Brands face obsolescence if their marketers cannot drive the change demanded by the disposable, technology-led society in which we now live.
Even the best traditional marketers could be left merely painting by numbers if they cannot acquire digital skills to drive a technology-led outcome, according to AMP's digital business customer solutions director Michael Weeding.
Meanwhile, he thinks marketers need a KPI for failure.
Speaking at the ADMA global forum in Sydney, Weeding said that brands were crying out for talent that combined “the skillset of traditional marketers with digital skills to drive technology-led outcomes”. Marketers needed to “think forward” grasp the nettle and think about changes now, he said, “otherwise you will grow that divide”.
“Do you want to be someone who colours in or someone who drives the change? Your brands depend on you to do that because you cannot re-platform overnight, or rebuild a team. And if you think [marketing and technology] is changing now it's only going to get hotter. It will become extremely interesting over the next few years.”
For that reason, marketers needed to be set KPIs for failure, he said, because while “failing is used as a badge of honour, I don't see much of it happening. We remain very conservative, I don't see much appetite.”
Measuring failure, he said, needs to be broken down into smaller components. “Not just what happened in the last three months, but the last three minutes and how you optimised it. Maybe we need to set KPIs about how many times staff failed and as marketers be comfortable talking about it.”
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day. Need a job? Visit adnewsjobs.com.au.
Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at brendancoyne@yaffa.com.au
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.