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| Digital, Digital, Digital ... The End of Marketing as we Know It ? |
Everybody is using the word "Digital" now, to an extent which has become over the top...
- Advertising agencies pretend to have Digital Creatives.
- Consulting firms pretend to have Digital Labs.
- Marketing Officers pretend to be Digital Officers.
Well, it is true that 10 years ago, when Facebook was born, no-one could claim to be digital, as Social Media barely existed. That said, it is really exaggerated to claim being 100% digital in 2014.
I have authored a study called "Digital: The new frontier of marketing" ... Worth reading :-)
I believe that Digital is an integrated part of Marketing, as other components like advertising, consumer insight, shopper studies, brand development, category management, trade marketing... are of have been!
Many constituents of the so-called Digital World are essential tools to be a great marketer, or to run a world-class marketing function. Nowadays you need : Big data and analytics ; Open data and co-innovation ; Multi-channel sales ; Tribal marketing for social media communities ; Online co-creation etc...
But Digital today seems to me nothing more than a set of tools !
Digital and digitization cannot be seen as a new function, an end in itself, a new business philosophy nor a new business model.
Digital is simply a means to an end, a new component of our daily business and personal lives, a new way of working, a new toolbox ... It can be very useful to marketers indeed.
Therefore, Digital will not be a substitute to Marketing - definitely not!
The role of digital in the marketing function has become huge, as Consumer Product giant companies such as Procter & Gamble spend up to 1/3 of their media spend on digital media (internet enabled such as YouTube, Google, Facebook...). Other giant companies such as Unilever have appointed some top executives in charge of Digital within their marketing function, e.g. a Senior Vice President Food Digital, a former "traditional" brand manager.
So let's not be confused (or over-whelmed) by "Digital" or "Digitization" verbal diarrhea... The digital phenomenon is simply a new way to look at things and to do business.
My belief is that the newly appointed "Chief Digital Officers" will soon return to their formal job titles of "Chief Marketing Officer" or "Chief Information Officer", depending on where they came from originally.
And as Marc Pritchard, P&G global marketing officer, recently said: "The era of digital marketing is over. It's almost dead. Now, it's just brand building".
Digital is dead, long live Digital !
Let's be digital, inspired and connected.
