Page 6 - Internationalist Magazine 2015 72
P. 6
Highlighting the
People & Ideas in
International Marketing
We’re always proud to celebrate the people behind
the brands, and our annual Internationalists of the
Year feature now marks a decade of naming those
marketing leaders who’ve accomplished extraordinary
achievements over the past 12 months. In fact, many
communications programs would not have gotten
off the ground without the drive, determination
and fearlessness of these individuals. They’re an
inspiration to us all.
In fact, over the past ten years, The Internationalist
has cited over 1000 people who are reinventing our
industry or affecting positive change—within their organization and for
their customers. In a digital world where an active group of dedicated industry leaders can have more
inluence than ever before, it made sense to highlight their thoughts about marketing’s expanding role
throughout the world.
This has led us to launch the INTERNATIONALIST 1000 initiative—1000 Marketers around the World
Reshaping the Future of Marketing—in partnership with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the
world’s largest client-side marketer organization. THE 1000 represent a peer group of dedicated industry
leaders who are reshaping our understanding of marketing’s expanding role throughout the world. Their
ideas and actions are at the leading edge of marketing’s transformation.
The Internationalist/ANA venture recently engendered a new series of annual books on The Reinvention
of Marketing, featuring the current thoughts and up-to-date experiences of today’s marketing leaders.
You’ll ind an excerpt on the following pages.
Many of the leaders highlighted in this issue are truly in the process of reinventing marketing, given the
growing signiicance of the discipline, combined with today’s rapid rate of change and opportunity. Yet, it
is not an easy time to be a marketer, especially now that everyone must act on a global stage.
The increased responsibilities of 21st century marketing leaders are not only exceedingly complex, but
carry far greater levels of accountability than ever before. Marketers are charged with building brands
NOW—not over time—in an environment that stresses increased sales TODAY. Working in “real time”
with accelerated decision-making and instant data feedback demands that a smart marketer execute and
evaluate simultaneously.perhaps for the irst time in the history of business.
Today, smart marketers are a company’s visionary and its expert on trends as they prove adeptness at
both internal and external communications. Add a global overlay of regulations, carbon footprints, CSR,
cultures, languages, varying levels of internet penetration, political environments and all manner of
differing perspectives. and you’ve described one of the world’s most challenging occupations-- fraught
with immediate customer reaction that directly affects a brand’s potential for success.
Perhaps the best description of today’s successful marketer is a “miracle worker.” And this issue
celebrates those who do indeed work miracles.
Deb Malone
Founder
4 the internationalist