Marketing, like many industries, is in the midst of a digital transformation. Analytics, emerging technologies and social media platforms have revolutionised the field, which today looks more Big Tech than Mad Men. But understanding the limitations of new systems and scepticism about some of the wilder claims will be essential to maximising returns.
Euan Davis, associate vice-president at technology consultancy Cognizants Center for the Future of Work, rebuts some of the wilder claims that surround the advance of digital automation in the sector and its threat to job numbers and human creativity.
It isnt all bad news, he says, arguing that while tasks such as email marketing are being taken over by robots, humans are still needed to impart flair. He cites social media marketers as an occupation that sits at the intersection between empathy, tech, intelligence and innovation.
Mr Daviss work has included a prediction of the 21 marketing jobs that might emerge over the next decade. Among the careers he sees becoming increasingly relevant is data ethnographer, who will tell stories from data concisely and clearly. Applicants will need a combination of analytical, people and digital skills, he adds.
At a strategic level, Mr Davis predicts ESG (environmental, social and governance) requirements and shareholder pressure are likely to give brand purpose a central role in marketing. In five to six years time we will be seeing the chief purpose planner, he says. This is how PR teams will begin to rethink their roles in companies.
Another predicted role is the Orwellian-sounding machine personality developer, whose job would be to fine-tune and personalise machines to establish a relationship with consumers making interactions with self-service checkouts, domestic robots or automated parking meters more authentic, for example.
Increasingly powerful technology is likely to be applied to new areas. Synthetic media, for example artificial intelligence-generated videos, audio and images are best known for their use in deep fakes of celebrities and politicians.
But Henry Ajder, head of threat intelligence at Dutch tech group Deeptrace, predicts they will find applications in marketing. Seamlessly dubbing an advert into multiple languages would be fairly simple, he says, and the technology to achieve that is becoming cost-effective and fast.
Yet he stresses that disruptive ideas need time to prove themselves. Synthetic media can create embodied chat avatars, for instance, giving virtual assistants such as Siri or in-app chatbots an on-screen personality.
Another growing niche in social media is virtual influencers digitally rendered humans who act out fictional narratives and showcase products. These have already become a fixture on visually led platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
While Mr Ajder believes synthetic marketing may be more effective for younger generations, he says the staying power of such esoteric approaches remains to be tested.
Andrew Stephen, professor of marketing at Oxford Sad Business School, echoes that caution. He says it is vital that marketers develop a baseline knowledge about technologys capacities and limitations.
While that does not call for entire firms to learn how to run models and code, he says, they should instead develop digital literacy to guard against hype. There is an increasing need for understanding [of] what the tools and tech can do for [marketers]...its not just about waving our magical AI wand, he says.
A lot of marketing chiefs who have gone pretty much all-in on influencer marketing...but we need better measurement
The same thinking applies to deciding where brands should invest time and money, says Mr Davis. While TikTok, the short-video app produced by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance, has become popular across the field, he cautions that platforms are often ephemeral and that crafting a message for different audiences can be difficult.
The question is, how do you begin building a brand that resonates with the image of TikTok? he says. The app is known for its often bizarre, irreverent humour, and a larger Generation Z demographic. Mr Davis says that even on more mature platforms such as Twitter, marketers can get it really wrong and really right.
Marketers investments in the $8bn influencer marketing business might also need to be re-evaluated, says Prof Stephen. A lot of marketing chiefs who have gone pretty much all-in on influencer marketing, he says, but we need better measurement.
While digital platforms have made it cheaper and easier to trial new techniques, brands still need to look at the data to see whether influencer marketing will work for their specific needs.
As with any marketing, Prof Stephen is clear there is no one-size-fits-all approach that guarantees success. For certain brands [influencers] can be pointless, he says, and for others it would be super valuable. Marketers need to be clear which camp they fall into.
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