The Future Of Digital Marketing - CEO Interviews (Part #2)

I started my interview series last year and asked different CEOs of digital marketing agencies about the future of digital marketing. You'll find the article here: Read the article !

And also the first half of this year, I had the chance to discuss with some leaders of digital marketing agencies the impact of the metaverse, augmented reality, or virtual influencers on digital marketing in the future.

It was in every case a really interesting discussion and I want to share the findings in this LinkedIn article.

1.) Holger Kahnt - Managing Director at Camao

I met Holger Kahnt at the CAMAO office in Darmstadt. Besides his passion for digital marketing, Holger is a first mover into social audio. He was a beta tester for LinkedIn Audio Rooms and was the first person I know on Clubhouse. He also launched the website All About Clubhouse where you can find almost everything related to Clubhouse.?

But I wanted to know and discuss with him the question of what the future of digital marketing in the metaverse will look like.

Here's a short summary of our metaverse discussion:

• If the metaverse will be centralized then we'll see standard virtual advertising like in e-games.
• If the metaverse really will be decentralized then we'll see more innovation for advertising within the metaverse.
• We'll see more virtual influencers in the metaverse with enormous reach.
• Virtual influencers can be personalized for every user in the metaverse and therefore are even more influential.

Thank you, Holger, for the nice discussion. And everyone who wants to learn more about social audio in detail or wants to get visionary marketing ideas should reach out to Holger.

2.) Robin Heintze - Managing Director at Morefire

It was a pleasure to talk with Robin Heintze at the OMKB in Berlin. Robin is Managing Director of the online marketing agency Morefire located in Cologne. Robin is also the podcast host of The Art Of Marketing and I had the pleasure to be a guest in his podcast already twice!

I had a full catalog of questions for Robin and here's the summary:

• Marketing within the metaverse will be an adoption by classic digital marketing at the beginning. But really personalized.
• Virtual influencers will come but people also want to follow real authentic people.
• Voice marketing will be more relevant in aftersales but not in push marketing.
• NFTs can be relevant in the future. But this still needs time and the transaction costs need to decrease.

In general, Robin was a little bit reserved regarding the speed of adoption for everyone's life of the metaverse and NFTs. If you need an interview partner with a broad knowledge of digital marketing, you should reach out to Robin.

3.) Vladimir Puhalac - CEO of doob group

I met Vladimir Puhalac in his store in the old town of Dusseldorf to make my avatar for the metaverse. Vladimir is CEO of the doop group AG and an outstanding expert when it comes to the metaverse. Of course, I needed to ask him about his opinion on what marketing within the metaverse will look like in the future.

Here's the summary:

• Marketing will be more experience-based. The consumer will experience products first in a VR world and then decide to buy.
• But we will also see digital marketing for virtual products in the metaverse. And you can buy them directly.
• Virtuell influencers will become big in the future and digital marketers will use them.
• B2B marketing will be more collaborative in the future. Customers and companies will work together on personalized solutions within the metaverse.

If you want to get a visionary view of the metaverse, you should talk with Vladimir. He is a brilliant mind and he has so many ideas I love. I'm really looking forward to working with Vladimir and his team.

4.) Nicolas Escherich - Board Member at Ray Sono

I had the chance to meet?Nicolas Escherich during a short trip to Munich. He's a board member at Ray Sono , an agency for digitalization. Ray Sono has offices in Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Cologne.

We talked about the future of digital marketing with and within the metaverse. Here are some key ideas:

• It will be a more collaborative digital marketing approach than today.
• Data from the metaverse will be used outside the metaverse for contextual ads.
• Virtual influencers will be a relevant digital marketing tool.

I really liked discussing it with Nicolas.

5.) Martin Kihn - SVP Strategy at Salesforce

I had the honor to meet?Martin Kihn at a Salesforce Breakfast during the OMR festival in Hamburg. Although Martin isn't a managing director or CEO of a marketing agency, I want to mention our conversion in this article. Because Martin is a brilliant mind and it was an honor for me to ask him about his view of digital marketing within the metaverse and what it will look like in the future.

Here are the outcomes of our conversion.

• In the beginning, it's like advertising in video games.
• It will evolve into more collaborative advertising based on data.
• A crypto wallet could be a unique identifier to log in.
• An augmented reality metaverse could offer new targeting possibilities.

Again, Martin, it was an honor to meet you and to have the chance to chat about the future of marketing. When I'm in New York the next time I'll give you a call for sure!

Summary

I like my new format to visit outstanding minds in the digital marketing industry and want to continue it next year. I hope the insights I shared are valuable to you. Please leave your feedback in the comments. And if you are a CEO or Managing Director in the marketing industry, please drop me a message. I would love to discuss with you the future of digital marketing.

About the author:

Bj?rn Radde ?is Vice President Digital Experience at?T-Systems International? - one of the world's leading vendor-independent providers of digital services. Before he joints T-Systems he was Director Digital Experience at Sabre and Vice President?Digital Marketing at Trust International. In this role, he was worldwide responsible for all digital marketing products?of the company. Previously, Bj?rn was Director of Digital Marketing & E-Commerce at Okanda, an internet startup in the meeting's business, and Head of E-Commerce at the Steigenberger Hotel Group. After studying economics with a focus on online marketing and e-commerce, he initially worked at T-Online International AG and later at Deutsche Telekom AG within the Products & Innovation business unit.