The Dawn of a New Marketing Era

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The concept of "The New Era of Less", introduced by Ewan McIntyre, VP Analyst and Chief of Research at Gartner for Marketers during the Marketing Symposium 2024, perfectly captures the current marketing zeitgeist.

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While 62% of CEOs prioritize growth as their primary objective, marketing investments as a percentage of revenue have declined from 11% to 8.2% over the past four years, with projections indicating a further decrease to 7.7% in 2024.

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"This creates an interesting paradox," Sivo explains. "CMOs are expected to deliver increasingly ambitious results with diminishing resources. The challenge lies in finding innovative solutions that maximize efficiency and effectiveness, truly embodying the principle of 'Less is more.'"

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Shifting Budget Priorities

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The composition of marketing budgets is experiencing significant changes across its four main components: agency costs, personnel, technology, and media spending. In 2024, there's a notable shift toward paid media channels, which now comprise approximately 28% of total marketing budgets.

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"Marketing leaders are increasingly focusing their resources on activities that deliver measurable returns and direct correlation to growth," Sivo notes. "While this shift reflects a belief that increased media presence leads to greater brand share of voice, it also introduces new challenges in managing an expanding network of channels and media partners."

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The Evolution of MarTech

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The marketing technology landscape has experienced explosive growth, with over 14,000 solutions now available to marketing and advertising professionals. However, Sivo points out an interesting trend: "We're witnessing a temporary slowdown in technology investments, primarily due to the complexities of adoption and integration within organizations."

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This pause, however, doesn't signal a permanent retreat from marketing technology. "I anticipate technology spending will resume its upward trajectory, as it remains a crucial driver for increasing productivity in the 'era of less,'" Sivo predicts. He emphasizes the growing importance of collaboration between CMOs and CIOs in managing the increasing complexity of MarTech and AdTech solutions.

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The Digital Media Transformation & AI

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The media investment landscape continues its digital transformation, with current allocations averaging 60% digital and 40% offline across industries. This shift brings new complexities in campaign management, particularly for organizations managing multiple brands, product lines, and geographic regions.

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‍Artificial intelligence proves to be an indispensable asset for CMOs confronting these complexities. From leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) for personal productivity to creating multimodal content for creative campaigns, AI is transforming traditional marketing workflows.  

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Modern marketing automation systems and Gen BI paradigms are democratizing data access, while next generation AI Agents are evolving to execute complex tasks autonomously. In the marketing and media landscape, AI provides crucial decision support, particularly in optimizing advertising spend and improving Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).  

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Artificial Intelligence indeed emerges as a powerful partner in the marketer's arsenal, but Sivo advocates for a measured approach. "AI offers valuable support in decision-making, from optimizing advertising spend to improving ROAS. However, it should augment human capabilities rather than replace them," he emphasizes.  

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This balanced strategy ensures that while CMOs can leverage AI to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, they do so responsibly and sustainably within appropriate ethical and legal boundaries.

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ARM: Navigating the New Era of Less in Media Management

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MINT's SaaS-based Advertising Resource Management (ARM) solution represents a groundbreaking category of Enterprise IT solutions that complements existing ERPM, HCM, and CX systems, emerging as a powerful ally for CMOs navigating today's resource-constrained environment. Operating across four key dimensions, ARM transforms media operations by:

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• Collecting, normalizing, and providing real-time access to cross-channel media data;

• Standardizing advertising operations processes;

• Automating campaign management tasks;

• Leveraging AI for cross-channel budget optimization recommendations.

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For marketing teams, whether working with agencies or managing operations in-house, ARM democratizes data access and simplifies media workflow management. This enables teams to focus on higher-value activities and optimize budget utilization in an era of limited resources.  

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By integrating seamlessly with various systems including Media Mix Modeling, Media Planning, Data Cloud and Enterprise Analytics platforms, ARM provides a flexible and scalable solution that delivers tangible benefits while protecting existing technology investments in the “New Era of Less”.

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From “Software-as-a-Service" to “Service-as-a-Software"

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Sivo concludes with an optimistic outlook: "The 'New Era of Less' shouldn't be viewed as a limitation, but as an opportunity for growth and transformation. It's about reimagining how we work and leveraging technology thoughtfully to do better, not just more."

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As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, success will depend on embracing this transformation while maintaining a balanced approach to technology adoption. The shift from "Software as a Service" to "Service as a Software" represents not just a change in terminology, but a fundamental evolution in how marketing organizations can adapt and thrive in this new era.

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This article is based on an interview originally published by YouMark.

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