‘Marketing is dead’ so says CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi

Here’s a fascinating insight from Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi on the future of marketing.

Speaking at The IoD’s Annual Convention yesterday he said: “Strategy is dead. Who really knows that is going to happen anymore in this super volatile, uncertain, ambiguous and complex world? The more time and money you spend devising strategies the more time you are giving you rivals to start eating your lunch.We live in a vibrant world where our kids are connecting to each other and to brands across the world with no money involved. To us this is a world that’s gone crazy.”

He went on to say: “The big idea is dead. There are no more big ideas. Creative leaders should go for getting lots and lots of small ideas out there. Stop beating yourself up searching for the one big idea. Get lots of ideas out there and then let the people you interact with feed those ideas and they will make it big.”

These thoughts resonate us. Our role as marketers is rapidly changing as the rules of  engaging with customers are changing. With the popularity of social networking sites, customer feedback sites corporate marketing and spin no longer holds sway. The goal posts have moved to another pitch altogether.

The answer lies in harnessing the power of communities to create an army of brand advocates. That’s why our focus is on using a range of bespoke tools to engage with consumers, ranging from Community Consult which uses people’s elected communities to drive stronger relationships with them through to online engagement tools including social media management strategies.