Marketing's role is to re-humanise business

David Blyth, Yellowwood Future Architects. "Most CEO's believe that marketers lack business credibility. Moreover, they feel marketers are not the business growth generators they should be, and are not focused enough on effectiveness."

This was the key finding of a recent survey conducted by global consultancy, the Fournaise Marketing Group. The survey interviewed over 600 decision-makers in large corporations and small-to-medium sized businesses across Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States. The same sentiment is echoed by marketers in reports done by McKinsey and IBM, which asked chief marketing officers (CMO's) about the role of marketing today and how it needs to change.

Is this a little depressing? Perhaps - but we've applied our minds to understanding the reality of our times and have found inspiration from brands at the forefront of change. We've also uncovered some critical insights that we believe will help marketers to be relevant tomorrow.

We started with the consumer and looked at how our needs as human beings have changed over time. What we found is a fundamental truth that people are social beings. They desire connection and the ability to interact with others in a meaningful way. This is not new. However, what has changed dramatically is the scale and nature of social connectedness. This has shaped and fuelled our sense of self-determination, expectations of choice and sense of control over our own lives.

There is no greater evidence of this shift than in the changing dynamics of romantic relationships. In the early 1900's, courtship was formal and prescriptive. Choices of life partners were very limited. Think of Jane Austen's 'Sense and Sensibility.' Then a time of 'Romeo & Juliet' thinking emerged, where the idea of romanticism, love and compatibility was introduced - although still governed by family protocols. In the 1920's, dating became a trend - where boys would ask girls out to the theatre and dance halls. The idea was not necessarily courtship, but to have fun. Then with the sexual revolution of the 1960's and 1970's came a radical change in social norms. The contraceptive pill became available, which gave women control over their biology and a sense of control over their lives. In 2012, romantic relationships are defined by casual sex and living together, i.e. trying it out before committing, and the sense that if things don't feel right, don't commit - unless you really want to be there.

It is this same sense of self-determination that is reflected in consumer behaviour today. It is not that consumers simply have more choice. It is that they demand more choice, more interaction and more power over their buying decision. They also know that they have the option to change at any given time. Brand loyalty can no longer be taken for granted any more than a marriage-for-life.

Yet marketers are surprised when they don't achieve the same level of interest and loyalty from consumers today, even though they 'court' consumers using practices that are many years old. Think about it: direct mailers are sent out like the calling cards of decades ago, politely asking for dates. There is the expectation that one way communication and once-off interactions should turn into committed buying relationships.

Many marketers still think of consumer relationships as linear, rational and conscious. In fact, they are multi-faceted, integrated, emotional and unconscious. Businesses continue to behave like they are in absolute control of a relationship and have not fully accepted that the consumer is empowered, in control and actively shaping and sharing any interaction with us. Therefore, there is the reality of defaulting to generating communication that 'loudly and proudly' focuses on what brands want to say rather than identifying how the consumer wants to interact with the brand.

We have found that brands that are getting it right today are focused on what they do and how they do it - rather than on what they say. These are brands that understand the challenges of the current social context and what it takes to form and sustain relationships. They embrace technology as a powerful enabler. The behaviours underlying their success include:

Powerful brand traits like these can only be born of marketing departments that are themselves socially connected and engaged with consumers, other business functions and partners. Marketing departments that are empowered with knowledge and confident as a result of their social context. Marketers who have:

It is critical in today's era of information, choice and consumer empowerment that marketers connect the business with its consumers. Businesses that become truly engaged with consumers will value marketing for directing brand relationships that result in business growth and are sustained over time.