NASSCOM MarTECH 2016 Moments With ResearchNXT

The MarTECH (Marketing Technology) Confluence 2015 organized by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM – @NasscomEvents) had predicted that by 2016 nearly 50 percent of world’s population will be connected to the internet and that the number of internet users in India is expected to surpass those in the US.

The lineage, therefore, set its roots right in the very first year of its conception. The enriching and growing eco-system of MarTECH was further decoded in the second chapter of the recently concluded NASSCOM MarTECH Confluence 2016 (#nasscomMarTECH) at The Hyatt Regency, Mumbai on 1st September, 2016. Out of all the competent and able partners, Research NXT supported the event with the aspect of building blocks of Eco-System. 

MarTECH 2016 themed ‘Marketing Technology: The Innovation that drives ROI’ provided a platform for knowledge sharing, networking and generated awareness about Marketing Technology and explained how organizations can effectively integrate them into their marketing strategy and operations. In the era where customers harp on the Zero moment of Truth, this becomes crucial and important.

Mash Up! Session – Marketing Software: Did it worked as Promised?

Santosh Abraham  Founder & Lead Analyst, Research NXT was part of a panel discussion called ‘Mash Up!‘ at NASSCOM MarTECH 2016 that had other distinguished panellists like Julie Woods-Moss  CMO & CEO Nextgen Business Tata Communications and Tarun Jain Head of Product, Monetization at Flipkart, contemplating the mindset of Right Message to the Right Person at the Right Time as the Holy Grail of Marketing. The discussion was moderated by Tracy Eiler – CMO, InsideView.

Through this insightful discussion, Tracy pitched questions at the panellists to ascertain facts on MarTECH and Santosh caught the audience off guard when he unwittingly threw open a survey to the live audience seated there to kick off the symposium.  His survey sparingly asked of how many CMOs were present in the audience, or how many heads of Marketing guys were present or how many of us have ‘Digital Marketing’ defined as our skill set on our profiles and this lead to an uproarious laughter from the audience. Santosh made an apt point that there are hardly 2K CMOs in India, thus showcasing the fact that the concept of digital marketing is at a nascent stage here. He further added that as per the statistics gathered by research NXT, out of the estimated 25K marketing professionals, an average 50% speak about Digital Marketing on social media. Eminent panellists present agreed in tandem, thereby strengthening these facts.

During the session, Julie explained the evolution of CMO and later also tweeted “CMO is not a buzzword, it’s critical. While Tracy and Santosh spoke about the traditional marketing funnel and what should be done to create awareness about Marketing Technology, Tarun on the other hand was candid in saying that In times of customer first, an organisation needs to build robust technology to give good experiences to the customers and this is where primarily MarTECH plays a vital role.” It was also interesting to note what Tracy had to say later through her tweet “The traditional marketing funnel has fundamentally changed” and Santosh too later tweeted “The biggest shift would be to have business schools for CMOs to train/prepare them for #MarTECH” which only goes on to suggest that soon CMOs will be ruling the roost!

@ResearchNXT Moments from #nasscomMarTECH

With twelve sessions encapsulated with eminent speakers, it seemed nothing less than a crash course of a day on MarTECH with Innovation and Marketing means of fulfilling customer needs. The moments at the grand confluence were certainly memorable. The Team of Research NXT had the splendid time not only to gain great learning but also meet and greet the Industry Stalwarts. The sessions so weaved together bought a lot of essence of today’s marketing flavors rightly blended with technology to bring in the right channels to not only satisfy but also delight the customer.

For Santosh (@santoshabr), the level of engagement and involvement was more intrigued considering his experience in MarTech space for 12 plus years. 

On a personal level, he adores and admires the spirit and sheer exuberance of co-panelist Julia (@juliewoodsmoss), who had a tiring journey the previous day, but energetic enough to hit the gym for her workout session. Phew! That was quite a bit and when asked why she’d stress herself to this level and her simple answer was to be fresh for the session and rejuvenate her to be exhilarating and rocking for the event. On the other hand, Santosh was amazed with Tracy’s (@tracyleiler) sheer professionalism, she was crisp and up to date with her deliverable planned. The astute professional that she is was evident with her opulent knowledge on aspects of the Indian culture, best practices followed here and various challenges one faces through her discussions with fellow panelists and beyond. The grandeur of her talent does not end here as she also went out of her way to ask delegates during the day about their views on MarTECH in India.  The able and charismatic CMO displayed warmth and passion when she opened the session ‘Mash Up ‘with her stylish speech on ‘Mantras of New Marketing ‘an insightful session for scaling up Marketing operations.  Tarun (@tarunkj), the man who knows money from Flipkart, too inspired Santosh with his able prowess to distinguish and optimize the core of MarTECH in today’s age and time. This was indeed a very learning experience for Santosh .