With the internet and social media opening up a new marketing dynamic, marketing function as it was is no longer valid – or is it? The business environment and the marketing function are continually evolving. What are the fundamental skills required of a marketing professional?
The digital landscape has created a convergence of many disciplines. Two of these are marketing function and creative skill. Gone are the days when there were distinct roles for designer, writer and creative director.
Recently, I received a comment on a post I wrote about the state of the creative environment. It stated that the “magic” of creative is now lost because of the “accessibility” of being creative for everyone. I realized the truth about that statement. The launch of great applications and software programs have enabled all of us to exercise the creative side of our personalities. That is truly wonderful! But does that mean that everyone has the potential of being a creative professional? I will go on the record as saying no, I don’t believe so.
Marketing function should take care of marketing – that’s what it should master.
Many feel that marketing function has changed. The expectation now is for marketing professionals to be able to “speak creative” and navigate through its “implementation” process. In the digital space, it is also expected that marketing professionals possess the ability to not only set content creation strategies, but also guide the content creation calendar, establish the critical path and even create content. All of that is a tall order for most marketing professionals. Not because they can’t do it, but considering the speed of business today, it’s simply too much to keep on top of in addition to existing marketing functions.
In the past, people within the marketing function simply needed to know enough about creative to understand its process and to make sure that the end campaign delivered on the objective, message, tone and ROI. However, it is no longer left to professionals and experts to provide the knowledge about how to “break through the clutter” in the “advertising” space. The lines are blurred. As a result, many initiatives are not as successful as they should be, resulting in the unfair assessment of the channel – traditional or digital. To put that into perspective, who hasn’t heard it said that Social Media is not garnering the expected ROI, and therefore isn’t a valuable channel? How many within a marketing function role have purchased media without going through a media strategist? How many in a marketing function role have built branded sites with an available CMS platform without understanding user experience or SEO? How many take on the role of directing creative, without having taken graphic design 101? Unfortunately, there are many more questions like these. And, I can only do one thing at a time. -sigh-