By Dulasha Hettiarachchi
The biggest problem the marketers will have to face in 2025 is keeping up with the frequently changing needs of customers, according to Charted Institute of Marketing (CIM) Board of Trusties Chairman, who spoke at a forum regarding the future of marketing.

“The biggest risk for marketers in the next 10 years is losing the battle for the consumer’s mind; there is a lot of competition to reach the consumer in a meaningful way, a consumer wants to follow so many organisations or he wants to be pushed to so many offers and he wants to have relationships with many brands, therefore competing for this is going to get very tough,” said Matthew Neilson.

He said that brand loyalty will become hugely important and customer relationship management will be critical in making sure that the needs of the customer are completely understood and fulfilled while adding that targeting would be more sophisticated.

“With the focus on speed, flexibility and value, we are witnessing a new theoretic rise in consumer expectations; today it seems inconceivable that you will have to wait more than a day to receive goods sold online.”

Neilson also spoke of the important yet challenging role played by technology in the lives of marketers. 

“Not having a digital strategy in place is another huge risk and conversely, putting too much emphasis on it and cutting back on traditional marketing methods such as media and sponsorship is also a risk. It’s sad to say that we no longer have full control over our brand image; technology has had its huge impact,” he noted.

“There is no other better example than the way in which consumers readily accept a few comments posted by people on TripAdvisor in determining where they will stay, visit, eat and drink,” he imparted.

Neilson assured that no other corner of business has felt the impact of the change in technology more than marketing by stating that the difference between an IT department and the marketing department is very blurred.

Mobile penetration will be huge and including the mobile in the heart of any marketing plan would be critical for connecting the businesses with consumers, he added.

While predicting the future of marketing in 2025, which is 10 years later from today, Neilson also spoke of the stage of technological development 10 years before today stressing that what the world lacked in terms of technology 10 years ago is now mandatory in day-to-day lives of people.

“Before 10 years there was no such thing as Twitter, Facebook. They only opened for students in selected number of universities in the US. There were no Google maps; the iPhone hadn’t been released and Nokia was still thriving. In fact, in 2005, Nokia was one of the top brands in the world and right now it seems to be disappearing.” 

He pointed out the six key themes studied by the CIM namely, marketing economics, digital, brands, skills, talent and carriers and social and sustainability, are affecting the future of marketing, particularly by the year 2025, which is 10 years from now.