52% of marketing managers say they will see their budget reduced this year.
Agility, empathy, collaboration, transparency and capacity for consolidation are the key skills to avoid the uncertainty of 2021.
Today is celebrated San Publicito or the Day of Publicity, although since it does not fall on Friday, the sector postpones its holiday to next Friday. San Publicito is an original campaign by the Peanuts & Monkeys agency, but Publicity Day is celebrated every January 25 as it is the commemoration of the day of the conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle, who spread Christianity throughout the nations.
And so advertising seeks to spread and propagate a product or a brand.
Without saints, albeit with some other martyr, they entrust themselves to their patron in a moment of uncertainty that requires blind faith and confidence in improving marketing budgets, return on investment, in optimizing prices at the point of sale. sale and future success of promotions.
Managing this uncertainty is a completely new challenge that will require agility in the face of change and speed in decision-making in the coming months. Because the consumer has changed habits and we do not know if San Publicito will give us the answer to how long this change will last or which of the new habits will remain. Although the Hyper CMO may have it, according to the Dentsu X CMO Survey report released last week, “the one who is well prepared to handle the recession and is fighting to control the fate of his brand, through action and focusing on the fundamentals of marketing. ” An executive who must be aligned with the new and changing consumer sentiment, the decrease in consumer spending and who must manage the new dimensions of his company’s workforce, interruptions in the supply chain and everything, with lower budgets, because 52% of Spanish CMOs see their portfolio cut short.
In this context, you will have to justify more each euro that the company spends on advertising and demonstrate the ROI (return on investment) of marketing spending, since the directors above, faith is given by the numbers.
Challenges are not easy, and even more so considering that 96% of the executives consulted say that they face these problems basing their management on the coronavirus crisis by applying strategies learned in previous recessions, which are little alike. “Innovation is lacking in the answers,” exclaimed Tim Cooper, global director of Thought Leadership at Dentsu. In Spain, this figure is even more alarming, as only 2% claim to use completely new strategies to manage this new recession. Thus, most have chosen to adapt the marketing message to the current situation and to increase collaboration with other departments. At least 30% of Spanish marketing departments have chosen to develop new products.
Fortunately, according to Elisa Brustoloni, managing director of Dentsu X Espaa, in our country we have up to 40% of those responsible for marketing at the hyper or super CMO level.
How is a CMO sperm?
They are professionals with hyperempathy, that is, with the ability to understand changes in consumer behavior, through market studies, enhancing those tools that help increase access to first party data and investing in the capabilities of CRM or relationship management. the customer, which can help increase consumer awareness, drive loyalty and maximize long-term value.
In addition, he has to have hyperagility: “Hyper CMOs recognize that the information they collect must be quickly converted into new messages, products and pricing strategies to bring to market. In the context of a fragile recovery, speed is essential to maximize sales and revenue growth. “Therefore, they are able to respond in near real time through the dynamic development of content and communication and pricing strategies,” a critical approach to both winning new customers and retaining existing ones, “the report highlights.
He must also be very collaborative, with the ability to ensure that the entire business moves at the same pace and serve as an integrator of the C-Suite, that is, the executive officers, in addition to other departments and external providers.
It stands out for its hyper-consolidation, the ability to quickly rationalize and prioritize larger, more resilient and profitable brands capable of surviving periods of economic fragility, while seeking opportunities to fill gaps in products or services through strategic mergers and acquisitions.
And everything from the hyper-transparency, ensuring that all elements of the company “can withstand the scrutiny of public opinion from anywhere, through supply chains to employee well-being or consumer engagement. “
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