How Technology is Changing the World of Marketing

Sponsored by The University of Hong Kong – Faculty of Business and Economics

From sponsored ads to interactive billboards, new technologies mean the average person is exposed to upwards of 5,000 adverts a day. And while data science, fintech, artificial intelligence, machine learning and virtual reality are hardly new concepts, they seem to be keep bringing new twists and turns across all areas of business – marketing in particular.

Join us as we take a closer look at how technology is playing its part in the marketing revolution and what the world can expect to come next.

More personalized, more imaginative, more original

Developments in technology over the last decade have brought a myriad of intuitive solutions to marketing challenges in business. 

Only three years ago there were over 5,000 martech (marketing and technology) solutions on the market, covering everything from advertising and promotion, to commerce and sales. Fast forward to 2020 and there’s no doubting the numbers will have risen.

Together, martech solutions help businesses achieve their aims and goals through their marketing campaigns, while bringing more effective, imaginative and captivating content to consumers.

Let’s take Spotify, for example. Since 2017, the digital music streaming service has ended each year compiling users’ listening habits, giving them an overview of their most played songs, albums and top artists.

The data science and analytics has allowed users a unique insight into their streaming behavior, prompting them to share this on social media – and strengthening the business’s brand and presence. The charm and creativity of this campaign allowed not just Spotify, but users of the service to tap into the data of their own interests and desires without even realizing.

More novel and exciting job roles are being created than are ever

Ignore the age-old worry that job displacement will become a reality thanks to the advanced sophistication of modern technology. Fear not – we’re not there yet, and it doesn’t look like we ever will be.

If you’ve got your heart set on breaking into marketing, you’re in for a very exciting time. As the most creative area of business where the consumer will be at the forefront of almost every decision you make, roles in marketing will continue to diversify and evolve and look very different to what they were just a decade ago. Roles such as:

• Digital brand manager
• eCommerce marketing director
• Chief experience officer (CXO)
• Digital strategist

Remembering to stay relevant

It’s all about understanding what happens next. Making room for developments while being adaptive and resilient with technology is critical as attention turns away from more traditional advertising means.

With more time than ever spent on tablets, laptops and cell phones, businesses are struggling to grab their desired audience’s attention, give them the best experience possible and build their brand in the process.

And while digital marketing is changing the ways in which business operates, it’s also changing academia as well. In Fall 2019, The University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Business and Economics designed and launched its MSc in Marketing program, with an aim to equip the next generation of innovative marketers with a “new understanding of advanced marketing, such as digital marketing”, said Dr Sara Kim, program director of the program.

“Handling big data is quite an important topic these days. However, it does not mean that traditional topics are devalued now,” Dr Kim explained.  

“Our program covers not only traditional topics in marketing including branding, advertising, consumer behavior, entrepreneurial marketing, and service marketing, but also trendy topics such as innovations and digital marketing handling big data.”

“I think marketing skills can be quite versatile especially if you have data analysis skills. The skills we teach in our program are different from those in stat courses, as we focus more on what managers need to know to handle data instead of learning exact formula.

“I am not degrading what stat classes offer – we just have a different focus for potential managers. My understanding is that a lot of industries will appreciate such skills, and a lot of companies regardless of their industry do hire people with marketing research skills,” Dr Kim added.