The World Federation of Advertisers and The Drum have partnered once again to find the Global Marketer of the Year. To get to know this year’s jurors, we ask them which, if any, new skills marketers must learn to be ready for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
In a marketing industry that’s changing faster than ever, getting to grips with technology should be top of the list for marketers looking to prepare for the future. That’s according to many of the jurors for this year’s WFA Global Marketer of the Year in partnership with The Drum.
“With the continuing acceleration of technological advancements, it is increasingly vital for marketers to be able to distill through overhype to drive innovation and steer the organization toward impactful real-world applications for the long run, says Josephine Tan, vice-president, APAC Digital Hub at Diageo.
Balaji Sampath, senior vice-president, marketing at Infosys, believes technical proficiency should be aligned with more flexible creativity and strategic thinking. “Marketers will need to have digital literacy skills as they need to be comfortable with complex data sets, able to extract insights, and leverage these insights to drive effective marketing campaigns,” he says.
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Adrian Terron, head of corporate brand & marketing strategy at Tata Sons, cites data skills and the ability to combine these with more human insights generated by qualitative, consumer neuroscience and ethnography studies, while understanding AI was also unsurprisingly mentioned by many jurors.
On that topic, Ian Malcolm, President & CEO at Lumency, says: “As AI transforms the marketing function, becoming well-versed in AI tools is critical for career success. Future-fit marketers must blend organic thinking and emotional intelligence with AI capabilities to create business solutions that address challenges more efficiently and effectively.”
Sandra Grieden, director communications strategy at IBM, adds: “AI is everywhere these days. In our professional lives, our personal lives, and of course also our function. Understanding your business, your clients’ needs, and where and how AI will be adding value to both is key. Anticipating and preempting what areas of marketing can be optimized through infusion of AI to gain competitive advantage and innovate. And it may seem futile but the art of prompting will make the difference between good and great when using conversational AI.”
Sherilyn Shackell, Founder & Global CEO of The Marketing Academy, says that while AI, digital and data should be a priority, the key element is leadership. “Being a CMO has never been easy, but to be truly ‘future fit’ it’s essential that they become exceptional at leading people into the future. They are already leading people doing jobs that the CMO knows very little about – this challenge will compound as the world and its citizens continue to change at pace, embracing new ideas, technologies, systems and processes.”
Who should be named Global Marketer of the Year?
Do you know or work with a marketer embodying the qualities our jurors are outling here? You have until September 15 to nominate them at globalmarketeroftheyear.com.
Mikimasa Hamamatsu, division general manager, global marketing at Nissan, also agrees skill enhancement to be more important than the need to find new skills altogether. “I feel that it’s actually not ‘new skills’ that a marketer of the future will require. But rather enhancing our ability to contextualize data, understand the insights and the ability to utilize various resources,” he says
Another ‘new-old’ skill cited by our jurors was empathy. Indeed, Marcus Collins, professor and author at the University of Michigan, argues it’s the most important skill. “The world is not objective; it’s subjective. Therefore, if marketers are to connect with consumers, then they must learn to see the world the way others do. And that will require radical empathy,” he says.
Valeria Abadi, global senior vice-president brand at Globant, says marketers must be able to show adaptability. “In a context of constant change and new technologies, the most important skill is ‘attitude.’ First: humility to accept that we don’t know everything; second: curiosity to learn constantly; third: no fear of failure to try, make mistakes, and adjust. Always in Beta is my motto.”
Though the need to think fast is vital, Traci Alford, global chief exec at Effie Worldwide, stresses that marketers can’t lose sight of the basics. “Effectiveness demands clarity and simplicity, starting with clear objectives and a strong brief: a shared understanding of the context, drivers and insights. Executing with excellence by fostering behaviors like curiosity, collaboration, critical thinking, and customer-centricity. Success hinges on maintaining a sharp focus on delivering tangible results guided by clear metrics, as it is impossible to achieve success without defining it.”
Others jurors including Edmund Gemmell, group marketing director at Kantar and Stephan Loerke, chief executive of the WFA, cite the need to be able to listen to diverse sources and identify non-typical skill sets.
“The most important leadership skill that needs to be developed is the ability to identifying divergent/non-typical skill sets/talent,” says Gemmell. “Across the broader workforce, we all now need an understanding of the intersection between human culture and technology.”
Similarly for Loerke, it’s about genuinely listening and learning from diverse sources. “That can be our teams, colleagues, partners, consumers – but also by being open to a variety of cultures and backgrounds,” he says. “There is still so much scope to improve in terms of ensuring different voices are heard and truly absorbed. Marketers that do this will enable their brands to engage a wider audience and drive growth. If we’re all using the same (AI) tools and we’re only listening to the same voices, then we won’t uncover new ideas and cannot expect to surprise and delight the people we want to convert or retain.”
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