波士顿咨询-可组合货架如何重塑营销 How the Composable Shelf Reinvents Marketing

CONSUMERPRODUCTSINDUSTRY

HowtheComposableShelfReinvents

Marketing

BySilvioPalumbo,MarkAbraham,andYunLimARTICLEOCTOBER20,202612MINREAD

Traditionalmarketinghadagoodrun,butithaslongpasseditsexpirationdate.Foryears,ithascenteredonthecampaign,withmarketersidentifyingthedesiredcustomeraction,findingorcreatinganoffer,developingcontent,selectinganaudience,andwritingtherulesthatconnectthem.Alcanmakemanyofthesestepsfaster,butwhenitisappliedtoindividualtasks,itstillleavesthebasicprocessintact.Marketersmuststillgotoonesystemfortheoffer,anotherforthecontent,andathirdfortheaudienceandthenstitchthepiecestogetherbyhand.

◎2026BostonConsultingGroup1

Manycompanieshavetriedtosolvethisfragmentationbyconsolidatingtheirmarketing

technologyandassetsintofewersystems.Thiscansimplifytheexistingprocess,butitdoesnot

fundamentallychangeit—andconsolidationbringslimitationsofitsown,includinggreater

technologycomplexityanddependenceonindividualplatforms.Thereisabetteroption,onethatenables

AIagents

toassemblemarketinginteractionsratherthansimplyimprovetheindividualstepsmarketersusetocreatethem.WecallittheComposableShelf.Forourclientsacrossretail,travel,banking,andhealthcareservices,withthisapproach,BCGhasconsistentlyseenthree

timestheROIandtentimesthespeedfromwhenthemarketingcampaignwasinitiatedtoimplementation.

Considerabanktryingtopersuadecustomerstoenableautopay.Today,amarketermightsetthatobjectiveinabrief,workwithanotherteamtocreateanoffer—say,1,000pointsforsigningup—findorcreatetheemailandimage,getthecontentapproved,definetheaudience,andmanuallybringthepiecestogetherintheemailplatform.Increasingly,AIisusedforsomeofthesetasks,

fromgeneratingcontenttoselectingaudiencesandoptimizingdecisions.Buttheunderlyingworkflowremainslargelythesame.

TheComposableShelfeliminatestheshortcomingsinthisprocessbyaddinganewlayertotheexistingmarketingtechnology.Throughit,anAIagentcanunderstandtheactionsthebusiness

wantscustomerstotake,theoffersavailabletoencouragetheseactions,andthecontentthat

cancommunicatethem.Themarketingassetsremainwheretheyare;whattheshelfaddsisa

recordofwhateachpieceisforandwhatitcanbecombinedwithbasedonwhatrules.Marketersestablishtheobjectives,ingredients,andguardrails.Anagenticintelligencelayercanthenuse

theshelftoselectandassembletheappropriatecombinationforeachcustomerattherightmoment.ThisrequiresmorethanaddingageneralpurposeAItooltotheexistingprocess;thetechnologyandinformationarounditmustbeorganizedtosupportagenticdecision-making.

Thedifferenceisfundamental.Insteadofmanuallybuildingcampaigns,marketerscuratethe

ComposableShelffromwhichcampaigns—orindividualinteractions—canbecreated.Theworkofassemblyanddeploymentshiftstotheagent.(SeeExhibit1.)

©2026BostonConsultingGroup2

◎2026BostonConsultingGroup

EXHIBIT1

AgenticAIShiftstheMarketer'sRolefromAssemblytoStrategy

FROM

Manualcampaignbuild,focusedonDOING

Contentrepository

Offerrepository

Customerdata

platform

TO

CuratingtheComposableShelf,focusedonSTRATEGY

ComposableShelf

Actions

Alagent

ThinksDoes

Offers

Sees

Content

Marketermanuallyorchestrateseachstepofthejourney

·Identifyingtherightmessage

·Findingtherightoffer

·Designingtherightcreative

·Buildingaudiencefile

·Determiningthedecisionlogic

MarketercuratestheComposableShelf

·Definingactionsthecustomersshouldtake

●Settingofferguardrailsandeligibility

·GeneratingcreativevariantswiththeAlagent

●SettingobjectivesfortheAlagent

AlagentdecidesnextbestactionaftereachinteractionusingtheComposableShelf

Source:BCGanalysis.

HowtheComposableShelfDiffersfromTraditional

Marketing

Thechangeinthemarketers'roleisasmuchabouthowmarketersworkasitisabouttechnology.Curationreplacesassembly.Insteadofdevotingmuchoftheirtimetofindingandstitching

togethertheelementsofindividualcampaigns,marketersfocusonstockingandmaintainingashelffromwhichthoseinteractionscanbecomposed.Thecampaignisnolongertheorganizingprincipleoftheirwork;theshelfis.

Inthetraditionalmodel,thecampaignplanwasthedeliverable,andassetswereinputstoit.WithaComposableShelf,theshelfitselfbecomestherangeofoptionsavailabletotheagent.An

agentcan'tdeploywhatitcan'tsee,anditcan'tpursueanobjectivethathasneverbeen

recorded.Marketersthereforeretainthestrategicdecisionsaboutwhatthebusinessistryingtoaccomplishandtheboundarieswithinwhichtheagentcanoperate.

Stockingtheshelfdoesnotmeanmovingeverythingontoit.TheComposableShelfisavirtual

referencelayerthatsitsabovetheasset,content,andoffersystemsalreadyinplace.Automatedpipelinespullreferencesandexistingtagsfromthesesources;Alreconcilescompeting

taxonomiesintoacommonmodelandenrichesincompletemetadata.

◎2026BostonConsultingGroup

Theshelfalsoaddsamarketingcampaignresourcethattypicallydoesnotexisttoday:anactionlibrarythatrecordsconsumerbehaviorsthebusinesswants.Alcanproposerelationshipsamongthoseactions,offers,andcontent,withmarketersconfirmingthem.Atdelivery,theactivation

platformfollowsthisreferenceandretrievesthecontentfromthesystemwhereitalreadyresides.

Today'smarketingsystemsgenerallyrecordwhatsomethingis(e.g.,aproductimage)butnotwhatitisfor.Anassetlibrarymayknowafile'sformat,rights,andexpirationdate,forexample,butnotthecustomerbehavioritisintendedtoencourage.Theshelfaddsthesemissingrelationships.

Theseconnectionsarewhatturnacollectionofrepositoriesintoashelf.Threekeycomponentsofmarketingsitonit(seeExhibit2):

·Actionsdescribewhatthebusinesswantsthecustomertodo—forexample,makeafirstpurchase,addasecondproduct,orenrollinpaperlessbilling.

·Contentsuppliesthelanguageandvisualsusedtocommunicatewiththecustomer.

·Offersprovideanincentive—suchasapricediscount—whenoneisappropriate.

Everyactionneedscontent,butitmayormaynotneedanoffer,anddifferentcontentcanbeusedwiththesameoffer.

EXHIBIT2

TheComposableShelfConnectsActions,Offers,andContentforAIAgents

TheComposableShelfhelpsAlagentsunderstand

threekeycomponentsofmarketing…

…bycreatingavirtuallayerovertheexistingsystemsandmakingiteasilyaccessible.

ComposableShelf

Offer

management

system

Fastertimetovalue

Nomultiyearmigration;connecttheexistingsystemsandaccesstheminweeks

Easierforintelligenceenginetouse

Contentisnormalized,tagged,andcross-linked,soanyplatformcanqueryit

Easierchangemanagement

Contentteamskeeptheirtools,theircraft,andtheirworkflows,loweringtheadoptionrisk

Actions

customertodo

(e.g.,makefirstpurchase)

Anactioncanhavean

associatedofferoroffersto

incentivizethecustomerbehavior

Offers

completingtheaction

(e.g.,10%of)

Content

management

system

Everyactionmusthavecontent

Eachoffercanhave

multiple

content

variants

Action

library

Asset

Source:BCGanalysis.

Theselinksalsoenableagenticcomposition.Inourearlierautopayexample,theshelfcouldlinktheaction—activatingautopay—tothe1,000-pointofferandtotheapprovedemailsandimages

thatcanbeusedtopromoteit.Theagentcanthenselectfromthoseingredientsandassembleaninteractiontailoredtoaparticularcustomer,ratherthanchoosefromcampaignsdesignedinadvanceforbroadergroups.

ConsolidationAloneIsNottheAnswer

Formorethanadecade,consolidationhasbeentheresponsetothefragmentationand

inefficiencyoftraditionalmarketing:bringassetsintoacommonrepository,connectthat

repositorytodownstreamsystems,andestablishcommonmetadata,brand,legal,andrightsrules.Thisstrategycandriveincrementalimprovementonindividualtasks,butitdoesnot

changetheunderlyingmodel.Marketersstillmustconnectcontentwithoffersanddesiredcustomeractionsandthenassemblethoseelementsintocampaigns.

Acloserlookrevealsthreeshortcomingstousingconsolidationalonetoaddressmarketfragmentation(seeExhibit3):

Itcanneverbefinished.Becausethesystemsandcontentbeingconsolidatedcontinuetochangeduringalengthymigration,thesinglecleanrepositoryitistryingtocreateremainsamovingtarget.

Itcanneverbecomprehensive.Evenaclean-slateapproachthateliminatesthelegacy

problemfacesthesamedesignlimitation.Anassetmanagementsystemholdscreative;it

doesnotinherentlyholdoffersandactionsorconnectallthree.Startingovermayproduceacleanersystem,butnotacomprehensivemarketingmodel.

Itcan’tkeeppace.BecauseAIcontinuouslygeneratescontent,thevolumeofmaterialgrowstoofasttobeeffectivelymigratedandorganized.

©2026BostonConsultingGroup5

◎2026BostonConsultingGroup

EXHIBIT3

ConsolidationAloneCannotSolveMarketingFragmentation

Shortcomingsofconsolidation

Itrequireslongdevelopmentcycles

Consolidationcantakeyears,whilethesystemsandcontentbeingconsolidated

continuetochange.Thecleanrepositoryitseekstocreateremainsamovingtarget.

Itdoesn'tcoverthefullspectrum

Adigitalassetmanagement(DAM)systemholdscreative,notoffersoractions.Evenwhencompleted,consolidationcan'tprovidecontent,offers,andactionsinonelinkedview.

Itfailstokeeppace

BecauseAlagentscontinuouslygeneratecontent,thevolumeofmaterialtobeorganizedgrowsfasterthanitcanbemigrated.

Source:BCGanalysis.

AgenticAlintroducesyetanotherchallengeforconsolidation.Consolidationwasdesignedtomakeassetseasierforpeopletomanageandretrieve,nottogiveanagentthepurposeandrelationshipsitneedstoassembleindividualizedcustomerinteractions.EvenwithagenticAl,consolidationtellsmarketerswhatinformationtheyhave,notwhatitisfor.Movingafileintoacommonrepositorydoesnotrecordthecustomeractionitisintendedtoencourageorits

relationshiptoaparticularoffer.

Consolidationcanalsoincreasetheriskofvendorlock-in.Themoreofthemarketingoperationthatresidesinasingleplatform,themorethecompanymustworkwithinthatvendor'sroadmap,metadatamodel,andreleaseschedule.Thiscanmakeithardertochangesuppliersorintroducenewtechnologyasneedsevolve.

Sofar,everyfixusingconsolidationalonehasstartedbymovingsomething.AComposableShelfstartsbymovingnothing.Itleavescontentandofferswheretheyresideandaddstheactionsthebusinesswantscustomerstotake.Itgivestheagentaviewoftheavailablemarketingoptions,whateachisfor,andhowtheycanbecombinedtotargetacustomer'sneeds.Withthe

ComposableShelf,consolidationremainsrelevant,butthetwoconceptsareself-reinforcing:

consolidationcansimplifytheexistingsystems,whiletheComposableShelfaddsthelayerneededforagenticactivation.

WhatMakestheShelfComposable

©2026BostonConsultingGroup7

TheComposableShelfisnottiedtoasinglemarketingplatform.Itcreatesacommoncatalogthatdifferentdecisionandactivationenginescanuse,whiletheunderlyingcontentandoffersremainintheirexistingsystems.Ifoneofthosesystemschanges,theshelfcanpointtoits

replacementwithouthavingtoberebuilt.

ThismakestheComposableShelf’sarchitecturebothflexibleandreversible.Companiescan

replaceindividualplatformswithoutlosingthetaxonomy,relationships,andrecordsofpurposethathaveaccumulatedintheshelf.Inthatsense,theComposableShelfistheinverseofvendorlock-in:thesoftwareandplatformsthatholdthecontentandofferscanchange,whilethe

marketingintelligencecapturedintheshelfremainsintact.

Composabilityalsodoesnotmeanthateveryinteractionhastobebrokenintoitssmallest

piecesandassembledfromscratch.Theshelfcanholdingredientsatthreelevels,withallthreetaggedinthesamewayandavailabletotheagent:

Individualreusablebuildingblocks,suchasoffers,headlines,andimagesCompletetouchpoints,suchasanapprovedemail

Designedsequences,suchasthoseusedforaproductlaunch,onboardingwelcome,orloyaltymilestone

Noteveryinteractionbenefitsfrombeingdecomposed.Someinteractionsmayworkbestasacompleteexperienceorsequence.Thesecanremainintact,whileotherinteractionscanbe

createdfromindividualingredientsandtailoredtoaparticularcustomer.

Thisflexibilityalsoreducesthedisruptionformarketingteams.Contentteamscanretaintheirtools,creativeprocesses,releaseschedules,andapprovalchains.Thedifferenceisinthelast-miledecisionaboutwhichapprovedcontent,offer,orexperiencereacheswhichcustomer—a

decisiontheagentcanmakeatascalethatwouldbedifficulttoprescribeinadvance.

WhatUsingtheComposableShelfMeansforMarketing

Leaders

BuildingthetechnologybehindtheComposableShelfistheeasierpart;theorganizationaltasksinherentintheComposableShelfaremorechallenging.Thesetasksincludeagreeingonwhatthebusinesswantscustomerstodo,writingtherulesbeforeanythingisassembled,andlettingan

©2026BostonConsultingGroup8

agentmakedecisionsthatmarketershavetraditionallyviewedastheirresponsibilities.Fivemovescanhelpmarketingorganizationsmakethattransition:

Runthetest,thenmakeitthepilot.Pickonecustomerbehaviorthebusinesswantsto

influenceandasktheteamtofindeverythingavailabletosupportit:theoffersthatcould

encourageit,thecontentthatcouldsupportandpromotethoseoffersineachchannel,andthelegalandbrandconstraintsthatapply.Recordhowlongtheexercisetakes,howmany

peopleareinvolved,andwhethertheteamcanbeconfidentithasfoundeverythingrelevant.Theresultswillrevealhowdifficultitistodaytoassembleacompletepictureofthe

marketingoptionsavailable—andwherethegapsare.Thosegapsmatterbecauseanagentcanonlyworkwithwhatitcanfindandunderstand.Thecompanycanthenturnthistest

caseintoitsfirstshelfpilot,withmuchofthenecessarygroundworkalreadydoneandthe

gapsclearlyidentified.Keepanyconsolidationprogramalreadyunderway.Thetwocanworktogether,andtheshelfdoesn’thavetowaitforconsolidationtofinish.

Givetheactionlibraryanowner.Offersandcontentalreadyresideinestablishedsystems.

Theactionsthebusinesswantscustomerstotakeusuallydonot.Theyliveinbriefs,

planningdecks,andspreadsheets,makingthemdifficulttoconsistentlyidentify,govern,andreuse.Theactionlibraryistheonegenuinelynewassettheshelfrequires,anditneedsa

seniormarketingownerwhodecideswhichbehaviorsmatter,howtheyrank,andwhatobjectiveeachserves.Treatitasamarketingasset,notanITone.

Bringlegalandbrandteamsintowritetherules,notreviewtheoutput.TheshelfmusttelltheAIagentnotonlywhichcontent,offers,andactionsbelongtogether,butalsotherules

governingwhenandwheretheycanbeused.Thatmeansmarketing,content,legal,and

brandteamsneedtoagreeupfrontonthoserelationshipsandonconstraintsinvolvingsuchthingsasregion,rights,embargoes,andeligibility.Across-functionalgroupshouldbegiven

responsibilityformakingthosedecisionsandresolvingdisagreements.Oncethoserulesareestablished,theagentcanapplythemeachtimeitassemblesaninteractionratherthan

requiringthecompletedinteractiontogothroughthesameapprovalprocess.

Decidewhattheagentmaydoonitsown,andwidenthescopedeliberately.Oncetheshelfisstocked,theagentcanassembleinteractionsthathaveneverexistedbefore.Thatisthe

point,anditisalsotheriskleadersneedtogovern.Startbylettingtheagentcomposefreelyonlyfrompreapprovedingredientsforalways-on,lower-stakesactions.Leavedesigned

sequences,suchasalaunchoranonboardingwelcome,intactandlettheagentchooseonlywhentotriggerthem.Whereregulationorbrandexposurerequiresit,keephumanapprovalintheworkflow.Expandtheagent’slatitudeastheresultscomein,notbefore.

Changethejob,thenchangehowsuccessismeasured.Theshelfchangesthemarketer’s

rolefromassemblingcampaignstodeterminingwhatthebusinesswantscustomerstodo

andgivingagentstheapprovedoffers,content,andrulestheyneedtopursuethose

objectives.Thatshiftalsorequiresadifferentwayofmeasuringmarketingperformance.

Ratherthanfocusingprimarilyonhowmanycampaignsarelaunchedandhowtheyperform,

©2026BostonConsultingGroup9

marketingleadersshouldalsoassesswhethertheshelfcontainstherangeofcurrent,

approvedcontentandoffersneededtosupportthebusiness’sprioritycustomeractions—andhoweffectivelythoseindividualingredientsperformwhenagentsusethem.Otherwise,marketersmaybegivenanewrolewhilecontinuingtobemeasuredlargelyontheworktheoldmodelrequired.

Noneofthesemovesrequireschoosinganewplatformfirst,andthatisdeliberate.Eachbuildssomethingtheorganizationkeeps,whicheverengineorvendoritusesnext.

Agenticmarketingdoesnotrequirecompaniestodiscardthetechnology,content,orcreative

processestheyalreadyhave.Butitdoesrequireadifferentwaytomakethoseresources

availabletoAI.TheComposableShelfprovidesthatlayerbyrecordingnotsimplywhatmarketingingredientsexist,butwhattheyarefor,howtheycanworktogether,andtherulesgoverningtheiruse.Anintelligenceenginecanthenusetheshelftoselectandassembletheappropriate

interactionforaparticularcustomer.

Thatiswhytheplacetostartistheshelfratherthantheengine.Theshelfestablishesthe

marketingoptionsavailabletothebusinessandtherelationshipsandrulesthatgovernhowtheycanbeused.Theintelligenceenginethatusestheshelfmaybereplaced,andsomaythevendorthat