DataXu_The New Marketer_2015

Data. Insight. Action.
®
A DATAXU REPORT
THE NEW MARKETER
How Data and Technology are Driving the Rise
of the Chief Marketing Technologist

© DataXu, Inc. All rights reserved. 2
CONTENTS
Introduction................................................................................3
Methodology................................................................................4
The New Marketer........................................................................5
In-house vs Managed Service –
The Benefits and Challenges.......................................................8
Closing the Skills and Knowledge Gap......................................10
From CMO to CMT – The Future of the Marketer........................11
Where to From Here?.................................................................14
THE NEW MARKETER

INTRODUCTION
By Chris Le May, Managing Director, UK and Nordics, DataXu
There’s an oft-quoted claim made by Gartner in 2012
that by 2017, chief marketing officers (CMO) will spend
more on IT than CIOs. As it turns out, Gartner was right.
The thing is, it’s happening far quicker than anyone
imagined.
Change came so quickly that it gave many marketing
professionals whiplash. Or as Christine Cutten, principal
with Deloitte Consulting so succinctly put it when talking
to CMO.com, “Almost everyone is in catch-up mode
since the landscape is changing so quickly.”
And it is set to change even faster still, as with greater
diversification comes a greater use of technology and
the need to not just manage it but handle it with such
prowess that you can empower your business with what it
can do. According to DataXu’s own research, illustrated
in this report, 41% of UK marketers expect to be using
more technology next year, with 26% telling us that
today, more than half of the requirements of their role
revolve around technology.
So does the convergence of IT and marketing require a
new individual who can step in and bridge the gap
between these two previously siloed departments?
Someone with the technical knowledge to relate to the IT
department, and the creative zeal to inspire and motivate
marketers and customers alike?
Enter the chief marketing technologist (CMT). It’s a role
that’s been in the making for ten years. While Gartner’s
figures indicate that 81% of companies already have the
equivalent of a CMT in place, it’s important to note that
on closer examination, this is restricted to US companies
of $500 million or more in revenue – companies that
are the exception, not the norm. This side of the pond,
there are early adopters of the CMT, as our research
shows, but still widespread debate as to whether it is
necessary, can add value and can work efficiently
alongside the CMO for the greater good of the business
and its customer.
Our research shows that UK businesses are catching up
with their stateside counterparts. Despite just 14% of
the marketers we surveyed saying their business is
already taking advantage of a CMT, 70% believe that
more companies will begin to recruit for a CMT within
the next five years. 35% of respondents feel the role has
become so vital, that it will replace the traditional CMO
role. What’s more, 31% of the marketers we surveyed
said they would like to take this role on themselves.
What’s pushing marketers and businesses in this direction
besides the obvious technology spiral that businesses
and consumers are now irrevocably entwined within? Our
results show that the prominence of in-house solutions is
compounded by digital marketers’ increasing need to
adopt both cost effective and highly accountable strategies
and tactics, but to demand high levels of transparency in
the face of burning industry issues such as complicated
pricing, bot fraud and quality inventory.
In response, the role of the marketer has evolved from
the guardian of the creative manifestation of a brand to a
champion of data driven efficiency. Is the transition from
CMO to CMT a recognition of the need for brands to take
on a more future-proof mentality?
And if it is, where does that leave the CMO? Will
developments over the next five years make this role
completely redundant? The majority of respondents (53%)
in our survey believe that both the CMO and CMT have
their place in the marketing structure, with 51% saying
they should have joint responsibility over marketing
technology. This school of thought argues that both
positions have very distinct skill sets, and that a business
is far stronger if it utilises both skills sets than if it
sacrifices one position for the other.
Whichever route you choose to take – hiring a CMT or
fortifying the CMO role and marketing division with
enhanced technological capabilities – we would not
hesitate in stating that one of these two choices must
be made. This report provides insight into the technology
trajectory marketers face in the coming years as well as
the current sentiment around the CMT role and its
relationship with CMOs and the marketing department
overall. Perhaps in five years’ time we’ll know the answers
for sure, but by then it will be too late – proactive moves
need to be made now to equip businesses for a tech-
focussed future.
THE NEW MARKETER

METHODOLOGY
This study was conducted for DataXu by Redshift
Research among 250 marketing decision makers in the
UK. The interviews were conducted in March 2015 using
an email invitation and an online survey. There were also
10 qualitative phone interviews conducted with senior
marketers from industries spanning publishing, law, third
sector, education, construction and media. The combined
study was facilitated by WITH PR.
THE NEW MARKETER
North
East
South
West
East
Midlands
Yorkshire/
Humberside
East of
England
North
West
South
East
Greater
London
5%
1%
6% 6%
7%
8%
9% 9%
10%
11%
12%
18%
West
Midlands
WalesScotlandNI
Region
The sample was selected from the Crowdology and
Crowdology partner panels which are balanced across
regional, age and gender demographic factors, and is
nationally representative of the UK population. Each
respondent completes 120 profiling questions before
being accepted to join our panel. Panel Quality
Management is carried out frequently to ensure
reliable surveys.

1. THE NEW MARKETER
Marketing has undergone a radical digital transformation,
which isn’t a seasonal trend, but a fundamental shift in
behaviour, and companies need be at the forefront of
this to retain their competitive edge.
As technology continues to influence the marketing
function, a new breed of marketer is being born. This
Figure 1
How much of your role involves
the use of marketing technology
(not including email or social media)?
THE NEW MARKETER
shift demands a new skill set, reflective of how
businesses are engaging with and managing technology.
But how much of a role does technology play in the day-to
-day activities of a marketer? Over a quarter of marketers
state that more than 50% of their role involves the use
of marketing technology, as highlighted in Figure 1.
All aspects of my role
involves the use of
marketing technology
Between
99 and 76%
Between
75 and 51%
Between
50 and 26%
Between
25 and 1%
No aspect of my role
involves the use of
marketing technology
4%
8%
14%
31%
34%
11%

THE NEW MARKETER
The role technology plays in marketing will remain
significant, according to 49% of surveyed marketers
and 38% of respondents even see an increase over the
next five years, as shown in Figure 2. One respondent,
marketing director of an education company, elaborates:
“There will be a continued drive towards more online
and technological core solutions in terms of the need
for personalisation, speed and responses driven by
consumer needs that will continue to become greater.”
Figure 2
Do you expect this percentage to change
in the next five years?
38%
49%
8%
6%
Yes, I expect my role to depend more on the use of marketing technology
Yes, I expect my role to depend less on using marketing technology
No, I expect this to stay the same
Don’t know/no opinion

With such an emphasis on technology, the tools being
used by marketers are becoming equally digital-centric.
Marketers revealed that the top areas for utilising software
platforms were social media, email marketing, CRM and
digital advertising. 51% of marketers are using such
platforms for social media, 50% for email marketing
and 27% use dedicated technology for CRM. Only 25%
state that they use technology platforms to manage
digital advertising, perhaps indicating that marketers
often outsource digital media buying to agencies or
other partners.
Our research shows that for many marketers, technology
is firmly embedded in their roles, but how this is reflected
in marketing budgets varies among the respondents.
Around a third (28%) say they have a completely separate
budget for making marketing technology purchases. With
budget allocated solely to the investment of marketing
technology, this may suggest these are the businesses
who recognise this as a priority.
One of the respondents, a sales and marketing director
of a bicycle distributor, is representative of forward
thinking firms who are committed to utilising technology.
Purchasing decisions are made by the marketing team,
although many stakeholders are involved. Yet not all
marketers have this freedom, certainly not the likes of
another marketer, marketing director of an education
company, who reveals that their new systems were in
fact bought by the technology division.
Over half of the respondents (51%) would like to be
responsible for marketing technology purchase decisions,
saying that CMOs and senior marketers should have
budget and purchasing control of marketing technologies.
Yet 35% of marketers say they share their tech budget
with other departments. Just 8% are committed to
implementing a standalone budget for a marketing
technology department, highlighting a potentially small
group of technologically advanced, ‘early adopter’
businesses. How this will impact their future ability to
adopt and integrate technology remains to be seen.
THE NEW MARKETER
51%of marketers are using
software platforms for social media.
50%use software platform for
email marketing.
27%use dedicated technology
for CRM.
25%of marketers use specialist
platforms to manage digital advertising.
Over half of the respondents
(51%) would like to be
responsible for marketing
technology purchase decisions.

THE NEW MARKETER
2. IN-HOUSE VS MANAGED SERVICE – THE BENEFITS & CHALLENGE
For many of the marketers we surveyed, in-house
solutions appear to be the most attractive proposition.
38% manage all of their marketing technology in-house,
while 18% do so for the majority of it. 41% of respondents
say the volume of marketing technology managed internally
has increased over the past year. 41% again say this will
continue to increase over the next 12 months.
The reasons for keeping marketing technology in-house
provide key insights as to what is motivating marketers,
as outlined in Figure 3. 41% favour in-house because
of its cost effectiveness, aligning with the mounting
pressure on marketers to deliver greater results year on
year with stagnating or shrinking budgets.
This is in parallel to the 20% who say controlling the use
of marketing technology in-house offers greater accuracy
on campaign results, demonstrating how efficiency and
ROI are front of mind for many marketers. 16% say it is
greater transparency that has them on-side with in-house
technology management, as it brings them closer to
strategies and tactics used and therefore opens up
opportunities for future learnings. Furthermore,
transparency relates to pricing, especially during a time
where many agencies are under reviews by brands,
often in regards to margins that are applied to media
management. It is also reflective of emerging but ongoing
industry issues such as fraud and viewability that are
now influencing marketers’ choice of technology partner.
Figure 3
What do you think is the greatest benefit of
managing marketing technology in-house?
It’s more cost-
effective
It gives more
accurate results
on marketing
campaigns
It offers greater
transparency
Don’t know/
no opinion
It gives
advertisers direct
access to their
own data
I do not think
managing marketing
technology in-house
is better - I prefer to
work with agencies
41%
20%
16%
11%
9%
3% 1%
Other

THE NEW MARKETER
But keeping everything in-house isn’t without its
challenges, as illustrated by the top three concerns of
our respondents in Figure 4. The first is finding the time
to run the technology, as revealed by 30% of marketers,
who perhaps have the perception that buying marketing
software means they need to manage it themselves,
unaware that an agency or the marketing software
provider can run it on their behalf. The second, as
stated by 21%, is finding the right staff to manage the
technology, underlining the need for digital development
within teams and honing in on tech savvy new recruits.
In-house solutions might give companies more freedom
when it comes to implementation and management of
the platform, but 19% of marketers feel the cost for
purchasing marketing technology is too high.
As mentioned earlier, 38% of respondents stated that they
manage marketing technology in-house. On the other hand
and perhaps because of the above reasons, 21% of firms
choose external partners to manage the majority of their
marketing technology. 18%, meanwhile, use a combination
of internal and external technology management.
One of our marketers, head of marketing of a publishing
group, explains some of the challenges of managing
technology, suggesting there is clear value an external
partner can add:
“There are so many technological options, and the audience is
fragmenting and doing so many different things on different
screens. There are a lot of challenges from that point of view. You
do need to be a master of all of them to understand what is the
best way of engaging with your audience.”
Our marketers indicate that reviews of the technology
platforms they use are undertaken regularly. 30% prefer
annual reviews, 20% review once a quarter and 16%
choose a lengthier biannual timescale.
Figure 4
What do you think is the biggest challenge of
managing marketing technology in-house?
Finding the time to manage this technology
Finding the right staff to manage this technology
The cost of buying this technology or software
Training existing staff members on new technology
Don’t know/no opinion
I do not think there are any challenges of managing
marketing technology in-house
30%
21%
19%
13%
11%
8%

THE NEW MARKETER
3. CLOSING THE SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE GAP
The in-house versus external discussion continues when
considering staff training. Given the rapid pace of
technology progression, as well as the multitude of
platforms any one company might operate, keeping staff
well trained is key to optimising performance.
Training run by industry bodies and internal teams has
a role to play, at least for 19% of the marketers we
surveyed. The most popular option though, as indicated
by 30%, is training provided by technology partners.
This underlines how technology vendors can be elevated
from the position of provider to consultant or partner by
offering strategic guidance to help marketers and their
teams get the most out of the platform.
Yet our results, seen in full in Figure 5, show there are
gaps to fill – 25% say they attempt to learn about new
technology on their own while 16% don’t receive any
training at all. Clearly there are a range of opportunities for
marketers to become even more knowledgeable by taking
advantage of what their technology partner can offer and
working closely with them to shape a bespoke programme
that meets the needs of their team and overall strategy.
For technology partners, this offers the chance to build
closer client relationships ahead of their competitors and
further strengthen the value their offering provides.
Of the marketers that had received training, the majority
were positive, with 37% saying it was somewhat effective
and another 20% saying it was very effective. 15% felt
training was not effective. These numbers not only highlight
how marketers should be looking to get more out of their
technology partners when it comes to education and
advice, but how the industry overall could do more to
increase the quality and accessibility of training.
How do you receive training and information about
new marketing technology in your organisation?
Dedicated training
sessions run by the
technology provider
or vendor
I primarily
understand
new marketing
technology on
my own
Dedicated
training sessions
or workshops
run by industry
bodies
We don’t
receive any
training
Dedicated training
sessions run by
someone in the
organisation
Whitepapers
or training
documents/videos
from someone in
the organisation
We don’t use
any marketing
technology
Other
30%
25%
19% 19%
16%
10% 9% 9%
1%
Whitepapers or
training documents/
videos from the
technology provider

THE NEW MARKETER
4. FROM CMO TO CMT - THE FUTURE OF THE MARKETER
A notable impact of technology on the role of the
marketer is sparking the debate around whether a chief
marketing officer is now morphing into a chief marketing
technologist. There is evidence for and against this,
as highlighted by our respondents. An overwhelming
70% feel that over the next five years, more companies
will begin hiring CMTs and tech-focused marketers in
general. 53% say most organisations should employ both
a CMO and CMT, or tech-focussed senior marketer. 35%
believe CMTs are so vital to the future of business that
they will replace the traditional CMO role. See Figure 6.
Figure 6
Do you agree with the following
statements? % of those who
“agree” or “strongly agree”
I believe more companies will begin hiring CMTs/tech-
focused marketers in the next five years
I think most organisations should have both a CMO
and a CMT/tech focused marketer
I think CMOs and CMTs are needed in companies and they
should be jointly responsible for marketing technology
I think CMOs should have control of the marketing
techology in their organisation
I think organisations don’t need to create new positions e.g. hire
CMTs to deal with the abundance of data and new technology
If CMTs/tech-focused marketers were to replace CMOs,
organisations would benefit from the added insight
I think CMTs will replace CMOs as heads of marketing
I think the trend of companies hiring CMTs/tech-focused
marketers will diminish in the next five years
70%
53%
51%
51%
41%
35%
35%
26%

THE NEW MARKETER
A question around the current composition of marketing
teams revealed that 14% of our respondents appear to be
early adopters and already have a CMT in place. A further
8% stated that they already operate in a CMT-like role
(see Figure 7). One respondent, co-owner of a media
agency, feels the CMT role is “an absolute necessity”:
“If you are being bombarded by technology you need someone in
place that fully understands how each type of technology works and
why each one is the best for their need. More importantly, the CMTs
are the ones forcing agencies to re-evaluate their technology
offering, so they aren’t being ripped off.”
Another marketer comments:
“I think [the CMT role] is a current need, definitely. The speed of
change requires us to have somebody fulfilling that role now. The
pace of change is incredibly scary and that person needs to keep up
to date and keep their finger on the pulse. You need a CMT there
who understands technology […], maximising the return for your
investment there and then.”
Marketers not only see the importance of the CMT role,
but 31% are invested enough in it to say that they hope
to become a CMT in the future (see Figure 7). A senior
marketing manager for a law firm said:
“The CMO will morph into the CMT. That’s just going to be the direction
of travel rather than creating a completely separate new role. The
role will always be looking to source a solution that will fit – not just
for now, but for the next 2, 3, 5 years. And the pace at which technology
moves is very rapid, so that is becoming more and more difficult.”
Yet not all marketers are united in their views. 37% of
respondents believe that the traditional marketing role
will become redundant in favour of a more technology-
focussed role, while 39% disagree with this. There are
those who are not convinced about the validity of the
CMT role. As shown in Figure 6, just over a quarter
(26%) of marketers believe that the hiring of CMTs and
tech-focused marketers will not be a continuing trend.
This is echoed by another 48% who say they would not
wish to become a CMT.
Figure 7
Do you aspire to become a CMT or another similar
role in charge of marketing technology?
31%
48%
14%
8%
Yes
No
Don’t know
I already operate in a CMT role

THE NEW MARKETER
41% say there is no need to hire a CMT or create a new
position to deal with marketing technology. One of our
marketers agrees:
“We have an IT Director and regarding marketing, we take his advice on
anything we want to look at from a technology point of view. I can’t see
us employing a dedicated marketing technologist. I see the colleague
we have in IT rising in the ranks.”
Another marketer concurs:
“The interrelationship between marketing and technology, marketing
and HR, marketing and finance are getting more complex and closer,
so if you have a CMT you’d need a CMF or a CMHR. Where do you
draw the line?”
Potential duplication aside, three of the marketers
interviewed feel that the CMT role is only viable in a
bigger organisation, with the budgets, resources and scale
to support the role. Some 53% believe CMOs and CMT
should be working in tandem, as one marketer articulates:
“I think that you have to have both sets of knowledge; you can’t
really have one without the other.”
Another of our marketers theorises that CMOs and CTOs
would affect a business positively both in structure and
future performance, but questions how this would work
in practice:
“It would be very difficult for the two roles to exist side by side. I
think that the CMT role would probably report to a CMO. It would
be a very senior marketing position, but I don’t know if it would
actually get to that level, certainly in the medium term. I guess
my question would be whether I’d want to go in two different
directions with two different people. You’d want them to be
working cohesively.”
For the role to work, cohesion is of course key, as another
marketer iterates:
“You’d have to get the shared vision so right, and you’d have to
get the alignment of goals. It’s whether or not it’s at that CMT
level, or is it the next level down but still reporting to the CMO?
That’s the issue.”
Logistics aside, 49% agree that both a CMO and CMT
should sit at board level, suggesting that marketing and
technology should not just be siloed domains, but have
an increasingly important impact on a business overall.
“If you have a CMT you’d need
a CMF or a CMHR. Where do
you draw the line?”
agree that both a CMO and
CMT should sit at board level,
highlighting their increasing
overall importance.
49%

THE NEW MARKETER
WHERE TO FROM HERE?
The era of ‘Big Data’ has definitely arrived, and a data-
driven way of working is becoming par for the course
for many marketers and businesses. Marketers have
now become au fait with leveraging data from all kinds
of channels, be it customer purchasing history, CRM
databases, or market research, to inform tactical brand
decisions. They now have more power at their fingertips
in the form of data and tools than ever before, but with
this comes the responsibility of knowing how to use it to
shape not just their brand strategy for the better, but that
of their business.
The question that arises is, whether the traditional
marketing role is fit to cope with the influx of data and
the technology needed to make it meaningful and
impactful. Even if industry views are divided over whether
the traditional CMO role will become redundant, the
majority of the marketers we surveyed for this report
certainly believe that technology’s influence on their jobs
will manifest itself in even more profound ways in the
not so distant future.
This is not to say that the traditional creative remit of
marketing should take a back seat to data, despite 35%
of respondents feeling that the CMT will replace the
traditional CMO role. Data-driven marketing enables
those in creative roles to do their best work by allowing
them to focus on the details and nuances that will make
their campaigns stand out. The effective whole of both
left-brained and right-brained talent collaborating
together effectively will be far greater than the sum of
their respective parts.
While the CMT role may not be the perfect solution for
every business right now, our research indicates that it
will certainly become a pre-eminent one in the next five
years, thanks to the unprecedented demand for a new
data-savvy marketer. This is a conundrum that technology
alone can’t solve, but rather, needs a mix of tools and
talent to shape the future of marketing. The ability to
accurately translate data into insights and action requires
input from individuals with a unique blend of industry
expertise and analytic prowess – this is where the CMT
will find their sweet spot, and earn their place in the
leadership team.

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CONTACT
Berit Block, Marketing Director Europe
bblock@dataxu.com | +44 20 7636 8010
© DataXu, Inc. All rights reserved.
Created in cooperation with Redshift and With PR

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