'Digital marketing' to become just 'marketing' in 2013

Readers' comments (48)

• Jeremy Heilpern | Thu, 17 Jan 2013 3:40 pm

  It's easy to say "digital marketing is just marketing", but harder to determine how best you give a specialized medium the treatment within an organization that it needs to be successful. Because at the end of the day, you're fighting with pure play digital organizations for the same talent (like Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc). If you don't use proper titles, do you end up downplaying your ability to execute against that discipline? For example, calling a UX Designer an Art Director. Each comes with preconceived expectations of what the role does.
  
  Pushing the idea further: is marketing just marketing because digital marketing should be synonymous with what traditional marketing was? Or has digital marketing become the norm, and subsequently has become simply "marketing" with the traditional pieces now being the anomaly?
  
  I think the big take away is this: digital people need to understand marketing, messaging, and concepting. And those with the more traditional creative/marketing experience need to understand digital. It stops being seen as to separate disciplines, when people start having both of them integrated in the way they think.
  
  A good example would be: you don't have an Digital Creative Director, you have a Creative Director with digital experience.

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• Anonymous | Thu, 17 Jan 2013 4:08 pm

  @Alan Kittle
  
  "Inspire audiences, don’t pigeon hole them."
  
  It's exactly those kind of comments (even when punctuated properly) that are unhelpful to our industry.
  
  It's not about inspiring people; it's about making money.
  
  Have you ever had a return on investment on anything you've "inspired people" with in your life? I doubt it.

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• Nikhil Narayan | Fri, 18 Jan 2013 3:11 pm

  At UnifiedM we believe digital is at the core of all marketing. Budgets are being spent on brand visibility but equally to get consumers onto websites and social media platforms.
  
  We think marketing strategy should be spread commonly across all forms of marketing but inherently think digital. Real world marketing needs to be oriented to direct into digital.
  
  As real-world marketing becomes more digital driven, campaigns will have ideas that drive commonly and synergically across all channels. Digital then does become just a channel among several but the thinking places digital at the centre of strategy and creative.
  
  While in the past we have conceptualised campaigns for the real-world and adapted for digital, it will be inverted going forward. All campaigns will base their thinking for the digital medium and extend these into real-world campaigns (print, television, outdoor, etc) so that they become digital centric.
  
  I am only surprised by the speed with which Forrester thinks this will happen. It means that marketing and brand managers are adapting and transforming their marketing faster than we would have imagined.

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• James Trezona, MD, Mason Zimbler | Mon, 21 Jan 2013 1:18 pm

  We are already seeing innovative and leading brands such as P&G and Microsoft reorganise themselves to have Digital as a horizontal capability across their marketing teams. They are working hard to make sure it permeates everything, as offline activity can be strengthened and made more effective with digital integration.
  
  At Mason Zimbler, we integrated our online and offline teams 5 years ago. We realised that our clients’ customers did not see the world through the lens of channels, and for us to provide REAL insight and strategic direction, we had to understand consumers’ relationships with brands and the rich stories that exist, which digital enables us to enhance. This is impossible in falsely segregated and heterogeneous channel-centric marketing models.

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• Siodhna McGowan | Mon, 21 Jan 2013 4:25 pm

  I think the informed comments on this piece make it all the more interesting. I predict the digital revolution to continue to disrupt, morph and adapt over the coming years. The ensuing fuss, I suspect, will not subside for years yet. However unhelpful, the distinction between online and offline options will probably continue over the coming years.
  Digital marketing descriptions are too broad covering Paid, Search, SEO, Email, Content, Viral, Blog etc but so was Traditional Marketing covering formats like TV, radio, outdoor, PR, press, guerrilla, direct – can all do quite different jobs.
  My background is FMCG marketing and I’d easily say traditional marketing had wallowed overly much in its glory days and at times lost its creative, storytelling way. Marketing should be all about bring a business story or brand to life for its audience. It strips away the facts and features and connects emotionally with its target.
  The big positive of the digital revolution – giving every small business a voice - has been its one big negative too whereby SMEs focus on the free voice and not on what should be said.
  Unchallenged traditional methods of marketing had sometimes ended up a numbers game that the larger businesses won. Digital, mobile, social media and content marketing has changed all that and for a time they will remain in different spaces in SME mindsets.
  But I wholeheartedly agree with the comments that it's the strategy that needs focus. The smoke and mirrors and mystifying new wizardry should settle more so that all that's left are the basic questions of who, what, when, were, why.
  Dgital needs to work across all the elements to make the end result more effective, efficient.
  Digital can’t change bad planning. Nor make the marketing plan.
  What's your elevator pitch? What problem does your business solve? Who are you aimed at? How are you really different from those who say they do what you do? How can you connect more meaningfully with your audience? How can you sell without being perceived as selling?
  Marketing is everything you can do to understand your market, and using that knowledge to tell your story better to your customers … in a language they understand and a place they can find.
  Online or offline needs less distinction, and ‘what’s your story’ more.

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• Anonymous | Wed, 23 Jan 2013 1:49 pm

  I have worked in digital marketing for the past 19 years todate , as a senior digital marketer specialist and as a senior IT project contractor.I have both combined skillsets and experience.
  
  I have worked across 80 UK and Global brands, to fully understand the essence of this debate..
  
  Although, I have traditional off-line marketing skillsets and expertise.I also studied Information Technology combined with Marketing many years ago.
  
  With the above combined skillsets..I went on to specialise in DIGITAL MARKETING.
  
  As contractor with 19 experience, I only take on digital marketing projects only.
  
  Why ?
  
  Businesses today, need a specialist digital marketer with both skillsets, a candidate who speaks both languages,( i.e. marketing and digital technology = digital marketing) who have proven track record to support their business moving forward.
  
  Digital marketer specialist drive the UK and Global economy right now and in the current triple - dip global recession.
  
  We are all slowly watching the DEATH OF THE HIGH STREET RETAIL STORES disappear, this proves my point.
  
  As consumers prefer to shop more online with access to mutl channels web mobile social media etc all digital driven platforms.
  
  With weak brands/businesses set up prior to the DIGITAL AGE, who refused or failed to embrace DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY fully now going bankrupt on the high street.
  
  Whilst stronger brands/businesses are booming and expanding using cutting-edge digital technology and savvy digital marketing strategies and, techniques to gain market share.
  
  2011 todate proves my point ,as consumer buying habits are ever changing and constantly evolving with advancement in new digital technology i.e..yesterday's mobile phone is today;s smartphone turned into digital tablets, your ipad, kindle, samsung galaxy all the current consumer rave now but not for long ? and so on etc..
  
  Businesses can no longer ignore or depende on " bricks and water" business model and traditional marketing to expect to be profitable, The old traditional marketing rules no longer applies in today's digital age market..
  
  Digital marketing needs to retain its true IDENTITY and DEFINITION to remind businesses that to survive in today's global market, they need to invest in digital marketing and digital technolog in an agressive market condition.
  
  THIS IS WHY I AM HIRED AS A " TECHNICAL DIGITAL MARKETiNG SPECIALIST TO HELP BUSINESSES
  BECOME MORE PROFITABLE ONLINE,
  
  Some traditional marketers shy away from digital marketing because they are technology shy i.e. they dont like computers, they lack confidence and due to lack of qualification .training, skillsets and experience.i.e. they may have needed worked in digital marketing.
  
  Others like me i.e. techncial digital marketing specialist are PASSIONATE ABOUT ALL THINGS DIGITAL..
  
  Therefore, there has to be a distinction made between "traditional marketing" and "digital market" for clarity.
  
  If a business is sending out direct mailshots through the post that is "traditional marketing"
  and
  if a business is sending out an email campaign via web social media mobile that is "digital marketing" is my point here.
  
  Its the way ROI and KPI analysis are traced and measured ? the question for most business today is ; which type of marketing discipline is making us the most money to secure the business future ?
  
  Finally, to combine the above 2 examples under the use of a generic term "marketing" is totally unacceptable and unprofessional.
  
  Its all about clarity for businesses to invest in which channel or multichannels that is profitable for their business - this is the key factor for this debate: its either marketing or digital marketing but not "generic marketing".

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• Ahmed Ansari | Wed, 23 Jan 2013 4:16 pm

  Mixed comments and all debatable. My definition of Digital Marketing is any form of marketing that can be implemented and monitored digitally. While some of us are separating TV, Print, Outdoor etc from digital but one must realise that all of these channels can and do function digitally and can be measured.
  Secondly, as Jonathan Bass has indicated, the opportunities. Marketers must remember that now, with just one click, their brand can go global, which means new markets and opportunities.
  Until late 80's and early 90's most advertising agencies were functioning as 'full service' agencies. After that era new agencies, specialising in specific areas started to emerge e.g. media buying, planning etc. Similarly in marketing the trends will need to change and instead of a CMO trying to do everything we should start employing specialists to head specific areas.

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• Gray Sycamore | Wed, 23 Jan 2013 6:18 pm

  The massive increase in mobile device usage has made much of what we know about "digital marketing" redundant in a fairly short space of time. Mobile is neither on or offline, so will blur these no longer relevant, channel specific terminologies even further. The tipping point will be when brands realise that more than %50 of their web traffic comes from mobile and tablets, traffic that will by then relate to both on and offline consumer behaviour. On the current trajectory that tipping point is only months away. So yes, all digital marketing will effectively become just “marketing” by default. It won’t mean everyone will be any good at it though.

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