ORLANDO — If any industry should know how to shake off an image problem, it should be the marketing industry. After all, isn’t that its core competency?
But, in this video interview with Beet.TV, Deloitte Digital’s chief marketing officer Alicia Hatch says marketers are suffering at the hands of technology, and need to reboot their perception.
“Marketing was this force, for decades, as a shaper of culture and an arbiter and purveyor of meaning in so many ways,” she says. “And it’s lost some of that glamour, some of that power. Technology’s emerged to be the new sexy for talent, so we’re losing some of our best minds and some of our best talent.
“We really have to remarket marketing. We, ironically, have a marketing problem with marketing.”
Over the last couple of years:
- Reports have blown the lid of a system of agency kick-backs and rebates.
- Brands and publishers have become depressed about hidden tech platform fees.
- Fraudsters have further diminished the efficacy of spending.
- The very biggest platforms have consolidated their positions as biggest beneficiaries.
Each of these issues is undergoing various states of repair. But Deloitte’s Hatch says the time is now to, well… “remarket marketing”.
That starts with ensuring marketing is technology-led and “a hotbed of innovation”, Hatch says.
Another industry trend? For for the last year, consulting firms like Hatch’s Deloitte have been coming to the advertising and marketing party, offering advice and even technology to help the transformation.
She says the industry can do that by hiring people who aren’t necessarily marketing specialists but who bring a diverse range of skills.
The interview was conducted at the annual ANA Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando earlier this week.
This segment is from CMO Growth Council presented by the ANA and Cannes Lions. Beet.TV coverage is sponsored by the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video. Please find more videos from the series here.
