A large number of companies today admit that they lack major digital skills to successfully execute their strategies. Many executive teams are focused on digital transformation and customer experience initiatives but often forget the “people” element of these changes.
Businesses are not rising to the challenge. Upskilling of this nature is a complex endeavour and there is no silver bullet. It requires an orchestrated programme of hiring, training, mentoring, partnering and incubating the right talent.
It all starts with understanding the skills you need to be looking for in your team to function effectively now and in the future.
To address some of these challenges, Rika Digital organised an event co-hosted by Hays Marketing at Bournemouth University where Clare Kemsley, Managing Director at Hays Marketing, presented findings from their marketing report ‘Elements of a Marketer: Skills for a Digital World’. This was followed by a panel discussion centred around the essential 'elements' of a successful marketer which was chaired by our founder James Beeson.
Panel members included: Tom Keeping (Entrepreneur and Founder of Keeping & Co), Finn Morgan (Head of Global Engagement at Bournemouth University), and Dr. Sonal Minocha (Pro Vice-Chancellor of Global Engagement at Bournemouth University).
The event helped facilitate an open discussion between marketing professionals, further and higher education as well as brands and agencies.
Positive feedback received from those who attended included:
“I was invited to a discussion hosted by Hays on the Elements of a Marketer at Bournemouth University last evening. The presentation by Clare Kemsley was brilliant, she is very compelling. Great event. Thank you."
– Will Davies, Special Projects Manager at Jolt
“It was great to be in a room with so many knowledgeable people in the marketing industry!”
– Sam Benjamin, Marketing Student at Bournemouth University
“There was so much information to take in - knowing the skills gap is an advantage to the ones that have them and the ones who manage teams. I will be updating my LinkedIn profile to demonstrate. Networking before and after the conference and panel was really good, and there are some great opportunities to work together. I look forward to participating in the next Hays event.”
– Maria Jose Serres-Rouse, Senior Digital Strategist at LV (previously Rika Digital).
