Overview
What is the Marketing Leadership Curve?
The Marketing Leadership Curve is a strategic framework that shows the progression of Marketing capabilities through six distinct stages of maturity. It maps the specific skills (above the line) and systems (below the line) required at each stage, providing a clear roadmap for building world-class Marketing teams that drive both brand value and business growth.
This framework recognizes that Marketing excellence evolves from basic promotional activities to sophisticated customer experience orchestration and market creation.
Core Concepts
Skills (Above the Line): The human capabilities, competencies, and expertise required at each stage
- Creative and brand management
- Digital marketing proficiency
- Data analytics and insights
- Customer experience design
- Strategic marketing leadership
Systems (Below the Line): The processes, tools, technologies, and infrastructure that enable performance
- Marketing automation platforms
- Content management systems
- Analytics and attribution tools
- Customer data platforms
- Experience orchestration technology
Six Stages of Growth:
- Idea: Basic brand and messaging
- Identity: Foundational marketing operations
- Calibration: Integrated campaigns and measurement
- Maturity: Sophisticated demand generation
- Mastery: Customer experience leadership
- Initiate: Market creation and category design
When to Use This Framework
Use the Marketing Leadership Curve when:
- Assessing your current Marketing team capabilities
- Planning strategic investments in Marketing development
- Identifying skills gaps and system requirements
- Building your annual Marketing transformation roadmap
- Aligning Marketing maturity with customer experience strategy
- Making build vs. buy decisions for Marketing capabilities
Key Benefits
- Clear Evolution Path: Understand the journey from promotion to experience orchestration
- Balanced Growth: Ensure creative and analytical capabilities develop together
- Strategic Impact: Connect Marketing development to business value
- Customer-Centric: Build capabilities that enhance customer experience
- Measurable Advancement: Track progress through clear maturity indicators
What is the Marketing Leadership Curve?
The Marketing Leadership Curve is a strategic framework that shows the progression of Marketing capabilities through six distinct stages of maturity. It maps the specific skills (above the line) and systems (below the line) required at each stage, providing a clear roadmap for building world-class Marketing teams that drive both brand value and business growth.
This framework recognizes that Marketing excellence evolves from basic promotional activities to sophisticated customer experience orchestration and market creation.
Key Benefits
- Clear Evolution Path: Understand the journey from promotion to experience orchestration
- Balanced Growth: Ensure creative and analytical capabilities develop together
- Strategic Impact: Connect Marketing development to business value
- Customer-Centric: Build capabilities that enhance customer experience
- Measurable Advancement: Track progress through clear maturity indicators
When to Use This Framework
Use the Marketing Leadership Curve when:
- Assessing your current Marketing team capabilities
- Planning strategic investments in Marketing development
- Identifying skills gaps and system requirements
- Building your annual Marketing transformation roadmap
- Aligning Marketing maturity with customer experience strategy
- Making build vs. buy decisions for Marketing capabilities
The framework
Framework Purpose: Map your Marketing team's journey from basic brand awareness to market-making customer experience orchestration through six stages of systematic capability development.
Visual Framework
The Six Stages Explained
Stage 1: Idea - Marketing Foundation (Brand Basics)
Stage Question: "How do we tell our story?"
Skills Required:
- Basic design and copywriting
- Simple content creation
- Social media basics
- Email communication
- Founder storytelling
Systems Required:
- Basic website/landing pages
- Social media accounts
- Email service provider
- Simple design tools
- Google Analytics basics
Key Indicators:
- Founder-driven messaging
- Ad hoc marketing activities
- Limited brand consistency
- Reactive content creation
Stage 2: Identity - Building Marketing Capability
Stage Question: "How do we reach our market systematically?"
Skills Required:
- Brand management fundamentals
- Campaign planning and execution
- Content marketing skills
- Basic SEO/SEM knowledge
- Lead generation tactics
Systems Required:
- Marketing automation basics
- CRM integration
- Content management system
- Campaign tracking tools
- Brand asset management
Key Indicators:
- 1-3 dedicated marketers
- Consistent brand guidelines
- Regular campaign rhythm
- Basic lead tracking
Stage 3: Calibration - Marketing Optimization
Stage Question: "How do we maximize impact and ROI?"
Skills Required:
- Advanced digital marketing
- Marketing analytics expertise
- Conversion optimization
- Marketing-sales alignment
- Multi-channel orchestration
Systems Required:
- Full marketing automation
- Attribution modeling
- A/B testing platforms
- Marketing dashboard/BI
- Integrated martech stack
Key Indicators:
- 5-10 marketing professionals
- Data-driven decisions
- Clear ROI measurement
- Optimized conversion paths
Stage 4: Maturity - Sophisticated Demand Engine
Stage Question: "How do we create predictable growth?"
Skills Required:
- Strategic demand generation
- Account-based marketing
- Customer journey mapping
- Predictive analytics
- Revenue marketing leadership
Systems Required:
- Customer data platform
- Advanced personalization
- Multi-touch attribution
- AI-powered optimization
- Comprehensive martech stack
Key Indicators:
- 10-20+ marketing professionals
- Predictable pipeline contribution
- Sophisticated segmentation
- Full-funnel optimization
Stage 5: Mastery - Experience Leadership
Stage Question: "How do we own the customer experience?"
Skills Required:
- Customer experience design
- Behavioral psychology application
- Real-time personalization
- Omnichannel orchestration
- Innovation leadership
Systems Required:
- Experience orchestration platform
- Real-time decision engines
- Advanced AI/ML capabilities
- Cross-channel integration
- Predictive customer intelligence
Key Indicators:
- 20+ marketing professionals
- Industry thought leadership
- Award-winning campaigns
- Customer experience metrics leadership
Stage 6: Initiate - Market Creation
Stage Question: "How do we create new categories?"
Skills Required:
- Category design expertise
- Ecosystem orchestration
- Platform thinking
- Venture marketing
- Transformation leadership
Systems Required:
- Platform marketing tools
- Community platforms
- Innovation frameworks
- Market intelligence systems
- Ecosystem management
Key Indicators:
- Multiple marketing functions
- Category creation success
- Ecosystem leadership
- Industry transformation influence
Implementation Guide
Phase 1: Assessment (Weeks 1-2)
Objective: Determine current stage and gaps
Activities:
- Review Marketing Leadership Curve with team
- Assess current skills against stage requirements
- Audit existing marketing technology stack
- Identify top capability gaps
- Set realistic advancement targets
Success Metrics:
- Clear stage identification
- Prioritized gap analysis
- Team alignment on path forward
Phase 2: Planning (Weeks 3-4)
Objective: Build capability roadmap
Activities:
- Design skills development programs
- Plan system implementations
- Create phased timeline
- Secure budget approval
- Assign development ownership
Success Metrics:
- Approved development plan
- Allocated resources
- Clear accountability structure
Phase 3: Execution (Quarters 2-4)
Objective: Build capabilities systematically
Activities:
- Launch training programs
- Implement new systems
- Pilot new capabilities
- Measure improvement
- Scale what works
Success Metrics:
- Capability milestones achieved
- Performance improvement metrics
- Team confidence growth
Common Implementation Challenges
Challenge 1: Creative vs. Analytical Balance
Problem: Overemphasis on either creative or data capabilities
Solution: Build complementary skills that enhance both art and science
Challenge 2: Technology Overwhelm
Problem: Too many tools creating complexity without value
Solution: Focus on integrated platforms that solve multiple needs
Challenge 3: ROI Demonstration
Problem: Difficulty proving marketing's business impact
Solution: Implement attribution modeling early in maturity journey
Challenge 4: Rapid Market Changes
Problem: Skills and systems becoming obsolete quickly
Solution: Build learning agility and adaptable foundations
A worked example
Every worked example in the canon uses the same company — Burke & Wills EV, a hypothetical Australian off-road EV maker — so the picture builds across frameworks instead of restarting each time.
# Burke & Wills EV — Marketing Leadership Curve
Where our Marketing team sits today, and the path we're building to 45% unaided brand awareness. We're an Australian off-road EV manufacturer launching the Wills in 2025. Today only 5% of our target segment knows our name. By year-end, 45% will. This is the curve we're climbing to get there.
Overview
Our starting point
Marketing at Burke & Wills EV has been founder-and-product led. Sarah Mitchell told the story to investors, the beta units told the story to early adopters, and word of mouth did the rest — 40% beta referral, +85 beta NPS, a 4.9/5 review average. That earned us 50 units and a $25M Series A. It will not earn us 500.
Lisa Park, our Marketing Director, owns the third of our three needle-shifting goals for 2025: brand leadership — 45% unaided awareness in the adventure-vehicle target segment, up from 5%. To move that number we have to climb from a Stage 1 "tell our story" capability to a Stage 3 "maximise impact and ROI" engine inside twelve months. That's two full stages in one year.
Where we are: Stage 1 → 2 (Idea moving to Identity)
| Dimension | Today (Stage 1) | Where we need to be (Stage 3) |
|---|---|---|
| Headcount | Lisa Park + 1 contractor | 5+ marketers (brand, content, demand, ops, partnerships) |
| Messaging | Founder-driven, ad hoc | "Adventure without compromise" — consistent, evidenced |
| Brand awareness | 5% unaided | 45% unaided |
| Lead engine | Inbound only, untracked | 2,500 qualified leads, fully attributed in HubSpot |
| Measurement | Google Analytics basics | Brand Track + HubSpot + Power BI, ROI per channel |
We are pre-revenue at scale. Every marketing dollar has to convert to a test drive, and 35% of test drives convert to a purchase. So the whole curve, for us, points at one number: qualified leads into the funnel.
The Six Stages — Where Burke & Wills EV Sits
Stage 1: Idea — Brand Basics (where we started, Jan 2025)
Our question: "How do we tell our story?"
Skills we had:
- Sarah's founder storytelling — the explorer brand, the outback proof, the Brisbane build
- Basic design and copywriting via a contractor
- Social posts from beta expeditions (the units in the red dirt sell themselves)
- Email updates to the beta waitlist
Systems we had:
- A single landing page and waitlist form
- Instagram and a YouTube channel of beta footage
- Mailchimp for waitlist email
- Google Analytics, basics only
What it looked like: Reactive. Great raw material — IP65 certification, 800km+ range, 3,500kg towing, −10°C to +55°C — but no consistent brand voice and no idea which post drove which enquiry. 5% awareness.
Stage 2: Identity — Building Capability (Q1–Q2 2025, in progress)
Our question: "How do we reach the adventure segment systematically?"
Skills we're building:
- Brand management fundamentals — locking "Adventure without compromise" as the through-line on every asset
- Campaign planning around the Wills launch calendar
- Content marketing — turning the engineering story (battery thermal range, real off-road geometry) into a content library
- SEO/SEM for high-intent terms ("electric LandCruiser alternative", "off-road EV Australia")
- Lead-generation tactics tied to the test-drive booking
Systems we're standing up:
- HubSpot as our CRM and marketing automation core — every lead, every partnership, one source of truth
- Content management for the build-story library
- Campaign tracking with UTM discipline so spend maps to leads
- Brand asset management so the 12 regional service partners use the same kit
What good looks like here: 1–3 dedicated marketers, consistent brand guidelines, a regular campaign rhythm tied to the Wills launch, and basic lead tracking live in HubSpot. By the end of Q2 we want to be exiting this stage.
Stage 3: Calibration — Optimisation (Q3–Q4 2025, the target)
Our question: "How do we maximise impact and ROI on every marketing dollar?"
Skills we'll need:
- Advanced digital marketing across paid, organic, and sponsorship
- Marketing analytics — reading Brand Track movement and tying it to spend
- Conversion optimisation on the test-drive booking path (the 35% gate)
- Marketing–sales alignment with James Thornton's commercial team and the Queensland Regional Sales Manager (to be hired)
- Multi-channel orchestration across the 15 sponsorships/partnerships we're signing in Year 1
Systems we'll need:
- Full marketing automation in HubSpot with lead scoring on "Adventure Alex" fit
- Brand Track quarterly reads as our official awareness instrument — this is how we prove 5% → 45%
- A/B testing on landing pages and ad creative
- Power BI marketing dashboard feeding the exec scorecard
- An integrated stack: HubSpot ↔ Brand Track ↔ Power BI, with goals and plans living in Waymaker
What good looks like here: 5+ marketing professionals, data-driven decisions, clear ROI per channel, and an optimised path from awareness to test drive to the 500th sale. This is where 45% unaided awareness and 2,500 qualified leads become measurable, defensible numbers.
Stages 4–6 — Where we're headed (Year 2 and beyond)
We're not building a demand engine for one product in one market. As the Burke utility variant lands in Year 2–3 and the Sturt platform in Year 4–5, Marketing has to climb further:
- Stage 4 — Maturity: predictable pipeline as we scale to 1,200 then 2,000 units; customer-journey mapping across a growing model line; account-based motion for fleet and commercial buyers of the Burke.
- Stage 5 — Mastery: own the off-road EV experience end to end — from first Brand Track impression to ownership — and lead the category we created. Award-winning expedition content. +75 NPS at scale.
- Stage 6 — Initiate: we are already a first-mover in an uncontested category. The endgame is category leadership — Burke & Wills as the definition of "Australian off-road EV", with an owner community and ecosystem (charging network, expeditions, partners) no incumbent can copy.
Our 2025 Roadmap to 45%
Phase 1: Assessment (Jan)
- Confirmed our stage: founder-led Stage 1, exiting into Stage 2.
- Baselined awareness with Brand Track: 5% unaided in the 35–55 adventure segment.
- Audited the stack: landing page + Mailchimp + GA. Decision: consolidate onto HubSpot.
- Named the gap: no demand engine, no attribution, no brand instrument. Lisa owns the close.
Phase 2: Planning (Feb)
- Hired the first three roles: content lead, demand/ops, partnerships.
- Stood up HubSpot as the lead and partnership system of record.
- Built the Wills launch campaign calendar against the 1/12th waypoint rhythm.
- Secured Lisa's budget through the monthly commercial review with James Thornton.
Phase 3: Execution (Q2–Q4)
| Lever | What we run | Contribution to the goal |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Track | Quarterly unaided-awareness reads | The instrument that proves 5% → 45% |
| HubSpot | Automation, lead scoring, attribution | 2,500 qualified leads, fully tracked |
| Content | Expedition films, the build story, owner proof | High-intent organic; fuels SEM |
| Expeditions & sponsorships | 15 partnerships; the annual company expedition as content | Reach into the outback-trip community |
| Test-drive funnel | Optimised booking path | Feeds the 35% test-drive → purchase gate |
Every month we check the awareness waypoint against the 1/12th line, report it on the Power BI exec scorecard, and surface it at the Monday ELT sync and the first-Friday commercial review.
Common challenges (and how we're handling them)
Creative vs. analytical balance — Our product is genuinely remarkable, so the temptation is to coast on beautiful red-dirt footage and skip the numbers. We pair every expedition film with a Brand Track read and a HubSpot conversion target. Art and science, together.
Technology overwhelm — We deliberately chose few, integrated tools: HubSpot, Brand Track, Power BI, Waymaker. Not a sprawling martech stack a five-person team can't run.
ROI demonstration — We're pre-profit (−$5M EBITDA in Year 1), so every dollar is scrutinised. Attribution went in early in HubSpot so Lisa can show James and Sarah exactly which spend produced which lead and which test drive.
Rapid market change — Toyota and the Chinese price brands will eventually field off-road EVs. Our defence is the category position: "the only EV genuinely engineered for Australian off-road conditions." We build the brand moat now, while the segment is uncontested.
How this connects
- Marketing Plan Canvas turns this curve into the 2025 campaign calendar, channel budget, and monthly waypoints.
- Market Canvas defines the segment we're targeting — premium adventure ($80K+), ~35,000/yr, and "Adventure Alex" inside it.
- CX Strategy carries the brand promise — "Adventure without compromise" — from the first impression all the way to +65 NPS at scale.
Summary
We start the year as a Stage 1 marketing team with a Stage 5 product. The job in 2025 is to close that gap — to build a Stage 3 demand and brand engine that turns proven product into 2,500 qualified leads, 500 delivered Wills, and 45% of the adventure segment knowing exactly who Burke & Wills EV is.
For us, marketing isn't promotion. It's the difference between an outback EV the country has never heard of and the brand that owns the category. We make the way to 45%.
---
Burke & Wills EV — a worked example of the Marketing Leadership Curve (Resolute Teams, Chapter 8).