Is Marketing in the Digital Era Losing its Magic?

Our paper examines the changing face of marketing strategy and customer engagement in the digital age and the extent to which the role and status of Marketing are altering as a consequence. We address these issues through key... [ view full abstract ]

Our paper examines the changing face of marketing strategy and customer engagement in the digital age and the extent to which the role and status of Marketing are altering as a consequence. We address these issues through key informant interviews with senior managers from client-side marketing teams/CMOs, strategic marketing consultancies, and digital agencies. These stakeholder groups have different views about the role of digital, views which suggest that Marketing in the digital era may be losing its magic. We find a clear threat to the traditional role of Marketing within the organisation and to the Marketing function’s perceived value. Organisations and leadership teams are re-thinking how the principles of marketing can best be embraced, recognising there are others outside of the marketing team able to support the digital journey. The consequences for the Marketing function as a subordinate domain of management are potentially serious. Other functions are steering Marketing’s destiny, aided by the outputs of the digital agencies; agencies with their own commercial agendas. Advances in quantity, quality, immediacy and variety of data undoubtedly can benefit marketing strategy and customer engagement. The mechanisms for doing so, however, remain in a state of flux.