Unskilling

Time to Learn by Unlearning in Marketing

94% of workers express a desire to learn skills to work with generative AI, only 5% of organizations provide training on this at scale.

Unskilling. Yep, that’s a thing now. Digital transformation is all the buzz, talked about every single day. And let us tell you, it’s putting marketers through the wringer. We’re staring down a big, old paradox: the need to ditch the dusty, old methods of yesterday while scooping up fresh strategies that keep pace with the constant changes hitting us consumers—thanks to a tidal wave of tech and AI advancements.

So, here's the deal: while you've got to stay on top of the latest and greatest, you also need to let go of what you thought you knew. Unskilling in marketing means making a sharp turn away from the old stuff that just isn't working anymore and clearing the deck for some snazzy new tactics. But it's not just about tossing out the old to make way for the new. It’s about honing a better way to listen—because listening, really understanding your market, that’s the bedrock of good marketing. Always has been, always will be.

And yet, there’s this glaring skills gap. Accenture’s recent study spells it out: 51% of organizations are feeling the sting from not having enough IT savvy in-house. But it’s not just an IT issue—it cuts right into marketing too. Marketers have to keep up with shifts in consumer behaviour and all these tech innovations. And get this: 94% of workers are itching to get skilled up in generative AI, but only a measly 5% of companies are actually stepping up with the training. Talk about a disconnect!

Julie Sweet, chair and CEO of Accenture, hits the nail on the head. She says we need to become "talent creators." That means companies need to get their act together, using tech to reinvent themselves. For us marketing folks, it's about diving deep into industry-specific training and buffing up our tech skills to not just meet, but smash those business growth goals and connect better with people.

To bridge this whopper of a skills gap, companies need to get serious about training programs that everyone can get into. We're talking about beefing up on data analytics, user experience, and learning to create content with AI—skills that are going to be front and center in marketing’s future.

So, what’s our takeaway? Lean into upskilling. See it as your chance to peel off the dead skin of past tactics and jump headfirst into something new and exciting. At the heart of it all, it’s about getting closer, more real with our market.

The time is now, folks. Time to learn—or should we say unlearn—and get ourselves geared up for our markets. Let’s do this!