Tag: marketing
As dmexco 2017 comes to a close, and the dust somewhat settles after the largest conference to date (over 1,100 companies, and 55,000 people were in attendance), we take a look back on some of the more pertinent points being discussed throughout the event.
Location, Location, Location
One immediate point of interest lies in the old adage of “location, location, location”. Thankfully for those of us there from OMD EMEA, traversing our way through the hundreds of stands was made easier by Omnicom Media Group being situated at the very centre of Hall 6, within which were the world’s largest digital companies from all aspects of the ad supply chain – from Facebook to Google, Adobe to Salesforce.
Beyond the location of OMG’s stand, it was also interesting to note the lack of focus on location as an important consumer data point throughout the talks given within the Speaking Halls – despite many of the digital partners focusing on this important area in our one-to-ones. Where real-time marketing and consumer centricity rely on a thorough understanding of real-world human action and interaction throughout the marketing funnel, our vendor partners are being challenged to help address its place within our transformation strategies, along with the accuracy of the data collected and their privacy compliance.
This then brings us on to the critical area of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance for the year ahead. Many of the companies in attendance will be impacted by the upcoming EU legislation and yet few seemed to be addressing it upfront. Clearly, GDPR isn’t a sexy topic to be flashing across the façade of your $60,000 stand, and the fact that GDPR may in fact devalue the product of some of these companies by reducing the availability of the data within it could be enough to silence many. Within the OMG stand, Graham Swallow (Director, Consulting at Annalect EMEA) was overheard discussing the implications of GDPR with his guests and we would certainly encourage our clients who weren’t in attendance with us to reach out to Annalect to discuss this further.
Effective consumer communication
When looking at location from a viewpoint of being in the right place at the right time, many companies in attendance believed they had an Artificial Intelligence solution to aid in effective consumer communication. As Suresh Vittal Kotha (VP of Platform and Products at Adobe) discussed in his talk titled “AI – The Hidden Super Power Driving the Experience Business” no matter what business you’re in or product you’re selling, your consumers care about their experiences with you. These experiences must appeal to each individual, and as a business these experiences can only be personalised if the business transforms themselves to be adaptive and responsive. Elizabeth Buchanan – OMD’s Worldwide President of Global Transformation – put this succinctly in her catch up during her ‘DMEXCO:TALK’ session by saying that the top skill required of all transformation leaders of tomorrow will be that of ‘listening’. That listening skill enables brands and businesses to develop that adaptive and responsive mind set by taking a step back and listening to the consumer, listening to the data and listening to the insights.
Artificial Intelligence has the ability to empower marketers in real-time, if and when they have transformed themselves to become adaptive and responsive. Within Adobe, Suresh discussed four core competencies of an experience business, which enables marketers to “master the millisecond when the experience happens”:
Context – Where mass data, analysed at scale can provide actionable insights on consumers
Design for Speed and Scale – The utilisation of AI to develop effective dynamic messaging, powered by Context
Cross-device Interaction – Where AI allows marketers to test hypotheses within their attribution models
Consumer Centricity – Putting the customer first. AI can act as a catalyst to break down the silos within organisations by unifying data – delivering an internal streamlined mindset with a focus on digital transformation.
Clearly, with over 1,000 companies in attendance, and over 200 talks, debates and speeches throughout the event, there’s too much information to distill into one short blog post. However, we would highly recommend watching through some of the talks on the dmexco website. And of course, check out or video round-up of the event, where we speak to some of OMD EMEA’s key partners – such as Facebook, Oath and Integral Ad Science, where they discuss what the digital transformation means for them and their companies.
For more information about OMD or anything we uncovered at dmexco please contact emea.omd.com
It’s not a rare sight to see me power-walking through rain in London – like a real Londoner, no less – no umbrella. In fact, it’s a regular thing for most Londoners: eyes forward, head down, rain coat cinched for the daily post-work beeline trip home. Yet, for social media marketers this past rainy Monday it was an ironic chance to pop out of the office and over to co-working space Rainmaking Loft to get to know some influencer marketing masters.
Social Media Week London, 2017
Social Media Week (Sept 11-15) kicked off with a slew of events to help inspire new campaigns and bring the world’s greatest marketing minds together. The panel talk hosted influencer marketing platform company Takumi – a company that’s motto quite literally tells its star-studded roster of micro influencers to post whatever they want.
Top influencer marketing experts including moderator and creative consultant Ian Sanders, MEC Wavemaker senior planner Tom Cornish, OMD UK’s social director Katie Hunter, Shake Shack social media manager Georgia Beaven, Pernod Ricard senior social manager Sunni Peterson and lifestyle influencer Ornella Kolle (@orneiineii).
The focus of the talk was about transparency between influencers and their audiences and trust building between influencers and the brand they work for. Brands and agencies are often at odds with how to craft this relationship that give influencers complete control over their content or micro-manage the results. It’s a fine, bespoke balance between strategizing the approach and managing the results while letting great content happen in an organic way.
“The key is to treat each campaign on a one time basis. Each one is different. Each one will be different for your brand and it’s important to remember that when looking at your engagement,” says Hunter.
A new method of influencer management.
It’s a more relaxed approach than many marketers are used to let alone ready for. The fight between gut instinct (appeal) and user data is ongoing. As marketers learn that likes, views and shares are sometimes best encouraged by authentic content, the relationship between brands and the influencers they commission continue to change. It’s all about that magic buzzword: authenticity. And really what that means is a new method of influencer management. It’s certainly not without the structure we come to know and rely on (a detailed brief, clear timelines and budgets). It’s more about brands letting go of the creative micro-managing and learning to trust the creatives they’re tapping into.
It reminds me of some of the influencer work that my team at OMD Create, OMD EMEA’s internal creative hub, has worked on with DKNY combining the storytelling and insights to produce social media content on Instagram that’s rooted in cultural trends while at the same time proactive and reactive to consumer interest.
As brands continue to try to be closer to the people they market to, experts encourage them to open their minds to a more human approach to marketing. And while success measuring is important, Katie Hunter suggests that a bespoke approach is key to making sure brands are approaching their campaigns in an intuitive, clever way. Sure, working with influencers can be pricey for brands but there’s also a way to amplify those authentic, influencer voices without having to crack out a big budget.
“The idea of round tables, and one-to-one relationships help you bring in micro-influencers in a cost effective and approachable way,” says Hunter. “You can be clever while at the same time tap into the right audience.”
Clever marketing is all about using the right influencers.
Examples of bad marketing were underlined by celebrity #ad posts by Naomi Campbell and Scott Disick for their wildly viral sponsored posts that went wrong. It’s a warning call for marketers and a reminder that big names don’t equal big ROI. And as a result, micro-influencers is becoming a big buzzword and perhaps the answer to an over saturated influencer marketing pool. The need for brands to work harder and have a more authentic reach and feel to help attract the consumers they are looking for is bigger than ever before.
It was great to get a first-hand influencer perspective as well. Ornella Kolle shared that she tries to make sure that her content makes sense for her, for the brand and especially for her future followers. They appreciate respect for their authentic vision without being told to have overly branded product flatlays: content that’s still artistic and speaks to what the brand wants to give its customers “while still being subtle and beautiful without over the top packaging,” says Kolle.
And isn’t that the basis of artful storytelling?
Here are 5 tips for excellent influencer marketing to take away:
1) Look at customer (discover your brand’s cultural tribes)
2) Employ an always on strategy
3) Look at your amplification plan
4) Trust the influencer and their creativity
5) Understand your audience and appreciate the community your influencer is helping you tap into
It’s not a rare sight to see me power-walking through rain in London – like a real Londoner, no less – no umbrella. In fact, it’s a regular thing for most Londoners: eyes forward, head down, rain coat cinched for the daily post-work beeline trip home. Yet, for social media marketers this past rainy Monday it was an ironic chance to pop out of the office and over to co-working space Rainmaking Loft to get to know some influencer marketing masters.
Social Media Week London, 2017
Social Media Week (Sept 11-15) kicked off with a slew of events to help inspire new campaigns and bring the world’s greatest marketing minds together. The panel talk hosted influencer marketing platform company Takumi – a company that’s motto quite literally tells its star-studded roster of micro influencers to post whatever they want.
Top influencer marketing experts including moderator and creative consultant Ian Sanders, MEC Wavemaker senior planner Tom Cornish, OMD UK’s social director Katie Hunter, Shake Shack social media manager Georgia Beaven, Pernod Ricard senior social manager Sunni Peterson and lifestyle influencer Ornella Kolle (@orneiineii).
The focus of the talk was about transparency between influencers and their audiences and trust building between influencers and the brand they work for. Brands and agencies are often at odds with how to craft this relationship that give influencers complete control over their content or micro-manage the results. It’s a fine, bespoke balance between strategizing the approach and managing the results while letting great content happen in an organic way.
“The key is to treat each campaign on a one time basis. Each one is different. Each one will be different for your brand and it’s important to remember that when looking at your engagement,” says Hunter.
A new method of influencer management.
It’s a more relaxed approach than many marketers are used to let alone ready for. The fight between gut instinct (appeal) and user data is ongoing. As marketers learn that likes, views and shares are sometimes best encouraged by authentic content, the relationship between brands and the influencers they commission continue to change. It’s all about that magic buzzword: authenticity. And really what that means is a new method of influencer management. It’s certainly not without the structure we come to know and rely on (a detailed brief, clear timelines and budgets). It’s more about brands letting go of the creative micro-managing and learning to trust the creatives they’re tapping into.
It reminds me of some of the influencer work that my team at OMD Create, OMD EMEA’s internal creative hub, has worked on with DKNY combining the storytelling and insights to produce social media content on Instagram that’s rooted in cultural trends while at the same time proactive and reactive to consumer interest.
As brands continue to try to be closer to the people they market to, experts encourage them to open their minds to a more human approach to marketing. And while success measuring is important, Katie Hunter suggests that a bespoke approach is key to making sure brands are approaching their campaigns in an intuitive, clever way. Sure, working with influencers can be pricey for brands but there’s also a way to amplify those authentic, influencer voices without having to crack out a big budget.
“The idea of round tables, and one-to-one relationships help you bring in micro-influencers in a cost effective and approachable way,” says Hunter. “You can be clever while at the same time tap into the right audience.”
Clever marketing is all about using the right influencers.
Examples of bad marketing were underlined by celebrity #ad posts by Naomi Campbell and Scott Disick for their wildly viral sponsored posts that went wrong. It’s a warning call for marketers and a reminder that big names don’t equal big ROI. And as a result, micro-influencers is becoming a big buzzword and perhaps the answer to an over saturated influencer marketing pool. The need for brands to work harder and have a more authentic reach and feel to help attract the consumers they are looking for is bigger than ever before.
It was great to get a first-hand influencer perspective as well. Ornella Kolle shared that she tries to make sure that her content makes sense for her, for the brand and especially for her future followers. They appreciate respect for their authentic vision without being told to have overly branded product flatlays: content that’s still artistic and speaks to what the brand wants to give its customers “while still being subtle and beautiful without over the top packaging,” says Kolle.
And isn’t that the basis of artful storytelling?
Here are 5 tips for excellent influencer marketing to take away:
1) Look at customer (discover your brand’s cultural tribes)
2) Employ an always on strategy
3) Look at your amplification plan
4) Trust the influencer and their creativity
5) Understand your audience and appreciate the community your influencer is helping you tap into
How we buy things is becoming more polarised: on one hand, you have demand for shopping to be as easy, as effortless, as frictionless as possible. On the other hand, customers desire an experience that is as memorable and as enjoyable as possible. This is nothing new – we’ve always been delighted by buying things one day and the next, want to get in and out of a store as fast as possible. But technology is both shaping, and sharpening, this dichotomy and as progressive communications planners, we have to adapt.
We need to make buying as easy as possible.
Byron Sharp, Author of “How Brands Grow” and Professor of Marketing Science at the University of South Australia, thinks so – in fact, he boils the entire job of marketing down to just that. This might be due to the fact that our brains are hardwired to take the easy route, as Nobel-winning behavioural economist Daniel Kahneman describes: “Humans are to thinking, as cats are to swimming,” he says, “We can do it when we have to, but we’d much prefer not to”.
Amazon knows the cost of friction. They’ve calculated that a page load delay of just one second would cost $1.6 billion in sales a year. This learning has been taken to the very heart of the business. From a Dash button on your washing machine, through voice purchasing on Echo to Amazon Go, to their bricks’n’mortar store concept with no checkouts and no queues – every investment made helps customers buy quicker and easier. If you listen to commentators such as Scott Galloway, Founder, L2; Clinical Professor of Marketing, NYU Stern, this could be a big threat for your brand – why will consumers want to think about choosing your brand when Alexa can do it for them?
Ease can also speak volumes about a brand.
Look at Domino’s, who geared its entire turnaround on making it as easy as possible to order a pizza. In the past, you had to find the number, dial, wait, order, order louder, and cross your fingers in hopes they got the right address. You can now order on every platform imaginable – from text, to voice, to Echo, to a connected car. Even with an emoji! You don’t even need to click – simply open the app and you can now automatically order your favourite pizza.
Of course, examples like these are absolutely changing what consumers expect from brands. Uber, an OMD client, calculated that when the service launches in a city, expectations on how long travellers are prepared to wait for a cab drops by a third.
So brands can’t sit still. They have to ask themselves: how can I make this as easy as possible to buy? Where is the friction in the purchase? How can technology help remove it?
But ease is just one side of the retail coin. In a world of one-hour drone deliveries, sometimes people still want to go shopping.
John Lewis, a long-standing Manning Gottlieb OMD client and Britain’s best-loved retailer, knows this. We plan according to four shopper “missions” and the easiest to observe in-store is “entertain and inspire me”. In this mind-set we seek to surprise and delight customers throughout the purchase journey, adding unique touches and creating memorable moments.
Communications provide a key aperture to enhance this experience…Meet Monty. A few years ago he starred in John Lewis’ Christmas ad, telling the story of a young boy who dreams about his toy penguin coming to life. We were inspired to make this happen for real in John Lewis stores. We created “Monty’s Magical Toy Machine”, which took a 3-D scan of a child’s most loved toy and brought it to life digitally, allowing the delighted child to dance and play with it.
But retail experiences don’t just live at point of purchase – take Lego for example. Knowing that sharing the wacky and wonderful things you create is half the fun, it created Lego Life, a social network designed specifically for kids under 13, allowing them to delight in sharing their real-world Lego creations in a safe environment online.
So, make it as easy as possible to buy, but don’t forget consumers love of unique experiences. When are customers looking to be entertained? How can you create magical moments of surprise and delight in the purchase process? Balancing ease and experience may just be the key to success.
Originally published on Omnicom Media Group’s Media Pulse
Search is currently going through a renaissance which has implications for agencies and brands. I went to IAB’s Search 2017: 24/7 Search conference last month to find out more about the latest thinking from a range of key industry players.
We began with Sam Fenton-Elstone, Chief Digital Media Officer at VCCP Media saying, “it’s a nice sunny day and we are inside a windowless room talking about Search.” The auditorium, situated in the middle of the building, had numerous TV screens on the walls and the ceiling was cloaked in strip lighting. I almost got the feeling that Batman might soon be returning to his lair after a night fighting crime.
Sam argued that Search is no longer a channel: it is an intrinsic human behaviour. He explained that Search is prolific and, as visualised in a Wheel of Search, some brands even become access points themselves – think ASOS, Skyscanner and Argos.
Clearly this dispels the notion that Google dominates Search. Search marketers all know the figures: Google has almost 95% of the search engine market share, depending on which source, but it does not own Search completely as people now search for information through various ways such as apps, social media and video content.
Conversely, Harry Davies, Marketing Leader at Google UK, not surprisingly stated that everything starts with Search. He began by saying more people now access the internet more often with 87% of them turning to Search in their first moment of need.
Key reasons people use Search
One of his main points, which was also reiterated several times throughout the day, was that the attention span of consumers has got shorter. Indeed, at least two presentations featured goldfish to drive home this point. Whilst 18% of people expect a website to load instantly, Google recommended that the top limit should be around 2 seconds. Most retail sites have an average 3.8 seconds wait time, so there is room for improvement.
After lunch we returned to the Batcave. For the afternoon session, Aaron McGrath, Sales Director at Bing Ads, covered the main ways that Search will evolve. Through predictive search, textless and screenless search, image searching, and face recognition, Search will become more personalised, immersive, situationally relevant and interactive.
When Microsoft HoloLens browsing is brought to physical reality consumers will potentially see how products, like furniture, can fit into their home. Moreover, the uptake in voice search will mean that 50% of all Search will come through voice by 2020 (Bing).
The final presentation was delivered by Scott Abbott, Head of Product for Paid Search at iProspect, describing how user behaviour has changed. The increase in searching on mobile and through voice search is clearly changing the way people search. For example, the number of ‘near me’ queries within retail has risen by 200% YoY.
He went on to suggest that as voice search becomes more prevalent it is important to keep in mind that these types of searches are generally more ‘long tail’. Quite a few people say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to Siri!
Overall the three main themes across the presentations were the importance of speed for a website, adopting a strategy for voice/visual search and understanding how consumer behaviour is changing. Undoubtedly, it is imperative for us to be adaptive since Search is constantly evolving and is likely to look very different in five years time.
dmexco is the global business and innovation platform of the digital economy, enabling visitors to experience disruptive trends and define the business potential of tomorrow. With over 250 hours of conference programme, more than 1,000 exhibitors and 90,000 square meters of exhibition space – Europe’s leading digital trade fair is growing. As the meeting place for makers and shakers, visionaries, marketing and media professionals, tech enthusiasts and creative thinkers, dmexco combines a leading trade fair for digital marketing with an extraordinary conference.
We are extremely excited that OMD, for the fifth year running is returning to Cologne to help guide our clients, partners and friends through the exhibition and offer an unparalleled experience. This year OMD is offering a comprehensive range of guided tours, from mobile and programmatic to data and social, live hacks focusing on data strategy and marketing technology, and bespoke recommendations for talks and panels you should attend to make your time at dmexco as profitable and educational as possible.
Let us guide you
Start your dmexco experience with a guided tour from our team of OMD experts. For German speaking tours please sign up here. For English speaking tours across mobile, programmatic, data and social please contact [email protected] to reserve your space. English tour timings are as follows:
September 13th
- The mobile and social tour- 10.00
- The programmatic and data tour- 12.00
- The overview tour- 16.00
September 14th
- The mobile and social tour- 12.00
- The programmatic and data tour- 14.00
- The overview tour- 16.00
Participation in the tours is only possible after registration. As participants are limited per tour, make sure to secure your place today.
Taking to the stage
Let our experts compile the panels and keynotes that you won’t want to miss. With past speakers including Mondelez’ Dana Anderson, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Vice’s Shane Smith and Google’s Sridhar Ramaswamy, the 2017 agenda, including our OMD and Omnicom spokespeople, is bound to be exceptional.
Your home at dmexco
With a jam-packed programme make sure you visit the OMD stand to re-energize. Join us for refreshments, networking opportunities or a guided tour. For more information about dmexco and how we can make your time in Cologne more valuable, please contact [email protected]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6XnoDuRPbU
Hello and welcome to an emoji-filled OMD FWD. Ever wondered about the performance of emojis in marketing? While the French were sceptical, the crying face Emoji achieved a 97% splurge in newsletter open rates in the UK. The Royal Opera House effectively joined the hype on WorldEmojiDay by using only emojis to tell the entire stories of operas and ballets, giving free tickets to those who correctly identified them.
In other news, Facebook is expanding its display ad beta test that lets businesses buy space between people’s chat threads. Amazon might also be entering the messenger domain with Anytime, a messaging app for Android, iOS and desktop that promises a few twists on the usual formula. Entering the video space, LinkedIn has started rolling out the ability to record and post native videos directly from its mobile app.
HEADLINES
INSIGHTS
- A new FMCG trend report anyone? 20% of food searches are for those everyday items
- Presumably, Amazon plan to enter the ‘recipe box’ market as a result
- How emoji usage increases engagement for the most traditional of digital communications
COOL
- Twitter and Royal Opera House combine to celebrate the emoji in a novel way
- A favourite, KLM have introduced a luggage tag that offers local tourist advice on the go
- Ocado are trialling delivering online food shop being delivered by a robot
DEEP READS
What are the three scariest words to a marketeer? Well, according to David Pogue, Tech Critic at Yahoo Finance, at the OMD Oasis at CES last week they are “skip this ad”. The four members of the panel delved deeper into why consumers want to skip ads and their conclusion? It’s all down to relevance (or lack of it).
Bastien Schupp, Vice President Global Marketing Communications at Groupe Renault, explored the notion of relevance further by equating it to the car industry. He explained that, at any one time, 96% of people are not in the market for a vehicle and yet around 90% of communication is attributed to them. He talked about how we need more balance in focusing on the 4% who are actually ‘in the market’ to buy a car by marketing to individuals rather than marketing to the masses. His stark warning?
“More efficient targeting is about relevance. And if we don’t become more relevant we are doomed.”
Bastien also added that it goes far beyond targeting, it’s also about relevant content too. Simply put? “You can’t just put your TV commercial on digital platforms”. He pointed out that achieving this shift was “a long process” and to ensure this happens “agencies need to transform rapidly”.
Paul Kelly, Chief Partnerships Officer at Awesomeness TV, elaborated further on the topic of relevance. He made a clear distinction between ‘individual relevance’ (something that satisfies the need state at that particular moment in time) and also ‘cultural relevance’ which he said was “an inconvenient truth… purchase decisions are often made on emotion rather than fact”. Kelly insisted that by continuing to chase increasing accountability through all forms of addressable media “we are possibly missing out on cultural relevance”. He cited an example from Honda who had decided to target younger age groups even though they are obviously not in the market for a Honda. The reasoning behind that move? Because if Honda don’t speak to those younger consumers then by the time they get into the market Honda won’t be in their consideration set. He added, “a lot of big brands are missing out on that right now”.
Nikki Mendonça, President at OMD EMEA, interjected and stated that brands need to become more disruptive. She believes that since the economic crisis many clients had become “risk averse” but she had detected more recently that some clients were becoming “more willing to take risks”. In terms of addressable media, she added that “we are only at the beginning” and the main challenges to adoption would be the acceleration of technology, how we use the data and data protection laws. But she made it clear that both advertisers and agencies need to get on board because “no-one is going to stop the addressability train”.
What followed was a lively debate on the future of live content via the likes of Periscope, Meerkat or Facebook Live. Bastien Schupp believes it’s potential is “hugely overrated”. He conceded that it may offer an interesting opportunity at live sporting events (such as unique viewing at half time during a football match) but for the automotive industry he was much more sceptical: “we could broadcast from a Motor Show but frankly unless we had a flying car then no-one would watch”.
David Pogue disagreed. His assertion was that the power of live video was its authenticity. He offered a personal perspective of taking the unboxing of technology (something we have all witnessed on YouTube) and taking it to a live platform. For example, he had reviewed the Apple Airpots in a 15-minute unveiling last month. Despite the fact that he didn’t think anyone would watch he was astonished that “58,000 people watched me open a box!”. In the following days, the views jumped up into the hundreds of thousands. He went on to say that although it wasn’t necessarily the best quality broadcast the fact that “you can’t edit it and you can’t script it” is one of the main reasons why consumers love it so much.
Paul Kelly had a foot in each camp. He acknowledged that there were limited applications for ‘live’ right now but still felt that we would pivot towards it when we had figured out how best to use it. And that is a challenge for clients, agencies and vendors alike to determine how best to use the platform. What is also true is that the technology will continue to evolve and as such previously undreamed-of applications will inevitably surface. But the key driver of the platform will, as ever, be the consumer themselves. As Kelly put it so succinctly “it depends solely on what the audience wants to see”.
We are just one week into 2017 as 200,000 people ascend on Las Vegas for the 50th year of the Consumer Electronics Show. Whilst CES has become the place for marketers to see the latest and greatest, meet with agencies and partners, and just have a good time, the real reason to attend CES is to get your innovation agenda in place for the new year.
Every marketer should adopt an innovation mandate – be it a manifesto, a framework or a roadmap. Innovation is not an accident. The best innovation is intentional. This is the difference between true innovation and ideation. Marketing innovation is separate from creative ideation. The two often get confused as the same. Innovation is the delivery of ideas that causes disruption or accelerates opportunities.
Successful innovation mandates are:
- True to a marketers’ organisation and brand
- Measurable (good or bad)
- Long-term visions with short-to-mid-term flexibility
- Supported broadly across the organisation (top down, bottom up)
- Safe zones for an organisation to push teams
- Not an accident: They are carefully designed and structured
If done right, marketing innovation removes friction, tells a story and allows for emotions to overweigh data. Sometimes you need to fire before you can aim. Innovation mandates will allow you to define the disruption opportunities (think Netflix 1.0–DVD distribution) as well as acceleration opportunities (think Netflix 2.0–content creation).
As you continue to walk the halls of CES or get enamoured by what’s in the trades this week, don’t forget that innovation is intentional. Reaching consumers in new ways and in new places is seldom achieved on just a leap of faith. Spend time analysing your innovation agenda and updating it for the new year, new gadgets, new trends and new opportunities.
At CES 2017, OMD has focused on Immersive Marketing at the OMD Oasis, an invite-only program structured to galvanise our clients, our global leadership and Omnicom friends around innovative conversations and extraordinary ideas. Learn more at ces.omd.com and follow #OMDOasis and @dougs_digs.
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