The marketing technology landscape has witnessed a growth of 5,233 percent globally from 150 solutions available in 2011 to 8,000 in 2020, said Scott Brinker, Vice President, Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot and Editor, chiefmartec.com.

Speaking at the 17th Marketing Conclave, organised by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Brinker highlighted that 51 percent of marketing departments are using at least some parts of an agile marketing approach in 2021. Citing IDC IT industry 2020 predictions, he said that over 500 million digital apps and services would be developed and deployed using cloud-native approaches by 2023.

“There has never been a more exciting time to be working in marketing. The pace of innovation from the rapidly growing ecosystem of marketing technology ventures, in India and around the world, is simply incredible,” he added.

Industry leaders opined that over the past few years, India’s marketing ecosystem has evolved drastically and has adapted to technology at an unprecedented pace. Storytelling and branding have become more purposeful, performance marketing has embraced infinitely more formats.

While the fundamentals of marketing remain the same, the need is to adapt to the new ecosystem, the newer channels to reach consumers, the journeys that provide frictionless access and enhanced focus on content to help customers on the DIY journey of accessing products and services.

“The Covid-19 pandemic may have had a short-term impact on advertising but it’s safe to say that the long-term effect on marketing in India has been both multifaceted and profound. The IAMAI marketing summit is important because it allows us to dive deep, introspect and share all the dynamism that has gone into in our industry over the past two years and opine on the future, ” said Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group & Chair, Digital Advertising Committee, IAMAI.

“The pandemic has been a life-changing event that occurs once in a lifetime. It has pushed us to re-think and re-imagine the world as we see it and with that perspective marketing also needs to be approached with a new mindset. India has rapidly advanced in marketing tech implementation and is well-placed to adapt and scale up new ways of marketing to consumers. It is a great opportunity for us to become the benchmark for tech-driven marketing practices across the globe,” said Ravi Santhanam, CMO, Head-Corporate Communications and Head-Liability Products and Managed Programs, HDFC Bank.

Over 2,000 attendees from across the globe participated in the four-day marketing conclave, which concluded on October 29. It saw about 30 sessions with over 100 speakers.