Takeaways for Leaders
Redesign before you restaff.
Backfilling the old roles would only have rebuilt the old bottleneck. The function had to be redesigned, not restaffed.
Write down who decides and what comes in.
A function stuck reacting needs rules: real decision rights, and intake discipline for what gets in the queue.
Add capacity while minimizing additional headcount.
An AI-enabled structure lets marketing scale at the rate the growth plan demands.
The Challenge
A bank that doubled in ten years, planning to grow faster still over the next five. Its marketing function was built for the decade before: roles turned over, too few hands, stuck reacting.
Our Approach
A full assessment of the function: leadership and team interviews, process audits, and working sessions to see it from the inside out, with Foundry DST℠ runs adding outside evidence on the market the bank was growing into.
Bedrock Alignment℠ Finding
The growth plan was the objective. The marketing function had to be rebuilt to meet it. Bedrock Alignment identified the top strategies to get there, without the noise.
Key Decision Shift
The gap wasn’t people, it was the operating model. Backfilling the old roles would only have rebuilt the old bottleneck. The function had to be redesigned, not restaffed.
The First 90 Days
A function rebuild doesn’t finish in 90 days. The first 90 days onboard First Fidelity’s marketing work onto Bedrock OS℠, our AI-native platform for long-term strategic program management, and go straight at the quick wins that stop the old bottleneck from forming again. A one-year plan sits behind them. The platform is mostly our tool. The bank’s benefit is a marketing function that runs on a plan instead of being stuck reacting.
Quick wins, first 90 days
- Operating model blueprint
- Decision rights
- Intake discipline
- AI-enabled capacity plan
The Long-Term Value
A rebuilt marketing function: a clear operating model, real decision rights, and an AI-enabled structure that adds capacity while minimizing additional headcount, so it scales at the rate the plan demands. Ten years into the relationship, the work keeps changing. The partnership doesn’t.
Bedrock OS℠
A rebuilt function still has to run. Bedrock OS℠ is how FFB is keeping it's transformation on track, with Saxum serving as a Chief Strategy Office.
What This Means for Your Organization
If your marketing team is stuck reacting while the business grows, adding people may only rebuild the same bottleneck. If you are weighing a redesign, we would like to hear what your team is facing.