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Thursday, 19 December 2024
What’s the big idea?
The big idea I’m exploring centres on marketing’s significant role in society and, more specifically, in the economy. Marketing is a powerful force, influencing our consumption habits and driving economic growth. But it’s not just about selling products; it actively shapes markets. For instance, influencer marketing redefines product discovery, algorithms in online advertising shape demand patterns in real time, and online reviews influence perceived value. These practices establish norms and standards that shape entire market systems.
Marketing is undergoing a major transformation due to digital technologies like AI, automation, and service platforms. These tools not only enable marketing work but also redefine who and what performs it. Marketers now focus on tracking data and adapting to the constant evolution of digital tools, leading to new demands for upskilling. This dynamic positions marketers as both consumers of tools like Canva and HubSpot and key coordinators in a network of specialised actors and technologies.
How am I investigating this in my research?
My research investigates how these dynamics impact marketing work. We examine this as part of a program where MSc students interview marketers, and where we have created an archive of over 700 real-world accounts of marketing work. This helps us trace how digital tools shape marketing, highlight the boundaries of their use, and explore their implications for small businesses and non-traditional sectors, where marketers often operate in small, interdisciplinary teams.
We see two trends: one: vertical integration, where digital tools enable marketers to handle diverse tasks from content design to customer analytics, and two: specialisation, with external agencies managing specific functions. This dual dynamic underscores the marketer’s role in coordinating fragmented activities while navigating automation and its constraints.
How does this influence my teaching?
I approach teaching marketing as more than just a set of tools—it’s a way of thinking about markets and a firm’s role within them. Like design thinking, marketing thinking allows students to explore how firms shape the systems they operate in. This is particularly relevant for tackling issues like sustainability, where marketing has the potential to drive real change in consumer behaviour and production systems.
This focus on systems-level thinking is integral to my teaching and my Digital Futures Lab initiative at the Kemmy Business School. Here, students explore how market systems are configured and imagine sustainable alternatives where values like fairness, care, equity, and environmental balance are embedded. By prototyping solutions for these challenges, we empower students to drive systemic change, fostering their agency in shaping sustainable market futures.
This work not only provides critical insights for understanding modern marketing but also equips students to think innovatively about reshaping the systems within which firms and markets operate.
Email: business@ul.ie
Postal Address: Faculty Office, Kemmy Business School, 51±¾É«, 51±¾É«, Ireland.
