The Gartner 2016 CMO Spend research indicated that the estimated 33% of marketing budgets go on technology and the evolution of hybrid roles like the chief marketing technology officer reflects the importance of how marketing must work so closely together with technology — and the substantial influence the two have on each other.
Equally, the role of creativity in marketing engenders services, new products, channels and adventures. So how do marketers ensure that creativity and technology are currently working together to produce the marketing output?
Technology permeates every aspect of our lives, both professionally and personally, and has been the catalyst for changes that could not have been imagined.
As a 21st century marketer, it feels like we’re in a golden age where technology and connectivity that is electronic have generated an globe with unprecedented access through societal, mobile and online.
New devices, new words
The adoption of smart devices, tablets and phones, coupled with broad internet availability, higher broadband penetration and economical cloud-based storage, means that customer information, frequently available in real-time, is empowering marketers to move away from compelling messages at people to engaging them in an ongoing, frequently real time, dialogue and relationship.
The marketing lexicon was enriched with language and new phrases to describe this new world: articles marketing, inbound promotion, pull on customer participation, marketing and experience.
These address the exact same marketing principles that have existed since the 50s, specifically to place center and the customer front of any communication: engage, inform, to inspire, inspire and create a continuous relationship.
Take advantage of all of the opportunities and the challenge for modern day entrepreneurs is to keep up with the rate of change.
Technology, frequently known as ‘digital’, is no more a vertical function controlled by IT.
Not only is it driving efficiencies in terms that are actual of automation, collaboration and workflow, it’s also liberating creativity and challenging us to think why and what we communicate.
We have unfettered access to global audiences via images, words and sound as well as with the most recent advancements in customer expertise, 3D multi-media content and virtual reality, technology has unleashed unimagined forms of storytelling engage to inspire and inform consumers.
Information asymmetry is a thing of the past as customers can share feelings, their thoughts and expertise of brands in actual time and have unparalleled access to information, in addition to give recommendations via media. The balance of power has shifted.
Marketing now a growth-driving motor
The marketing function was viewed as the function focused on building creating and executing campaigns to build brand awareness. More importantly from customers, marketing campaigns accommodated and could be fine, nearly in real time.
For the first time, we could begin to actually understand the impact that marketing has instead of utilizing metrics like reach and frequency.
Thanks to technology benchmarked and could be measured to capture the impact on top and bottom line growth. The marketing function is now an engine.
This shift in emphasis is creating new roles and duties within the function, which have a broader effect on organisation structures.
Technology, frequently referred to as ‘digital’, is no more a function controlled by IT. Instead, it is.
Because of this, the marketing function has become a hybrid version of creativity and technology using new functions being made to exploit the opportunities afforded by technologies. These include:
- Plan — a move away from tactical deployment of a sales strategy to a central strategic purpose has witnessed a wave of new job titles including chief customer officer, chief digital officer, chief customer experience officer
- Evaluation — from the rich sources of information available, there’s been an increase in the need and demand for data scientists and statisticians to analyse and derive insights to drive and inform marketing strategy. Titles associated include chief data scientist, customer insights manager, eCRM director
- Technology — advertising now owns and operates its own “technology stack” to recognize the proper platforms and software products to construct a coherent architecture to best serve the client. New titles comprise chief marketing technologist and, in start-ups, growth hacker
As in purpose or any business undergoing change, there are anxieties and trying to maintain a balance between left and right brain thinking isn’t easy.
The integration of imagination and technology is nuanced. Relying too much make sense of the past, is harmful and may impede on creative thinking and common sense that is plain.
Given the rate of change concerning channels, consumer behavior and technologiesdata can quickly become obsolete. Marketing groups containing creative and technical people using a unifying customer-first mind-set will be successful.
Combining marketing and creativity is the way we do marketing. The bottom line is the principle of marketing in the 21st century is a mixture of creativity and art augmented by data and code with 100% focus on the customer.
