 "New year resolutions of a CMO")
As we look back on a year that saw marketers struggling to adapt to a world that has fundamentally changed I can't help reflecting on the pace of the change, ominously less than most CMOs' careers. The stark reality facing today's marketer is that most marketing and advertising truisms have been turned on their heads. And that means marketers need to start afresh. What would a CMO's New Year resolutions be?
"I will build a holistic brand experience for consumers"
Consumers today experience brands at a time of their own choosing, in a place of their convenience and using a channel that's relevant at that moment. That means single-channel campaigns completely miss the opportunity to connect with today's global, mobile and always-on consumer. Merely having a social marketing strategy or a digital plan doesn't mean much: very few senior marketers believe their marketing activities deliver a brand experience that spans multiple touch points and is rooted in the customer's journey. And hardly any agency is pushing or enabling its clients to think across channels. The push has to come from the CMO and it starts with the realisation that the experience is the brand.
"I shall think beyond the language of channels"
Reaching today's consumer is a daunting, highly complex interplay of channels, messages and moments, requiring a radical shift from the conventional marketing and a wide array of diverse yet complementary capabilities. Today the marketer must look for an organising idea: a new conception of the experience, one that is rooted in the customer's journey with the brand across multiple touch points. An organising idea focuses on universal human truths (for example, happiness) and is an extension of the brand's purpose that help to align individual campaign and communication ideas within the broader experience space. It is about narrating and weaving stories that integrate the brand or a product into the buyer's world, across all touch points - web, mobile, social, in-store and span across time and space.
"I shall revise my understanding of data"
CMOs must embrace the potential of modern analytics to redefine consumer understanding: after all, more than 90 per cent of digital data around us was created just in the last 2-3 years. CMOs must now rely upon multiple disciplines as part of their strategy teams: creativity, deep technology knowledge, data fluency. Especially as most of their agencies are not doing their part either - gaps exist across analytics, localisation and multi-channel campaign development. The result is that CMOs continue to look elsewhere for this critical capability, which in the long run only increase brand management challenges. Data accessibility throughout the organisation has emerged as a key factor for a CMO's success.
"I shall be fluent with technology"
According to Gartner, CMOs will purchase more technology than CIOs by 2017, yet only one in five CMOs considers himself 'knowledgeable' about technology. Proliferation of new technologies, from social media and mobile apps to in-store digital experiences and mobile payments, is at the root of disruptions that have changed today's world. Delivering multichannel experiences at a global level is a complex affair. The one thing that unites disparate channels is technology. The CMO you meet next must be technology-savvy with sensitivity for local-global relationships and the flexibility to adapt to and embrace disruptive technologies and social media-driven, personalised marketing.
"I shall redefine my understanding of consumers"
A new class of consumers, empowered by affordable technology - internet, in-store innovation, mobile, social networks - is forcing brands to change marketing rules. For example we found 40 per cent in a sample of teachers in Tier-II and Tier-III towns have moved on to tablets. Great globalstrategy requires a mix of depth and breadth: CMOs must rely upon multiple disciplines as part of their strategy teams - creativity, deep technology knowledge, data fluency. Few agencies are equipped to support marketers in this respect, and CMOs will have to move fast to build their own understanding of consumers.
"I shall re-cast my team"
Over a third of senior marketers do not believe that their marketing activities are fully integrated across digital and traditional channels. Indeed, silos, departments, divisions and lack of coordination are getting worse just as the need for collaboration is becoming greater. Specifically in India, we continue to see a mixed approach towards digital experiences: an online version of the 'mainline' communication/ad is still what most marketers are stuck at. Senior marketers need to displace organisational silos, specialised partners and reduce reliance on traditional single-channel campaigns in order to realize the benefits of cross-channel experiences. The tussles between local and global marketing roles add to this complex situation. The need for organisational design as well as digital platforms that allow for a multi-channel, multi-disciplinary mindset across the organisation has never been bigger.
If adopted and followed through these resolutions point to the imminent rise of a new breed of CMOs. This new CMO shall build strategies that cut through silos and approaches and combine characteristics of a traditional marketer with skills traditionally associated with a CTO and even with the recently created CXO offices. CMOs that master this evolved marketing mindset will define the most successful brands of the next decade.
Shubhradeep Guha
Vice-President & India Business Lead, SapientNitro
"I will build a holistic brand experience for consumers"
Consumers today experience brands at a time of their own choosing, in a place of their convenience and using a channel that's relevant at that moment. That means single-channel campaigns completely miss the opportunity to connect with today's global, mobile and always-on consumer. Merely having a social marketing strategy or a digital plan doesn't mean much: very few senior marketers believe their marketing activities deliver a brand experience that spans multiple touch points and is rooted in the customer's journey. And hardly any agency is pushing or enabling its clients to think across channels. The push has to come from the CMO and it starts with the realisation that the experience is the brand.
"I shall think beyond the language of channels"
Reaching today's consumer is a daunting, highly complex interplay of channels, messages and moments, requiring a radical shift from the conventional marketing and a wide array of diverse yet complementary capabilities. Today the marketer must look for an organising idea: a new conception of the experience, one that is rooted in the customer's journey with the brand across multiple touch points. An organising idea focuses on universal human truths (for example, happiness) and is an extension of the brand's purpose that help to align individual campaign and communication ideas within the broader experience space. It is about narrating and weaving stories that integrate the brand or a product into the buyer's world, across all touch points - web, mobile, social, in-store and span across time and space.
"I shall revise my understanding of data"
CMOs must embrace the potential of modern analytics to redefine consumer understanding: after all, more than 90 per cent of digital data around us was created just in the last 2-3 years. CMOs must now rely upon multiple disciplines as part of their strategy teams: creativity, deep technology knowledge, data fluency. Especially as most of their agencies are not doing their part either - gaps exist across analytics, localisation and multi-channel campaign development. The result is that CMOs continue to look elsewhere for this critical capability, which in the long run only increase brand management challenges. Data accessibility throughout the organisation has emerged as a key factor for a CMO's success.
"I shall be fluent with technology"
According to Gartner, CMOs will purchase more technology than CIOs by 2017, yet only one in five CMOs considers himself 'knowledgeable' about technology. Proliferation of new technologies, from social media and mobile apps to in-store digital experiences and mobile payments, is at the root of disruptions that have changed today's world. Delivering multichannel experiences at a global level is a complex affair. The one thing that unites disparate channels is technology. The CMO you meet next must be technology-savvy with sensitivity for local-global relationships and the flexibility to adapt to and embrace disruptive technologies and social media-driven, personalised marketing.
"I shall redefine my understanding of consumers"
A new class of consumers, empowered by affordable technology - internet, in-store innovation, mobile, social networks - is forcing brands to change marketing rules. For example we found 40 per cent in a sample of teachers in Tier-II and Tier-III towns have moved on to tablets. Great globalstrategy requires a mix of depth and breadth: CMOs must rely upon multiple disciplines as part of their strategy teams - creativity, deep technology knowledge, data fluency. Few agencies are equipped to support marketers in this respect, and CMOs will have to move fast to build their own understanding of consumers.
"I shall re-cast my team"
Over a third of senior marketers do not believe that their marketing activities are fully integrated across digital and traditional channels. Indeed, silos, departments, divisions and lack of coordination are getting worse just as the need for collaboration is becoming greater. Specifically in India, we continue to see a mixed approach towards digital experiences: an online version of the 'mainline' communication/ad is still what most marketers are stuck at. Senior marketers need to displace organisational silos, specialised partners and reduce reliance on traditional single-channel campaigns in order to realize the benefits of cross-channel experiences. The tussles between local and global marketing roles add to this complex situation. The need for organisational design as well as digital platforms that allow for a multi-channel, multi-disciplinary mindset across the organisation has never been bigger.
If adopted and followed through these resolutions point to the imminent rise of a new breed of CMOs. This new CMO shall build strategies that cut through silos and approaches and combine characteristics of a traditional marketer with skills traditionally associated with a CTO and even with the recently created CXO offices. CMOs that master this evolved marketing mindset will define the most successful brands of the next decade.
Shubhradeep Guha
Vice-President & India Business Lead, SapientNitro