October's Marketing Association meetup drew an impressive crowd of fresh faces and industry veterans, all wrestling with marketing's rapid transformation. As chair of the Data Special Interest Group, I witnessed a conversation that cut straight to the heart of our industry's evolution.
Simon from Stitch assembled a panel that captured every angle of marketing's metamorphosis. Matthew Lee from FCB demonstrated how traditional creative agencies are becoming data powerhouses. Jane Kennelly brought dual perspectives—as Skills Group's head of people, culture and marketing, and as founder of Frog Recruitment. Amelia from Campfire Recruitment delivered hard truths about talent acquisition, while Jarno, fresh from her Master of Business Analytics at the University of Auckland, bridged Eastern and Western digital perspectives with her China experience.
Jane Kennelly's confession hit home. She described old-school marketing departments as castles with moats, "sometimes with alligators," keeping other departments out. That model is dead. Today's marketers must become organisational educators, keeping boards and executives informed about market shifts that affect every strategic decision.
This isn't tweaking tactics—it's fundamental reinvention. Marketing teams now carry responsibility for organisational intelligence, not just campaign execution.
Jane's formula crystallised the evening's central tension: 60% humanity and creativity, 40% technology and data literacy. Not choosing sides, but becoming ambidextrous. FCB's Matthew Lee showed this in practice through "pair working"—partnering creative leads with data scientists to cross-pollinate skills while preserving core strengths.
The message rang clear: pure specialisation won't cut it anymore.
Amelia delivered uncomfortable truths. AI has gutted traditional entry-level agency roles—those Excel-heavy, repetitive tasks that once formed career foundations are vanishing. But she reframed brilliantly: imagine interviewing as "team lead of five agents"—AI agents. You're not entry-level anymore; you're bringing six people's productivity.
Tomorrow's graduates need "adaptive intelligence," as Matthew called it—understanding changing environments and evolving continuously rather than freezing.
Jarno's Chinese market insights offered our potential future. Chinese consumers have abandoned search engines for social media, seeking authentic peer experiences over algorithms. This shift is already emerging here, with Kiwis increasingly turning to AI for information and, surprisingly, emotional support.
Her own journey—from Chinese social media marketing to Auckland University analytics—embodied the evening's core message about continuous reinvention.
Build Your Learning System Jarno stressed creating personal knowledge libraries using Notion, ChatGPT, and Google Notebook LM. Active synthesis beats passive consumption.
Decision First, Data Second Simon's golden rule: Ask "what decision do I need to make?" before diving into dashboards. Tools follow clarity.
Just Give It a Go Build an AI agent. Run tests. Fail fast. Curiosity and experimentation trump formal qualifications.
Problems Before Products Matthew's reminder resonated: stay customer-centric. Good marketing uses technology as an enabler, not an end.
The evening's surprise: generalism is back. Jane's arc from art teacher to recruitment founder to marketing director proved that breadth plus curiosity creates unique value when landscapes shift monthly. Dean Taylor called it being a "polymath"—connecting dots across disciplines matters when everything changes quarterly.
Turners' GM Sean shared how building their martech stack transformed them from brand-focused to genuinely understanding customer journeys. Starting from scratch, learning alongside his team—even established organisations are "just getting started."
Peter Mangin, Chair of the Data SIG and founder of AI Innovisory, noted AI training costs plummeting from $100,000 to $20 monthly subscriptions. The democratisation is real. Tools are accessible; courage and curiosity are the differentiators.
Marketing's future belongs to the perpetually curious, the courageously experimental, those comfortable where creativity meets code. Not about becoming data scientists—it's developing "data literacy" while maintaining our superpower: understanding humans.
The evening showcased why these conversations matter. They're not theoretical—they're essential preparation for marketing's new reality.
Thanks to sponsors Contagion (supporting the series all year), Lion, and Laithwaites for making these vital industry conversations possible. The final 2024 meetup happens November 25th with the Digital Special Interest Group.