According to conventional wisdom, marketing has changed more in the past two to three years than in the 50 before that. As buyers have become more proactive, have access to more information, use social and digital sources of information, consume more thought leadership, and demand that provider be more relevant and personalized in their marketing. As a result of these changes in buyers and capabilities, marketing’s role has expanded. This expansion has occurred fastest in India.
Indian marketers are embracing the new role of marketing and are ready to take on more responsibility. “In our New Face of Marketing in India survey, 91% of Indian marketing leaders agreed that their role is expanding (compared to 56% globally),” says Rohit Lodhi, director of strategic services, ITSMA India. “A bigger role for marketing is essential as Indian IT suppliers adapt to a VUCA [Volatile-Uncertain-Complex-Ambiguous] world, a key theme at this year’s NASSCOM Leadership Summit in India.”
The survey took a snapshot of the roles and priorities of 33 senior marketers at various Indian IT services and solutions companies. It found that marketers in India are taking on a number of new and more strategic responsibilities. According to the survey, Indian IT services marketers’ five biggest priorities are new offerings, digital and social media, restructuring the marketing function, account based marketing, and thought leadership development and dissemination.
Indian marketers are also more closely integrated with sales and the business. When asked “What will the new face of marketing look like?” survey respondents told us that they were:
• Blurring the line between sales and marketing
• Integrating more tightly with a broader network of business partners
• Focusing more deeply on the overall customer experience
• Reaching prospects and clients in a hyper-targeted way with highly relevant content
• Replacing the buyer/seller mindset with exchanges among experts
• Becoming more consultative with the businesses in identifying growth opportunities
• Developing tighter ties with expert sources, such as analysts and advisors
The new face of marketing builds credibility through close integration with sales and the business, a strategic focus, strong execution, and a numbers-driven orientation. For more information, read The New Face of Marketing in India in the ITSMA research library.
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