MarTech companies need to help clients with internal skilling and integration: Mirum Report

• As per the report, 80% of marketers expect their organizations to invest more in tools and technologies over the next few years.
• 64% marketers see the lack of internal skills while 59% marketers see cross-organization adoption as hurdles.

Mirum India, along with WPP CEO Mark Read, unveiled the ‘India MarTech Report 2020’, a study exploring the marketing technology scenario in the country, its impact and trends. The study included input from over 500 Indian marketers, with a representation across company sizes, sectors and geographies, making it an authoritative barometer of India MarTech. The study was commissioned and executed by Mirum India, a WPP agency.

MarTech is in an interesting inflexion point. The report said that while there is a fair amount of awareness and adoption, there are some roadblocks, as with any new paradigm. Lack of internal skills (46%), complexity (35%) and integration issues (33%) are concerns for marketers. Even if they had access to the best tech, marketers see lack of internal skills (64%) and cross-organization adoption (59%) as hurdles. The good thing is, these are solvable issues, but MarTech firms need to take the onus of bridging some of these gaps.

Another key finding of the study revealed that 80% of marketers expect to raise MarTech spends over the next few years. It adds that digital marketing is advancing rapidly, and the emphasis is shifting towards ROI (return on investment) rather than the flag-planting approach. The report also underlines some of the challenges and opportunities that brands face in their technology adoption journey.



Globally, digital marketing is in a state of constant change. As it evolves, technology will play an even greater role in consumer engagement. Over the next few years, the report says that brands and companies will equip themselves internally to optimise increasingly sophisticated MarTech tools and support digital campaigns.

The insights confirm the progression of brands and marketers towards new technologies like Blockchain, the internet of things, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, etc, though their impact have yet to be ascertained. The reports adds that, while consumer-facing firms are more bullish on new technology opportunities, B2B businesses are catching up.

The report lays out the dynamics supporting the evolution of MarTech in India:

• Customer engagement and personalisation of experiences are key drivers for MarTech spends
• Investments follow a maturity curve – 87% of marketers believe it takes at least three years to demonstrate ROI in MarTech
• 64% of marketers see a lack of internal skills, while 59% cite cross-organisation adoption as a hurdle to MarTech growth
• B2C and B2B businesses are equally committed to adopting MarTech
• Data and analytics skills will become a major hiring criterion for marketers
• 70% of marketers say confluence of creativity and technology will be the key to crafting successful digital campaigns across sectors

While launching the ‘India MarTech Report 2020’, Mark Read, CEO, WPP, said: “India is an exciting market for brands and marketers, especially with government initiatives like Digital India. There is huge scope for marketers to reach and engage with the audience via integrated marketing tools. Effective MarTech innovation enables brands to assimilate numerous touchpoints and data-driven solutions, enabling intelligent decision making and process automation. With increasing consumer demands, MarTech is the key to sustained consumer relationships and ROI.”

Hareesh Tibrewala, Joint CEO, Mirum added: “MarTech is significantly transforming India’s marketing landscape. It is generating curiosity and empowering marketers to create engaging campaigns for brand communication and consumer engagement. As part of this dynamic environment, we believe that MarTech, complimentary technological innovations and support from data and analytics have improved marketing strategies and results. The report has significantly mapped the present and projected the future. We hope that the insights will benefit the industry and decision makers to build robust strategies for optimal consumer engagement.”

Mirum India became a WPP agency in 2014, offering 360-degree digital solutions for brands and marketers in the country.