On Feb. 13, Rob Beltman spoke at Topmarketeers Network about the future of marketing and organizational implications. It is clear that changes in the marketing profession are happening faster than light. Consequently, research shows that marketers in a broad sense do not feel ready for the developments coming our way.
Rob asked the marketers present which of the core functions of marketing they currently spend the most time on:
– discovering value: where is the “sweet spot” in the market
– organizing value: organizing resources and competencies in a customer- and market-oriented way
– communicating value: communicating value to customers, stakeholders and society
– proving value: demonstrating sustainable, distinctive added value
The emphasis appeared to differ considerably among those present. Perhaps a fun question to answer yourself?
Rob painted a picture of the evolution of the marketing profession. Marketing is moving from the era of production and distribution, followed by the era of communication and branding, to the era of customer relationship management to the era of social networks. Therefore, an essential part of marketing in the future will be understanding social networks. The marketer will have to become part of the dialogue. The role of marketing becomes developing, managing and activating can the network of partners, (potential) customers and influencers through a combination of owned, paid and earned platforms.
What is clear is that marketing is too important in the future to be left purely to the marketing department. In designing the organization of the future, 5 principles apply:
– agility
– short-cycle orientation
– digital by design
– skills for structure
– director of relevance
Missed the meeting?
Did you miss the meeting and are curious? Rob has published the book The Marketing Organization of the Future.
About the speaker
Rob Beltman is a marketing strategist and expert on customer-centric business. Based on the belief that customer-oriented business requires multidisciplinary cooperation, Rob founded H3ROES in 2014. This is a cooperative association of professionals who together want to make the Netherlands more customer-oriented.
