the critical role of marketing

Bill Rossiter

The speed and severity of change in all industries across the globe is unprecedented. We have seen more change in the last three years than we have the last 30.

In turn, the purpose of business is also evolving due to ever-changing customer expectations. The customer experience (CX) is now even more important than the products themselves, driving brands to rethink where they invest and expend resources. Rather than differentiating through just products or services, brands now need to deliver an ecosystem of value to their customers. Vast change is upon us, and marketing will serve as the main catalyst for this change.

new roles demand new rules and new tools

The most successful companies today are retooling through new organizational structure, expertise requirements, data mining and analytics, technology, and automation. The new role of marketing is at the forefront of these sustainable, profitable companies.

  • Marketing discipline is now one of the most critical business functions needed to leverage this fast pace of change we continue to experience.
  • Finance, accounting, and operations remain important aspects of the functional business model. However, new trends in how customers engage with company brands and each other will make marketing the most important discipline for organizations to hire the next generation of thinkers.
  • Companies will be looking to hire progressive, disruptive thinkers — team members who are comfortable being uncomfortable and thrive on change instead of cringing at the notion.
  • This new breed of marketer will have immense agility and the wherewithal to make decisions quickly and confidently.
  • Failure is more acceptable than ever. Brands are looking to push the envelope and are willing to “fail forward,” using test market insights to grow into new markets and categories.
  • The new role of marketer will include more data analysis with the ability to extract data from even more data points. Most importantly, these marketing data analysts will derive insights that drive new, more relevant business strategies.

welcome to the forefront

Marketing’s new role is no longer behind the scenes but rather operating on the front line — more deeply understanding the customer and distributing that knowledge back to the business as a whole. Marketing sits firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to influencing and leveraging this speed and severity of change. Is your organization ready? If you are in marketing, are you ready?

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