The three c's of marketing: Customers, consciousness and connectivity

At the recent Under the Spotlight, Damien Mooney, head of digital wealth, APAC, Blackrock and Celina Ma, head of communications, Yew Chung International School, generously shared their experience, learnings and drivers at the entrepreneurs’ club, Metta.

In a fast-paced and revealing conversation chaired by The Marketing Society’s chief executive Gemma Greaves, subjects flowed easily between big, transformational trends and personal reflections on the role of bravery in marketing and the role of marketing in supporting brave organisations.

Working in a discipline that combines content, commerce and creativity, speakers agreed that marketers should embrace bravery across the spectrum if they want to remain relevant to their organisation and shine amongst a ‘sea of sameness’. And there was no turning back the tide of the ‘Cs’ as discussions also included the importance of customers, consciousness and connectivity. 

Bold campaigns are the exciting lifeblood that many marketers seek in their work, and our speakers held no punches about success in this area.

We as marketers, (ok, not just us - all professions), acquire authority for innovation by being demonstrably relevant to our organisation’s growth. Whether this is a large P&L target or a move to more socially conscious recruitment, make sure you make an impact that your company values. 

Make no mistake, our guests did not consider innovation as a ‘nice to do’, they stressed that innovation was key to personal development and corporate survival. Disruption may be uncomfortable yet it’s inevitable particularly as the opportunities of digitisation are made real, and as Celina mentioned, ‘We need to keep challenging, or we don’t improve.’

Reflecting on the qualities of brave leaders, we heard how ‘born leaders is an alpha myth’. Marketers need to embrace challenges, use courage and build personal commitment (sorry, more ‘Cs’) to cultivate a leadership style that is meaningful to themselves as individuals. Speakers shared personal development journeys including efforts in humility, awareness of unconscious bias and stepping outside the marketing echo chamber.

There was a point in the evening where my brain frizzled with excitement (I suspect this may have been audible – apologies for those who were sitting nearby, but I don’t think it was just me or mine). It was clear our guests were talking about the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’, and that they were generously sharing their personal ‘why’ as well as articulating those of their employers.

The why, of course, purpose, and its relevance was succinctly summarised by Damien: ‘Purpose doesn’t just drive good marketing, purpose makes better organisations - and great marketing can only happen within great organisations.’

This was an Under the Spotlight session full of passion, sparking lively questions that filled the room and fuelled the networking buzz afterwards.

By Siân Wynn-Jones, Integrated Communications Lead/Sustainability Advisor, The Purpose Business

Hear more from Sian on Twitter: @sian_wj