RMIT Future of Marketing event

Last night, RMIT University and the RMIT Business Student Association (BSA) hosted "The Future of Marketing" event, bringing together over 500 current and future industry leaders, academics, and marketing professionals. The event, organised by Max Templeton and the BSA team, featured a panel including Simon O'Day, Ben Coulson, Anna Jackson, Jordan Taylor-Bartels and myself.

The night kicked off with Lisa Ronson (CMO of Medibank) sharing her experiences, followed by our panel discussion facilitated by Lachlan Ramsey and Tanya Ajit. There was then a Shark Tank style experiment, with three student teams showcasing a campaign idea (using AI) to attract tourism to Melbourne.

Dr. Jason Pallant wrapped up the event by announcing RMIT's exciting new initiative: a three-year course focused on marketing technology.

Throughout the discussions, several key themes emerged:

1. Customer-centricity: Despite the proliferation of new technologies, the fundamentals of marketing remain rooted in understanding and adapting to customers' needs and behaviors.

2. Personalisation: Tailoring experiences to individual customers' unique desires is crucial for success in the evolving marketing landscape.

3. Ethical considerations: As Anna Jackson emphasised, "Customers want you to know them, as long as you provide value and are doing good, not evil."

4. The role of AI: While AI offers powerful tools for data analysis and customer experience delivery, human expertise remains essential in developing actionable insights.

5. Creativity and fun: Ben Coulson reminded attendees to maintain a sense of playfulness in advertising and marketing to capture audience attention effectively.

The event highlighted the importance of customer experience (CX) research in shaping the future of marketing. As technologies advance, skilled CX researchers will be crucial in making sense of vast amounts of data and developing meaningful insights about evolving customer preferences.

Overall, the night served as an invaluable opportunity for students to network with industry professionals and gain insights into the exciting future of marketing. It was also a lot of fun.

With the landscape rapidly changing, events like these play a vital role in preparing the next generation of marketers for the challenges and opportunities ahead.