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Marketers in the “Marketing 5.0” era

Written by Clare Wong on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Convergence of Marketing 5.0 and T-Shaped Marketing

Here we are, on the precipice of a post-covid world, yet another one is brewing…(It’s not the emergence of Omicron if you are reading this in early 2022).

Ever-present Marketing 5.0

You might have heard of Industry 4.0, but I recently came to know of Marketing 5.0 by Philip Kotler – which essentially is the backbone of Industry 4.0. Marketing 2.0 to 4.0 was “Mad Men meets The Social Network with a sprinkle of Suits”, but Marketing 5.0 is “Black Mirror meets Love, Death and Robots” (but there are the good bits, like iOS 14 with their privacy move). Since 2019, Covid got us embracing a kaleidoscope of Digitization, Digitalization, and Digital Transformation. Industry 4.0 effects of Automation, Next Tech and Accelerated Digitalisation, in tandem, Marketing 5.0’s Hyper-Personalisation, Responsible Innovation and Smart-Connectivity. This inevitably caused considerable transformations within societies and market disruptions. Naturally, marketers had to react to this change.

Industry 4.0’s impact on many facets of human lives and societies (Image Source: The Marketing Journal)

Convergence of New Customer Experience and “Next Tech” (Image Source: The Marketing Journal)

Customer Empathy first, Technology second

So, how do marketers fit into this ‘next tech’ vision?

As the book’s name suggests “Technology for humanity”, humans are central to successful applications and marketers are still at the core of Marketing 5.0.

It is not about replacing the human with computer intelligence but rather finding ways in which “machines and people might fit and deliver the most value across the customer journey.” 

Mercè C. (Co-founder, Lead Consultant & Chartered Marketer)

In today’s connected and on-demand economy, relevance is the most important currency. This harkens back to the drivers of marketing evolutions, which are marketing technology and consumer needs. To stay relevant, marketers must adopt a customer-centric approach.

The 5 components of Marketing 5.0 (Image Source: Think Beyond)

Next Technologies’ main purpose is to amplify the capabilities of marketers to create and deliver value. With the rapidly-changing consumer behaviours due to the pandemic, marketers can create solutions that are more relevant than those created by the current-state AI.

Kolter touches on how Technology is adding value to marketing through the above five components with society and sustainability in mind.

Stepping into Marketing 5.0, T-shaped marketers would see the expansion and deepening of various domains (e.g. Behavioural Psychology, Digital Analytics, AR/VR, Service & UX Design).

Am I ready for Marketing 5.0?

The biggest challenge marketers face is the journey from strategy to execution!
Let alone being ready for Marketing 5.0.

In my career journey, I am neither on track with Jack Ma’s career advice nor ready to take on the entrepreneurship path. ​​I believe there is no rush to setting deadlines to attain your career goals (something that Jack Ma begs to differ).

My current goal is to advance from being a T-Shaped to a V-Shaped Marketer by broadening my business acumen, technical know-how while strengthening interpersonal skills. Individuals are rarely capable of achieving a true, deep “V” shape in their skill sets, but a collective unit can. I am blessed to have the opportunity to learn alongside similarly-minded, differentiated knowledge-experts within Google.

If you are just starting your digital marketing journey or at the cusp of a career-pivot, don’t fret – here are some readings that will help you get up to speed with the MarTech Universe (not the Marvel Universe!) and pivot to becoming a T-shaped marketer.

Good Reads and Frameworks:  Marketing 5.0’s Marketer

Have an Awesome 2022, Everyone!

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