Future of Marketing, The

Nick Johnson is founder and CEO of the Incite Group, a leading business intelligence firm that provides highly relevant, research-based insights on customer experience for the marketing, communications, and advertising communities. He has worked closely with chief marketing officers and other senior executives from major brands since founding his first company, Useful Social Media, in 2009

Introduction 1
Who Is It For? 2
Research and Development 4
A Note on Contributors 5

PART I: WHAT'S CHANGED? 9
Chapter 1 The 4 P's Are Passe 11
Power Has Changed Hands 12
How Has the Brand/Customer Relationship Changed? 15
A Brief History of Online Marketing 15
A Free Loudspeaker for All! 17
New Competitors + More Noise = Need for Relevance 18
Noise Levels Are Increasing 19
Digital Has Changed the Game Marketers and Consumers Are Playing 20
How Has the Changing Media Landscape Changed the Marketer's Role? 21
How Media Disruption Has Impacted Marketers 23
A Fragmented, "Transmedia" Landscape 25
Things Are a Lot Harder Than They Were Back in the 1990s 28
It's Not All Bad... 29
How Does the "Flood" of Customer Data Impact the Marketer's Role? 29
From Art to Science 30
More Data = More Accountability 31
The Democratization of Your Brand 32
Your Customers Have More Choice and Power 33
Backstory Is More Important Than Tagline 34
The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis 34
Brand Is a Conversation Between Companies and Their Customers 35
Not Everything Has Changed: The Fundamentals Remain the Same 37
ART Means Major Changes Must Be Made 41
The New Customer Contract: Authenticity, Relevance, and Transparency 41
The New Customer Contract: Authenticity 42
The New Customer Contract: Relevance 44
The New Customer Contract: Transparency 45
How ART Will Impact the Future of Marketing 46
Endnotes 48
Chapter 2 What Is a Customer Journey, and Why Does It Matter? 53
The Customer Journey Means Expanded Roles 56
Endnotes 56

PART II: HOW ARE COMPANIES COPING? 59
Chapter 3 How Are Companies Doing Right Now? 61
The Marketer's Expanding Role: Confusion on Next Steps 62
Internal Structures Are Beginning to Change 62
Collaboration Is Key 63
Departure Lounge 66
Marketing Is Under Pressure to Increase Speed 68
1. Customers Expect Responses to Queries Far More Quickly 68
2. Customers Reward Marketing Campaigns That Are Closely Linked to Developments in the World Around Them 70
3. New Platforms Reach Maturity (and Huge User Bases) More Quickly Than Ever 70
4. Data and New Measurement Methodologies Quickly Give Marketers Usable Insight into Campaign Success 72
How Are Marketers Beginning to Increase the Speed? 73
Media Fragmentation Is Tough to Deal With 74
Things Are Changing Fast 76
Marketers Must Mix Paid, Earned, and Owned Channels 76
Delivering a Consistent Brand Message Is Increasingly Challenging 77
The Speed with Which Channel Fragmentation Is Taking Place Is a Challenge All Its Own 79
Most Companies Are Not Fully Leveraging Customer Data for Better Customer Insight 80
A Long Way to Go-But There's Increasing Clarity on the Route to Take 82
Next Steps 83
Endnotes 84

PART III: BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE 85
Chapter 4 Brand Management and Storytelling 87
Managing a Brand in Collaboration with Customers 87
Experience Supersedes Logo 87
Brand Is How a Company Acts As a Corporate Citizen 88
How Can Brand Storytelling Help? 89
This Isn't a New Coat of Paint-It's Deeper Than That 92
How Can You Build Storytelling into Your Marketing Campaign? 93
The Battle Between Art and Science Isn't Over Yet 94
Endnotes 94
Chapter 5 Getting Your House in Order: How Internal Buy-In Impacts External Marketing 95
Consistent Experience Across Multiple Channels Is Hard but Essential 96
Transparency Makes Consistency Essential 98
Build Your Corporate Onion 98
Internal Is Where This All Begins 99
Step 1: Build from the Ground Up, Not the Top Down 100
Step 2: Build a Clear Role for the Individual and Highlight the Benefits of That Role 100
Step 3: Immerse Your Employees in the Journey to Reassure Them 101
Step 4: Focus on the Long Term, Not the "Year of Customer Experience" 103
Endnotes 103
Molson Coors Case Study 104
Chapter 6 How an Evolved Internal Structure Drives Authentic, Relevant, and Transparent Marketing 119
The Chief Marketing Officer's Evolution 120
From Part of the Matrix to a Leadership Role 121
Why a Centralized Marketing Community Is Critical 122
Should Marketing Expand Itself Out of Existence? 124
Splitting the Marketing Department 124
New Roles and Responsibilities 126
Focus on Agility 127
Why IT, Data, and Marketing Departments Need to Work Together 128
Breaking Down Silos for a More Comprehensive Customer Picture 130
Unification of Information 131
Internal Data 132
Uniformity of Response 133
Randstad Case Study 134
Endnotes 137
Chapter 7 Data for Relevance and Agility 139
Importance of Data and Science 139
1: The Scale Is Incredible 139
2: The Opportunity Is Enormous-and the Imperative Is Unavoidable 140
3: You're Now Competing with Digital Natives 141
4: Data Helps You Spot Problems 142
Setting Up for Data 143
1: Hiring the Right People and Evolving the Marketer's Role 144
2: Build the Right Organizational Model 144
3: Set Clear Goals Aligned to Overall Corporate Goals 145
4: Find the Signal in the Noise 146
The Benefits One Can Expect from a Comprehensive, Forward-Looking Approach to Data Management and Analysis 147
Better Understanding for More Relevance 150
Finally, a Replacement for Focus Groups 151
Enhanced Relevance: Building Better Campaigns-and Better Products 152
Examples of Brands Using Data for Better Marketing 153
Data for More Agility: Insight at Speed for On-the-Fly Campaign Evolution 156
Data Is Not a Miracle Cure. There are limits to its Utility 157
Allowing Data to Replace Creativity 158
Are We Headed for a Data Drought? 158
Avoiding Creepiness 160
Conclusions 161
Endnotes 162
One Medical Group Case Study 164
KidZania Case Study 170
Land O'Lakes Case Study 180
Chapter 8 Why Multichannel Matters 183
You've Got to Spread Yourself Thin 185
Work out Which Channels Are Worth the Money to You 186
Define How to Use Channels Appropriately 187
You've Got to Make Sure That Channels Work in Some Form of Harmony 188
Multichannel As a Foundation 190
Endnotes 190
Hiscox Case Study 180
Chapter 9 Content Marketing to Drive Engagement 197
Create Content of the Requisite Quality 200
Relevance: Appealing Directly and Engagingly to Your Customers 201
Content That Is Useful 201
Content That Is Entertaining 202
Disseminate Content in the Right Way 203
Measure Impact and Track Success 204
Endnotes 205
Chapter 10 The Imperative-and Opportunity-of Conversation 207
How Conversation Drives Authenticity 210
Conversation Isn't Optional 211
Set Up for Social 213
7 Elements of Successful Conversational Marketing from Brands Who've Done It Well 214
1: Strike a Chord That Appeals 214
2: Be Ready to Listen 215
3: Get Everyone Singing from the Same Hymn Sheet 216
4: Ensure That Data Has Been Shared and Silos Have Been Eradicated 216
5: Expose the "Latently Happy" 217
6: Don't Just Talk about Your Products 217
7: Don't Cause a Scene 218
Endnotes 226

PART IV: A PROPOSED NEW DEPARTMENT 229
Chapter 11 The Marketing Department of the Future 231
How Will Companies Deliver on Art? 233
1: The Marketing Department Will Put Customer Experience at the Center of Its Operations 233
2: A Simple Structure to Enhance Agility 236
3: New Skill Sets for a New World 239
4: The Walls between Employees and Customers Come Down 241
Final Conclusions 243
Endnotes 244
Index 245



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