Cautiously Optimistic | An industry looks ahead.
As the worlds of marketing, technology, finance and politics converged in Manhattan at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview to discuss what lies ahead in the next 12 months, a message rang clear; the future isn’t as bleak as it may seem. The macro factors of trust, purpose and hyper-personalisation must be tackled – and those who ignore them, do so at their peril.
Trust, trust and more trust.
“If there’s not trust, people won’t spend their time with us.” Hardly a surprising sentiment from David Fischer, VP, Business and Marketing Partnerships, Facebook out the gate, referring not just to the cacophony of recent Facebook news, but also to the fact that 88% of marketers are making trust a priority in 2019. But realising that safe and secure platforms are the modes to earning trust, Fischer was also forthright in stating that this takes time, and serious investment. On the tech side, Babs Rangaiah at IBM mirrored this sentiment, adding this isn’t something that will be fixed “overnight” while addressing the very real issues in our industry of transparency in measurement and reporting.
source: iProspect Global Survey, 2019
Interestingly the marketers’ approach aligned to both sides of the trust debate, with Michael DeLillis, Calvin Klein’s EVP Integrated Global Marketing, stating that the focus on ‘data transparency’ was not only a priority internally with his teams and agencies, but also for his consumers, who want to see a higher “value exchange” when it comes to their willingness to sharing their data.
Resonating in conversation over both days was the underlying factor that trust in our governments has weakened, consumer trust in companies’ use of their personal data is at a critical point, and trust between publishers, agencies, clients and broadcasters has never been so strained. With the added stress factor of marketers being held accountable for the dollars they are spending on advertising in all verticals, machine learning and artificial intelligence could be the silver bullet the industry needs with more brands “embracing the idea of automation technology to help them more effectively use their human capital,” as Risa Wexler, Pfizer’s VP, Media Lab shared.
It’s clear that digital trust may just be the new currency.
Performance with Purpose.
“There is no conflict between profit and purpose,” Larry Blackmore III, CMO, Blackrock stated in his session. “The two are inter-related.” How you build a brand amidst shifting global geo-political discourse was encapsulated under the broad term of purpose across the sessions. It was evident that the idea of purpose has evolved; it is no longer enough to simply abound generic social good. Consumers and employees alike want to understand why a company exists beyond simply making money.
“Brands have a responsibility to stand up and say something,” Bonobos’ CEO, Micky Onvural made clear.
Bonobos aside, it is not hard to find global purpose campaigns amidst companies such as Patagonia, Nike, and Gillette, who all made the calculated decision to draw their line in the proverbial ‘purpose’ sand. Consumers will not be the only ones feeling this shift. With employees stating that they are more fulfilled in a company that has a clear purpose, the ripple effects of purpose will be felt across all elements of a business. And for those that follow the money, the panel of New York based VC’s agreed that purpose driven companies are more fiscally successful, provided that purpose is embedded within the business, and is more than just a marketing mission or communication strategy. As Joanna Cornell, Principal Analyst at Forrester made clear, in the year ahead it is “imperative that brands stand for something.” In 2019 the time for neutrality is long gone.
Personalise me.
While brands, agencies and platforms all agreed this is the year to obsess about the customer, ensuring hyper-personal experiences when engaging with brands or platforms, this came amidst an ever growing swell of focus on consumer data, and the perceived right to privacy. Many conversations navigated the balance between access to data and more personal experiences, and an increase in people pushing back on the frequency and ease of access to their data. These trends were highlighted by Ann Winblad, Co-Founder of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, who shared the current tendency of investment focus on first and third-party data solutions who are addressing these issues.
With the data regulatory ecosystem “shifting so greatly over the last year,” Alison Weissbrott, Reporter at AdExchanger, pressed Pernod Ricard’s Digital Marketing Director, Luis Spencer Freitas, on the notion that access to data was motivation for in-housing some of his data and analytic capabilities. Freitas went on to say that, while access was a key element, it was their ability to understand how to use and capitalise on this data to provide their consumers with more personal experiences that was ultimately the deciding factor. Where in-housing motivations and Venture Capitalists go, industry trends often follow. However, with an upcoming generation that are more open to sharing data for more personalised experience, it may be that transparent, more honest communication around data usage is a simpler and quicker way forward for most marketers.
Across 48 hours the resounding sentiment across the spectrum was one of cautious optimism, a sense that there is a series of Everests to be scaled, but the challenges that lay ahead in the digital world are achievable, and offer something beautiful for those who make it.