Having been in marketing in various capacities over the past two over decades, I can safely say the function has evolved dramatically especially in the past few years. The change is of course largely attributed to the digital revolution which has closed the distance between brand and customer but with the multitude of channels of communication available also means the marketers job just got a lot more complex and to be effective, you will need to truly grasp integration.

Apart from that, transparency between brand and customer has definitely deepened and brands have huge opportunities today to differentiate if insights are well collected and analysed. These are the current realities, but what holds for the future of marketing? Here is my take:

1) Driver of change

Gone are the days where marketing is just a team that looks into advertising and media buys. Whilst that part of the job remains essential, the role of marketing certainly does not stop there. Today, the customer journey crosses so many departments, in U Mobile our customers journey runs through I.T. department for payment, to network for coverage quality to regulatory division for issues such as mobile parental control, so marketing is no longer just about ensuring good customer service in store or online, the function needs to adopt a more end to end mindset.

Ultimately, marketers are the ones with customers insights and hence are the ones who are able to support the rest of the divisions with the relevant information so that the customer journey will be seamless and consistent. I work very closely with the CTO to ensure networks are being rolled out at locations that matter to our customers. Before the new network is rolled out, I would have already had a conversation with the chief sales officer on sales strategy. Hence, to be an effective support and driver of customer related changes, marketers really need to be knowledgeable of the business and the priorities of the various divisions so that trust will be gained and cooperation achieved.

2) Make innovation central

Today product and service life cycles have shortened dramatically as customers are way more discerning. To build meaningful and impactful relationships with customers, brands really need to be one step ahead to provide for a need before the customer even acknowledges that need. A lot of my time is spent driving innovation, and aligning the innovation with the companys overall strategy and growth objectives. Moving ahead, innovation will need to move a lot faster and with greater frequency.

Competition can catch up really fast and so in order to innovate well, marketers need to mine data intelligently and by always asking the right questions.

3) Be data smart

In all my previous points, I mentioned the essential role of data and how it is the facts that will drive change and innovation. However, I am the first to admit that the sheer amount of data available today makes effective collection, analysis and application challenging. To ensure the data is well used, the marketer of the future will really need to be well versed in data analytics technologies and be clear on how to integrate the various technologies so that there will not be duplication of effort and results are not taken in isolation and solutions applied without context.

Marketers of the future will not only need to be a specialist in their field but they also play a critical role in connecting the dots throughout the organisation so that customers may have a truly satisfying end to end customer experience.

Much has indeed changed in the marketing world and landscape, but some things do remain, whether you are a marketer today or in 2025, you need to be passionate, gung ho, and enjoy being different and always bold. You can make a difference with data, but you can only make history if you tip it over with foresight.

The author of the article is Jasmine Lee, CMO,U Mobile Marketing Redefined

Excerpt from:

The Futurist: Marketing redefined - Marketing Interactive