WEBVTT

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The real art for the modern marketeer is
not actually just accelerating or

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automating the processes that you've
always had.

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It's finding the new ways to kind of
re-engineer your existing processes so

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that you can deliver those better
experiences to your customers.

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We're joined by Oliver from IFS.

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Thanks very much for being here. Oliver,

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innovation has sort of become a mindset
and a mandate.

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What does it really take for an
organization to drive innovation at scale

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and at speed?

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I think there are some things that are
just the fundamentals of trying to

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embrace change.

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And I think first of all,
you need to have the right type of people

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who want to embrace change.

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So hiring is one thing to think about.
And,

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is the workforce that you've currently
got the right workforce

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for you in the future?

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And probably there might be some hard
decisions around that,

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but many people are stepping up to the
change.

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Many people want to embrace these new
innovations, these new technologies.

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I think from a culture perspective,
that's really, really healthy.

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Of course,
there's an element on the employer to

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kind of embrace the training element,
to encourage people,

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and to reward them through all that
they're doing as well.

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So, I think that when it comes to innovation,

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you've got to fit that right culture from
the start,

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from having the right people to then
finding the right setup for them

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to be able to thrive and then
rewarding the right behavior.

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So I appreciate those are kind of like
the fundamentals

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of a high-performing team.

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But ultimately,
with the era of so much change,

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you want people to step up,
and you need them to go and think about

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the ways that they can embrace this
innovation rather than doing the same

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stuff that they've been doing for the
last few years.

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And as AI becomes really embedded in
enterprise tech,

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where is it sort of unlocking the most
value?

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Is it for customers?

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Is it for the teams?

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Is it for the business altogether?

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Well, ultimately you want it to be
for customers.

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I mean, you know,
most companies —Are you obliged to say

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that?—

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Well, no, well, most companies,
they want to feel themselves as being

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customer centric.

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And I think with any new innovation,
you've got to think to yourself, well,

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how can I really embrace this new
technology so that I can serve my

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customers better?

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Now from a marketeers perspective,
that might be a case of saying, "Well,

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how can I use AI so that I can be more
effective with the speed

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with which I deliver a certain
message at a certain time?"

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Or you might want to think about how you
can hone your message based on the

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insights that you're able to gain using
the new technology so that you deliver

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the right message at the right time.

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But ultimately,
the fundamentals of marketing,

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of delivering the right message at the
right time to the right person,

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so they go on the next step in that
customer journey,

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is what all these tools need to do.

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And I reflected a little bit on what you
say.

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And I think there are a lot of people who
are looking at things like AI in order to

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go and improve the way that they're
operating and how they can just embrace

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the, you know,
a faster way of doing existing processes.

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But the real art for the modern marketeer
is not actually just accelerating or

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automating the processes that you've
always had.

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It's finding the new ways to kind of
re-engineer your existing processes so

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that you can deliver those better
experiences to your customers.

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Oliver,
what are you most excited about when it

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comes to the future of marketing?

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I think there is so much opportunity for
the marketing department.

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I'm really looking forward to seeing how
people step up to the challenge,

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how they rise to the challenge.

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And I think there are going to be some
fundamental differences in the way that

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we operate as a marketing community,
as a marketing function within our own business.

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The structure of the organization will
radically change.

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People will be doing different jobs.
And we need to retrain.

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We need to make sure that people are
empowered,

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they're motivated to use these tools so
that they can really accelerate

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themselves and do the things that add the
most value.

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So if you were to offer advice, I mean,
as a CMO,

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how should people who are heading
marketing organizations,

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how should they be trying to drive
innovation?

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Honestly, I think as a leader,
it's about the culture.

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And I'm sorry to kind of repeat the first
question or answer that I talked to.

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But if as a leader,
you're not creating and embracing an

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environment from which all of your staff
can really thrive,

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you've got a problem at day one.

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So there's an element of enablement.

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I'm not an advocate of giving everybody
in the team the tool.

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I want people to step up and ask that
they want certain tools because the

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universal issuance of a certain,
like a certain AI capability,

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is very different if you're a graphic
designer through to a copywriter or if

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you're a functional expert as an SEO
expert,

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you probably want different tool sets.

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So you've got to make sure that you're
encouraging people to ask for the right

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tools.

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They've got the right thinking about how
they can embrace these new technologies,

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and then reward them, you know,
make sure that they're,

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they're seen as being real innovators.

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And the other people who perhaps are the
laggards within the team who haven't

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quite embraced change as quickly as
possible,

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they can step up and be inspired.

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Oliver, thanks

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so much for coming and talking us through
that whole process.

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It's been a real pleasure.

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Thank you for having me.