The role of modern marketers is evolving and growing in influence. According to new research from Deloitte, marketing teams have grown more than 12% in the last year, assuming expanded responsibilities in data strategy, DEI, and creator partnerships. It’s time to rethink the traditional responsibilities of marketing and reset our understanding of its role in the new environment. A panel of industry-leading marketers joined Adweek’s CMO Summit East to discuss the changes they’ve seen and how to keep up in today’s world of endless options and marketing channels.
The evolution of the modern marketer
Angie Klein, president and CEO of all-digital wireless carrier Visible, believes the entire marketing ecosystem is evolving, not just the role of the CMO.
“It’s no longer about just putting your brand out there and building it — that’s still a major part of it — but it’s also far more about the customer journey and experience,” she said. “Especially in a space like ours where the consumer decision — and a wireless one — is much more involved, it’s a bigger decision, it’s a one-time change, and it’s going to be a switch. So, the trust that a customer has to have for us and our brand is monumental. I think the role of the marketer is thinking as much about the brand build and the identity of who you are, not just the price point and the what.”
Managing the “marketing mix”
With the emergence of more and more marketing channels, Audrey Fisher, head of marketing and growth for online grocery delivery app JOKR, said growth marketing depends on the right marketing mix of many channels — all of which should be leveraged depending on the business life stage and needs.
“Growth marketing — but also holistic marketing, both the brand side and the grow side — really depends on how you manage the marketing channel mix, and also having a little bit of courage to test within those channel mixes because we’re moving toward this hyper segmented, localized way of marketing, not just for Joker, but I think everyone here is trying to figure it out,” she said. “So, it’s understanding that every channel has to be leveraged in the right way and not being afraid to try new things.”
Embracing failure
The panelists agree that in today’s fast-evolving world, marketers need to be advocates for change and grow comfortable with failing along the journey.
“There’s the timeless piece of, as marketers, we serve the consumer, and we want to understand and ultimately deliver a value to the consumer — that hasn’t changed,” Pat O’Toole, cmo of Mountain Dew, said. “But, what has changed is the number of ways to do it. It’s incredible, but it can also be distracting and expensive. It’s around being bold, testing and learning, having ideas, and going and figuring things out. Sometimes we have to fight to experiment a little bit and say, ‘ you know, we’re going to try this nontraditional thing,’ and when we fail, we hear about it! But, you need to get comfortable with failure to grow.”
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