Question

Topic: Student Questions

Reorganising Marketing Teams For Digital World

Posted by Anonymous on 6/15/2011 at 10:51 AM ET 250 Points
I am researching how marketing departs change or restructure to embrace the digital world with specific focus on:
- interface between marketing and IT. Do all marketing/brand professionals need to become IT experts? Or are "clip on" teams being added to existing structures to deal with digital communications?
- how do you deal with the balance between current marketing experts who due to age may not be as "connected" as younger team members yet are more likely to have the brand building experience?
- who has ultimate responsibility for brand image - marketing or corporate affairs teams?

Any help/ideas/experience in any area would be hugely welcomed.

Thanks!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 6/24/2011 at 9:24 AM Accepted
    Interesting questions - sounds like you have the makings of a doctoral thesis there. My approach would be to start with a specific company that had made a marketing transformation. It used to be purely "bricks and mortar," but was now "bricks and clicks," perhaps a mail order business.

    Get the development, the marketing off-versus on-line history there by interview key managers. Then repeat the exercise at another company, probably from the same industry. Now look at the common denominators, see what generalizations you can draw. You may now have enough to develop an electronic questionnaire with the support of a trade organization.

    Once you have a real feel for a specific industry, say, mail order clothes, you can then move on to a completely different one, say, hydraulic pumps, this time looking for common denominators across industries.

    The very first company to start with is one to which to a) you have a personal connection or b) would seriously consider working for.

    Regards,
    JH
  • Posted on 6/24/2011 at 10:33 PM Accepted
    To answer your questions, I view the digital world as simply another medim, such as radio, t.v. newspapers or magazines. It is nothing but a different medium. The differences with this medium vs. the others are complete interaction down the supply chain to the end user. The ability of instantanious communications that was not available with non-digital mediums. But there are similarities as well, such as there still needs to be a consistent message and that message is targeted to a specific market and that the message is relevant to that market.

    As technology advances the separation between IT and marketing grows IMHO. A while back each company needed an IT person that knew HTML coding for updating the website. Today, programs are available that make HTML coding obsolite and can be done by the marketing department.

    Like anything in life, if someone wants to learn, they can find a book, forum, newsletter, consultant or just by trial and error. My 95 year old grandfather surfs the net, writes emails and downloads golfing games, so nobody is too old to do it.
  • Posted on 6/25/2011 at 2:10 AM Author
    Hi JH

    Many thanks for your comments (loved the "bricks and clicks"). Your idea of looking at two companies within the same industry to gain a starting point for further research is an interesting one and not an approach I had considered.

    It suggests a longer, slower research process that I had in mind but the obvious merits of generalisation of findings is worth considering.

    E
  • Posted on 6/25/2011 at 2:34 AM Author
    Hi m_steilen

    I am partly in agreement with you about digital technology - it has produced new communication channels that should be included in the strategy like an other medium.

    However, I think there is a huge difference in talking about digital marketing and marketing in a digital world. The former allows brand teams to maintain their current approach and simply "add" digital skills while the latter is a complete change in approach to whole area of communications.

    Regarding younger vs older staff - it seems that in some companies the younger staff are being given responsibility for digital comms largely because they are avid social media users. But, just because you can play golf, doesn't mean you can design a golf course?

    Thanks again for sharing your thoughts - very helpful.

    E
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