The Future of Marketing

Introduction   1
Who Is It For?   2
Research and Development   4
A Note on Contributors   5

PART I:  WHAT’S CHANGED? 9
Chapter 1  The 4 P’s Are Passe   11
Power Has Changed Hands   12
How Has the Brand/Customer Relationship Changed? 15
A Brief History of Online Marketing   15
A Free Loudspeaker for All! 17
New Competitors + More Noise = Need for Relevance   18
Noise Levels Are Increasing   19
Digital Has Changed the Game Marketers and Consumers Are Playing   20
How Has the Changing Media Landscape Changed the Marketer’s Role? 21
How Media Disruption Has Impacted Marketers   23
A Fragmented, “Transmedia” Landscape   25
Things Are a Lot Harder Than They Were Back in the 1990s   28
It’s Not All Bad... 29
How Does the “Flood” of Customer Data Impact the Marketer’s Role? 29
From Art to Science   30
More Data = More Accountability   31
The Democratization of Your Brand   32
Your Customers Have More Choice and Power   33
Backstory Is More Important Than Tagline   34
The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis   34
Brand Is a Conversation Between Companies and Their Customers   35
Not Everything Has Changed: The Fundamentals Remain the Same   37
ART Means Major Changes Must Be Made   41
The New Customer Contract: Authenticity, Relevance, and Transparency   41
The New Customer Contract: Authenticity   42
The New Customer Contract: Relevance   44
The New Customer Contract: Transparency   45
How ART Will Impact the Future of Marketing   46
Endnotes   48
Chapter 2  What Is a Customer Journey, and Why Does It Matter? 53
The Customer Journey Means Expanded Roles   56
Endnotes   56

PART II:  HOW ARE COMPANIES COPING? 59
Chapter 3  How Are Companies Doing Right Now? 61
The Marketer’s Expanding Role: Confusion on Next Steps   62
Internal Structures Are Beginning to Change   62
Collaboration Is Key   63
Departure Lounge   66
Marketing Is Under Pressure to Increase Speed   68
1. Customers Expect Responses to Queries Far More Quickly   68
2. Customers Reward Marketing Campaigns That Are Closely Linked to Developments in the World Around Them   70
3. New Platforms Reach Maturity (and Huge User Bases) More Quickly Than Ever   70
4. Data and New Measurement Methodologies Quickly Give Marketers Usable Insight into Campaign Success   72
How Are Marketers Beginning to Increase the Speed?   73
Media Fragmentation Is Tough to Deal With   74
Things Are Changing Fast   76
Marketers Must Mix Paid, Earned, and Owned Channels   76
Delivering a Consistent Brand Message Is Increasingly Challenging   77
The Speed with Which Channel Fragmentation Is Taking Place Is a Challenge All Its Own   79
Most Companies Are Not Fully Leveraging Customer Data for Better Customer Insight   80
A Long Way to Go—But There’s Increasing Clarity on the Route to Take   82
Next Steps   83
Endnotes   84

PART III:  BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE   85
Chapter 4  Brand Management and Storytelling   87
Managing a Brand in Collaboration with Customers   87
Experience Supersedes Logo   87
Brand Is How a Company Acts As a Corporate Citizen   88
How Can Brand Storytelling Help? 89
This Isn’t a New Coat of Paint—It’s Deeper Than That   92
How Can You Build Storytelling into Your Marketing Campaign? 93
The Battle Between Art and Science Isn’t Over Yet   94
Endnotes   94
Chapter 5  Getting Your House in Order: How Internal Buy-In Impacts External Marketing   95
Consistent Experience Across Multiple Channels Is Hard but Essential   96
Transparency Makes Consistency Essential   98
Build Your Corporate Onion   98
Internal Is Where This All Begins   99
Step 1: Build from the Ground Up, Not the Top Down   100
Step 2: Build a Clear Role for the Individual and Highlight the Benefits of That Role   100
Step 3: Immerse Your Employees in the Journey to Reassure Them   101
Step 4: Focus on the Long Term, Not the “Year of Customer Experience” 103
Endnotes   103
Molson Coors Case Study   104
Chapter 6  How an Evolved Internal Structure Drives Authentic, Relevant, and Transparent Marketing   119
The Chief Marketing Officer’s Evolution   120
From Part of the Matrix to a Leadership Role   121
Why a Centralized Marketing Community Is Critical   122
Should Marketing Expand Itself Out of Existence? 124
Splitting the Marketing Department   124
New Roles and Responsibilities   126
Focus on Agility   127
Why IT, Data, and Marketing Departments Need to Work Together   128
Breaking Down Silos for a More Comprehensive Customer Picture   130
Unification of Information   131
Internal Data   132
Uniformity of Response   133
Randstad Case Study   134
Endnotes   137
Chapter 7  Data for Relevance and Agility   139
Importance of Data and Science   139
1: The Scale Is Incredible   139
2: The Opportunity Is Enormous—and the Imperative Is Unavoidable   140
3: You’re Now Competing with Digital Natives   141
4: Data Helps You Spot Problems   142
Setting Up for Data   143
1: Hiring the Right People and Evolving the Marketer’s Role   144
2: Build the Right Organizational Model   144
3: Set Clear Goals Aligned to Overall Corporate Goals   145
4: Find the Signal in the Noise   146
The Benefits One Can Expect from a Comprehensive, Forward-Looking Approach to Data Management and Analysis   147
Better Understanding for More Relevance   150
Finally, a Replacement for Focus Groups   151
Enhanced Relevance: Building Better Campaigns—and Better Products   152
Examples of Brands Using Data for Better Marketing   153
Data for More Agility: Insight at Speed for On-the-Fly Campaign Evolution   156
Data Is Not a Miracle Cure. There are limits to its Utility   157
Allowing Data to Replace Creativity   158
Are We Headed for a Data Drought? 158
Avoiding Creepiness   160
Conclusions   161
Endnotes   162
One Medical Group Case Study   164
KidZania Case Study   170
Land O’Lakes Case Study   180
Chapter 8  Why Multichannel Matters   183
You’ve Got to Spread Yourself Thin   185
Work out Which Channels Are Worth the Money to You   186
Define How to Use Channels Appropriately   187
You’ve Got to Make Sure That Channels Work in Some Form of Harmony   188
Multichannel As a Foundation   190
Endnotes   190
Hiscox Case Study   180
Chapter 9  Content Marketing to Drive Engagement   197
Create Content of the Requisite Quality   200
Relevance: Appealing Directly and Engagingly to Your Customers   201
Content That Is Useful   201
Content That Is Entertaining   202
Disseminate Content in the Right Way   203
Measure Impact and Track Success   204
Endnotes   205
Chapter 10  The Imperative—and Opportunity—of Conversation   207
How Conversation Drives Authenticity   210
Conversation Isn’t Optional   211
Set Up for Social   213
7 Elements of Successful Conversational Marketing from Brands Who’ve Done It Well   214
1: Strike a Chord That Appeals   214
2: Be Ready to Listen   215
3: Get Everyone Singing from the Same Hymn Sheet   216
4: Ensure That Data Has Been Shared and Silos Have Been Eradicated   216
5: Expose the “Latently Happy” 217
6: Don’t Just Talk about Your Products   217
7: Don’t Cause a Scene   218
Endnotes   226

PART IV:  A PROPOSED NEW DEPARTMENT   229
Chapter 11  The Marketing Department of the Future   231
How Will Companies Deliver on Art? 233
1: The Marketing Department Will Put Customer Experience at the Center of Its Operations   233
2: A Simple Structure to Enhance Agility   236
3: New Skill Sets for a New World   239
4: The Walls between Employees and Customers Come Down   241
Final Conclusions   243
Endnotes   244
Index   245

 
Reinvent marketing for today’s radically new customers and business environment – and tomorrow’s!