What’s the one thing that all CMOs and marketers actively building brands, overseeing market research, analysing data for campaign design and execution, and driving ROAS and the bottom lines up the hill agree on? The marketing industry is in a state of flux – and has been for a while and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
Campaign Middle East has been constantly conversing with CMOs and industry veterans who, over the past two decades, have witnessed the transition from traditional brand marketing to digital and performance marketing from the early 2000s to the current 2020 era.
Kristine Lasam, managing director and Middle East lead of the Creative Business at Accenture Song, said, “When has the marketing industry never been in a state of flux? We are always in a constant state of fluidity and change, as life demands it.”
Saheba Sodhi, head of Strategy & Region – Middle East at MCH Global, took it beyond the past and the present to say, “The marketing industry is a constantly shifting landscape, and it does not seem like it will change anytime soon either.”
Where marketers struggle
There are some changes within the flux that haven’t quite gone down well and are causing a bit of acid reflux: The phase-out of third-party cookies, stricter GDPR and CCPA privacy regulations, dynamic pricing models, immersive experiences, and customer service chatbots.
This brings up the real question: Are marketers keeping up with the flux within the industry?
Hitesh Malhotra, Head of Marketing at 6th street, explained, “I think the biggest flux has come now after the cookie deletion by certain devices who are more in control of customers’ identifiable data. The real knowledge – the real wealth – lies in leaders who can merge the power of brand marketing with outstanding data extraction, even if it’s at the aggregate level for highest users and get the right data on spend – How much money is needed to acquire a user? Or how much budget must a brand allocate to get a return user?”
“Very few people have been able to decode this, but the marketers who crack it first will be able to create a better prediction model, especially for certain devices that are not passing information to advertisers. We also need to look at the use of generative AI beyond writing good copy or enhancing creatives,” Hitesh added.
Where marketers succeed
On a more positive note, there are other changes within this flux that have been digested well by the industry: The shift to digital platforms, e-commerce and social commerce, and the way the world consumes information, is influenced by people, and finds entertainment have completely redefined the way brands and marketers alike understand consumer behaviour, engagements, emotions, loyalty, and path to purchase.
“Case in point – the Tiktokification of our worlds and how consumers and brands interact. The consumer is now forcing brands to think in bite-sized, highly engaging ways. This is true across content, shopper marketing as well as brand experiences,” said Saheba Sodhi, Head of Strategy & Region – Middle East at MCH Global.
Jonathan Ashton, Head of Marketing and Communications for KROHNE, spoke to Campaign Middle East about the levers of evolving digital technologies, shifting consumer behaviours towards purpose, and the growing importance of sustainability.
Jonathan said, “These are compelling marketers to constantly adapt and innovate. In the Middle East and Africa, this dynamic environment presents both challenges and immense opportunities for growth. Measurement technology is playing a crucial role in this transformation, providing deeper insights and more precise targeting capabilities.”
What’s next?
However, the beauty of an industry in flux is that there are always questions that need to be answered: Will GenAI be the next assisted shopper? Will GenAI create better chatbots, which have not been very successful as a replacement for humans in the past? How can GenAI play a more active role in measurement, campaign optimisation, and go beyond being a glorified copywriter or creative designer?
“The emergence of AI tools is creating part excitement, part panic and thus leaving the industry to constantly be in ‘reactive’ mode, instead of ‘creative’ mode. The industry formula used to be partially predictable, now with audiences, culture and tools all in their respective evolutionary cycle – what worked yesterday will not work today,” MCH Global’s Saheba explained.
How then do marketers react? Do they stay stable and resilient or do they (for lack of a better analogy) embrace fluidity like water and take the shape of the vessel that they’re poured into?
Accenture Song’s Kristine Lasam sums it up well, “For marketers and storytellers alike —this external force exacted by a consumer landscape, which is always responding at the speed of life, keeps us on our toes and challenges the sometimes highly tempting state of inertia.
“If there is one thing Algebra taught me, it’s this: for every complex – and beautiful – equation, there is always a constant and a variable. This is a golden insight in the way we bring our craft to life. While the needs of the consumers are ever changing, there is always a constant that remains unshakeable – your brand purpose, your non-negotiable whys. These are the salient lessons of any and every living brand that has brand recall several generations before and later. When you remain true to your authenticity – and (brand) purpose, you are able to command any flux and come out resonant and on top.”
