MKTG Week 2: Taking Change in Stride

An Era of Change

In many ways, the early 2000s have drastically changed not only the workplace, but also the world and how we function in it day-to-day. From the rise of technology, smartphones and computers to the advantages and challenges artificial intelligence brings to every industry, in 24 years, the world has changed in ways most would not have foreseen. 

Marketing seems to be one of those fields most susceptible to continuous changes. In the last several years or so, the main element of change has been the integration of artificial intelligence. The seemingly sudden growth of AI has frightened a large majority of people into believing that these tools are coming for our jobs. Yet the reality is, the smart professionals will learn how to use these tools to their best advantage, eliminating this as a threat. 

Tools such as ChatGPT and Dall-E, for example, make creating content for marketing purposes easier and faster. Rather than spending hours searching the web for an image or video clip that fits your purpose best, you can use these tools to create what you need almost instantly. Right away, you are then able to head into editing and manipulating the content for your project's purposes. In this rush of AI, many seem to forget that marketing has endured huge changes before, and not only survived, but taken it in stride and thrived. In the last ten to fifteen years or so, the tools marketing professionals use to promote their brand or company have shifted from mainly media usage to almost entirely online-based strategies. The method of communication has also changed as a result. 

New Rules and New Tools 

Previously, marketing was mainly conducted through traditional media outlets, such as TV and radio advertisements, brochures, roadside billboards, and magazine and newspaper advertisements. Hiring a crew of all-too-eager commissioned sales representatives to make calls or pitch a potential customer in the mall was also typical. 

Of course, these traditional methods have in no way ceased to exist today. Turn on the television, and, at this time of 2024, you will undoubtedly see some kind of promotion for one of the presidential candidates. Head onto the highway and you will spot multiple billboard ads for the nearest fast-food joint. Visit the nearest mall and you will see that the art of sales and their tactics to draw in possible customers is not a dead craft. These methods are still commonplace and effective, but there is a new marketing force that has undeniably taken prominence, and that is the online-based tools. 

As clearly stated on the cover of the marketing staple publication, The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott, a marketing professional with years of experience, the updated tools include social media, YouTube videos, websites, and personal blogs like this one. Basically, anything that can be created and viewed on a laptop, computer, or mobile device is fair game, and highly useful. 

Communication is Key to Any Relationship

We've all heard it before; Communication is key to any healthy relationship. That includes a B2C (business to consumer) relationship. For marketing, it isn't just the tools of the trade that have changed. So have the methods of communication. 

Online-based tools mean that the company communicates directly with the consumer, something completely different from how marketing used to be. Think about it. When a company wants to run an advertisement on TV, it really isn't up to them to take care of it. Of course, they send out a press release with fingers crossed that someone will be interested, or they hire an ad agency of their choice. Either way, they will then give a brief on their company and what they want their ad to communicate. But ultimately, it is then up to the other person to create the ad and convey the message. The agency wants to do a good job for their own sake, but they are still telling someone else's story for them. Consumers receive notice or information of the company through a second party. 

Yet with online tools, companies have a more effective (not to mention cheaper) way to communicate directly to their consumers. There is no need for an agency when the brand can speak for themselves. Whether through their design choices on a website, the pictures, and stories they decide to post on Instagram, or the information they offer to their audience via a blog post, companies today are more in control than ever about how they influence and are viewed by their consumers. 

Likely one of the biggest advantages of online tools as the primary marketing force is that it isn't only the big names that get to promote themselves. TV and newspaper advertisements, for example, are expensive, timely, and more often than not accessible only to more well-known names and/or companies. Online tools offer the opportunity to gain awareness and a wider customer base through the easy-to-use and cheap, yet highly efficient methods. This opportunity for promotion and growth is there for anyone who has access to the online world, whether via a laptop or smartphone. We all know the truth: Today's world runs largely online, and, as Scott points out, the majority of the population has that access. 

Taking Change in Stride

Change happens. In any industry and any field, change is simply a part of life, and we as humans know this. Artificial intelligence is frightening because of the new and unfamiliar power it brings, and how suddenly it has entered daily life. But AI is not the only change the world has had to face. Marketing professionals a number of years ago were forced to embrace a different medium of communication, via online rather than traditional media. 

I will be honest; I am no stranger to the anxiety that new things such as AI pose to my future path. As a graphic design student, I too at first was anxious about how artificial intelligence tools, particularly for video and image generation, might plague the field I am to enter. But this semester, I am taking a design class in which we use these AI tools to our advantage. The ability to more quickly and effectively obtain the right image or video clip for the goal in mind has only helped me become more efficient as a designer. I can say with confidence that in the future, having this understanding of AI will only help rather than hinder my work. 

We cannot fear that change will take our success or progress or jobs. Instead, we have to integrate the change as part of our lives aiding us forward. The mistake only happens when we let change integrate itself. 

Until next time,

Marielle 

Important Note: All images used in this blog are stock photos for licensed use, so there is no potential copyright issues affiliated with this post.