Marketing Must Control Its Technological Destiny
Microsoft likes to stick to a few specific titles like Program Manager, Product Manager, and so on. Technologist isn’t one of the main ones – I’m not even sure if HR “allows” it anymore. However, in 1996 my title was Technologist. I was supposed to educate our small team at HQ on all Internet-related topics happening in the industry and within Microsoft so we could use them, help the sales field understand them, and potentially help position our products during that time of change. That change being the upcoming thing called the Internet.
Fast forward to 2010 and I see Scott Brinker talking about a Chief Marketing Technologist and specifically how marketing must control its technological destiny. The reason for this is the ever-growing set of technologies available to a marketer. Just a few of the Microsoft ones that I keep on top of my mind at Microsoft are:
.NET Rich Internet Applications (RIA)
Perhaps it is time to change my title to “Marketing Technologist”, or perhaps “Consultant to the Fortune 100 Marketing Technologists”