The Name Game
The following is an extract from an article in the February issue of B2B Marketing magazine based on an interview with Mhairi McEwan, co-founder and MD of Brand Learning by Lucy Reiter.
"Digital marketing and the influx of new jobs associated with it requires a whole new way of working, moving from a command and control style to shape and manage," explains Mhairi McEwan, MD at marketing consultancy Brand Learning.
"So whereas the traditional, offline marketer would be used to working using a straightforward, linear approach, now it's all about prompting and leading multiple conversations and activities on a number of different fronts. This is a complete mind shift for many marketers," she says.
This means it is also necessary for a more complex structure within marketing departments and recruiting the right mix of people with the right skills in order to facilitate this fundamental shift is one of the major challenges facing heads of departments.
...But is it too late for some marketers to learn new skills? McEwan is keen to point out the bigger picture, saying that ultimately, "digital marketing is still marketing. Where people go wrong is they get sucked into the technology and don't think about what they're actually trying to achieve. The core principles of marketing still form a critical base -it's still about having a clear marketing strategy based on deep customer insight. Rather than teaching digital marketing as something that exists in its own right, we feel it's important to weave in the impact of digital technology and help marketers adapt their own skills and evolve."
Click here to read the full article in B2B Marketing magazine.