Purpose and technology, the axes on which Marketing must revolve at the current turning point

• Hoy Es Marketing', the reference meeting for Marketing professionals organized by ESIC University has celebrated its 20th edition.

• Under the title 'New questions, new solutions, new people: standing out in the new age of marketing & technology', it brought together the largest community of marketing professionals to share knowledge and trends in the sector.

• More than 3,500 attendees attended this unmissable event in which more than 15 speakers reflected on issues related to Marketing and Technology.

Madrid, April 19, 2024. Hoy Es Marketing (HEM), the reference meeting for Marketing, Business and Technology professionals, has celebrated its twentieth edition, attended by more than 3,500 Marketing and Technology professionals.

The day was attended by Elena Salamanca, journalist of Antena 3, as master of ceremonies. After a brief welcome, she gave way to Eduardo Gómez Martín, president of ESIC University, who reiterated his welcome to all participants in the day and reviewed the evolution of Marketing in the 20-year history of Hoy Es Marketing. "Twenty years ago, the world of Marketing was different from what it is today. However, today, Marketing is undergoing an unprecedented revolution, which began with the emergence of the Internet," explained Gómez Martin and then shared a reflection: "We are at a historical crossroads, a turning point that challenges us to rethink practices, strategies, but above all, our purpose". Thus, the president of ESIC University encouraged all Marketing professionals to align their strategies with a purpose. "Let's not just ask ourselves what we can sell, but what value we can bring to society," he added.

Enrique Benayas, Chief Innovation Officer of ESIC University, then opened the first panel of experts of the day, on the keys to marketing today. In his speech, among other issues, Benayas also highlighted the importance of the role of purpose in the field of Marketing, explaining the results of the new ESIC Marketing Foresight 2024 study. "The purpose is key, and the role of marketing is to turn the purpose into a fundamental and tangible asset of the company. Moreover, it is necessary to connect with the customer and be eligible. To do this, we must generate a positive impact," he said, stressing the idea that marketing has to activate the purpose, "not remain a claim."

After the ESIC University CIO's speech, it was the turn of Ximena Daud, Chief Revenue Officer at DoGood People, who spoke about Revenue Operations. For Daud, " Revenue Operations are the engine of the company, because they represent an unbiased perspective". According to the CRO, "it is a key partner of the business, of all areas. Because a strategy that is defined in the long term and at scale must be operationalized "and we are the ones who translate the strategy into tactics, we are the ones who make it happen," he concluded.

Eduardo Dívar, General Manager of KIA Spain, focused his speech on 'customer obsession'. " Customer obsession is to prioritize the customer in strategic decisions", he defined. According to Dívar, being obsessed with the customer means deciding on the basis of what they think, what they want and the trends they follow. "And to serve them we design and analyze the customer journey of all our audiences," he explained in relation to how you manage this issue in KIA Spain.

After Dívar, Lola Fernández, marketing director of La Vaguada shopping center, and Jesús Hernández, assistant manager of the same center, spoke about how La Vaguada works to connect brands and consumers. Both agree that some time ago, people thought that shopping centers would cease to make sense in the face of online shopping. "But shopping malls have not stood still," they assured, showing the audience some of their actions and campaigns. "That's why people still today, if they have to choose the physical or online channel, they opt for the physical one, for the experience," they explained.

To close the panel, Alfonso Fernández, CMO & Head of Ecommerce-Direct to Consumer (D2C) at Samsung Electronics, focused on the importance of brands redefining their raison d'être, their purpose "Beyond communication, that translates into action," he stressed. For Fernández, "purpose should be a way of life, not a fashion". 

The second part of Hoy Es Marketing kicked off with a panel of experts on trends, opportunities and challenges in Marketing moderated by Chema Visconti, director of the Masters in Digital Marketing and Digital Business at ESIC University - ESIC Business.

The first to speak on the panel was Pablo Monge, Managing Director at Globant Create, for whom "the objectives of a CMO of more than 20 years ago have not changed with respect to the CMO of 2024". For Monge, the objectives are the same: to achieve a more relevant brand, increase demand and sales, while sticking to a budget. "What has changed is the complexity we face in achieving that goal with the advent of technology," he said.

For his part, Óscar Soriano, Founder and CEO Play the Game, reflected on disruption in the new mass media and immersive marketing: "Because gamification is not just for kids or freaks. There are more than 3,000 million gamers in the world, with an average age of 28, and they generate more than 2,000 million dollars in Spain alone", he pointed out. "That's why many brands have linked their communication to gaming and mainstreaming. In fact, it is more difficult to find brands that are not linked to gaming than those linked to it". 

Esther Morell, Director of Marketing and Communication at ILUNION, spoke about inclusive marketing, stressing the importance of creating accessible digital content. "We must be aware of the diversity of the audience and keep it in mind when designing content. Otherwise, our message will not reach millions of people".

The panel also included the participation of José Estrada, Global Omnichannel Manager at Hijos de Rivera, and Pablo López-Barajas, director of Special Solutions and Events at Atresmedia Publicidad, who analyzed the evolution of Estrella Galicia's advertising in which the brand has opted "for differentiation", to find a niche in a market with a lot of competition that had many more resources.

Hoy Es Marketing counted with the participation of the revelation athlete of the year, Ilia Topuria, UFC Featherweight Champion, who together with his PR & Brand Manager, Valentín Hernández, shared the keys to the success of the Ilia Topuria brand.

In a pleasant conversation between the two, Topuria explained the lessons he has learned throughout his career in sports, which he considers valid for the company. Topuria believes that, "to achieve a long-term goal, you have to set short-term goals". Furthermore, according to Topuria, when an opportunity presents itself, preparation is key. "Preparation helps you to deal with all your fears," stressed the newcomer athlete, whose image, based on media appearances alone in the last three months, is valued at more than 40 million dollars.is valued at more than 40 million euros.

Technology applied to Marketing has also had its space for analysis in Hoy Es Marketing. In a panel moderated by Carlos Vizoso, Chief Technology Officer and Director of Digital Innovation at ESIC University, the Regional VicePresident and Senior Director, EMEA Digital Transformation Education Industry at Salesforce, María Ángeles Santos and Julio Villalobos, showed different case studies of their clients to talk about Customer Centric strategies based on data and AI. According to both of them, "personalization needs a very good data strategy".

For his part, Alberto Granados, Country General Manager - President Microsoft Spain, analyzed the impact of AI on Marketing. "The adoption of AI is transforming Marketing, improving the customer experience with AI, moving towards hyper-personalization; improving data-driven decision making; and through greater creativity and efficiency of teams," he said.

The following presentations, by Rose Cartolari, international expert in Strategy and Inclusive Leadership, and Bernardo Hernández, Investor and Advisor, focused on Leadership and Marketing.

Cartolari focused his speech on the importance of personal branding for personal branding for leadership in the 21st century. Through her personal experience, this expert encouraged the audience to "do what you love", asking ourselves where we want to evolve, what we must do to do so, where we want to go and what we can change. She also recommended not going into "autopilot" mode, taking things as they come. For Cartolari, "especially in the midst of the current technical disruption, in the midst of all the changes we are going through, we need the opposite of automated behavior".

Hernández , for his part , reflected on Leadership and Marketing in a talk entitled 'From CMO to CEO', explaining that, in order to move from marketing management to general management, "in addition to having motivation, it is important to have an 'out of the box' approach to work". According to Hernández, in this transition, the ally must be technology, "because there will be CEOs who are not technological experts".

Finally, Silvia Leal (PhD), international expert in Trends and Technology, closed the day by reviewing the main conclusions of the day and presented the opportunities that immersive marketing offers as an incipient trend. For Leal, "the mix of technology developed in the 80s, together with AI, offers marketing managers the possibility of generating a hyper-personalized customer experience".