Organizing Digital Marketing

Since consumers don't care about channels, why should we organize that way?

In an era when everything is interactive and chunks of content are consumed on any of four screens as appropriate; what does a marketing organization need to look like to be successful? A couple of scenarios come to mind:

• Direct-to-consumer: the delivery of messages aimed at facilitating a decision by an individual or a group.   This covers targeted media whether traditional direct marketing, consumer promotions, pure Internet/Mobile plays, or custom content served up based on behavior. 
• Engagement: the provision of applications, leisure content, or information with the desire of establishing rapport by helping or entertaining people.  This covers aspects of marketing where the focus is typically on brand and relationship building, e.g. consumer experience. 
• Insights:  the identification of the "Ah Ha" or "Oh No" moments that come from connecting all the dots that digital self-expression leaves behind. Plus consumer expectations for real time response means we're entering the era of Track>Execute>Adapt where the data must define the plan.  

This structure rises above the challenges that arise with the proliferation of channels, technologies and tools. If fact, tools like social technology can be used for both objectives - influence and support. As an example twitter can deliver offers direct-to-consumer or engage them with links to interesting content.

It also provides a better platform for career growth since it is highly likely that a large number of CMOs in the future will come from this part of the business. 

Notes:
For some comments on digital structure and issues eConsultancy's produced a video summary of their conference on the topic. 
For a look at how the total communication spend is broken out, Veronis, Stuhler, Stevenson (VSS) released their updated spending forecast.