Introducing the Growthverse: How to find the right marketing tools for your team
Beutler Ink worked with Accel Partners to develop an interactive infographic depicting the marketing technology universe. The project was produced in partnership with Accel's own Kobie Fuller and Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, CMO at Mozilla.
For any enterprise, marketing is a challenge and making good technology choices is daunting. Unsurprisingly, the marketing technology landscape—or martech, if you prefer—can be overwhelming.
If you work in the space, you've probably heard the oft-repeated prediction that by 2017, CMOs will spend more on IT than CIOs. And you've likely seen the widely shared graphic, by Scott Brinker of Chief MarTec, featuring logos of the many, many companies offering enterprise solutions. The first edition featured 100 logos. The latest includes more than 2,000:
Brinker started out aiming to visualize the "awe-inspiring explosion of software in marketing" and updated it each year to reflect the current landscape. But even Brinker now admits that it seems to "scare the beejeezus" out of marketers, rather than allow them to make confident decisions.
It's clear that marketers need a new resource. And we're excited to announce one here today.
Introducing the Growthverse
Earlier this year, we were approached by Kobie Fuller of Accel Partners and Jascha Kaykas-Wolff of Mozilla to help create an easy-to-navigate interactive infographic providing a visual representation of this industry, including details about each company and what it has to offer.
We turned their spreadsheet-based taxonomy—which they thoughtfully developed in collaboration with dozens of CMOs—into an interactive galaxy called the Growthverse. This martech landscape allows marketers to zoom in and out of categories to reveal a list of companies that can help them solve their toughest marketing challenges.
Funny thing, though. The Growthverse itself represented a marketing and technology challenge itself.
How We Did It
From the first conversation to the announcement today, design and development at Beutler Ink took less than two months. We considered a few alternate layouts before choosing the pinwheel model on the site. In all the explorations, we wanted to show a full view of the landscape but also allow users to zoom in to get more information.
Wireframes were created based on dummy data.
We also played with the look and feel before landing on the dark galaxy-inspired theme you see on the site. Above all, we wanted to make an inviting visual—not an intimidating one.
Phase I is complete, but we're excited to say the Growthverse is a living, growing organism. Even as we announce this today, we're already busy behind the scenes with Kobie and Jascha planning Phase II. More companies and features will be added based on user feedback. Reach us at growthverse@accel.com to share your suggestions and please stay tuned!
