With the rapid growth of digital communications and multiple new marketing channels, corporate marketing and communication functions have become increasingly interconnected. This can be termed the Marketing of Things, whereby everything in this space is or should be 100% connected.
The days of running two disparate traditional marketing and communications departments are very much numbered. Not too long ago, there was a clear divide: one focused on managing a picture through the media, and the other through client and new client promotions. There was overlap, but this was largely at the edges.
Marketing and communications were different skill-sets and while not trying to deride one over the other they still are, but nowadays those differences are rather less marked. We have moved into a world dominated by multiple digital mediums, where omnichannel marketing has narrowed the divide between what is marketing and what is communications.
Yet in the siloed world of many of many companies, marketing and communications are not always natural bedfellows and do not necessarily work hand-in-hand. This only serves to undermine a brand. Why? Because you often fail to maximise the opportunities in front of you and you undersell yourself.
The Marketing of Things is where everything in this space is connected; this is the new digital reality.
Today's target audiences are seeing far more information (and taking in far less). They don’t necessarily have to read anything, instead it is about seeing and understanding brands. Habits have changed – digital readership is through the roof, as are social media stats, while attention span is significantly down, and in-depth readership has been in a long decline. On a website, you win or lose an audience in 0.05 of a second.
You now have the analytics to see what works and what doesn’t. Being data driven changes everything.
There may be 'rocket science' in any algo-driven quantitative breakdown, but what is also clear, and rather simpler to understand, is a newfound desire for short and sharp content, higher frequency, and more memorable ‘brand’ imagery. This should form the basis of any firm's marketing and communications activities. What you say and what you see across any brand must be one and the same.
We live in a far more interconnected world, where marketing and communications should be working hand in glove.
If you do continue to run separate teams, they need to 100% understand one another. Combined as one, this is overcome, for they see and hear as one. A corporate interview or story, similar to any product push, should reflect where the brand is at any point in time and is part of the overall story being developed. This is much more powerful – it is high impact marketing.
The Internet of Things by definition is about everything being connected to the internet. It is the goal of all big technology companies.
The Marketing of Things - clearly a non-apologetic rip off - is a similar mindset, for it links all aspects of a company’s marketing and communications; one cannot and should not operate without the other. What you say on your website, is what you say to your clients, it’s how you advertise, and it’s how you position your firm.
It doesn't matter if you are B2B or B2C, the marketing and communications world has become one. Times have changed - the speed of consumer behavioural change is rarely matched in the corporate infrastructure and thinking. Marketing and communications should be working hand in glove. Change is good. It is important to roll with the times.