Marrying tech with creativity in mktg: The Evolving Indian Chief Mktg Technologist
Technology in the marketing space is responsible for the manner in which marketing and advertising is transforming today. Technology is aiding the discovery of new strategies for marketing, leading to accurate measurement of responsiveness of the consumer, and helping in consolidation of different activities under the umbrella of marketing. It is not only changing the dynamics of the industry in the current scenario but will also make marketers see the impact of technology in marketing in a completely different light in 2015.
Among the major impacts of technology in marketing is the emergence of the role of Chief Marketing Technologists (CMTs) at a brand organisation as digitisation is blurring the lines between designations and responsibilities in the corporate world. “Chief Marketing Technologists help equip companies with the skills of new age marketing that are needed to engage today’s always-on customers by enabling marketing to deftly all facets of the agency and service provider relationships,” said Sandeep Aurora, Director, Marketing and Market Development at Intel South Asia.
Nevertheless, the role of CMT is not just like that of a Chief Technology Officer. We must note that ,” Someone with a deep technical know-how and who is passionate about marketing at the same time would be able to drive it more efficiently. IT domain specialists couldn’t fill that spot because they couldn’t think beyond process, but a CMT brought a different level of sophistication and efficiency to bridge that gap,” pointed Sushobhan Chowdhury, Head of Digital Strategy at Hungama Digital Services.
But many continue to argue about the influence of a CMT in developing markets like India. Other counterparts seem to have embraced technology in the marketing world and leveraged it foster better interaction between brands and consumers. According to Roopak Saluja, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of 120 Media Collective, the role of the CMT is to bridge the gap between marketing, information technology, and innovation across the board to ensure that technological advantage sustains.
However , the application of technology for a successful marketing campaign is far wider than just supporting business operation; the entire strategy has to be well orchestrated with creativity to derive maximum benefit.
“A CMT plays a pivotal role at the intersection of marketing and business objectives by marrying creativity with technology. He is the change agent, working within the function and across the company to manage this holistic approach, helping craft new digital business models, and making sure everything works in a seamless fashion, ultimately strengthening the competitive advantage,” added Mr Chowdhury.
Furthermore , we must also look at how the consumer is interpreting the inclusion of technological know-how in marketing. According to industry experts, consumers are unable to translate the benefits to technology in marketing unlike brands and advertisers. They find it rather creepy and annoying as strategies such as remarketing and hyper-personalisation through artificial intelligence haunts them.
Nevertheless, we cannot deny if it has altered their decision making process. “Consumers of today are more informed and more connected to the world around and hence the task of influencing purchase decisions is not a tranquil job for marketers anymore,” pointed Mr Aurora. Therefore, it is vital for brands to share exciting and relevant content, respond promptly and ensure a focused and personalised engagement and more importantly stay true to their core promise, he added.
