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created over 3 years ago | Tagged: |
2martens
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Managing a brand has always been a slightly odd concept, given that consumers are the real arbiters of brand meaning, and it's become increasingly outmoded in today's two-way world. That's why a new report is going to recommend changing the name "brand manager" to "brand advocate," and fundamentally changing marketer organizations in response to the onset of the digital age.
The new "brand advocates," as Forrester suggests renaming the role, will be seemingly more powerful and consumer-centric, much nimbler, and more real-time-oriented than the brand manager of today -- and they will be a lot more opportunistic in creating media partnerships, and a lot less loyal to their agencies.
Forrester suggests "brand advocates" be responsible for rapid adaptations of global brand platforms and programs, charging centralized global brand strategists with ensuring what local managers do conforms with the brand equity and strategy. It also advocates ditching the formal annual budgeting process and upfront media-specific allocations in favor of frequently updated, on-the-fly plans that adapt quickly as conditions change and money earmarked upfront for initiatives, not specific media.
marketing executives should think less about anchoring annual plans around one or two big hits and more about doing many smaller things quickly and adapting based on real-time consumer feedback and other data.
The growing complexities of digital marketing, social media, fragmentation and tracking all those things in real-time require bigger marketing departments, he said. Yet the reality is that big marketers generally are trimming marketing staffs or looking to squeeze more productivity from them at what he believes is the worst possible time.
Some of the key points raised in the paper are 1. The advertising agency will transform from one which is industry led, namely by the brands, to one where the individual is brought more into the communication process. 2. The consumers will evolve from those having advertisements pushed to them, to being able to select what information is allowed to reach them. 3. Different types of mobile operators will be formed
