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by Prakash Patel (@prakashpatel_1) At an exco meeting, the CIO has just heard that, in a recent survey by the Gartner group, it is predicted that by 2017 CMOs will spend more on IT than their counterpart CIOs. This has now sent shivers down the spine of the CIO and a high-five from the CMO as to what that will mean to her budget, department and role.

Over the past few months, I have talked about the principles behind “Data-Driven Marketing”, through to “how to get strategic” as the first step in your approach to becoming a more data-driven organisation — the next step is to talk frankly about building the foundation within your business.

But, wait a minute, going back to the exco meeting, if the CMO thinks she has won the grand prize and she can do this alone, then she’s wrong. In a survey conducted by Forrester, what’s increasingly apparent is that, to succeed in the age of the customer, CEOs depend upon their CMO and CIO to connect customer insights to business outcomes through business technology — the technology, systems, and processes to win, serve, and retain customers.

“Customer centricity and success is also about taking an Inside Out View”

In response to the survey, it’s not all gloom and doom. It’s an opportunity and an affirmation in how the role of marketers in today’s digitally and technically enabled world has changed and is now forcing businesses to rethink their internal business strategy from the top down.

For me, how can a business be customer-centric if its own departments’ roles are fragmented and working in silos? The same needs now to be applied internally.

It is no longer good enough (or affordable) to think of who owns what within a company, but more how do we, as a business, truly achieve a customer-centric approach from the inside out? If we wait to see who wins this battle internally, then the real battle outside will be lost — at your company’s peril.

So let’s now talk about data and the changing role of CMOs and CIOs in collectively building the foundation to win the heart and admiration of their customers and the management of data. Again, where do you start?

As in my previous columns about getting strategic, below I discuss the key conversational topics that need to be had to help you build the right foundation, based upon my own experiences, research and whitepapers.

Collaborative partnership charter

Today, when marketers rely more and more upon technology as customers now play across a multitude of devices, platforms and touch-points — generating billions of records, datasets, impressions and CTAs — big data is here and just getting bigger.

Therefore, marketing for today’s marketers cannot be done without technology, and IT cannot build systems that are not fit for marketing.

It is thus fundamental that there is a shared vision and responsibility in the ownership, objectives and goal of today’s marketing. You need each other, period!

The following is a list of key questions and considerations you need to make to start building your foundation:

1. IT systems and marketing databases

Databases and systems that are only IT-focused, in my experience, tend to lead to databases and systems that are not ‘fit for purpose’ with regard to marketing.

I spent years early on in my career trying to navigate myself through the complexity and politics of IT and marketing not working together, which simply resulted in IT systems being built in isolation, with its needs over marketing requirements, and marketing building its own databases in an vacuum.

So, at that time of my career, we made a living in bridging this gap between the two silos that allowed marketing to do data-driven-marketing, with technology and systems as the enabler.

But, in today’s world of big data, it is even more challenging, especially when you think about the amount of data being generated and collected across a multitude of touch-points. If your business does not cater for this, then how can you be a data-driven organisation?

2. Today’s customer experience

As I said earlier, with today’s marketing now including digital, the challenge is for marketers to create a consistent brand experience across a multitude of touch-points.

To accomplish this, marketing needs a solid IT foundation in place, from the gathering and collection of data, interactions and impressions through to the processes and tools in place to allow for automated tactical communications — all of which are reliant upon IT expertise and support.

3. Don’t compromise on customer experience

Many organisations have already started this process, evident in the number of digital RFPs and pitches I have been involved with (a welcomed requirement).

But, at the same time, a fair warning: IT is only part of the solution and marketing shouldn’t be held ransom by IT’s constraints for a better customer experience due to legacy solutions and potential hindrances. It is about building systems and solutions that will maximise the customer experience.

4. Data security and compliance

Another huge challenge facing ultimately both IT and Marketing is the basics of data security and compliance businesses are now faced with, from ensuring data-protection laws are being met through to ensuring security measures are in place in how data is being stored securely and safely.

Customers expect this and they need to trust their data and information are being held responsibly, safely and respected.

This exact point was eloquently described in a section of a report by PwC I read at the time of writing this column, entitled “Digital Trust”. It stated that the digital age is here. The potential for an organisation to be fast, agile and creative is as never before. Embracing the opportunities on offer is the only way to stay competitive.

As an organisation’s reliance on IT systems grows and they become a fundamental part of the organisation, they mustn’t fail. Technology is a key player in business success. But each organisation — and its customers, shareholders and regulators — need to trust it. Trust in simple means customers will be confident in the organisation’s ability to keep their data safe and secure.

There isn’t a better reason that the two need to work together — a marriage made in marketing-heaven and another step towards data-driven marketing.

In my next column, I look forward to talking about dirty data and sexy data that can empower an organisation through data-mining and -interrogation.

Happy data mining!

Prakash Patel (@prakashpatel_1) is chief strategy officer at Fogg Experiential Design, a technically-enabled, digitally-led, creatively-inspired, data-driven and strategically-focused design company based in Johannesburg and Cape Town. He has over 25 years of experience in advertising and data planning, a passion for integrated marketing strategies, and believes that the holy grail of marketing has always been — and always will be — data. Prakash contributes the monthly “#3D” (Data-Driven & Digital) column to MarkLives.com, exploring how data-driven and digital marketing can add value to marketing communication.

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