Its very heartening to see so many blogs being written about how Marketing is evolving and changing. And Digital has had a tectonic impact on the way this portfolio is evolving. But one critical aspect that I often don't read too much about is the team itself. Now I have a funny crazy team that keeps me in high spirits, but let me share some of my thoughts around how teams will evolve for the future.
Fungible teams
If I take a look at marketing structures randomly, chances are we are still in silos. PR team, Event teams , Analyst teams etc. Digital is now the new mantra with an army of new age digital experts thrown in. If I had to turn this around I would stop making these silos and instead encourage the teams to possess all round skills. Every team member while still responsible for their function, should be encouraged to participate in strategy, digital initiatives and be able to start interspersing some of the leanings constantly into their functions. Can PR exist without Social? Can Branding be only external? Can Events be executed only on an offline mode? The answer is NO. Since functions will cease to exist in silos, start by enabling teams to have a cross functional view of Marketing so that their own landscape is enhanced.
Redrafting Structural Definitions
Sorry I was too lazy to draw out the structure for you! I believe there will be 3-4 key areas that will require leaders in any Marketing team. The CMO should be the Strategic thinker/leader who is the engine of the whole department. Creative Leadership that will straddle areas of content and Branding, Digital Leadership to help draft the technology roadmap and enhance digital , Execution Leadership and Relational Leadership that will focus on all aspects of understanding Customer Insights to drive that back into Strategy and other areas. These will form the crux of the Leadership Quadrant. Marketers who aspire for larger roles now have a plethora of choices that they can pursue to enhance their Marketing aspirations.
Up-skilling for the Future
Every time I am in doubt, I go back to this brilliant Harvard Study that shows a grid around capabilities we may want to enhance based on our current skills. It is an eye opener on how to continue to stay relevant.
I may have oversimplified this entire Marketing for the future bit, but it is time we started looking at how teams of the future should look like, what should they focus on and more importantly how we help each other get there!
How are you enabling your teams for the future?
- Purnima Menon
EVP & Chief Marketing Officer.
