A Love/Hate Relationship: Marketers and Technology
In 2008 I was still going to business school and trying to figure out what should I do with the rest of my career. That summer I got an internship with a fitness chain. I was a Jack of all Trades, helping the owners with anything I could and somehow I ended up in marketing. I did surveys, analyzed the results and I tried to figure out a better way to connect with clients, so I suggested lets get a Facebook profile and get all of our friends to join!
Back in 2008 Facebook was a different site, it was mostly about connecting with friends and playing with silly apps. Advertisers did not care. Back in the day brands actually had to create a Facebook user profile and send clients friend requests in order to get fans.
Content plans? Analytics? Social Media ROI? No, we sure didn’t have any of that but we all knew we had to jump on the social media wagon.
Since the dawn of times marketers have been affected by changes in technology. In the beginning all we had was print advertising and when we thought we had the print game all figured out, boom! The radio arrived to change the game.
In the 1960’s David Ogilvy said the future of advertising was on TV and once again marketers had to change their strategy and make television fit into the equation. In the 1990’s we saw rise of the World Wide Web, in the early 2000’s the advent of social media and this decade is “the era of mobile”.
Every time we think we have the game figured out something new comes along and we have to start all over again.
Are we masochists? Why do we keep loving technology?
Because every change brings something new and exciting, offering a new channel and a way to connect with the audience on a deeper level. Sixty years ago people used to buy a coat, today they are buying a brand that resonates with them, their values, their style and their personality. Nowadays marketing is much more than increasing sales of a product or service, it’s about creating a bond with the consumer and we wouldn’t be able to do this without the help of our beloved frenemy — technology.
