The annual US DMA marketing event, which took place last week, has a new name – bizarrely called “&Then” – the premise being that the event will provide you with ideas, information, and inspiration &Then what are you going to do with all that?
It has also been shortened, to just 2.5 days. But with over 100 sessions covering every aspect of data-driven marketing and a full exhibition, what was it all about?
There were some big name speakers at the event, with some big ideas – we heard from IBM’s CMO, Jon Iwata, who talked about the “success” of Watson (IBM’s AI winner of Jeopardy in 2011) something that seems seems to have passed us by in the UK.
But in 2015 Watson isn’t just a game show gadget, we heard about Watson’s work within the medical sector, specifically within the oncology field with MIT reporting that Watson is poised to overtake human doctors in oncology expertise.
In the culinary sector, the machine has effectively taught itself how to cook. Once it learned hundreds of thousands of recipes and understood the principles of taste and cuisine style, as well as the intricate mechanics of flavor combinations – it was able to generate new, creative dishes, acting as a human chef’s creative assistant.
Interestingly for marketers, Watson is also being used to great success in the retail sector providing North Face with an infinitely patient and expert personal salesperson who can intuitively and conversationally answer customers questions like “What do I need for a two-week ski trip in the Alps?”
Also, it showed that marketing automation is not enough when we consider the personal relationships which are now needed, the next step is marketing intelligence; AI, machine learning and the Internet of Things will provide the intimacy needed to manage the relationships with our smart customers.
Another big message across the event was the concept of incorporating giving into your business – research shows people like brands that do good, so it’s good for your bottom line and good for your soul.
We heard from Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver of Toms Shoes and multi-Grammy winner John Legend, philanthropist and generally good guy. The former started his company in 2006 with a simple premise – for every pair of shoes bought TOMS would provide a pair of shoes to a child in need; one for one. Since launch, the company has provided over 45 million pairs of shoes and was valued at $625m in 2014 – both bottom line and soul in good shape.
The other notable side effect of this business model appears to be an army of advocates evangelising about the brand – more genuine, authentic and so convincing than any clever corporate piece of marketing and they work for free.
John Legend echoed this theme, imploring the 3000 marketers or storytellers (apparently that’s what we all are non) hanging on his every word, to be mindful of the stories they told as these shape the minds of those around us.
It will be difficult to come up with an idea as intuitively simple as Toms Shoes or possible to evoke the passion and focus of John Legend to help those less privileged achieve seemingly impossible goals. It could be that our cousins across the pond are more empathetic than we are, however, it is clear that from now on brands cannot just be seen to be making money, this does not mean a rash of charitable philanthropy but, at the least, brands need to engage with customers and prospects honestly and openly, ensuring content is collaborative and channel agnostic.
But not all the themes where as high minded – there was much talk of mobile first but instead of a total digital obsession, many brands – such as TripAdvisor, Dunkin Donuts and Livenation – were espousing the combination of traditional & digital channels, with TV and mobile (tablet or phone) being particularly popular bedfellows.
Many brands seemed to have got to grips with mobile as a marketing medium with clear strategies coming to the fore – mobile web being an acquisition tactic, while apps seem to be becoming the favoured retention tool.
Analytics also played a starring role throughout the 2.5 days – although unusually, not always in the most positive light. Many lamented the lack of cross channel/device attribution, with one speaker going as far as to say “They analytics are lying!” and railing against the chief metrics officer.
We heard from Saatchi & Saatchi chief executive Kevin Roberts, an unashamed “creative” who grudgingly admitted that data does inform and inspire better creative but implored the audience to put some emotion into their marketing, make something that people want to share, warning “Algorithms can read the lines but they can’t read in between them” (I think Watson might be able too…)
One of the more surprising messages that came through loud and clear was the general move towards permission-based marketing and opt in – the majority of B2C organisations speaking (outside of the tech giants) told of transparent privacy policies, understanding and using customer preferences and never sharing customer data. Even Google said it felt everywhere was moving towards an opt-in culture.
And finally, everybody should be a collaborator – in a good way. As marketers we were told that instead of talking about being customer centric, in the age of the smart consumer we have to be customer centric and truly find ways to make our patron’s life easier.
Along with “mobile first”, collaboration was being touted as one of the best ways of doing this – be it the partnership between Google Maps and Dunkin Donuts (every time one of DD 13 million app user’s uses Google maps, they are told where the nearest branch is and how long the queue is). Or TripAdvisor and Uber, who have teamed up so that every time you look up a restaurant/hotel/bar on TripAdvisor you can tap to order your Uber.
Basically, it is all about the customer, but not just about the customer. A smart marketing team must consider and understand their customer, their brand, their audience “&then” everything else.
Dee Toomey is a director of Dynamic Device Decisions
