Lesson Number One: Learn How to Code

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Day One of Internet Week New York, it’s that I’m woefully underprepared for the future. In fact, it appears that my days as a relevant millennial are numbered indeed. 

Amidst talks of upending the purchase funnel into a pyramid (Google), building content that’s catching (Buzzfeed), and developing online creative communities (Adobe: Behance), a  common theme that emerged during the conference was the necessity for people in advertising, marketing, and the like, to not only be aware, but fluent in the language of all things tech. Sure, this is a story we’ve been hearing for years, but it turns out the level of fluency people need to keep up and stay ahead is higher than I had even imagined. Let’s just say, some casual postings on Vine aren’t going to cut it. 

This sentiment was perhaps best summed up by Razorfish CEO, Bob Lord. When asked what he thought what a good CMO will look like in the coming years, as digital takes more and more share of voice, mind, and (with the advent of Google Glass) certain parts of the body, he had a succinct response. “You need to learn how to code,” he said. Ad Age and B2B’s digital marketing summit, which took place in the afternoon, focused primarily on how the line between Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Information Officer were becoming rapidly more blurred and that having both skills sets would be vital for growth.

CMOs and CIOs from Motorola, Nationwide, and Intercontinental Hotel Group discussed how IT has grown far more strategic, moving way beyond the tactical to become integral to innovation.  Each company also unveiled its own updated version of the five P’s, with the “what I want, when I want it” customer at the center of every marketing decision and technological development. 

Additionally, speakers asserted that marketers have to combine their creative roles as brand managers with the agility of product managers who are able to test, iterate, change, and prioritize quickly based on user experience and response. It’s vital to move from “advertising that runs” to “advertising that learns,” said Razorfish CTO, Ray Velez. All of these observations suggest there is a new paradigm in town and although “evolve or die” might be a bit dramatic, with such high stakes, the biggest risk is not taking one.