of Wirtschaftswoche.
But how can it work well when two consultancies work together on a profound organisational project? A conversation with Christine Pollithy, Director Consulting at CYAN, and Tobias Dörpinghaus, Project Manager at CSP. Transformation in communication and marketing can mean a lot.
What was the challenge in this project?
Christine Pollithy: The world of communication is changing faster and more profoundly. How do you manage to reflect this market speed in such a way that a large corporation can do good communication? This is only possible if the cooperation between sales marketing, corporate communications and brand is fundamentally different.
Tobias Dörpinghaus: At the centre is a common strategy and roadmap, a common data pool, a physical and virtual location and an agile operating model with over 400 colleagues who will work together in interdisciplinary projects in the future.
This goes to the very foundations of an organisation. What does such a project need to be successful?
Christine Pollithy: Clearly the fundamental understanding that it is not enough to build PowerPoint slides, but that it goes hand in hand with a cultural transformation that needs time and support. This is especially important for a project that starts in June 2020 during the pandemic and is completed one year later during Corona.
Tobias Dörpinghaus: That, and also a lot of trust in the expertise of those involved, both on the client side and in the consultancy. For example, we also managed to work effectively 100% digitally - with the right tools and commitment, this was possible even though we had not seen or met each other for months.
Two different consultancies working on the same project - is that even possible?
Tobias Dörpinghaus: The core of a cooperation between two consultancies is definitely trust and working at eye level. We have different experiences, backgrounds and assets. So we can think together about how to create the best product for the client. If you can do that, you are unbeatable for the client, even as a team of two. This requires transparency, respect and an eye for how to combine topics from different perspectives.
Christine Pollithy: The hot line between in-house consulting and C3 CYAN as an external perspective was also important in order to challenge each other constructively. This is also how the consulting performance - for one or two consultancies - has to be measured: does something better come out in the end than in a different set-up? For example, we had an in-house consultancy here that is well networked, knows its own structures and the market, and with us a consultancy unit from operational communication. This added value was also reflected to us again and again by the client, and it was noticeable in the day-to-day business: always go one better, so that in the end you have 10% more.
Deutsche Telekom's new cooperation model, the communication powerhouse, was launched on 1.7.21: how do you look back on the cooperation between the consultancies?
Tobias Dörpinghaus: In the end, the whole project was a highlight: together with the client, we made Deutsche Telekom's communication future-proof. We laughed a lot together and some small humorous traditions have developed over time that have sustained us.
Christine Pollithy: Exactly. It was a journey for both consultancies, in which we approached and complemented each other, were able to learn from each other and in the end implemented a vision together with a great client team. The content of Kraftwerk Kommunikation goes beyond the industry standard and that feels good!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our partner, the C3 team, for the good cooperation and the extraordinarily successful project.
Together you can reach your goal faster!
This project was awarded the silver Best of Consulting Award by Wirtschaftswoche in 2021.
