Yesterday was our Connected Consumer Summit, where we brought together a wide variety of brands with key thought leaders from the mobile marketing world and beyond to explore and discuss the cutting edge of connected life, and how marketers can embrace the latest advancements in technology, from AI to the Internet of Things.
Mobile no longer just means your smartphone and tablet; it encompasses everything from your smart TV to your automated home, from your connected car to intelligent billboards. In this new age of connectivity, there are more channels than ever before to reach consumers, and more data available that can help marketers refine their targeting, improve their performance and ensure they are reaching customers with the right message at the right time and in the right place. Our Connected Consumer Summit aimed to explain this brave new world, and allowed brand marketers to put their questions to a wide variety of experts.
If you weren’t able to make it to the Summit, you missed out on some fantastic guidance from leading industry figures, but you can still access some of the gems of wisdom here, with our top 10 quotes from the day.
“eCommerce going forward should be included and analysed as part of the connected home environment. It can easily be bundled by a utility provider or by a telecom provider as part of their connected home solutions.”
Archana Vidyasekar, global research manager, Frost & Sullivan
Our day was kicked off by Archana Vidyasekar of Frost & Sullivan, who provided us with a comprehensive overview of the rise of the connected consumer, detailing how advances in the smart home, business and city were changing consumer behaviour. You can read more about Archana’s presentation here.
“We don’t just need the tools and intelligence to do this, but also the creativity and imagination to use it wisely.”
Kenny Davies, lead technical analyst, DigitasLBi
Data was a big focus of the day, with the growth of connected devices meaning that marketers have more access that ever before to crucial granular-level data on consumers. Kenny Davies from DigitasLBi spoke about how brands can use individual-level data from a wide variety of sources to inform and personalise their messaging.
“If you told a traditional department store search engine you’re going to a wedding, it might offer you a wedding dress. But you’re not getting married, you’re attending a wedding. A cognitive system will know to take you to formal wear.”
Tony Maile, European retail leader, IBM
The rise of AI, both in the form of back-end automation and consumer-facing interactions, was the focus for the presentation by IBM’s Tony Maile, who detailed how different brands have used the tech giant’s Watson platform to create intelligent, cognitive systems that learn from consumer behaviour and offer the next level of automated interaction.
“I’m not sure I want my personal habits paraded in front of everyone in a store. I think people will make mistakes when it comes to over-personalisation, and we’ll end up going back to the personal devices we currently have, the phone.”
David Morris, director of solutions consulting, EMEA, Tealium
During our afternoon panel debate, David Morris of Tealium spoke about the dangers the new connected world poses when it comes to ‘creepy’ levels of marketing that make consumers feel tracked and observed at every point. Brands need to be cautious about how they deploy the data they can harvest from new channels, and whether super-personalisation is always the right choice.
“There’s so much data available – it’s all about building up profiles and finding ways to use that in a meaningful way.”
Rob Jones, client services director, Code ComputerLove
Rob Jones from Code ComputerLove walked us through a detailed case study from the company’s work with home improvement brand Hillarys, exploring how data can be used at every step of the customer journey, and how even in the new connected age, there’s no substitute for understanding the product you’re selling, the customers you’re targeting and the business you’re working with.
“The consumer needs to be taken on a journey. There’s still a big education and awareness job to do. At the same time, we’re moving away from product and rational-based communications, and in the consideration phase we’re focusing on emotion and story-telling.”
Katherine Walker, head of marketing, UK, Hive
Hive has seen huge growth over the past five years, securing its place as the UK’s leader in the smart home category by expanding from connected thermostats to smart plugs, lights and home sensors. UK head of marketing Katherine Walker took us through the brand’s growth, and how it plans to continue expanding and innovating in the IoT space.
“Location is going to become the new third-party cookie. It’s going to become the way we identify someone’s interests, their drives.”
David Morris, director of solutions consulting, EMEA, Tealium
With so many data points available, the question of how marketers can connect the disparate information available to them and create a singular view of the customer was a common one. Tealium’s David Morris spoke about mobile’s role as the connecting point between every channel, thanks to it’s ability to track location.
“Kids can download this world and move inside the painting, learning things about it, speaking to the painter, playing games within the space we’ve created.”
James Delaney, managing director, BlockWorks
BlockWorks creates marketing experiences in an unconventional space – within the world of Minecraft, the world’s second-most successful video game of all time. Managing director James Delaney spoke about the company’s work with brands like Disney, Tate Modern and the Museum of London, creating interactive digital experiences that drive huge levels of engagement.
“Snacking is not planned, it’s impulse driven, it’s about moments in your day. But it’s still predictable. We’ve been working around what triggers we can identify that become long term trends.”
James ‘JT’ Turner, insights and analytics business leader, Black Swan
Machine learning and advanced algorithms mean that the data available to marketers can yield insights that humans would never think to look for. James Turner from Black Swan explained how information sourced from places as diverse as social media and app usage can predict everything from when and where you’ll next eat to who medicine brands should target during cold and flu season.
“On this day in 1933, prohibition came to an end in the United States. Now there’s something to drink to.”
Alexa
Perhaps the most unique speaker of the day was Alexa, Amazon’s digital assistant. Mobile Marketing Magazine’s David Murphy interviewed the AI via the Amazon Echo, the retailer’s popular smart speaker and home hub, demonstrating both the capabilities and limitations of current digital assistants, and asking what we can expect from them in the future.
If you’re interested in hearing these sorts of insights into a variety of verticals and technology areas, check out our 2017 Summits site, with events covering Finance, Programmatic, Travel and more. Click here to find out more.
