Are Marketers Going The Way of the Dodo? (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Do marketers still have a job in this day and age? What happens when everybody becomes a marketer?
With WhatsApp, blogs, Skype, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, everybody – from the CEO down to the company driver – can be accessible online, 24 by 7, 365 days a week.
One of the greatest challenges facing communicators and marketers in the arts is the balance between satisfying artistic input and commercial (or public) interest.
Courtesy of debaird
Came across this article on the definition of Gen Y folks (also called Millenials, Digitals and Echo Boomers) by Mark Healy which stated some possible responses by marketers to this generation should be. Quoting from the article, here’s what the definition of Gen Y-ers is like:
“Born: technically, 1977-1998. I’m talking about the group born post-1990, who are 0-19 years old right now. Optimistic and confident. Believe everyone should have their own path. Communicative but not necessarily classically social. View lifestyle as a right, not a privilege. Digitally trained. Don’t so much reject rules like Gen Xers, but see rules as irrelevant. Same with some institutions.”
Courtesy of woodleywonderworks
I was invited to a sharing session yesterday afternoon by David Shaw, Director at Effective Brands and a former marketing stalwart at both Lenovo and HP. Founded by Marc De Swaan Arons, the company embarked on a worldwide global brand study seven-years ago which now includes close to 100 global brands with a database of about 40,000 marketers. In the study, the branding consultancy focused on global marketing challenges and possible solutions to overcome them.
Here are some of the key highlights which I picked up.
Marketers need to hear better! (courtesy of OrientalAsylum)
Once in a while, you come across a gem of a post that you have to highlight. This one comes from Branding Strategy Insider, one of my more thought provoking regular reads on marketing.
Enough have been said about the impact of the global subprime crisis on the financial markets, economy, and jobs. The axing of 900 staff recently from DBS is just the tip of the iceberg.
Against such a backdrop, how will marketers in Asia fare? Are the roaring years of record marketing budgets well and truly over?
R3, a regional marketing consultancy, recently published a study on Regional Marketing Budget Allocations in 2009. The study was conducted through phone, email and face-to-face meetings with 50 senior marketers in Asia, covering 100 of Asia’s top 500 brands. They include Unilever, DHL, Samsung, VISA, Maybank, Pepsi, Tiger Beer, and Haier.
What should companies do in a recession? Should they cut back on their advertising expenses or use the opportunity to build their brands like what P&G would do?
I found out the answers to the above and more at the recent CEO Power Breakfast hosted by the Institute of Advertising Singapore and Moove Media. Held at the pristine Shangri-La Hotel, the panel discussion featured three top marketers in Singapore: Mr Terry O’Connor, CEO of Courts Singapore, Mr Quek Peck Leng, CEO of Singtel Mobile and Exec Vice President (Consumer) of Singtel, and Ms Isabelle Svartstein-Bourjade, General Manager of L’Oreal. The moderator was Ms Goh Shu Fen, Principal of R3 Asia Pacific.
I spotted the above spider making his home at the lift lobby just outside my home. The little guy has been there for weeks, and interestingly, no efforts have been made to clean up his silky home. I don’t really mind though as I have a thing for spiders.
In fact, there are some lessons that you can learn from them, which relates pretty well to the world of marketing.
BrandHub founder Shauna with Adrian New
Are sport sponsorships worth their salt? What do companies like VISA, Lenovo and Standard Chartered get when they help bankroll sporting competitions?
I found out the answers to the above and more when I attended Brandhub’s exclusive BrandXchange – a quarterly exchange with senior marketers in Asia. Hosted by Brandhub’s founder Shauna Li Roolvink, the session featured Adrian New, Senior Vice President of World Sport Group (WSG) which is a specialist in sports sponsorship marketing.
Seth Godin recently shared about the problems which companies face when they try to be both authentic and slick at the same time. He created a nice looking chart (see above) and warned us about being caught in the dead zone which is between the twin peaks above.
According to Seth,
