One central theme at Cannes Lions this year has been the intersection of data and creativity – and the impact that is having on marketers. The role that technology platforms play in that is fundamental and the presence of tech firms at the festival this year was front and foremost.
Marketo, a marketing automation firm,has made it its mission to make its technology and the integration of datasets and automated processes so simple that marketers are freed up to get back to the creative side of marketing – not get bogged down in the technology.
Speaking to AdNews at Cannes, Marketo global CMO Sanjay Dholakia, said: “We’ve devised our strategy around being the brain that will do all of this in the background, seamlessly. It will connect Marketo and Salesforce CRM for instance … we’ve made it that easy, that you don’t need to be a technologist. Taking that to the extreme our mission is to make it like the self-driving Google car – where the technology will figure out how to orchestrate relationships across all channels, and [the marketer] doesn’t have to worry about that, they just worry about the content.
“The crazy debate that’s been happening is that the marketer of tomorrow isn’t going to be a creative person they're going to be a data analyst, but it’s not an or. They will be able to do both because they don’t have to worry about the technology – they will be able to operate at the level of the insights. We need more time to be marketers, not technologists.”
For more on how the creativity data debate played out at Cannes, and other themes, pick up the Cannes Special Report in the July 10 issue of AdNews. You can subscribe here.
Marketo was a sponsor of the first year of the Lions Innovation Festival.
Rosie Baker travelled to Cannes courtesy of Marketo.
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 me a line at rosiebaker@yaffa.com.au
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