Digital Marketing: The intense battle between the LEFT and RIGHT side of the brain continues....

In the continuation of the discussion I started on the Digital Engagement providers, from ADOBE summit at Las Vegas, the battle has heated up between the LEFT and RIGHT side of the brain. The left side of the brain is responsible for controlling the right side of the body. It also performs tasks that have to do with logic, such as in science and mathematics. On the other hand, the right hemisphere coordinates the left side of the body, and performs tasks that have do with creativity and the arts. This is particularly relevant in how the various service providers are approaching the Digital Marketing domain. The Agencies and creative design houses have applied the RIGHT side of the brain to the space while the Strategy Consulting firms, Systems Integrators etc approach it with more of a LEFT brain approach.  

The delicate balance between ART and SCIENCE is the right balance to become the Digital Engagement provider of reference for any given client. The Digital Marketing space is seeing a unique solution provider model emerging. The artistic, creative legacy branding and marketing agency led business models are increasing seeing a new breed of competitors which is building on the traditional strategy, business consulting, and technology leading with analytics powered solutions. The recent years have seen a move by the creative agencies to acquire capabilities at scale to counter the competition moves. The reverse is also becoming more mainstream, albeit at a smaller scale of acquisition size and depth. Based on current market evidence the cocktail of mainstream creative agency skills blending with strategy, business consulting, and technology skills is a very challenging solution model to develop and manage cohesively. Time will tell who will win the battle between the 2 quadrants.

The business models emerging has seen firms acquiring the capability set which they did not traditionally have , to buying up boutique capability upstream or downstream in key geographies and domain , to partnering models. Over the next few years the right formula will emerge. In the transition period from now to the right balance space, Clients will struggle to get the sourcing model right. It is crucial for enterprise’s to radically reconsider the sourcing models in this space. Customer engagement is key while understanding the underlying insights about the customer. Customer Insights trumps every other imperative to develop a winning strategy.

Is a PLATFORM the future for providing the recipe of the cocktail mentioned earlier in an ongoing innovation and future proof model?

Platform based solutions are leading the thinking and breaking the mold to provide a peek into the future models. Speed to value and innovation are the key dimensions needed to support the next generation user experience and at the heart of digital technology-driven innovation are platforms that allow for flexibility, customization, speed, scale and low risk.

Meanwhile the digital marketing services spend is projected to touch US$125 Billion by 2020[1], according to analyst firm TBR.

 Forrester[2] in its report Wanted Digital Engagement providers quotes “A digital engagement provider has a complete portfolio of engagement competencies and management skills to help you build and deliver great digital experiences at global scale.” This is a whole new engagement category cutting across CMO’s and CIO’s for providing a holistic digital ecosystem to provide end-to-end scale and efficiency across the spectrum.

In this context, Capgemini is launching a joint game-changing offering with Adobe for realizing the above mission in the CX/UX space. As an example of the type of solutions it is launching the Immersive Experience offerings with Adobe addressing the simplification and transformation of the retail buying experience at ADOBE Summit 2016.  The digital ecosystem based business innovation model is being showcased at the ADOBE Summit in London. Adobe is recognized as the market leader in the Forrester3 report Digital Experience Platforms.

In this example, we are co-innovating with Adobe to develop a cloud based enterprise solution which in our belief will harness disruptive technology trends such as IoT to reinvent consumer user experience. The Co-innovation led solution model will lead the wave into the ultimate platform business models to support Innovation as a service to provide ongoing relevant customer experiences. This solution is targeted to reinvent the Digital Marketing Space buyer behavior that TBR cites in its recent report.

Come meet with us at London during the ADOBE Summit from May 10th thru 12th. Meet our Expert’s to shape your customer experience journey.

 [1] TBR Report: Digital Marketing Services Benchmark Highlights and Outlook published April 9 2015

 [2] Forrester Report: Wanted: Digital Engagement Providers, 2015 Published: 1 April 2015

 3 Forrester Report: The Forrester Wave : Digital Experience Platforms, 2015 Published: 10 October 2015