How digital transformation is changing marketing

Dr. Tim Dührkoop, COO and Partner of Namics AG.Mr. Dührkoop, the digital agency Namics has been accompanying companies into the digital age for 20 years now. You have been with Namics practically from the beginning. As an e-business expert, how do you experience digital development?TIM DÜHRKOOP When we started Namics during the dotcom boom, consumers were hardly shopping online. Today, e-business is a market with high growth rates. As a result, marketing in particular has undergone far more profound changes in the last two years than in the 50 years before. New technologies have changed customer relationships and fundamentally influenced business models. This digital transformation is profoundly changing our society and the economy. For almost 20 years, I have been privileged to actively participate in this transformation with our clients and partners at Namics. At the Smart Business Day, together with experts from the academy and proven professionals from the business world, we will shed light on this change and discuss the impact on our customers' business.In your eyes, what are the biggest changes that digital transformation has brought about, especially for marketers?DÜHRKOOP Companies today are confronted with a completely new customer: an empowered, informed consumer who is more willing to switch providers. E-commerce has played a major role in ensuring that consumers can now choose from a much wider range of providers and find more information about products and services. This has led to an equal relationship between consumer and company. As a result, marketing today has to retain customers in a very different way than it did 20 years ago. Whereas in the past, advertising was produced for the masses on a maximum of four channels, today it is necessary to address customers individually and personally at eye level via a large number of channels.How can marketers address customers individually? Surely the effort involved is considerable?DÜHRKOOP Suppliers must meet customers' needs, help them understand the products, and make the brand tangible. The good news is that the tools to do this are now available. Today, we are able to track the customer journey - the customer's path to purchase - very precisely online. Today, specific business decisions can be derived from the analysis of customer behavior and other so-called big data. To do this, companies must also restructure themselves internally, use new technologies and gain agility. Namics has been accompanying companies for many years in these digital transformation projects, which require a deep understanding of the opportunities from management and the development of know-how in marketing. As a full-service agency, Namics can advise and support companies in all aspects - from the development of contemporary business models to the implementation of the necessary technologies.Does this mean that companies simply have to upgrade technologically in order to gain an edge over the competition? Is it coming to an arms race?DÜHRKOOP Technology is only one element, which by itself does nothing. It needs a corporate culture that adapts to the new situation. In this respect, too, Namics has been able to build up extensive expertise over the years. We help companies not only to embed technology, but also in their strategic direction. The digital transformation has led to an enormous acceleration: New communication channels are emerging, new vendors are entering the market, and new technologies are becoming available. To keep up with this speed, companies must also be very agile internally.Will marketing be only numbers-driven in the future? Will there no longer be a need for creative marketers?DÜHRKOOP Marketing today operates in a complex environment that is also characterized by a high degree of dynamism. Fortunately, the tools are now available to reduce this complexity, automate processes and make the multitude of channels manageable. The collection and analysis of data helps marketers to measure the success of marketing measures, to address customers individually, and to monitor and actively shape interaction with consumers across all channels. Despite all this, even though technology is playing an increasingly important role in marketing, people remain the critical success factor. Extracting information from data is the first step. But only with passion, creativity and experience can it become knowledge.Nevertheless, marketers need to understand more and more about IT in order to keep up with current developments.DÜHRKOOP With the increasing relevance of online channels, the demands on marketers have also changed significantly. In this respect, it is certainly true that marketers today need to understand more about technology. On the other hand, this also means that companies need their marketing and IT departments to work together more intensively. This poses challenges, especially in large companies, because marketing and IT are two areas that could hardly be more different in terms of culture and mentality. Here, it can be advantageous to work with a consulting firm that understands the needs of both IT and marketing and can act as an intermediary between the two worlds.Where will digital transformation take us in the next five years and how can companies prepare for the future?DÜHRKOOP Today, it is almost impossible to predict what the market will look like in five years. The only thing that is certain is that it will be constantly changing. For companies, this means that they will have to become more flexible and adapt more quickly to changing market conditions. The more short-lived the trends, the faster we have to react - and show a certain willingness to take risks. It is therefore necessary to create a culture that allows employees to take new paths and even take a risk sometimes. This also requires acceptance that something new may not work right away.On October 27, 2014, Namics will host the Smart Business Day on the topic of digital transformation for the 5th time in a row. What can your guests expect?DÜHRKOOP Namics goes to market with the promise that we will make our customers measurably more successful. But it's not enough to simply update a website or quickly set up a web store. Digital transformation extends deep into the processes and business models of companies. With its many years of expertise, Namics can help companies to actively shape this change. At the Smart Business Day, we have the opportunity to shed light on the bigger picture using concrete examples. Together with experts from science and practice, we will present best practices and discuss the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation for companies from a wide range of industries.Why should you participate in the event?DÜHRKOOP The Smart Business Day offers a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with experts and business representatives from different fields and industries. In addition to Karl-Heinz Land, author and consultant as well as Technology Pioneer chosen by WEF and TIME Magazine, and Prof. Dr. Reinhard Jung, Professor at the School of Management of the HSG, Mark Seall, Group Vice President and Head of Digital Communication at ABB, Marc Isler, Director E-Business at Hotelplan Management AG, Hans-Peter Legler, CEO at cablex AG, Carlos Friedrich, CMO at Möbel Pfister and Markus Mahler, CEO of Brack Electronics AG will also give exciting presentations. In the subsequent panel discussion, we will once again have the opportunity to discuss the most important "lessons learned" together, and there will be numerous opportunities for personal exchange during the event at the GDI.