For more than 20 years, I navigate the beautiful world of marketing. Sometimes in product management, marketing research, innovation and product development, a little bit of communications here and there, traditional marketing, international marketing and, in an always more prominent place, digital marketing. I did not complete a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Marketing for nothing! Marketing and its multiple facets fascinate me. In fact, if there is a constant in my career, it is this passion for marketing, regardless of the roles, titles, companies or business sectors in which I had the chance to evolve and grow for the past 2 decades. At the mid-career (or mid-life crisis for a few!), I come to the conclusion that if I like marketing so much, it’s precisely because it is anything but static. The profession of « marketer » is in perpetual evolution. And it evolved at light speed for 20 years. It even seems that these changes have accelerated over the last 5 years! I read almost everything being published on the trends that help to redefine my job, my « professional raison d’être », I have the impression that marketing is always more and more compartmentalized and that each of these compartments becomes more and more sophisticated. I try to keep myself updated. I attend digital marketing related webinars, had a blog on the subject, read books and case studies. I taught marketing as a Lecturer for 10 years at the Université de Sherbrooke. I am following courses on Google Digital Garage. I take everything that passes.
In fact, the digital is not reshaping the entire marketing ecosystem as Philip Kotler had defined in the last century, it reinvents the marketing profession in its entirety. It therefore forces the marketer to reinvent himself also beyond the consulting buzzwords and flavors of the month… The future of marketing goes is digital and requires a complete transformation, it’s obvious for a long time. It changes quickly. To remain relevant as a « marketer », I felt that I had to make a major move in my career to align my professional future on those trends.
If I make this long preamble, it’s because I’m about to make a big jump. Those who have been around me know that I have always said that growth is always outside our comfort zone.
I am now very excited about a new business sector (for me): insurance and financial services. This field is clearly at the forefront of the digital transformation that is redefining not only marketing but also many businesses and their former business model. This new role will allow me to make the most of my marketing skills and my management experience while actively participating in the development and execution of the digital strategies inherent in this sector. In parallel with this change of sector, I will return to school at Cornell University by completing a degree in Digital Marketing in the coming months. This change is the result of several months of cogitation (and a little bit of soul-searching). It is with a sense of accomplishment that I will begin this new chapter of my career next Monday as a Marketing Consultant for La Capitale. Needless to say, I cannot wait to meet and collaborate with my new team!