The landscape for brand owners is changing dramatically and businesses need to “wake up” to advances in digital technologies in order to ensure they remain relevant to their customers, an audience in Leeds has heard.
The event hosted by iProspect, the digital performance agency of Dentsu Aegis Network, highlighted a range of increasingly deployed technologies in machine learning as well as digital assistants, virtual reality and ‘bots’ that brands need to adopt in order to keep up with customers’ expectations.
The afternoon event featured a range of product specialists from iProspect, as well as broadcaster Sky, search engine giant Google and Amazon Media Group.
Over 150 business leaders and marketing specialists attended the event, held at the AQL Salem Chapel. Attendees heard that while 52% of consumers believe fast response time is the key to exceptional customer service, only 7% of marketers have the strategic tools and real time data-driven technology to enable them to truly deliver a “customer-centric” service.
Pete Coates, director of iProspect Leeds, said: “This year will mark the first time that personalisation of marketing can truly be achieved at scale.
“Great data is the key to truly unlocking customer-centric, ‘people’ based marketing, which means having the ability to communicate at scale in a personalised, addressable and relevant way.
“Mobile searches for same-day shipping and other consumer expectations have never been higher. Brands need to wake up and meet these demands.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) applications like machine learning are increasingly available as tools to business.
Rahul Parmar, Head of Adtech at Google, said: “There is nothing new about the concept of machine learning, it is simply the infrastructure that has begun to change. Processing power and connectivity have reached a point where network development at scale becomes possible, meaning there is advantage to be had in applying these concepts in a business context.
“Machine learning allows the data we collect to move our understanding on from simply describing consumer behaviour to predicting it, both in the online world and in the real world – opening up endless possibilities for application.”
Machine learning is not the only advancement heavily impacting brands. Retailers in the East, particularly China, are leading the way with the application of technologies such as virtual reality (VR), digital malls and social commerce to online shopping. In comparison, brands in the US and Europe must start catching up to these trends to meet customer expectations.
Annabel Thorburn, Consulting Director with Isobar, the digital commerce agency of Dentsu Aegis Network, said: “Customers are beginning to expect the e-commerce experience to be brought to them. Brands will increasingly need to take their proposition away from their own website and into marketplaces and social environments and be prepared to transact there and then or lose the customer.
“New experiential technology will become critical in developing your customer experience. Virtual reality for example is already transforming ecommerce in China with virtual malls and dressing rooms. In the West we are only just waking up to this and are already well behind.
“Whether it’s a virtual reality mall, Kobe Bryant opening Singles Day, or Kentucky Fried Chicken selling 80,000 nuggets in a day on Tmall, anything is possible in China if it enhances the customer experience.”
Meanwhile, digital assistants such as Alexa in the home or Siri on a smart phone is expected to soar to two billion users over the next four years. This presents marketers with the challenge of ensuring their channels are able to interact with the ‘bots’ that act as intermediaries between the seller and the consumer.
Ian Williams, associate director of iProspect Leeds, said: “Bots are set to dominate our future. It’s imperative that marketing efforts appeal to the consumers’ own technology in order to make sure products get a look-in.”
He added: “The opportunities in this space for business are seemingly endless, but more importantly there are many simple applications that are available today. The brands that succeed in this space are likely to have first mover advantage.”
For more information and highlights see @iprospectleeds on Twitter
