Case Study: From fragmented systems to unified growth — how a global CRO transformed its marketing operations

The challenge: complex systems and no clear strategy

This CRO, serving pharmaceutical and biotech sponsors worldwide, had grown steadily since its founding in 2006. With 501–1,000 employees and offices across the US, UK, India, and South Africa, its technical expertise was unmatched in biometrics, data management, and regulatory support.

But inside its commercial operations, the story was different. Marketing relied on a fragmented stack — Microsoft Dynamics for CRM, Hootsuite, and Constant Contact — with no central visibility into performance. Campaigns centered on webinars and email outreach, but there was no way to connect results back to sales. Leads were handed off manually, slowing response times and obscuring ROI.

Integration between HubSpot and Dynamics became the central pain point. The team encountered technical bottlenecks mapping fields, and a bidirectional data flow required an Operations Hub upgrade. With limited internal IT bandwidth and no marketing infrastructure, the project stalled. Resistance to change and the absence of an internal champion compounded the issue, leaving the CEO as the only active HubSpot user.

The solution: hands-on onboarding with targeted support

• Strategic integration support: Instead of shouldering the entire technical burden, the consultant escalated roadblocks directly to HubSpot support. This connected the client’s IT team with the right expertise, accelerating progress on the Dynamics integration.
• Project-based training: To address adoption challenges, the team worked on a live Event Registration Campaign. By creating campaigns, forms, and landing pages, staff learned through doing rather than theory. This gave the client a practical framework to replicate for future initiatives.
• Building automation and reporting skills: Training extended into personas, lead scoring, SEO tools, pillar content, and reporting dashboards. These capabilities not only streamlined lead handoffs but also unlocked the closed-loop reporting the team had been missing.

The results: a functional system and an empowered team

• An integrated marketing and sales system: HubSpot and Dynamics were successfully connected, enabling clean data flow between platforms.
• Improved efficiency and data governance: Lifecycle stages and a data cleanup tool gave the team greater control over lead tracking and data hygiene.
• A clear roadmap for growth: With their first campaigns and landing pages built, the team was positioned to expand marketing efforts and gradually migrate sales processes into HubSpot.

The company now operates with a stronger foundation for marketing visibility and alignment with sales. This positions them to scale their outreach and better serve their global pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

Key metrics (where available)

Why it matters

For organizations juggling global complexity and data-heavy operations, the right onboarding approach can make or break digital transformation. This case shows that when onboarding moves beyond setup to hands-on coaching and strategic support, even hesitant teams can quickly gain traction.

media junction® specializes in guiding clients through this kind of transformation — not just deploying HubSpot, but embedding it into everyday operations for long-term impact.

Call to action

If your business struggles with disconnected systems or stalled adoption, consider a strategic onboarding approach that builds both technical foundations and team confidence.