These 3 big trends could transform your career. Here’s how...

Starting my career in the Marketing team at Nike was a blessing I didn’t full appreciate until later in my career. 

Working for a brand who focused on doing the types of Marketing that ‘no-one’ else was doing, felt like having a crystal ball to where the industry was going. 

Having left Nike, I unfortunately no longer have this crystal ball. 

But I do still have friends who work for great brands in world-leading Marketing teams.  So I asked 3 of my most talented Marketing friends what trends they think will impact our industry going forward - and how to apply this thinking to your job hunt.

Here’s what they said:

1. There’s a swing back to non-data decision making

The introduction of tech in Marketing resulted in the advancement of data-driven decision making. Whereas previously many brands were one removed from their consumer - as their products were sold by third parties - now brands have a rich set of data from which to make Marketing decisions. 

This has seen an uprise in roles such as Performance and Lifecycle Marketing and Marketeers who make decisions based solely on data.

But the pendulum definitely seems to have taken a small swing back the other way. When Air BnB announced they were reducing their spend on Performance Marketing and this DIDN’T result in a huge reduction in traffic, it showed other companies that Air BnB were onto something.

Insight: Brand Marketing isn’t dead. Understanding the consumer needs and being able to service them in a way that builds loyalty and connection to the brand is still at the heart of being a great Marketeer. Know the data, but also know how to see stuff the data doesn’t show you.

2. If you want to work in Tech, Product Marketing is a function you should consider

When I speak to clients, overwhelmingly ‘tech’ is the industry they want to break into. Although it feels like every company is a tech company these days, one thing is for sure, the roles available to Marketeers in the tech industry are very different to those in a more traditional consumer goods Marketing team.

In the 90’s you created a product and built a brand around it. In the tech industry, the product is the brand. Spotify doesn’t need to do a ton of brand marketing as you have the brand in your hand everyday.

Because of this, we see infinitely more Product Marketing roles in Tech than Brand Marketing. In fact a crude search of Linkedin shows that in the Tech industry in London there are 50% more Product Marketing roles than Brand Marketing roles in companies that classify themselves as ‘tech’.

Insight: If tech is where you want to be, consider up-skilling to Product Marketing. If you don’t want to add this skill set, be prepared to fight for a smaller number of jobs in the Brand Marketing space.

3. Adding a skill no-one else has will put you in a unique and very hire-able position

Our industry has undergone so much change, even just in the last year - Web3, NFT’s, AI - it’s hard to keep up. And the truth is, only a small number of people are actually keeping up. 

While much of this stuff feels like the space of ‘Tech Bros’, when added with a skill that ‘Tech Bros’ don’t have - like deep industry knowledge - you will create a unique position for yourself and ensure that you will ALWAYS be hired.

Expert in Fashion? Why not add a deep knowledge of Web3 to go with that. Soon you’ll be one of very few people in the Fashion Industry that understands both the industry and the new technology.

Had a long career in Sports? Why not become an expert in AI and be able to consult and advise the rest of the Sports Industry on how to apply this technology to your industry.

Insight: It’s good to have a combination of skills and knowledge that don’t typically go together. This makes you very unique when it comes to hiring. Ideally one of those skills is something new that very few people have yet.

Our industry is always changing

It’s so important to lift your head up from your day-to-day work and take a look at whats happening in our industry. Things will always evolve. You have to stay on top of this to ensure you are always maximising your hiring potential.