The future of the marketing profession: The Big Two

For newcomers to marketing or for those who are ‘born in the cloud’, understanding consumer psychology is critical. Consumer psychology is how individuals make decisions and engage with brands, products, and services. It deals with psychological processes that influence consumer behaviour, such as perception, motivation, attitudes, and emotions -the core of the marketing theory we learnt ages ago. Understanding consumer psychology helps brands to develop their marketing strategies, product design, and customer experiences aligned to evolving consumers’ needs and desires 

The practice of marketing is centuries old, but the marketing profession is relatively young, essentially evolving in the last century to become a profession. Since then, marketing has played a pivotal role in private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, adding value to stakeholders while attracting a fair share of criticism. Marketing as a profession is undergoing transformation as we speak, driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behaviours and evolving business landscapes.

Lately however, there is a misconception that the marketing of today is all about social media, when in fact it is only a fraction of the marketing scope. As a result of this significant focus on social media marketing, some of the fundamental aspects of the marketing playbook are at risk of being ignored.

As in many industries or sectors, while parts of the playbook evolve and transform, the core or the fundamentals would always remain the same. In marketing, ‘customer centricity’ is a ‘core’ that remains true and valid, while how you serve customers evolve over time.

What would be the core skills for marketing professionals in the future? This can be summarised as ‘People and Technology’ or the Big Two, that every industry is looking at today.

Before we jump into technology (Mar-TechAdTech), the sexier and trendier of the two, let’s look at the harder aspect, people. How many ‘marketers’ today have a deep understanding about their customer or consumer? Or are they busy with tactical aspects, designing social media posts or picking social influencers for their brands?

There is always the tip of the iceberg that is visible (and misleading) while the hidden or the mysterious part is larger (and real). Many successful brands have moved to basics or the roots of ‘customer centricity’ to build their new business models. Understanding consumer psychology remains a core competency for these successful brands to drive innovations and marketing programs. The segmentation, targeting and positioning principles remain valid, while ways of achieving these have evolved with technology.

In an evolving marketing landscape, the marketing profession needs to develop skills both in consumer psychology and use of technology in marketing. In essence, the marketing profession is fast-changing and requires constant upskilling and reskilling, like the hi-tech industry. There is a need for experienced marketers to learn technology in marketing while the newcomers could benefit from consumer psychology, and the brilliant basics of marketing.  

Consumer Psychology 

For newcomers to marketing or for those who are ‘born in the cloud’, understanding consumer psychology is critical. Consumer psychology is how individuals make decisions and engage with brands, products, and services. It deals with psychological processes that influence consumer behaviour, such as perception, motivation, attitudes, and emotions -the core of the marketing theory we learnt ages ago. Understanding consumer psychology helps brands to develop their marketing strategies, product design, and customer experiences aligned to evolving consumers’ needs and desires. It explores the cognitive and emotional factors that drive purchasing decisions, brand loyalty, and satisfaction, offering valuable insights for marketers aiming to create more effective and appealing brands while fostering positive customer connections. Consumer psychology will be an important part in design thinking and marketers need to own this space. 

Technology in Marketing

 For experienced marketers, technology evolution and use in marketing is important. The future of marketing will be characterised by increasing digitalisation, data-driven decision-making, and personalisation. AI and automation would play a central role in optimising customer experiences and automating routine tasks. Marketers need strong data analytics skills to extract insights from big data and create highly targeted campaigns. Ethical considerations and data privacy are equally important. Content and content creation will remain a critical component, with a shift towards interactive and immersive formats. If not already in place, ESG and purpose-driven marketing will gain importance. These are the new themes of marketing that experienced marketers need to acquire and be fluent in the next few years.

Combining both consumer psychology and technology, marketers today can use neuro marketing more effectively. It is a field that uses insights from neuroscience and psychology to understand how consumers respond to marketing. For example, by employing techniques like brain imaging, neuromarketing can measure brain activity and eye movements, to assess consumer reactions to marketing communication, products, and brand experiences. 

These approaches could uncover subconscious motivations that lead to consumer behaviour. Neuromarketing helps marketers to refine their marketing strategies, create more engaging content, and enhance product design by tapping into the neurological and psychological aspects of decision-making through modern technology. 

Overall, the marketing profession requires agility and adaptability to navigate the evolving technological landscape and meet changing consumer expectations. The marketing profession needs to be thorough on consumer psychology and technology that is used in marketing to create higher value for businesses. Those engaged in marketing must make it a point to continuously upskill, reskill, and update their marketing tool kit. Global bodies such as, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK are constantly exploring new formats of delivering marketing skills for both newcomers and experienced marketing practitioners to keep the marketing profession ahead of the curve.

(The writer is a specialist in organisational transformation and change. He helps C-level leaders to embrace change and support transformation at personal, team and organisational levels. Dusty is an INSEAD Alumni with a Master’s in Coaching & Consulting for Change (MCCC) and a doctoral candidate at ESC Clermont Business School, France. He holds an MBA, a Diploma in Marketing (UK) and is a Fellow of CIM (UK).)