Marketing, as a discipline, is rapidly changing to keep abreast of the amount of data and new technologies currently driving marketing decisions and operations within the organization. Scott Brinker of Ion Interactive, in a recent report, categorized over 3,500 vendors in the Marketing Technology field, each with some form of specialism. Neil Perkin of Only Dead Fish states ‘Marketing is being driven by technology’ and the biggest challenge is how to organize and optimize these technologies to deliver competitive advantage.

The Rise of the Chief Marketing Technologist

There have been calls for a new type of marketer to come to the fore to handle the number of technologies and lack of knowledge in this area.

Brinker and Laura McLellan (Gartner) in a paper entitled The Rise of the Chief Marketing Technologist for the Harvard Business review suggest that this new type of Marketer should sit between CIO, CMO, vendors and the broader marketing team and be called the Chief Marketing Technologist.

Bridging the Gap Between IT and Marketing

In companies, CIOs generally look after the technological side however CMOs are also often being empowered to choose the technology stack.

In a recent survey by cio.com, 33% of respondent CIOs said marketing had a budget to find technology investments and while CIOs wanted to work more closely with CMOs, only 51% do so. The case therefore for a Chief Marketing Technologist to bridge the gap between CMOs and CIOs seems ever more important.

The role however, may be undersold. Many companies are pinning their future hopes on the Chief Marketing Technologist to create the seeds of change and to capitalize on new digital transformation to maximize marketing technology.

Agile Marketing

For many it is hoped this role will ensure a change in the culture, get senior executive commitment from top-down and instill change from the bottom-up. Their remit will need to bring in new skills and training as necessary to drive more agile marketing.

The Chief Marketing technologist will need to cross-pollinate IT and Marketing to shape a new DNA to make data-informed and more effective decisions. Some companies are already adopting these practices. For example Digital Labs build change of culture and innovation in small tight–knit teams, which can then be exposed to the larger organization. Some hold regular meetings of functional teams from across the company to sow the seeds of change.

For this to happen and be sustainable needs to have the right people, processes and technology in place to enable frequency of execution, quick feedback loops and transparency.

New Types of Technologies

The right solutions also need to be in place whether it be by integration capability or automation of processes to build efficiencies in the marketing operation process.

censhare helps corporate departments break out of their functional silos and enable cross department and agency collaboration. Through the platform, more efficient processes, better project planning and greater integrated marketing operations can allow Marketing Technologists the leading edge to be faster to market with greater ROI.

censhare was a sponsor of the Marketing Technologist Forum on 4th May, 2016 at America Square Conference Centre, London. Ikea Communications' Björn Zitting presented how censhare helped to bring speed and quality to IKEA’s production environment.

If you are a chief marketing technologist and are interested in how censhare bridges the gap between IT and marketing don't hesitate to reach out for a demo by clicking here.