New technologies’ effect on role of marketers

How will coming digital technologies affect the role of marketers? Joel Tarver, former senior manager of digital marketing for Baker Hughes, talks about how new technology creates opportunities for collaboration.

Robin: Hello and welcome to this edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies. I’m Robin Tooms, VP of Strategy at Savage Brands and my guest again is Joel Tarver, Senior Manager of Digital Marketing at Baker Hughes. So Joel, thank you again for sharing your perspective with us on Brandonomics.

Joel: So great to be back.

Robin: Well Joel, we’ve talked about some great things that you’ve been doing at Baker Hughes for this past year, but I wanted to talk to you a little bit about what you think is going to happen with digital marketing for the coming year. So, what are your predictions?

Joel: Well, I think one that will probably happen the quickest is going to be AR or Augmented Reality. I think that there is tremendous opportunity there, and I think that the technology is becoming more affordable. And particularly where we’re looking at is in areas for training, so that you can have a sheet of paper that can have a layout on it. Then someone that’s at a remote location can grab someone in the field and use a phone to get this Iron Man-esque exploded view of a tool, and figure out how to fix things on their own. And this is particularly effective if someone’s out where they have limited bandwidth or communication is difficult, so that they’re able to train themselves. That also comes into a lot of what the new generation coming in is, is they’re used to doing that. You know, they’re used to going to YouTube and figuring out how to do this. I’ve got a daughter who plays the piano; she’s teaching herself by using YouTube.

Robin: That’s crazy.

Joel: You can’t tell her not to learn her theory because she can just go there and then watch and play by sight. That’s going to be something that I think is definitely going to be really big this next year, even as you’re looking at brochures, at magazine ads and the rest of it: it’s a new way for people to up that amount of content that is coming in existing and traditional print.

Robin: Well, something that’s kind of cool about what you mentioned is it would also require some of the other functional teams to come work together and collaborate with marketing a little bit.

Joel: Yes.

Robin: So I love that idea, and maybe there’s a way you can kind of elaborate on how you can make that happen, or even advice for other marketers out there if they’re needing to kind of take their toes out of the water and go all in to digital. What would you advise them?

Joel: Well, a couple things they’re going to have to do is they’re going to have to get more IT savvy. And I think that’s something else you’re going to see more, is you’re going to see a lot more of marketing technologists out there — those are the marketing sides that can speak IT — because we’re going to be leveraging a lot of technology, and sometimes IT’s objectives are not the same as Marketing’s.

Both have very integral roles, but IT isn’t so concerned about bringing the product to market. What we’re looking at then is, how do we have some of these people that might be developers that can come in and work at this? So it’s something you have to look at, is what does your whole team consist of so that you’re more agile and able to deliver your own solutions? Of course, going through the proper checklist and channels through IT, but also to be more self-sufficient.

Robin: Okay, well definitely good tips for other marketers. I appreciate that. This has been another edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies.

 

A top-tier oilfield service company with a century-long track record, Baker Hughes delivers solutions that help oil and gas operators make the most of their reservoirs. Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) provides reliable, practical solutions when and where our customers need them to lower costs, reduce risk and improve productivity. https://www.bakerhughes.com/