This week we look at the disruptive technology feeding the raft of start-ups and causing headaches for sector incumbents who, by their very nature, are slow to adapt. Marketing is an area where technology is making great strides, but it’s worth remembering that technology is no substitute for a great idea and strategy.
The DVO team and I have been spending a lot of time thinking about disruptive technology and how we can grow our proposition of creating integrated campaigns and experiences for our clients through a curated technology stack.
It’s increasingly apparent that brands are recognising the need for change. However, their internal organisations are so tightly linked to the marketing landscape that has grown up in the last 60 years, since TV came along, that the way forward has become blurred. This can be seen in the many tools and tactics that focus on a particular silo, while the root problem remains the same; brands need a strategy that will adapt to the disruption new technologies bring.
This goes beyond building a nice app. It comes down to thinking about the enabled consumer and how a brand can organise all its facets to give increased value in a world where technology is an integral part of everyone’s lives. The answer is not to make better adverts but to get to the root of what will give a consumer real value. This means offering an experience that can sit side by side with your products and services. And in some cases the experience will actually become the product or service, Apple’s iTunes for example, or Nike’s FuelBand.
But there’s one thing we’re only too aware of; change doesn’t happen overnight. Our real challenge is to find ways that we can bring brands on board and grow their sophistication over time.
Right now, most of our clients sit at the early stage, with simple platforms and high quality engaging content that offers the consumer something they need. From here we will establish a campaign element linked to an experience, with a story that encompasses the whole piece, which in turn generates the synergy needed to create long term value. Sophistication grows with the experience and the amount of interaction required to achieve the end result.
At all times during this we’ll be asking ourselves three questions; does the experience add value, is it useful and is it worthy of sharing.
Now we have a clear process for bringing clients into a digital first agency approach, with simple solutions that manifest online, ensuring that media is an integral part of our strategic thinking, especially when we consider owned and earned. It’s impossible for a brand to be in all the available and new media due to the speed of development, which can be seen best if you pop to one of the hundreds of meet-ups happening all over London. It’s mind boggling.
The skill now is in how we as a full service agency bring it into our thinking and client work. This is the process we are keenly refining; what brands need in their agency is a partner who constantly evaluates disruptive technological and make smart, data-led decisions on how a brand might incorporate this into its marketing.
For some further reading check out:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162503000489
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/disruptive-technologies
To talk to us about how we can set you start on a path of that truly taps into the relationship between consumers and technology, call 020 3771 2461, email [email protected] or tweet us @DVOagency.
