After my third year of university, I was delighted to accept the part-time role of ‘Project Trainee’ at a local marketing firm – involving administration, content creation and digital platform management. Naturally, the role required a wealth of digital activity. The digital economy (‘TDE’) is ‘based on digital network technology: the internet, computer and software programmes’ (Petkovska, Petkovka Mirchevska & Angelova, 2018, p.84). TDE is responsible for the creation and transformation of entire industries and is of great economic value (approximately worth $2.9 trillion) (Gada, 2018).
After careful consideration, I could identify three key areas in which I believe TDE had impacted the role. Firstly, digital technology underpinned and simplified vital internal and external processes in the role (e.g. creation, communication and storage). Without said technology, I believe the role would have had an intense administrative focus. Secondly, ‘digital media platforms have revolutionised marketing’ (Lamberton & Stephen, 2016, p.146). In particular, websites and social media created valuable opportunities for content creation and platform management in the role. I can only assume that before TDE, I would have relied on traditional methods of communication, challenging reach, cost effectiveness and creativity. Finally, analytics can gauge ‘digital marketing performance’ (Järvinen & Karjaluoto, 2015, p.117). This allowed for greater accuracy when determining effectiveness of my work. In the absence of this insight, I believe I would have struggled to identify issues, hindering effectiveness.
Overall, I concluded that without TDE, the role would cease to exist in its current state. However, I also concluded that the purpose of the role both pre digital economy and post digital economy, could be applied to the definition of marketing offered by the American Marketing Association (2013) – a fundamental similarity.
But how will TDE impact the role in the future? Given the historically rapid emergence and development of technology, the role will likely need to adapt to new technologies. For example, Tanser (2018) predicts the marketing significance of artificial intelligence, chatbots and live video. Alternatively, Odell and Lubek (2019) note the increase of video, messenger and in-app advertisements. Both of these sources highlight the potential for the role to change and or require different skill sets. Although I agree with this notion, I also note the potential inapplicability of these technologies to a role in a local marketing firm. Moreover, in times of economic and political turmoil, uncertainty surrounds TDE.
Reference List:
American Marketing Association (2013) Definition of Marketing. Accessed 21 January, 2019 from: https://www.ama.org/AboutAMA/Pages/Definition-of-Marketing.aspx
Gada, K. (2018) The Digital Economy In 5 Minutes. Accessed 21 January, 2019 from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/koshagada/2016/06/16/what-is-the-digital-economy/#697b72587628
Järvinen, J., & Karjaluoto, H. (2015). The use of Web analytics for digital marketing performance measurement. Industrial Marketing Management, 50, 117–127. doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.04.009
Lamberton, C., & Stephen, A. T. (2016). A Thematic Exploration of Digital, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing: Research Evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an Agenda for Future Inquiry. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 146–172. doi: 10.1509/jm.15.0415
Odell, P., & Lubek, S. (2019). Top 2019 Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions. Promotional Marketing, 3. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=133971278&site=ehost-live
Petkovska, T., Petkovka Mirchevska, T., & Angelova, B. (2018). Digital Economy, Entrepreneurship and the Concept of Open Innovation. Journal of Sustainable Development (1857-8519), 8(19), 82–94. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=130580148&site=ehost-live
Tanser, M. (2018) Five Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019. Accessed 21 January, 2019 from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/12/05/five-digital-marketing-trends-to-watch-in-2019/#694eac054683
Marketing Thoughts 