Adrian Watkins

While we might be eager to put 2020 behind us and start 2021 afresh, the industry should expect another year of reduced media expenditures, scanty teams, lean tech and agency partner networks…

…as well as the continued vacancy of business in the travel and hospitality sectors, Forrester’s recent CMO predictions said.

Marketers who are content to run promotions, sales support or media buying teams, which Forrester labels as “outdated CMOS”, would not be able to hide their “lightweight contributions” behind the strong returns of a good economy.

As predicted last year, Forrester said tough times will bring on the reckoning that CMOs would either step up to spearhead customer obsession or hand over this role to a chief customer or experience officer.

On the other hand, shrewd CMOs who take on this challenge to regrow their companies recognise that they must solve the current challenges in their firms. According to Forrester, such CMOs understand that nothing about this year will blow over or wait for someone else to own.

They must retrench the foundations of their marketing functions instead of continually repairing fundamentally broken systems.

Additionally, Forrester said that an overhaul needs to occur now because legacy structures cannot meet new customer needs or market dynamics that have drastically changed overnight. As the industry gears up for the next year, here are some predictions Forrester has for CMOs.

Do the dirty work

The days of the good economy disguising lazy marketing leadership behind growing sales or a strong agency are gone, Forrester said.

In 2021, superintending CMOs are out; ones who get things done stick around.

Reason being, issues that brands are expected to face next year, such as developing contactless sales channels, reliable supply chains, or facilities that accommodate health protocols and are on brand, as too high stakes to delegate. Additionally, in uncertain times, employees need to feel heard and informed. Quoting Harvard Business Review, Forrester said leaders are recommended to “engage for impact” through frequent, face-to-face (virtual) interactions. Hence, CMOs must take on the daily grind.

Incorporate marketing and customer experience

It has always been a bad idea to segregate acquisition from everything that occurs after a customer makes a purchase – product utilisation, customer service, retention and advocacy. The pandemic has made this disconnect “perilous”, Forrester said, adding that disjointed experiences “cost millions and lose customers”.

Growth comes from continued use of your product. CMOs must acquire only customers they can keep.

Media money is already shifting into retention methods such as email, customer service, and producing products that are able to spur growth. Also, some companies have created a chief experience and marketing officer to consistently engage customers wherever they are in their lifecycle with the brand.

Hack their business models

In recent years, there has been a trend of upending established market systems to deliver customer value at higher margins. According to Forrester, businesses today would not last without supplementing delivery and revenue models to accommodate customers’ changed priorities. Expedia diversified into ad sales to support its core business, while Accor Hotels launched a hotel office concept to drive day bookings from homeworkers.

Innovating products, placement, and pricing has always been intended territory for marketing. Prioritise these over promotions in 2021.

Foster diversity

Employees are the best demonstrations of the brand and good CMOs will nurture diverse teams that represent their values. Widen & Kennedy, for example, makes known its gender and race data to be accountable for building a “place where people [can] live up to their full potential”.

Multifariousness breeds creativity. And in a sea of digital sameness, creative drives returns. CMOs must craft belonging into their team culture.

Forrester stressed that marketers would not want good intentions stoking existing marketing stereotypes. Unfortunately, as marketing expert Samuel Scott describes: “The ‘small stuff’ is increasingly how marketing is viewed. Smart people build products and create financial models, dumb people make ads.”

Meanwhile, to get a feel of what marketers are on the lookout for in 2021, Marketing reached out to industry players in Southeast Asia to get a low down on the trends that will arise or die down in 2021 and the type of skills they seek when hiring.

With unemployment tripling from 3% in 2019, to 9% today, value focused marketing will certainly be on the rise in 2021 as the country and the world braces for a recession. Price points, good value, and deals will become top priority for many brands because customers will simply have less to spend and more cautious when spending.

As customers start to get used to the new normal, marketing centered around health and safety will slowly start to taper off. Health and safety will become a green fee for brands, be it retail, F&B or any other type of business. Customers will expect it, and therefore the marketing behind it won’t need to be so aggressive.

If you haven’t already, immediately start engaging your consumers to really understand what they’re going through and how they are feeling about 2021. Get a clear understanding of what they are going through, what their top priorities are, and how they will behave in 2021. From there, develop marketing plans to address those needs. Because only by addressing those needs can companies truly keep their customers.

The biggest skill to have in 2021 will be nimbleness, both from a company standpoint and as an employee. Being nimble to the change and disruption that will continue to happen, and agile enough to change plans on the fly – Nikhil Rao, marketing director – biscuits, Southeast Asia, Mondelēz

We are seeing even faster growths in short-form video on all digital platforms. Driven by consumers wanting a distraction and wanting to binge watch content quickly. We have begun responding by strengthening our storytelling ability in five seconds, for example, the Chipsmore #2fast2sing five-second birthday song. Also, with people picking up new hobbies like baking, art and gardening, brands that have created immersive experiences in these spaces can get closer to consumers. Consumers are also much more aware of their fitness and mortality. They are increasingly looking for healthier brands and avoiding brands with ingredients of concern.

That said, consumers have become clearer in their expectations from companies on sustainability and environmental consciousness. ‘Green-washing’ and superficial claims by companies on eco-friendliness will be looked down upon. Brands will have to walk the talk and be transparent on their sustainability practices.

When preparing for 2021, it is important to begin with an understanding of consumers post-COVID, especially how have her priorities, lifestyles and preferences changed.

Marketers should also revisit the purpose of the brand and check if it is still relevant or does it seem tone-deaf or out of sync with the new sensitivities. Thereafter, tweak the brand plans and media mix.

Functionally, the top three skills needed in marketing are digital consumer intelligence, eCommerce and the latest digital marketing skills such as TikTok, Instagram and WhatsApp. That said, every market has been impacted differently based on the severity of infections, the number of cases, the extent of lockdown, the financial and macroeconomic implications. It is important to have talent that understand local nuances and their implications. Furthermore, with things changing constantly, the importance of moving fast has never been greater. We are looking for people are comfortable doing great work while moving fast.

For tech-savvy youths, the digital transition began long before the pandemic, but COVID-19 hastened the adoption of online transactions for more mature customers. What this means for the future is greater integration of martech solutions in marketing planning and campaigning. Brands will have to double down on ensuring the online customer experience is intuitive, easy to understand, and fast to fulfil.

As opposed to seeing trends fade, we will likely see a shift in priorities with businesses pivoting their focus towards driving online engagement and enhancing the customer experience.

From building smart mobile apps that use AI to predict customer needs to harnessing data analytics to develop more customer-centric solutions, the term “online” extends to so much more than just the internet or a website nowadays.

Digital transformation should be a priority for all CMOs moving forward. It’s time to start viewing tech as an enabler, not a replacement to human touch. With social distancing likely to remain the new norm, AIA Singapore is ramping up our investment in data-driven personalisation to enhance our insurance representatives’ remote customer servicing efforts.

Marketers will now need to balance high-touch and human-touch to create a simpler, faster, and better customer experience as we transition to an organisation of the future. What we are looking for is digitally-minded people who are agile and open to learning, so they can adapt to the changing needs and demands of customers across multiple channels and touchpoints.

This article first appeared here.