Technical jargon: What does "marketing automation" actually mean?
Benno Maggi explains marketing and communications terms in his column "Technical jargon".
Marketing experts and agencies in Switzerland are currently being disturbed in their comfort and complacency like Erich Honecker at the fall of the GDR. Gone are the days when it didn't matter so much which half of the marketing budget was lost. People knew that they didn't actually know anything, and marketing simply costs money. You could be more or less convinced of the effect, and were essentially intent on patting each other on the back with awards in the industry anyway.
Wind of Change
30 years after the Scorpions wrote their "anthem of change", it could once again serve as the soundtrack to the digitalization turnaround in the industry. The reason for this is not perestroika, but marketing automation and therefore data-driven marketing. It is currently shaking up organizations, budgets and reporting in marketing departments and bringing new beats to agencies. Campaigns are a thing of the past, award-winning ones anyway. Content is king again and has made CRM the queen. Together, they are supposed to produce measurable efficiency from a pile of data - the midwife is called marketing automation.
But beware, anyone who thinks they can get involved in the new world by simply buying a new tool is wrong. The same goes for anyone who thinks they can finally save on personnel costs in marketing. Because the truth is: in order to master the difficult but rewarding birth, new, different skills need to be recruited or developed. As we all know, new blood usually turns life upside down - and a breath of fresh air can't really do this industry any harm, can it?
*The Author: Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He created the column "Vom Fach" in the NZZ Folio and was in charge of it for years. He presents and decodes words and terms that can be used either for small talk, being important, getting excited, playing Scrabble or simply for fun.
