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It’s frequently said “…he who controls the software controls the world” and this, I believe strongly, applies to marketing. Throw control of data, best practices, reporting, budget and planning into the mix you can easily see how unsexy marketing ops may well become king.

Traditionally, marketing ops has been uncool- it was typically under-funded and over worked and all too frequently the teams were ignored or simply usurped by the HiPPOs (highest paid person’s opinions) in the room. Rarely were operational marketers paid anywhere near the level of strategic marketing.

We do need strategic marketing; there will always be a need to create and develop brands using creative out of the box thinking; the next Aleksandr or Churchill dog will probably not come from operational marketing.

However, when the world got connected, geek became chic, and consumers were won or lost on the digital battlefield. The consumer experience has caused a shift to those that understand the machinery of marketing. In most fields, around 2/3rds of the consumer journey is now played out in the digital space, through web-sites, comparison, reviews, search engines and social networks. Consumers form their impressions of companies based on content and experiences delivered to them via this digital channel.

To impress consumers, the content from marketing and sales has to be consistently great and the machinery that delivers it has to function in a frictionless manner. Usefully, a whole bunch of innovative suppliers are creating great solutions in this space. From web frameworks to customer relationship solutions, the availability of sophisticated marketing machinery in now off-the-shelf, fast-to-deploy and (most importantly) in the hands of operational marketers.

The success or marketing is now often in the hands of the operators, those that head up operational marketing teams are rapidly becoming the new rainmakers. Unfortunately, not everyone has twigged onto this yet, and strategic marketers, steeped in creativity and opinion, still rule the roost and hand-down tasks and campaigns to operational marketing teams. Shame.

So let’s try to focus on the needs of operational marketing, give them a place at the top table and listen to what they have to say; much of it is data driven and little is subjective which generally appeals to boards and executive management functions.

The core areas for marketing operations to work on are:

• Marketing automation
• Best practice delivery and process management Testing methodologies
• Reporting and analytics
• Data mining, management and valuation Market intelligence

It’s interesting to note that the above are all driven by software; by that I don’t mean an evil XL spreadsheet, I mean structured application, usually delivered over the web and frequently collaborative in nature.

It’s become an exciting time for marketers. Embrace the change.

by Martin Dower
Reading time is 10 minutes

The old world marketing approach is well and truly dead; consumers’ behaviour has radically changed in the last 5 years.

In summary. Stop whatever you are doing now. Take a step back and re-think it from scratch. Disruptive marketing is not so much a solution as a mindset. Most companies still tend to market through traditional means, which provides plenty of opportunities for organisations to disrupt the status quo.

The list of successful disruptors is long and distinguished. Apple did it with iTunes store, iPhone & iPad. Amazon broke the rules with everything from buying CDs to the provision of Internet Server Architecture. The whole social networking space grew up disruptive by providing a way for everyone to talk to everyone. The common element for all these companies is that they tried something that consumers desired and they did it in an easy-to-adopt manner.

Not all companies seem tuned to making the switch, just ask Kodak, which in less than 20 years went from the fourth most valuable brand worldwide to bankruptcy. Why? Because they weren’t prepared for customers to stop buying film and switch to digital photography. The market had been disrupted, and Kodak failed to adjust.

The rules have changed, risky is the new safe

The use of technology is the primary driver in this space, specifically the explosion of digital devices and services. The disruptors include:

The Mobile H-bomb. Web apps and the cloud is changing marketing more than all the other channels combined. Big Data won’t save the day, nor will proprietary shopping experiences. Consumers are coming out on top with price comparison, reviews and community. The transparency this creates is shaking the big boys foundations and “levelling” many brand values.

Tablets replacing PCs. It started already and the PC is now dead and it’s natural successor is a device that is only 3 years old. This is where the big boys are scrapping hard – in fact it’s the only market segment where you see Amazon, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft and Google competing head-to-action.

Virtual Shopping. Driven by mobile devices, QR codes, online shopping, comparison sites and click-and-collect. The high street will never be the same again and much of the traditional retailers will have to evolve or die.

Death of TV. Netflix, Lovefilm, iTunes, BBC iPlayer, Virgin, YouView, BlinkBox and Youtube – do you expect to be watching conventional TV in 5 years? Streaming multi-media content is now the norm and so much more flexible; it also offers new advertising and promotional opportunities as the old-fashioned “ad break” says good night. This fight has only just started but promises to be one of the big scraps over the next decade.

Decline of the “productionised-office model. Outsourcing, crowd-funding, collaboration, freelancing, micro-consulting, agile, smaller, release early and often – and throw away, trial and error, short-term contracts, flexible working, BYOD. As the workplace changes so does the behaviour of people.

A less social world. Irate customers exposing the failing of brands is just the first step, communities are starting to band-together and drive brands in the direction they want to go. Politely called crowdsourcing, the real effect is that consumers gain the upper-hand so you’d better be listening. Savvy companies will learn how to better use social media to connect with their tribes and meet their needs.

Digital money, mobile wallets & micro-payments. How much, when and why we pay for stuff is changing and will eventually replace credit cards, debit cards, currencies, and even banks. The collapse of the banks in 2008 and their subsequent bailing out was, with hindsight, the start of the end. Banks and bankers are no longer to be trusted – we’re wide open to embrace new paradigms.

The first steps to success?

• Focus on your consumers. Understand what they want, when, how and where. You can try focus groups, ambassadors, opinion, surveys and encourage collaboration and feedback.
• Start learning, stop grafting so hard to make last years plan work. Think long and hard about what you should be doing. Be brave, take risks
• Brands no longer control the media, consumers do. Listen and engage in the open space, forget clever spy tools that claim to manage your brand in the social space, focus on authenticity and avoid a single “PR-centric” mouth piece.
• Humanise your brand. Folks buy from folks so make it simple and personal and consumers will feel less “sold to” and more “I’m buying”. Invest in your people and liberate them to contribute to the marketing conversation.
• Smarter, faster, simpler. Brain not brawn. Simple is easier to understand and communicate. Faster yields results quicker
• Test and test again. Try new stuff, continually. In this new world there are few rules so make them up as you go along, keep testing new ideas against what you do now until the new ideas are better. Rinse and repeat.

About Connected

We’ve been disrupting marketing and digital platforms for over 15 years and built our reputation on being pretty good at predicting which technology and approach will win. Talk to us about your digital marketing needs and we promise we’ll give you something to think about, and maybe a wry smile here and there.