The IAB Europe AdEx Benchmark report is always a great opportunity to halt the permanent hyperloop we all work in and take stock of exactly what our industry has gone through.We can see that growth has stayed at a consistent level of around 12% year-on-year over the past 5 years as online media matures, accounting for €42bn of all media. However, the following are four areas from this year’s report that I feel have driven real change within the market:
Polarisation within Europe: The larger markets have matured as the tech landscape has settled and programmatic is now a cemented part of online activity within the largest markets. This compares to the emerging markets, who are seeing rapid growth as the tech giants transfer the learnings from the mature markets’ earlier development and infrastructure. This has meant exponential growth for the likes of Romania and Slovenia, as the initial entrants into areas such as programmatic have been received positively, driving further confidence.
The Organisation of Data: The accountability of online media has always been positive, but equally it has led to further complexity in the market. Not only has measurement begun to see some degree of standardisation, helping brands understand true effectiveness over time, but it has also allowed for more dynamic, real time decisions to become a standard practice. However, this organisation of data has not just allowed for clearer measurement. Publishers and platforms have segmented their audiences with more effect – the understanding of observed behavioural insights, as well as development of robust custom audiences has meant that targeting is paying back a stronger ROI and, as a result, increasing investment.
The Integration of Media and Content: Building on the last point, and due to the complexity of formats that online media comes with, content is playing a tighter role within all media decisions. The term “mobile first” is overused in our industry and not because people don’t appreciate the importance that the device plays in people’s lives, but because brands would all too often put their TV ad straight onto a mobile placement. The insights we are getting from our ability to analyse data more effectively has meant that the content creation and production process is now more dynamic and increasingly relevant to the device, context and environment when served.
The Growth of e-Commerce: The advancements of e-commerce from a platform experience (as well as improvements in distribution) have meant the consumer has more and more confidence in adopting this method of shopping. This has naturally has led to a rise in more direct performance media such as search. As content experience improves and the fact that the point of desire and traction can now happen in a matter of seconds, more immersive forms of online content has begun to prove direct attribution to sales.
There are still many opportunities across the industry to improve the experience that brands provide within online media, as well as simplifying the technical infrastructure that they operate in. However, there is a lot to be positive about as we enter the 3rd wave of disruption and the mass adoption of areas such as Artificial Intelligence and the internet of things.
The IAB Europe AdEx Benchmark report is always a great opportunity to halt the permanent hyperloop we all work in and take stock of exactly what our industry has gone through.We can see that growth has stayed at a consistent level of around 12% year-on-year over the past 5 years as online media matures, accounting for €42bn of all media. However, the following are four areas from this year’s report that I feel have driven real change within the market:
Polarisation within Europe: The larger markets have matured as the tech landscape has settled and programmatic is now a cemented part of online activity within the largest markets. This compares to the emerging markets, who are seeing rapid growth as the tech giants transfer the learnings from the mature markets’ earlier development and infrastructure. This has meant exponential growth for the likes of Romania and Slovenia, as the initial entrants into areas such as programmatic have been received positively, driving further confidence.
The Organisation of Data: The accountability of online media has always been positive, but equally it has led to further complexity in the market. Not only has measurement begun to see some degree of standardisation, helping brands understand true effectiveness over time, but it has also allowed for more dynamic, real time decisions to become a standard practice. However, this organisation of data has not just allowed for clearer measurement. Publishers and platforms have segmented their audiences with more effect – the understanding of observed behavioural insights, as well as development of robust custom audiences has meant that targeting is paying back a stronger ROI and, as a result, increasing investment.
The Integration of Media and Content: Building on the last point, and due to the complexity of formats that online media comes with, content is playing a tighter role within all media decisions. The term “mobile first” is overused in our industry and not because people don’t appreciate the importance that the device plays in people’s lives, but because brands would all too often put their TV ad straight onto a mobile placement. The insights we are getting from our ability to analyse data more effectively has meant that the content creation and production process is now more dynamic and increasingly relevant to the device, context and environment when served.
The Growth of e-Commerce: The advancements of e-commerce from a platform experience (as well as improvements in distribution) have meant the consumer has more and more confidence in adopting this method of shopping. This has naturally has led to a rise in more direct performance media such as search. As content experience improves and the fact that the point of desire and traction can now happen in a matter of seconds, more immersive forms of online content has begun to prove direct attribution to sales.
There are still many opportunities across the industry to improve the experience that brands provide within online media, as well as simplifying the technical infrastructure that they operate in. However, there is a lot to be positive about as we enter the 3rd wave of disruption and the mass adoption of areas such as Artificial Intelligence and the internet of things.
The luxury industry has started carving its own space in the social sphere, setting its own behaviour, managing consumer expectations and showcasing its personality. It is by understanding the data behind this landscape, and through partnerships like Tubular Labs, that we are unlocking preferences and uncovering emerging behaviours.
GENUINE AND RELEVANT
Adverts and premium content currently deliver the lowest return in engagement compared to the volume uploaded. Mystery is no longer enough, consumers are craving more entry into the exclusive world of luxury to observe the beauty, craft and story of every angle of luxury brands. It is this genuine content – fashion shows, montages and behind the brand access – that is driving 74% of all luxury video engagements.
However, brands also need to harness the power of digital content. There is an opportunity for luxury brands to deliver content solutions dynamically, serving more relevant videos based on data such as age, interest and behaviour.
Looking specifically at the luxury watch category, as expected, 73% of YouTube engagement is driven by those under the age of 34, who are mainly luxury owners in waiting. Perhaps surprising, luxury watch videos are also generating 18% of their engagements from those over 55 years old, which is 14 times the YouTube average.
Nevertheless, how these audiences engage with luxury watch video content is different. Those under 35 years focus on beauty and entertainment influencers, concentrating on how luxury brands make them look. Older audiences, meanwhile, engage with influencers who concentrate on craftsmanship and in-depth luxury product reviews.
AUTHENTICITY AND ORIGINALITY
The new influencer authority is authenticity and originality. As tempting as it is to seed products for visibility, luxury brands need to be selective. The rapid adoption of influencer strategies for categories from FMCG to luxury automobiles has also left consumers more sceptical of the true relationship between brands and influencers. As a result, only 16 luxury lifestyle influencers made The Sermo Digital Influencer Index cut.
Choosing the right influencers is absolutely critical, involving in-depth research identifying a profile of their background, beliefs and audience to ascertain if they truly fit the brand’s vision. For luxury brands it is not about volume, it is about the right contextual fit, originality and innovation which an influencer partnership can generate.
For example, as the official watch partner of FC Barcelona football club, Maurice Lacroix’s ‘Unique Fans Watch’ campaign invited the team’s players to design their own Maurice Lacroix Pontos S Extreme watches. The partnership has resulted in 20 videos, generating more than 9.8 million views and over 404,000 unique engagements or interactions. Additionally, the campaign generated 41% more visits to the partnership site and increased Maurice Lacroix social media fan base by over 11,000 fans.
“Luxury brands are always leading and setting the standard, that’s why people are eager to see what’s next”
Despite the niche nature of luxury, brands still need to produce content for the masses. By utilising popular themes, events and culture, brands can create a universal understanding to build brand desire and convert demand. The balance brands need to strike is between humanising their influencers and still driving views and engagement with topical content, such as unboxing which accounted for 72% of the luxury watch topics viewed in 2017.
Luxury brands are always leading and setting the standard, that’s why people are eager to see what’s next. Just like film studios, luxury brands have anticipated releases and consumer expectations to meet. Whether it’s their collections or showcases the bar for luxury has always been set high and that’s no different for their social channels.
The most successful luxury brands have embraced the opportunity of social video to truly immerse people in their unique stories, building authenticity and equity in this redefined category.
To access a summary of the study, click here (PDF).
The Superbowl has also dominated recent headlines with Lady Gaga using 300 Intel-powered drones during halftime. With so much hype and exposure, it’s no wonder brands want to get a slice of the action, despite the $5M price tag! Don’t miss the best and worst from Superbowl TV ads in 2017.
HEADLINES
Tech giants including Google, Microsoft and Facebook rally against Trump’s Muslim ban amidst fears for existing employees as well as the future of progressive thinking in the USA
Instagram launches Snapchat-esque ‘disappearing’ photo and video functionality
Dove UK brilliantly trolls the Trump administration’s attitude towards suspect information with their #AlternativeFacts campaign
INSIGHTS
Superbowl TV ads cost $5m for a 30-second spot. Here’s why they’re worth every penny due to online searches
A sophisticated marketing technology and advertising technology stack has had a transformative impact on performance marketing over the past 15 years, but we are now starting to see a similar scale of impact on marketing further up the funnel. To gain attention, change perceptions and drive desire, we need to adopt cutting-edge automation and cognitive technologies to the realm of content distribution and customer engagement strategies.
Yesterday at the OMD Oasis I joined Twitter’s Global Head of Content Strategy, Stacy Minero, The Weather Company’s CEO, Cameron Clayton, The Washington Post’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, Jeremy Gilbert and Quartz’s Co-Founder Zach Seward, to discuss Bots, APIs and AI.
The rise of the bot
Over the past five years, we have seen the rise of a range of new digital technologies that are transforming the way that we interact with content and services. The website and the mobile app have now been joined by the bot and the voice based skill in platforms, such as Amazon Alexa.
Bots enable us to automate various tasks, such as shopping bots that guide users through purchases or chat bots that enable more conversational interactions. After much discussion, we concluded that bots are over-hyped because the most effective bots are the ones we don’t notice, that pass under the radar to a great extent.
Both publishers and brands have been utilising bots at scale over the past year. Quartz, for instance, have a conversational news bot that delivers news like a messenger conversation, dialling up detail as requested by the user. Bots enable the automation of much of the low-level interaction required to drive a more personalised experience. Brands too are experimenting with bots. Last year at OMD EMEA we have worked with clients to deliver bot based interactive story lines and shopping services in Facebook messenger and we expect many more brands to experiment with bots to drive deeper more immersive experiences throughout 2017.
Imbedding AI in bots
The cutting edge of bot technology has AI embedded within. That AI can be in many forms, such as natural language inference, meaning a bot can understand, ‘will I need my umbrella in Miami’ is a question about expected rainfall. Equally, it may be machine vision that recognises key elements in photos and video, or smart home connectivity that anticipates the consumer’s need to switch their lights on or heating off when they are more than 10 miles from home.
It was commented that every brand should now record and transcribe every conversation or interaction with their consumers. In those conversations, are the non-typical interactions that define the specifics of a brand’s purpose, that will ultimately drive the differentiation of their AI over any potential competitors. Waiting for someone else to solve those problems for you will be a significant business risk.
APIs
APIs (application programme interfaces) are the plumbing that connects these diverse services together. Solving problems like the translation between languages, or the ability to recognise faces is very hard, but once it has been perfected it becomes an API open to all, thus massively reducing the cost to implement such a service.
We can also add a range of immersion technologies from 360-video to Augmented Reality through to Virtual reality to the list of options available to the modern marketer. They may not scale instantly but they are showing huge potential to drive deeply immersive experience. The technology announced at CES such as the Intel Project Alloy VR headset should be watched closely. These technologies have been complex and unstable until recently, only now can we think of them as strategic platforms that can scale and be relied upon.
So how should brands think about the opportunity?
Whilst the technology is complicated the task remains simple. We need to identify the potential sources of growth and solve issues for the audiences that represent that growth. A clear insight about consumer behaviour and beliefs, aligned with an understanding of the technology will enable us to define solutions that create value; to minimise purchase friction, maximise salience and impact and drive experiences that are both memorable and shareable. Traditional advertising has an enormous role, signposting at scale to these great experiences and services where and when they are most relevant to the specific consumer segment.
All of the required pieces are now available so that we may be able to transform brand and content marketing to the same degree as we have already with the performance element of the marketing mix.
To find out more about the OMD Oasis programming at CES 2017, please visit CES.OMD.COM
At a convention powered by the latest in technological innovation, it was the art of storytelling that captivated the marketing community at OMD Oasis. Claudia Cahill, OMD Content Collective’s President, led a panel comprised of the industry’s leaders in storytelling: Steve Peace (SVP International Media, Sony Pictures), Brad Jakeman (President, PepsiCo’s Global Beverage Group), Dawn Ostroff (President, Condé Nast Entertainment), Mike McCue (CEO Flipboard) and Bryn Mooser (Co-Founder & CEO RYOT).
Each panelist offered a distinct and fascinating perspective on the challenges and contradictions inherent in storytelling in a world that demands both short, snackable content as well as complex, immersive stories that fuel our deepest passions.
Whilst all agreed that brand storytelling has become a much more complex challenge because of both consumer expectation and the proliferation of platforms and channels, the solutions varied. Steve explained that at Sony Pictures, “a narrative structure has been created in which the first 3 seconds are comprised of 5 to 10 shots; a visual mnemonic of the very best shots in our film that pulls you into watching the entire trailer’’. And it’s a narrative structure that is powered by reams of data.
At PepsiCo, Brad built a Content Center because “it was the only way to create the type of content needed to keep pace with the need for innovation’’. He explained that technology provides enormous opportunity for the expression of ideas but the content is critical. “The holy grail is how deeply someone has engaged with the content and it’s not about reach’’.
Dawn shared how she started the Next Gen Studio at Condé Nast to create a storytelling capability on every single platform and admitted that making content for a younger, Millennial audience is challenging because “GenZ have grown up on a diet of content snacks’’ and that there remains a gap in longer form content that is made specifically for them. Mike reminded the audience of the importance of having clear and meaningful objectives and that “really high-quality stories should be the goal’’, not short snackable content; “any story, short or long, has the power to move the world forward’’.
Disrupting the content creation process
The opportunity to break the rules and to disrupt the content creation process was debated and Bryn explained that the mobile phone has been the vehicle for the democratization of filmmaking. It made it possible for anyone out there to shoot a film and tell a great story. Moreover, with Facebook and YouTube 360, the way you look at video has fundamentally changed; you’re now able to step inside the story, to experience what the person holding the camera sees and feels, bringing people right up close to events around the world. And that closeness is what fuels peoples’ voices and passions.
The discussion shifted into learnings for the audience and there were five key takeaways:
Global vs. Local: Ensure stories are relevant across different geographies At PepsiCo, a content slate is developed for brands and countries in advance so that the right content is crafted. Interestingly, 90% of their content is now developed globally and shared across territories.
Immersive Storytelling isn’t achieved solely by technologies and tactics like VR and AR Narrative structure can be incredibly immersive. Consider content strategy over longer timeframes to build out worlds and/or characters, and give people a peek into that.
Be nimble and open to change. The technology still has to catch up with the vision of storytellers so be prepared to try new things.
Focus With so many choices for how and where to tell your story, it’s critical to simplify the complexity and focus on the goal of your story.
Be Passionate.
Storytelling gives meaning to the world so embrace the emotion, chaos, and challenge of it.
To find out more about the OMD Oasis programming at CES 2017, please visit CES.OMD.COM
Long gone are the days when the whole family would crowd around a single television, completely focused on the screen for the entire duration of the programme. Today, family members consume different content in different rooms on different devices. All of this means that the traditional advert break is becoming less and less relevant – so just what does this mean for brands?
AD BLOCKING
Ad blocking is already gaining ground, with more and more consumers eliminating ads they consider intrusive. According to PageFair, at least 419 million people are now blocking ads, a 90% increase in 12 months. This figure does not include content-blocking apps, in-app ad blockers, and opt-in browser ad blockers. PageFair forecasts the global cost of ad blocking to reach $41.4 billion in 2016. The best response to ad blocking is to make each advert as relevant to the viewer as possible so that it is a welcomed interruption rather than an annoyance. All messages will have the potential to become context-aware when TVs connect with other objects in the home and wearable devices.
MULTIPLE DEVICES
Despite the general move away from real-time programming, certain big TV events will remain compelling enough for audiences to watch live, particularly global sporting events. But, there will be increased expectations for augmented viewer experiences through immersive content and second-screen interactivity. Netflix earlier this year announced a new second screening feature providing viewers with supplemental content which can be accessed through their mobile devices. Further brand integration with entertainment content will be key going forward, from product placement (making a brand visible in a scene) to product immersion (making a brand an integral part of the storyline). Brands should also take advantage of device fluidity – connecting TVs with other screens and platforms allowing owned content to flow from screen to screen – to provide a connected and holistic viewing experience.
ADDRESSABILITY
Success today lies not in targeting more people, but in how brands reach consumers with personalised content based on their environment or needs. Addressability allows brands to show different ads to different viewers while they are looking at the same content, such as Destination Canada’s ‘Explore Canada’ campaign. The more a brand knows about its target audience, the more it can refine its message and deliver maximum impact. Personalisation is currently broadly limited to viewers being able to choose which device they want to watch media content on, and getting suggestions for future content based on their viewing history. We are also seeing trends in the personalisation of viewing content, such as NFL NOW, a video network which allows sports fans to build their own channel of content by selecting their favourite teams or players. In the future, personalisation might start to influence storylines based on viewers’ preferences, or perhaps even by syncing with the viewer’s emotional, physical and haptic biometric data.
DRASTICALLY CHANGING VIEWING HABITS IS ALREADY PROVING HUGELY CHALLENGING FOR BRANDS.
As Nikki Mendonça, OMD EMEA President, explained at the Future TV Advertising Forum, it is the role of media agencies to cross-pollinate (like bees) between the emergent walled gardens to create powerful custom audiences, which will become the marketing currency of the future.
However, she warned that “there is a lot of value in the so-called wastage.” We need the reach of TV, even if targeting is very valuable: P&G scaling back targeted Facebook Ads is an interesting example.
Ultimately, we need to follow the same marketing principles as we always have. We still need a powerful story that reaches the right people at the right time and in the right place. The brands that are leading the charge in giving individual viewers what they really want will reap the rewards going forward.
Want to know more about the Future of TV? Email us at [email protected]
It has been a significant couple of weeks for our understanding of the developing TV landscape. The convergence of TV and Internet technologies has been spoken of as some kind of future event for the past 15 years or so. Now, more than ever, we can understand it as something that has happened and will continue to develop.
The over the top global TV platforms continue to scale.
Netflix announced a global partnership with Liberty Global giving access to a further 30m homes worldwide driving growth beyond the current 29m subscriptions outside the USA. Additionally, RBC Capital Markets reported that 42% of UK internet users used Netflix to watch TV/Movie content in the past 12 months, compared to 54% for YouTube and 62% for the BBC iPlayer.
In terms of high-profile content, Amazon announced a launch date of November 18 for ‘The Grand Tour’ maybe the most prominent global reach show to date for an OTT platform. Twitter streamed their first live NFL Thursday night football match between the NY Jets and Buffalo Bills. In the VR space, the first VR Emmy went to the Oculus Story Studio. We are now witnessing premium content propositions, in virtually every genre, being made available through these new platforms being launched every few weeks.
On the other side of the convergence coin, the traditional broadcasters and platforms have been taking advantage of new technology led opportunities. At IBC in Amsterdam, Sky recently discussed the launch of Sky Go UK inventory sold via the Videology platform on a programmatic basis enabling brands to access content such as live English Premier League outside of traditional broadcast.
At IBC a range of new TV screens were launched that go beyond 4K into High Dynamic Range, Wide Colour Gamut and Ultra HD. Content in these cutting edge formats is more likely to be initially delivered over IP rather than broadcast.
It is not just a zero-sum game, these platforms drive each other.
Nielsen in the US report that increased viewing of related content on YouTube drives viewing of a TV show. Consumers are happy to bounce between platforms, especially on the same device, to create a more personalised experience. Measurement of this behaviour is now a global scale challenge requiring new methodologies for TV measurement, in-store attribution and cross-device targeting.
We can now see a path to better monetisation of video impacts delivered over IP. No longer are they something that is hard to measure, scale and trade. Consumers have taken to new platforms and formats, especially younger and more affluent consumers. Global platforms are creating and distributing some of the most high profile and sought after inventory. Brands can now also access that high-quality content through a range of new buying mechanisms.
Convergence has positive impacts on TV, we just need to frame the opportunity a little differently.
This was very much the focus of discussion amongst the media and advertising community at IBC. It is now especially relevant to have a deep understanding of many audience segments. Through conditional insight, testing different hypotheses and experimental design, we can recognise brand differentiators through value creation mechanisms. A clear measurement framework that operates across devices, platforms and approaches is now the most critical challenge to deliver on the opportunity of the post convergence TV/AV landscape.
Authenticity was key in the launch of Destination Canada’s latest suite of rich content. The ‘Explore Canada’ campaign is focused on bringing to life the amazing sights, wonders and experiences that Canada has to offer.
There are over 6 million European travellers considering Canada as a future holiday destination. Despite being on people’s travel list, there was no urgency to book Canada as their next holiday destination. Our goal was to change Canada from a ‘might visit at some point’ destination to a ‘must see’ and next on the list.
Destination Canada is Canada’s national tourism marketing organisation. They promote Canada’s extraordinary experiences in 11 countries around the world. Their key markets include Germany, UK, Australia and France.
Research shows that consumers are increasingly moving away from traditional media. Instead, they are turning towards more personalised and trusted sources – such as friends, family and key influencers – to research and plan their travels.
Traditional marketing campaigns with sponsored banners or branded social posts are no longer enough to convince consumers to buy a big-ticket item like an international holiday. Our content marketing approach needed to reach and entice consumers at key points along their decision-making journey. We wanted to use more novel, innovative marketing ideas to engage these travellers emotionally.
Based on this, our focus is content like videos, photos and articles. Rather than a traditional branded campaign, the idea was to have viewers come into contact with the content naturally in relevant environments they typically visit for travel planning and purchase.
Over 500 pieces of high-quality content were developed across passion points and locations in Canada. Because authenticity is integral to this strategy, we didn’t include any branding on this content.
For the video content, we are leveraging a high-profile YouTuber from each of our key markets. Each influencer uses their typical filming style to highlight Canada as the perfect vacation setting. Influencers share and promote the content directly with their YouTube followers, allowing the material to seed organically. Many also promote their Canada videos on their Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram accounts.
You can currently view the latest influencer content tailored for the UK and Germany, with France and Australia content coming soon.
We then use data to align consumers with unbranded content that caters to their individual interests, passions and travel purchase behaviours. Once viewers engage with multiple pieces of unbranded content, we then serve them a personalised message from a local tourism partner who can offer them a great deal for the location or experience they’d viewed.
We are in the second exciting year of this campaign. The tremendous success of last year’s efforts included over 50 million content views and over 190K content viewers booked a holiday to Canada, with over $231 in additional tourism revenue generated for a 67:1 ROI.
Want to keep exploring? Visit Destination Canada’s key market websites – UK, France, Germany and Australia.
OMD and Destination Canada were recently awarded two M&M Global Awards for Smart Use of Data and International Growth Strategy. Our work has also been featured on the Think with Google blog.
The annual tech and innovation fest gets under way in Cologne this week. This year’s tantalising premise is that, “Digital is everything — not every thing is digital.” Why? Because digital marketing is about to get personal.
Click this image to find out more about Dmexco.
In recent years there has been the perennial focus on smart data, the internet of things and convergence. But, this year the ‘tip of the spear’ will be about people-based marketing. As all forms of communication become increasingly addressable the undeniable truth is that we now have the capability to reach people on a one-to-one basis and that represents an opportunity to speak to consumers in an eminently personalised fashion.
Delivering relevant messages to an individual based on registered user data, on a specific identifiable device and doing all that at scale, basically, means that marketing will evolve beyond all recognition over the next decade. From ‘marketing to the many’ to the ‘marketing of the individual’ will virtually eradicate wastage and revolutionise the way we interact with consumers and augment their online experiences. All sounds very ‘Minority Report’ doesn’t it?
Since the advent and meteoric rise of programmatic over the past few years, we have used technology to reach consumers much more efficiently. However maybe, as an industry, we didn’t focus enough on how effective the messaging could be by harnessing the power of personalisation.
Research from Adobe suggests that some marketers already believe they understand the role of personalisation in the buying process – according to their numbers, around 83% of retail marketers think they do a decent job in personalising experiences for consumers. Conversely, consumers clearly don’t agree, as only 29% of them feel that retailers effectively offer them personalised content or offers. Patently there is a disturbing disparity between client perception and customer reality.
TECH VS REAL WORLD
No one would argue that technology could ever really replace the prominence of real world experiences and the need to truly understand consumer need states and motivations. But, as the event organisers put it:
“Even though there are still some things in consumers’ lives that do not look digital at first glance and perhaps may never become digital, we are convinced that everything — including the relationship between consumers and brands — can be further improved through digitisation”.
So, if the solution lies in the enhancement of the online experience to make it more idiosyncratic and engaging for the consumer then that begs another question – how do marketers achieve that enhanced experience?
The answer is to make the experiences more powerful, consistent, sustainable and meaningful. The research is clear that Gen Y consumers prefer experiences to possessions and actually want brands to interact with them. In fact, according to Google, 16% of them actually want you to provide decent content so that they can share it with their friends.
Of course, there are already some excellent examples of clients who are already adopting a more customised approach to delivering personalised content to their consumers. For example, starting in Denmark, McDonald’s have begun the move away from pure demographics and started focusing on behaviour and needs in order to become much more relevant and targeted. They have adapted their marketing to highlight every single moment in a customer’s daily media usage and apply a ‘My McDonald’s’ strategy instead of a ‘Mass McDonald’s’ approach delivering dynamic creative messages at the right time, to the right person, on the right platform.
The point is that although there are some pockets of excellence around the globe, the reality is that many marketers haven’t yet embarked upon this kind of transformational journey towards enhanced personal online experiences. A panel moderated by Adweek will debate this very topic featuring speakers from IBM, Publicis and OMD entitled ‘Changing Marketing Agency Landscape: Building the most rewarding customer experiences‘. It may well prove to be a rallying cry for the industry and a catalyst for accelerated adoption of personalisation.
PERSONALISE OR DIE
To conclude, I decided to garner the opinion of a leading marketer from one of the world’s biggest advertisers. Bastien Schupp, vice president of global marketing communications at Groupe Renault, made it very clear that agencies and marketers who fail to react positively to this paradigm shift will be the ones who ultimately lose out.
“Communicating with individuals is undoubtedly the single biggest challenge ahead of us. The transformation of the creative and media buying processes will profoundly disrupt the way we do marketing. Getting big agency and client organisations to adapt to this change will define who stays in the game.”
The message is simple and somewhat stark. Personalise or die.
