CAMBRIDGE, Mass: Brand managers need to change their entire approach in the digital age, and should instead adopt the title and functions of "brand advocates", according to a new report issued by Forrester, the research firm.

In Adaptive Brand Marketing: Rethinking Your Approach to Branding in the Digital Age, Forrester analyst Lisa Bradner argued that brand advocates "really need to be in charge of the heart and soul of what the brand stands for."

"It does move you off the generalist track to be more of a pure marketer," she continued.

One essential aspect of this transition is responding as quickly as possible to changing consumer trends, while budget levels also need to mirror wider fluctuations in the trading environment, rather than being fixed in advance.

Smaller, more frequent forms of communication across a number of different platforms are also preferable to major "bursts" of activity once or twice a year, according to Forrester's study.

Similarly, "consumer intelligence" – based on the findings drawn from customer insight and market research – must become integral to the decision-making process, with "predictive modelling" taking precedence over historical data.

Marketers should also endeavour to bring a number of previously outsourced functions across the research, planning and creative cycles in-house.

More broadly, rather than forming fixed relationships with specific agencies, these "partnerships" could be replaced with short-term alliances with creative and media shops, and media owners, as required.

Large conglomerates should also consider moving away from organisational models based around their brands to structures that focus on communicating with specific audiences.

Earlier this year, Procter & Gamble, the world's biggest advertiser, followed such a route when it divided its beauty division in to units targeting male and female consumers.

It has also recently rolled out a new agency remuneration formula, developed the position of "brand franchise leader", and launched a range of online communities in an attempt to connect with specific groups demographic groups.

Marc Pritchard, the Cincinnati-based firm's global brand-building officer, added that the FMCG giant is regularly reviewing its spending patterns.

"The volatility of the marketplace has really caused us to have to look at things on a monthly minimum, sometimes weekly and daily basis," he said.

"Digital gives you even more flexibility in your spending, but even TV is now being much more flexible on when you can spend."

Paul Polman, chief executive of Unilever, asserted that the Anglo-Dutch firm was also seeking to adapt to the new demands of the digital world.

The most "extreme examples" of this, he said, were the adoption of co-creation drives for brands like Omo and Vaseline, and dispensing with an advertising agency altogether for Peperami in the UK, and using "crowdsourcing" instead.

"However well traditional advertising agencies read the signals and recognise the need for radical change in their capabilities, few agencies can address all the communications needs of a brand," said Polman.

"This is making the management of agencies increasingly complex, and raises challenging questions

Data sourced from AdAge; additional content by Warc staff