--- title: The One, Absolute, Undeniable Skill Needed for the Industrial Marketer in the Digital Age description: If industrial marketers are smart they would be wise to find someone in their company that has the VISION to compete in the digital age. So says Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen in their new book, The New Digital Age, Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business. image: https://www.thereppgroup.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/eric_schmidt-jared_cohen-google_0-1-2.jpg --- [![The-Repp-Group-Logo-2025-r2](https://www.thereppgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/The-Repp-Group-Logo-2025-r2.png?width=640&height=211&name=The-Repp-Group-Logo-2025-r2.png "The-Repp-Group-Logo-2025-r2")](https://www.thereppgroup.com) Open main menu Close main menu - [Tom Repp](https://www.thereppgroup.com/tomrepp) - [What We Do](https://www.thereppgroup.com/consulting) - [Resources](https://www.thereppgroup.com/publications) Open the submenu - [Content REPPliKator](https://www.thereppgroup.com/repplikator) - [REPPliKator Q&A](https://www.thereppgroup.com/repplikator-qa) - [Partners](https://www.thereppgroup.com/partners) - Industrial Marketers Ask Open the submenu - [What Are The Seven Infrastructure Pillers](https://www.thereppgroup.com/what-are-the-seven-infrastructure-pillars) - [What Is the Digital Moat?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/what-is-the-digital-moat-framework) - [What Are Large Language Models (LLMs)?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/what-are-large-language-models-llms-what-every-industrial-ceo-must-understand-now) - [What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?: How AI Answers Are Quietly Rewriting Industrial Buying](https://www.thereppgroup.com/what-is-answer-engine-optimization-aeo-how-ai-answers-are-quietly-rewriting-industrial-buying) - [What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Why Industrial Leaders Need to Know](https://www.thereppgroup.com/what-is-generative-engine-optimization-geo-why-industrial-leaders-need-to-know) - [Why B2B Industrials Aren’t Using the Web as a Channel to Market](https://www.thereppgroup.com/why-b2b-industrials-arent-using-the-web-as-a-channel-to-market) - [What Percentage Should Mid-size B2B Industrials Spend on Digital?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/what-percentage-should-mid-size-b2b-industrial-spend-on-digital) - [In the Digital Age, Does a Mid-Size Industrial Need to Rethink Their Brand Message?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/does-a-mid-size-b2b-industrial-need-a-great-brand-story) - [How Will the AI Revolution Effect B2B Industrial Marketing?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/how-will-the-ai-revolution-effect-b2b-industrial-marketing) - [How Long for Online Success for B2B Industrials?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/how-long-for-online-success-for-b2b-industrials) - [Should Mid-Size B2B Industrials Deploy Marketing Automation?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/should-mid-size-b2b-industrials-deploy-marketing-automation) - [Do B2B Industrials Need a Marketing Coach or Consultant?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/do-b2b-industrials-need-a-marketing-coach-or-consultant) - [Do B2B Industrials Need a Digital Marketing Agency](https://www.thereppgroup.com/do-b2b-industrials-need-a-digital-agency) - [As an Industrial Marketer How Often Should I Update Website](https://www.thereppgroup.com/how_often_do_i_need_to_upate_my_industrial_website) - [Do Mid-Size B2B Industrials Need to Embrace AI for Digital Marketing?](https://www.thereppgroup.com/do-mid-size-b2b-industrials-need-to-embrace-ai-for-digital-marketing) - [Contact Me](https://www.thereppgroup.com/contact-me) ## Hiring an outside marketing guide...is well worth it. ![Tom-Repp-Front-page-transparent](https://www.thereppgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/images/Tom-Repp-Front-page-transparent.png?width=2000&name=Tom-Repp-Front-page-transparent.png) # The One, Absolute, Undeniable Skill Needed for the Industrial Marketer in the Digital Age ![Tom Repp](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/a31fd2565e9302ced7f587a7d4791f5a) [Tom Repp](https://www.thereppgroup.com/author/tom-repp) Feb 24 2014 [industrial marketing strategy](https://www.thereppgroup.com/tag/industrial-marketing-strategy) ![blogging equals more leads](https://www.thereppgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/eric_schmidt-jared_cohen-google_0-1-2.jpg?width=400&height=300&name=eric_schmidt-jared_cohen-google_0-1-2.jpg "eric schmidt jared cohen google")I was watching the CBS Morning News this morning.  I was struck by the opening “teasers”.  Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Google and Jared Cohen, the Director of Google Ideas were due up to talk about their new book, *The New Digital Age, Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business*. I had read an Executive Summary of the book (I download wirelessly to my Nexus 7 with “1-Click” from Amazon right from my computer screen in my office)  I don’t believe there is anything truly ground breaking in Schmidt’s and Cohen’s book, other than a unique prospective from two of the most influential technologists in the world. For any business owner, investor, citizen, it makes sense to at least read the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon. It’s free. As most information I digest, I do it through the lens of my business and my industrial marketing friends. Even I, at an age where time rushes past like road signs on I-94. (My Mother & Father warned me.) Even I, a pretty savvy technology guy, was struck up-side the head with the reality of the speed at which our society and industrial internet marketing is changing…primarily due to the web. *“As global connectivity continues its unprecedented advance, many old institutions and hierarchies* (this means you Mr. Industrial Marketer) *will have to adapt or risk becoming obsolete, irrelevant to modern society. The struggles we see today in many businesses, large and small, are examples of the dramatic shift for society that lies ahead”- from The New Digital Age, Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business,* So…I got to thinking. (Extremely dangerous!). What is the most critical skill inside the walls of any industrial business that needs to freshen up their go-to-market strategy?  A skill that is absolutely and undeniably needed to prosper in the digital age Schmidt and Cohen talk about. Vision!   Sounds cliched, doesn’t it?  . The strongest point Eric Schmidt made this morning on the CBS Morning Show was, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I must have the right people at Google to figure it out when it happens”.  Schmidt went on to say, every company needs someone to lead that has the intellectual flexibility to deal with future changes. To my mind, that is VISION.  Does your industrial business or industrial marketing department have someone with vision and the skills to act on that vision? 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