War between Marketer and Machine (Or is there one?)

Justin Yeh
Sep 6, 2018 · 4 min read

Even during my graduate school years as a marketer in training, I heard of the dark fate awaiting the industry, one of machine domination. Like a scene straight from The Terminator, foreboding language: automation, programmatic or machine learning — appeared to predict the inevitable replacement of the marketer by the cold and precise machine.

Such “threats” grew only more evident and tangible once I stepped into the front line as an ad-op professional. The inflow of technological innovations and enhancements never paused. Each one positioned itself as a manifestation of some sort of incoming industry revolution, boasting its immense sophistication and efficiency.

The sales pitch is never clearer: “Our trustworthy robot friend will take over our headaches and daily number-crunching. Let the machine do the heavy lifting.”

And it already has, for what is offered to us is truly a work of marvel. It has impressed us so much that we can’t wait to welcome and embrace these new helping hands. Simply put, we have long willingly chosen to embrace the machine as an inseparable part of our daily work.

After all, who are we to question the almighty and complicated algorithm when we witness the unimaginable amount of data collected, aggregated, and digested instantaneously right before our very eyes?

Whether marketing mix, segment targeting, bidding optimization or what not, they deliver the desired results with such confidence and certainty! (Also, their creators are all data scientists with a Ph.D and they must know what they are doing.)

So naturally, job training, client projects and even interviews become primarily technology-driven. Marketers are evaluated less by their understanding of the fundamental marketing disciplines, and more by their familiarity of technical jargons and software usage. Day in and day out we follow the operating steps of our sophisticated machines.

Whether campaign planning, creative building, media buying or analyzing, we all follow a precise protocol, usually centered around a tool or platform, to deliver the expected efficiency and accuracy. A colleague of mine once depicted this ecosystem as a “well-oiled machine”, not knowing the immense irony within this very statement.

Now imagine this: With the help of these tools, everything seems nice and dandy until one day our manager calls us into the office to ask a simple, matter of fact question: “Why should I keep you when your best friend, the robot, performs everything outlined in your job description?”

OOPS.

The fear has become reality, but who is to blame for this tragic outcome? The efficiency-loving bosses? The cold-blooded mechanical back-stabbers? Or maybe, just MAYBE, who we seek is right in the mirror?

Maybe the robot isn’t “stealing” the marketer’s job. Maybe we voluntarily “gave” it to them at the first place.

While I don’t doubt we have gone a long way in terms of the development of fascinating marketing tools or platforms, what truly concerns me as a marketer is how easily we offer, without ANY question asked, our blind faith and reliance in the tools we use.

We never question WHY and HOW when using them. There seems to be this lack of motivation to truly understand both their strength and, more importantly, flaws. Instead, we somehow believe that the machines are ready to think as we do. We think it can plan and execute pretty much the whole campaign for us, and without us. Ironically, the consistency and efficiency of our systematic marketing delivery process make us more machine-like, while allowing the machine to make human-like decisions. The roles are reversed.

Furthermore, this fiasco impacts far more than our daily workflow. We can’t even take solace in the notion that how we use the technology, at the very least, ensures and improves the work quality.

Despite the constant call for “people-based” precise targeting or marketing approaches, the continuous increase of user ad-blockers, combined with consistently mediocre engagement rates, clearly indicates how disappointing of a job we have done within the digital landscape. Yet the discussion to address such issues is often ONLY about subjects of KPI selection, benchmark determination or digital platform efficiency, not one far more fundamental question: What does our audience want? As the result, I have once received two emails back to back, one of enraged client bellowing about a poorly-received product launch, and the other of 3rd party partner showcasing its “outstanding” digital performance for the very same launch.

In sum, it is not the advancement of technology that will doom our career, but our mentality and attitude when embracing such technology. It is our tendency to maintain the status quo that is the true danger. Just like marketing is a human-driven discipline, so is what threatens it.

It’s still not too late to avoid this future, however. I believe change starts with the following questions:

1) Do you question the machine or platform’s output? Do you constantly ponder if the output “makes sense” to you?
2) Does your instinct still hold relevance in your day to day work?
3) Is your work all about certain DSP, DMP or other platforms, maybe along with some three-letter KPI abbreviation?
4) Do you, with all honesty, still care how your consumers feel and think about what you do? Is there still any passion behind your work?
5) Do you add anything original to your work or do you solely rely on the machine’s output to define the deliverable?

If you answer “No” to any of these questions, then it would be a perfect time to reflect on your relationship with marketing machines. After all, would you expect our reliable and obedient machine friend to say “no” when your manager offers it your job?

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