Tag Archive: evolution

1. 5G is coming – here’s what it means for marketers

   December 10, 2018 08:52 Comments Off on 5G is coming – here’s what it means for marketers

   AT&T and Verizon have announced 5G-enabled smartphones with Samsung for 2019 – 5G is here. Where will the new super-fast mobile internet connectivity take us?

   This week, both Verizon and AT&T have announced that they will launch 5G-enabled Samsung smartphones in 2019 – in fact, AT&T are launching two. 5G has been on the lips and the minds of the tech, communications and advertising industries for a while, promising as it does almost unimaginable opportunities. Earlier this year, AT&T launched its 5G mobile hotspot in a few cities across the US, but this week’s news makes it mainstream and a reality for consumers – and therefore marketers – across the world. So where will it lead?

   Higher speeds and happier consumers

   What makes 5G so revolutionary is its speed. 4G, which was launched in 2011, brought about video streaming, programmatic auctions and the first glimpses of augmented and virtual reality. 5G is 1000 times faster than 4G with 100 times less latency, effectively eliminating any delays. Often, if a consumer experiences a delay loading a webpage, they will give up, meaning the loss of a touchpoint for the brand. It could also lead to a decrease in the use of ad blockers, which consumers often use to avoid slow loading times; if webpages are loading more quickly, they may be less inclined to use them.

   The sheer speed of 5G means that it will be a viable and affordable alternative to home broadband. In the US, Verizon is looking at disrupting home broadband, particularly in areas where there isn’t much competition for local broadband providers. As Gartner’s Mark Hung remarked, ‘if 5G is able to create more competition in that space, then that could lead to more cord-cutters’ – and that of course has implications for marketers.

   Out of home will also benefit from the speed of 5G. A Digiday article relates how out of home advertising company Outfront plans to use 5G to distribute dynamic video to screens, which will be able to react to the viewers passing them.

   Deeper interactions with consumers – which means more data

   The increased speed of 5G compared to 4G means that technology applications which have hitherto seemed far-fetched are suddenly becoming realistic. These applications often provide much more immersive and meaningful experiences for consumers – and that means richer data sets for advertisers. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), for example, will become more normal ways for brands to interact with their consumers. AdWeek suggests that home decor

   brands could use immersive AR to show customers what an item of furniture would look like in their houses, while sports and music fans will be able to ‘attend’ games and gigs via their VR headsets; indeed, LiveNation and NextVR have already done this, and widespread 5G will only make the user experience better.

   Meanwhile, increased speeds and higher connectivity will mean that the Internet of Things becomes exponentially more powerful and useful. Hyper-connected devices will communicate with one other, giving the consumer increased convenience and control over their lives in the context of autonomous cars, connected homes, connected cities, connected healthcare and so many others. These networks of connected devices will generate a wealth of data on the consumer’s behaviours and preferences: a veritable goldmine for brands, who will be able to create ever more personalised and targeted messaging.

   Companies are already making plans to capitalise on the launch of 5G

   Unsurprisingly, given the opportunities for deeper interactions with consumers, companies in the US and worldwide are already gearing up for the delivery of 5G. For example, AT&T recently acquired Time Warner and AppNexus in order to ensure it was properly positioned to take advantage of the roll-out of its 5G service. Meanwhile, esports company ESL has partnered with AT&T to incorporate 5G technology into live gaming, in order to take mobile esports ‘to the next level’.

   5G may also have another effect. With telco companies coming into possession of such an unprecedented amount of consumer data, they may start being able to challenge the digital ad services duopoly currently held by Google and Facebook.

   We’ve looked at only a few of the opportunities presented by the arrival of 5G; indeed, there are many that the world hasn’t even imagined yet. It will change the world perhaps even more fundamentally than 4G did, and make the seemingly fantastical – for both consumers and advertisers – a reality.

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2. Martin Sorrell’s ambitions for S4 Capital reflect a changing industry

   November 29, 2018 09:30 Comments Off on Martin Sorrell’s ambitions for S4 Capital reflect a changing industry

   Technology is dramatically transforming the communications industry – and S4 Capital is a reflection of that.

   When Martin Sorrell speaks, the advertising industry listens. That’s still the case even when he’s doing it as the head of a relatively small start-up, S4 Capital, rather than as the Chairman of WPP, the world’s largest communications conglomerate. Earlier this week he took to the stage at a Campaign Magazine event with his colleague Victor Knapp, the Chief Executive of MediaMonks, the content production company that S4 Capital acquired earlier this year. They discussed their ambitions for S4 Capital – some of which we will look at in more detail below; what is striking is that they are very much a reflection of how technology has transformed the media and advertising industries, fundamentally shifting priorities for brands and therefore for agencies. This change in direction is exemplified by the contrast between S4 Capital and the ‘traditional’ communications organisations such as Sorrell’s alma mater WPP.

   A digital and programmatic approach to media buying

   The ambitions that Sorrell and Knapp laid out for S4 Capital fall into four areas. The first is how S4 is approaching media buying. It’s telling that their first acquisition in this space is, according to Sorrell, likely to be in the digital and programmatic space, as ‘that’s where the biggest opportunity is’. Knapp added that the acquisition is likely to be a more ‘performance-based agency’, although he believes that ‘there is no difference between brand-building and performance’. There are many discussions at the moment around performance versus brand marketing – indeed, we wrote a blog about it and it was a hot topic at the ANA Masters of Marketing last month. Wherever you land in the debate, the inescapable fact is that data allows us to understand customers like never before and optimise activity to their preferences in real time; this has inevitably led to a focus on the performance of our media activity. Sorrell even went as far as to say that scale is not the most important thing anymore, as you can ‘make entries at a reasonable cost’ in the digital and programmatic arena. This demonstrates the impact that technology has had on the industry, if the size of your budget is no longer the sole most important aspect of your marketing strategy.

   A consumer-centric strategy calls for an always-on approach

   One of the key ramifications of the rapid advance of technology in the marketing space is that it has taken power out of the hands of brands and put it into those of the consumer. It is now the consumer that calls the shots, and advertisers must respond by focusing on the consumer’s experience of their brand and being ‘always on’. This is at the heart of MediaMonks and, by extension, S4 Capital’s approach to communications: it’s no longer about

   focusing on a big idea and creating 30-second spots. Brands and their agencies must consider how they can tell the best creative story across all platforms. This approach demands better, faster and more efficient content and, in Sorrell’s opinion, agencies aren’t responding quickly enough. This is the space that smaller, more agile companies like S4 can step into, as they come without the baggage of siloes, units and a plethora of agency brands.

   Helping brands to take control of their marketing services

   Data is, of course, the major marketing story of the 21st century so far and has fundamentally transformed how marketers operate, opening up a world of possibility and the opportunity to connect more deeply with consumers. It has also, unfortunately, led to issues of trust between advertisers and their agency partners, and a concern about a lack of control. This in turn has led many brands to at least consider bringing some of their marketing services in house and S4 Capital will have an offering that helps them to do that, although Sorrell pointed out that it can be difficult culturally for organisations to keep themselves and their talent abreast of the ever-changing market dynamics.

   As always, agility is the key to success

   It is telling that Sorrell and Knapp emphasised the importance of agility and consumer-centricity for S4 Capital. In the 80s, 90s and even 2000s, marketing was a very different affair and the role of the CMO was to relay stories to consumers on a one-way basis – and the likes of WPP, Omnicom and Publicis with their huge scale and buying power were well placed to support in that mission. However, technology has dramatically and fundamentally changed the landscape and the agencies that can respond rapidly in an agile, flexible manner are the ones who will stay relevant and useful for clients. This is clearly the space that Sorrell and Knapp are looking to occupy with S4 Capital, and we believe that they are well placed for success.

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3. How smart speakers are changing the way we search and shop

   November 22, 2018 11:58 Comments Off on How smart speakers are changing the way we search and shop

   Its Black Friday at the end of this week and bargain hunters across the US and Europe are readying themselves and their wallets to snap up bargains both online and in store. One thing that we can comfortably predict is that many will have their eye on a new smart speaker. The rise of the smart speaker over the last few years has been remarkable: in the US, an estimated 43.9m Americans used a smart speaker at least once a month in 2017, rising to 61.1m in 2018 and expected to increase to 76.5m by 2020 (source: eMarketer, 2018). This proliferation of smart speakers has inevitably fuelled a spike in voice search and voice commerce – and those, of course, have implications for marketers.

   Who’s using them?

   In May this year, eMarketer released its report,‘Hey Alexa, who’s using smart speakers?’. In it, the research firm points out that ‘not since the smartphone has any tech device been adopted as quickly as the smart speaker’. In fact, growth has been so strong that they predicted that the number of smart speaker users would surpass that of wearable users this year. The typical user is still the classic early tech-adopter – affluent, older millennial male – but the device is gaining traction in other demographics, particularly younger generation X women with children. What’s driving this surge? As eMarketer’s co-founder and Chief Content Officer Geoff Ramsey pointed out in his ‘Emerging Trends’ session at the ANA Masters of Marketing last month, it’s easier to talk to a device than to type into one and – crucially – smart speakers adapt to our voices and behaviour, not the other way around.

   The new battleground for the tech giants

   As is to be expected with any major technological development, the smart speaker has become the latest battleground for the tech giants, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft. Facebook and Microsoft are still to make waves in the field: the former delayed the release of its smart speaker due to user privacy concerns (understandable, given the year it has had), while Microsoft has partnered with another hardware maker instead of creating an own-brand speaker. Apple released its HomePod speaker, but the high price point and less-than-glowing reviews means it is yet to be a major player, in this space at least. That leaves Google and Amazon as the undisputed kings of the smart speaker arena. Google’s Google Home has a 29.5% share of the market, but eMarketer projected that Amazon Echo – of Alexa fame – would claim 66.6% of the smart speaker market in 2018.

   Transforming how we shop…

   As we discussed in an earlier post, Amazon is well on its way to adding a third leg to the Facebook-Google digital duopoly by increasing its advertising revenue – and its Echo smart speaker is a key way in which it will achieve this. eMarketer points out that voice is the next frontier for online commerce, and while the number of people who shop using their purchases is small (28.2% of US smart speaker owners), they predict that the number of US smart speaker buyers will double to 17.2 million between 2017 and 2018. And it is of course Amazon that benefits from this, thanks to their success in the smart speaker space and their dominance of the general ecommerce space. Echo owners can and do shop using Amazon Prime: indeed, they spend an average of $1700 a year, according to a CIRP report. That’s $400 higher than what ‘regular’ Prime customers spend annually on Amazon and 66% higher than non-Prime Amazon shoppers. CIRP’s co-founder Josh Lowitz said “We’ve long thought that Amazon is keenly focused on building increasingly loyal and frequent shopping customers, and Echo seems to promote that goal.” Brands can also create third-party apps; however, many are choosing to do this with Google Home rather than Alexa so they don’t have to compete with Amazon’s inventory.

   …and how we search

   That’s not the only way that Google may have an edge over the thus-far dominant Echo. The second most popular way that consumers use their smart speakers, after music, is search. Ramsey noted that 72% of US smart speaker users who have a smart device use them to search – it’s the second most popular activity after listening to music, and that doesn’t even include the news, weather or traffic. One third of users use them every day to search for something that they would previously have typed into a device. The implications of this for brands are particularly important. Why’s that? Because voice search usually only yields one result: consumers don’t want to listen to reams of results, and that actually could be a reason that they are choosing to use their smart speaker rather than traditional methods, so that they don’t have to sift through results. Furthermore, they don’t have to stop what they are doing.

   A voice search optimisation strategy

   The fact that there is only one search result on smart speakers means that brands either get first position or no position: it’s critically important that they start developing a solid voice search optimisation strategy to take them to the top of the search results. Econsultancy suggests that an effective way to do this is to help people when they need support with a specific task, such as cooking or trying to remove a stain – what Google has termed a ‘micro-moment’. That fits in with Ramsey’s view that voice is not just another ad vehicle – it’s a utility, and advertisers need to see it as a personalised experience that will bring consumers closer to their brand. Voice can be used to literally start a conversation with a consumer and ultimately set them along the path to purchase. As far as paid search is concerned, sponsored ad words aren’t yet available but that can surely only be a matter of time.

   Will mobile ads be impacted?

   Something else that brands need to bear in mind is that, as consumers are increasingly drawn consumers away from their mobile devices by smart speakers, they will be exposed to fewer mobile ads. We believe that it is unlikely that Amazon and Google will allow brands to ‘broadcast’ ads via their smart speakers; could this mean that digital advertising will start to see a decline?

   Agility and readiness are critical

   As the tech giants look to implement their voice assistants into other gadgets, household appliances, furniture and even cars, the opportunities for brands to become intrinsically valuable and useful to the consumer grows. With that opportunity comes complexity that will need to be navigated. As Ramsey pointed out, even the pneumonics of brand and product names will need to be considered! There is much to be gained by those who are most agile and can stay ahead.

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4. The evolution of the role of the marketer – and what that means for the future of the industry

   November 16, 2018 22:24 Comments Off on The evolution of the role of the marketer – and what that means for the future of the industry

   The role of the marketer has changed almost unrecognisably over the last four decades. As technology has progressed and our tools have advanced, we have a greater understanding of our audiences and how our messages are landing with them. This can and does drive increased performance for both the media and, ultimately, the brand. However, it also adds many layers of complexity to the marketer’s role: today’s marketer not only needs to be able to tell great stories, they need to be able to understand data, numbers and technology – or surround themselves with people who do.

   The 1980s: WHAT to say?

   The 80s were perhaps the last time that advertising resembled the fabled ‘Mad Men’ era. In the ‘brand positioning’ decade, marketers had the freedom to be creative and tell stories that would catch the audience’s attention, cutting through the noise to drive loyalty and recognition. There were far fewer channels to orchestrate; TV ruled the day, with out of home and radio jostling for position as well. Direct marketing had started to emerge, but was in its infancy. Most importantly, communication largely ran one way – from brand to consumer – meaning that the brand, and the marketer, held the power over messaging and could decide whatstories to tell.

   The 1990s: WHEN and WHERE to place ads?

   The 1980s became the 1990s, which were something of a watershed moment for the advertising industry. Why? Because it was the decade that saw the very first digital advertising: US communications giant AT&T placed the first digital banner on hotwired.com – Wired Magazine’s online platform – in 1994. What’s more, the proliferation of cable TV and the increased length of ad breaks (up from nine minutes per hour to nineteen). The advertising landscape had become rapidly more complex, and the marketer’s role had changed forever.

   This plethora of ad spaces had an important implication: it meant that the marketer could – and indeed needed to – optimise their media planning and buying strategies so that they were reaching their audiences in the optimal time and place. Whenandwhereto place ads were the key questions of the day: this meant adding more skills to the arsenal, such as the ability to understand and act upon ‘web analytics’ – the precursor to digital marketing optimisation.

   The 2000s: HOW much?

   If the 1990s was the birth of the digital advert, the 2000s were the decade that procurement-driven marketing was born. It was then that procurement processes were introduced to marketing, leading to increased control of – and therefore more focus on – pricing and effectiveness. This is undoubtedly intrinsically linked to the rise of the media buying houses – off-shoots from the creative agencies who were channelling their media planning and buying capabilities into separate entities. These entities would buy up huge amounts of inventory and sell it on to their clients, driving down prices. Procurement professionals were brought in to ensure that brands were getting the best deal from their agencies, resulting in pitches that were run on excel sheets rather than judged on relationships and strategy. The pressure on marketers and agencies to keep asking ‘howmuch?’ was intense, and has arguably not eased since.

   The 2010s: WHO are we reaching?

   The 2010s is the decade of the data-driven marketer. The most important marketing trends of the decade – data and technology – have transformed the practice of marketing. Modern tools allow marketers to understand their consumers like never before, optimising for their behaviour and preferences in real time and watching money come in in a way that is beyond the

   80s marketer’s wildest dreams. However, it hasn’t all been positive: transparency has decreased, leading to a crisis of trust between brands and their agencies, and there are grave concerns around data ownership and regulation – as some of the tech giants have discovered to their detriment.

   Who to reach – the individual – is now the priority, often at the expense of the mass-media, storytelling approach of the 1980s that built the strong brands of today. The focus has shifted to performance for each and every ad dollar and the cost per acquisition, rather than telling a brand story that leads to loyalty and trust. As we learned at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference last month, direct to consumer(DTC/D2C) brands are winning at the performance game, and more traditional brands can learn a lot from them. However, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact of the end destination – brand and business growth. Data and transparency are only the vehicles to get us there and are not the destination itself.

   The 2020s: what should we be asking ourselves?

   What does all this mean for the marketer as we approach the 2020s? Will there be a new paradigm? At ECI Media Management, we believe that marketers are now like the conductor of an orchestra: the instruments are in place, and the CMO is the conductor who is responsible for leading them to create the great symphony. An effective media strategy needs to ask ‘WHAT should we say?’, ‘WHERE and WHEN should we say it?’, ‘HOW much should it cost?’ and ‘WHO are we saying it to?’ in order to secure the highest ROI.

   Marketers must define KPIs based on a clear marketing objective linked to business growth, so that all stakeholders, brand owners, media planners and buyers, procurement leads and tech and data experts share the same language and have one version of the truth to work towards. The theme of this year’s ANA Masters of Marketing was ‘driving growth’, and ANA CEO Bob Leodice, opened the conference with a rallying cry: it is within the power of CMOs to recover growth, particularly with so many tools, skills and technology at their fingertips. Harnessing the lessons of the last three decades – telling a brand story, optimising time and placement, achieving the best cost and using data to understand the consumer is surely the way to do this.

   ECI Media Management can help marketers conduct the orchestra and position themselves for success. We forensically audit and benchmark all media activity, including (and uniquely) programmatic investments, to drive higher media value and increase the impact of media on business performance.  As well as helping to manage media agency partners, we can offer advice to marketers looking to increase control by bringing more agency services in-house. Along with our other services– financial compliance audit, pitch management and contract consultancy –  we can ensure that the modern marketer has all the tools at their disposal for success and growth in the 2020s and beyond.

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