Business First May-June 2017 Business First May 2017 | Page 56

Our Marketing Future
In his last article as CIM Ireland Chair Nick Read reflects on future challenges and opportunities facing marketers.
thing, or simply that it is easier to be found
out if we don’t behave as we should the
survey does not reveal, but 87 per cent of
marketers stated that there was pressure on
brands to become more of a role model in
society.
This has been highlighted in recent cases of
The Guardian and Channel 4 pulling
advertising from Google and YouTube as they
were not content with their brands being
associated with “offensive material”.
With such ethical issues at the forefront of
marketers’ concerns there needs to be a
connect between those in the organisation
who are in touch with the concerns of
customers and those making decisions on
other organisational issues such as finance
and production – organisational functions
cannot operate in isolation from each other.
Data issues
recent Chartered Institute of Marketing
(CIM) survey which questioned UK
marketers about some of the challenges
and opportunities that face them gives us
food for thought.
We are well aware that organisations are
operating in an increasingly complex
environment with large economic changes
brought on by the likes of Brexit; the
challenge of ever more informed and
demanding customers; and with technology
offering us a glimpse of what may be possible.
Organisations have to navigate a course
through this turbulence and marketers, who
have traditionally been those who should be
closest to the customer, should have an
important role to play in how organisations
shape and future proof themselves.
Let’s start with establishing that in
Northern Ireland we have many
organisations which may not have a defined
marketing function, but do carry out
marketing activity whether it falls under the
responsibility of some or many – and whether
they know they are marketing or not.
A
So what are the challenges that are
exercising us as marketers?
Not surprisingly Brexit features high on the
anxiety list, with 55 per cent of marketers
stating this as their top worry.
Ethical issues
Other challenges faced by brands are the
increased pressure to act ethically, whether
this is from a sense of duty, doing the right
54 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
An issue that every organisation will face
over the coming months is the imposition of
the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR) in 2018.
Fifty per cent of marketers indicated that
they don’t understand the implications of this
and only 11 per cent have put some form
system in place to deal with it.
For those who may not have come across
GDPR yet you need to familiarise yourself
with it.
The regulation requires businesses to
demonstrate that consent has been freely
given for by individuals for all marketing
purposes an individual’s data has been put to,
in other words customers may have to opt in
rather than opting out.
With the growth in personalised marketing,
CRM systems and targeting of individuals we
are all going to have to revisit our policies,
procedures and practice on how we capture
and manage individual’s data.
Other areas of the research highlighted the
challenges of digital and the ever changing
social platforms and technology and that
marketers have to master.
How do we navigate our way
through all this?
Keeping our knowledge and skills up to
date is an obvious solution, but also key is
maintaining a focus on the customer; and
ensuring that this understanding of the
customer is broadcast and understood
throughout the organisation so decisions are
made with the customer at the centre.
Forty seven per cent of marketers indicated
that they thought that marketing played a key
role in strategic decision making in their
organisation, organisations would be well
advised to seek counsel from their marketers
­ the customer is too important to ignore.
A summary of the CIM report can be found
at cimcomms.uberflip.com/i/798147­the­
challenges­opportunities­marketers­final
Diary Dates :
Great Content on a shoestring
budget
15 June 2017. Supported by
Entrepreneurial Spark Belfast
Morning event ­ 10­12:30 Lombard
House, Belfast.
Book here :
regions.cim.co.uk/Ireland/home/
Learn how create quality content to share
online and through social media at no cost
other than your time.
You will learn how to film a short interview,
how to set up a good shot, how to be creative
with your video content, and how to edit and
select video clips for use on social media.
We'll also go through the Government
Communication Service top tips for creating
other kinds of visual content for social ­ and
how to make the most of your imagery.
The session will involve hands­on tuition so
make sure you bring your Smart phones,
ipads, laptops – or whatever you use (or
could use) to develop digital content.
QUOTABLEQUOTE
An issue that every organisation will
face over the coming months is the
imposition of the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) in
2018.
Fifty per cent of marketers indicated
that they don’t understand the
implications of this and only 11 per
cent have put some form system in
place to deal with it.