This is a call for a new generation of leaders who consider themselves Marketing Technopologists. A Marketing Technopologist (a term coined by the Wall Street Journal) brings together the strengths of marketing, technology and social interaction. They combine these skills to study how digital advances are changing culture and media. They don’t walk away from the traditional tools of business, but instead embrace breakthrough digital tools to create a new way of doing business. FACT: Only 24% of U.S. marketers consider their firms to be “digitally savvy”. –eMarketer For the business leader willing to evolve into Marketing Technopologists, there is tremendous opportunity. If eMarketer is right, 3 out of 4 companies are not ready for this new world. So the person that is willing to lead the charge will have an invaluable competitive advantage…for their brands and in their own careers. Seth Godin summed up this opportunity when he wrote that:

“I think a new divide has opened up, one that is based far more on choice than on circumstance. Several million people have chosen to become the haves of the Internet, and at the same time that their number is growing, so are their skills…As a result, your most-connected, most influential customers are part of the digerati. They can make or break your product, your service or even your religion’s new policies. Because the Net is now a broadcast (and a narrowcast) medium, the digerati can spread ideas.” Leaders who embrace the mindset of a Marketing Technopologist have the opportunity to become the “digerati” of their profession.

Dave Knox – “Marketing Technopologist” at Procter & Gamble Twitter - @daveknox Blog – www.hardknoxlife.com