Technology and the future of marketing in Nigeria

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) defined marketing as “the management process which identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably”. Marketing forecasts and provides customers’ needs profitably. K. E. Runyon, in The Practice of Marketing, published in 1982 by C. E. Merrill in Columbus, Ohio, stated that marketing is “the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers”. Common features of all marketing descriptions are: “they are customer-oriented”, “mutually beneficial to the seller and buyer”, and “value-driven”. All businesses are marketing products, goods, services or combinations of two or all of these factors.

Technology disruption is the future of marketing. Technology in the marketing realm was first used as radio and television advertisements. Telegram and telephone were also important technologies for marketing in the sixties. Electronic billboards were later introduced which have the capacity to show more than five different products within a minute on a screen.

Robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), animation, cloud computing, machine learning, automation, data analytics, digital technologies, disruption; if you are technology-savvy, these words are familiar, and if the predictions of multitude of technology experts are to be believed, these terminologies are ruling the world and will continue to rule the world!
An unmanned store is a retail concept in which there are no service personnel and no cashiers in stores. The transactions are handled through a mobile application. And the security is the collection of cameras, strategically positioned in the store. Unlike an automated convenience store, the unmanned store concept relies on smart-phone-related technologies and artificial intelligence to remove the traditional features of a store. The pertinent question any experienced marketer should ask is: “What will be the impact of AI and wider technological advances on marketing in the future? Is marketing going to be disrupted by the tsunami of technology intrusion going on in the world? Or will it adapt and not be disrupted?
In the future, the following services will be rendered through the use of technology in marketing:

Personalisation in marketing
Personalisation in marketing is not a new concept. The same brands are marketed differently across various countries by global corporations to effectively communicate and position their benefits. But now, with the advent of fast advancing AI and robust data analytics, brands can tailor their messaging with precision to maximize effectiveness. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are already using targeted advertising as their main revenue generator but in the future, advertising messages will be tailored to your profile and past interactions with the internet. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) also uses the user’s search engine results page (SERP).

Data Analytics
Data analytics has been used extensively especially since the advent of digital and social media marketing. Nevertheless, currently, there are plethoras of analytics-based software that promise more accurate representation of customer behaviour. However, with refined analytics solutions that provide sentiment analysis, marketers now have the ability to derive insight instead of relying on guesswork and instinct. This will improve marketing spend efficiency and retargeting of objectives by being technology disruptors in the marketing fraternity. Google Analytics lets you measure your advertising return on investment (ROI) as well as track your flash, video, and social networking sites and applications.

Creativity to humans – Analysis to machines
With the concept of technology disruptors in marketing, the uncomfortable question about human redundancy inevitably crops up. Traditionally, marketing as a discipline has often been dominated by a few heads of department who took all the decisions based on their experience, approach, and creativity. But with AI and analytics, marketing managers will be left with two tasks – strategy and creativity. With all the heavy lifting of non-thinking work being done by machines/algorithms, marketers will define success by how potent their strategy is and how creative they are with the use of information provided by technology-based tools.

Simulation
Simulation is an imitation of a situation or process. Caricatures are now simulated with computers and voice make-over to market products and goods. Marketing efforts require money and those on a large scale, especially in Business-to-Business (B2B) marketing, put tremendous stress on a company’s bottom-line. With disruptive technologies marketing simulations will become affordable and thereby a commonplace. This will lead to more marketers deriving objectivity in their subjective decisions ultimately leading to more accurate marketing decisions. This edge will aid not just the stressed bottom-line but also positively impact the top line.

Digital market segmentation
In the digital age, customer segmentation is capable of advancing further than it was before, leading to a new era of custom and personalised digital marketing. Successful digital marketing companies are developing platforms and strategies, which enable brand leaders to reach their potential customers. By using a set of preferences, digital markets can customise and accelerate the buying pattern for each prospect. Consumer profiles based upon digital interactions, are constantly tracking what you like, what you buy and how you buy it on an ongoing basis. This information will be segmented and targeted for the appropriate audience.

Marketing hackathon (Mark Hack).
Marketing hackathon is a marketing interactive event in which marketers, executives and/or entrepreneurs come together to solve business growth challenges. As against “One-on-One” marketing exercises, marketing hackathons are designed to be executed as workshops and exhibitions in as little as one hour, and ideally no longer than a full day. They are social gatherings to bring together marketers, executives, and entrepreneurs to brainstorm and solve business growth issues. The most creative hackathon ideas bring together a group of people with similar interests and complementary skills into the same space to design solutions for a challenge.

In conclusion, as the world is changing, the whole gamut of the way we do marketing is also changing. As in the 70s, there have been contactless markets. Now we have drones supplying goods and products to customers who buy and pay online. Properties and vehicles are now sold online through virtual inspection of the products. AI has not reached Skynet levels of awareness and potency. In 2017, nobody was aware of artificial intelligence and blockchain. As AI and vending machines are now part of us, it is important that smart marketers get into the action now so that they can capitalise and provide true marketing value for their organisation’s sales efforts. As a business man or woman, you cannot fret with disruptive technologies. Adapt and respond quickly! There is no such thing as “too much marketing”.

OLUFEMI

Olufemi Adedamola Oyedele, MPhil. in Construction Management, managing director/CEO, Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, is an expert in real estate investment, a registered estate surveyor and valuer, and an experienced construction project manager. He can be reached on +2348137564200 (text only) or femoyede@gmail.com