Do marketing people really need to learn to code ?
I was reading about Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom, a marketer by day, self taught code geek by night, now hundreds of millions of dollars the better for those late nights.The responses across the web shout out about how we too can make millons if we just learn this important new language and put in the hours.
Not necessarily so, according to Betabeat’s Nitasha Tiku, who rightly points out that the genius in many of the multi million dollar apps is based on marketing insight, not code.
Tiku also points out that there is a big difference between knowing how to code and coding well, and that coding is a specific, professional skill – not something we can all make millions from night classes doing.
The success of Codeacademy and other ‘Code for Dummies’ operations lies, in her view, and in mine, in their fantastic marketing – not in their dissemination of coding skills. Being conversant with the nuances of code, and understanding how it works is an important thing, but the best products and services will always require great marketing insights to make them fly.
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