'Digital technology will get more disruptive'

Digital technology is more disruptive than any other technology we have invented or discovered, according to marketing guru Jagdish N Sheth, Charles H Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Emory University, Atlanta, US.

“Digital technology will create equal opportunities for newcomers and might be a problem for incumbents in some fashion, as it truly democratises technology,” said Sheth at the international conference on Digital Disruptions – Trends and Opportunities in Marketing here on Friday. The marketing expert inaugurated the two-day conference, organised by IBS Mumbai, by a video message and was later joined by Prasad Shejale, CEO of LogicServe (India), and Uday Sodhi, executive vice-president and head of digital business at Sony Entertainment.

He said: “The four Ps of marketing - price, product, promotion and place - are undergoing a change thanks to technology.” According to him, technology will make prices more dynamic. The idea of social media platforms for promotion was inconceivable till a few years ago, but today they can create or destroy brands in a matter of seconds, he added. The user is becoming the producer and the promoter in the digital world. Distribution is going to transform in a significant way and disrupt traditional store-based formats. “I think online is going to become a reality in India sooner than we thought because the delivery system is still very affordable in India,” he said.

Sony Pictures' Sodhi agreed with Sheth adding that if businesses do not adapt to the digital disruption, they would be in danger. “Not too many organisations are ready for this shift. And, putting this in perspective of marketing, we have people still talking about advertising in the old ways.”  Adding: “Automation and artificial intelligence are going to be the future of marketing. Collecting data and taking decisions based on that data will become significantly important for all of us in the marketing space. The entire ecosystem of 4Ps is becoming one of 4Es - experience, environment, exchange and evangelism.”

Sodhi said in this day and age, inspiring consumers would be a huge challenge for marketers.  Forty research papers were presented at the event and discussed in three tracks at the conference, which evoked considerable interest among the academicians and practitioners attending the conference.