HOW A DIGITAL REVOLUTION IS DRIVING THE JOURNEYS OF THE FUTURE

Oliver van Bilsen, Global Head of Digital – Retail, Fuels & Lubricants at Shell 

Oliver Van Bilsen, Global Head of Digital – Retail & Lubricants at Shell, recently presented his thoughts on how the digital revolution is changing the face of retail at the MMA Forum. Here he expands on his thoughts and outlines how Shell is pushing innovation forward.

Digital consumers are different. Their shifting expectations are redefining retail and demanding new strategies to deliver experiences that attract new customers, boost loyalty and improve satisfaction.

Understanding mobile’s role in the automotive purchase journey: a ‘drive through’ Weve’s Automotive Research 2017.

Timothea Horwell, Marketing & Research Manager At WEVE

Weve’s Marketing & Research Manager, Timothea Horwell, explores the paradox of the modern day automotive purchase: a wealth of mobile data to understand how to reach prospective customers at moments that most influence their decisions, but a decreasing time-frame in which to do so. Weve’s research provides context to understand different drivers at each stage of the automotive journey.

Buying a car used to mean spending hours perusing the local dealership. In 2017, however, consumers are increasingly looking online for much of the purchase process, and mostly via a mobile device: Weve’s Automotive Research 2017 found 84% of consumers use their mobile at some stage when buying a car. 

Weve Source: The Art and Science of Mobile Engagement

Harry Clarke, Creativity & Innovations Manager at Weve

There is always something to compare in advertising. Content vs context, data vs creativity, technology vs humanity. All the conversations start off with one question: who will win? Yet in every seminar and workshop I’ve attended and every article I’ve read, we all reach the same conclusion: there are no winners.

The truth is, they are all cornerstones of the advertising world we work (and live) in, working together to enhance and evolve our output.

A view from the top: does mobile have a seat at the boardroom table?

Written by Jon Hook, VP of Brand & Agency at AdColony

At the MMA London Forum we took a step into the boardroom with Dan Hagen Chief Strategy Officer at Carat UK and Keith Moor the CMO at Santander, to understand if and how mobile has impacted the way executives plan and execute marketing campaigns.

How has mobile changed the way that you plan your campaigns?

As with any other medium, the starting point is always with the consumer, not a device or screen. Mobile enables advertisers to derive a real time and data rich portrait of a consumer than previously possible, in large part down to location signals (giant caveat being GDPR!). Whilst this is deeply valuable, the real challenge is where mobile sits in the marketing mix.

4 Strategies for Capitalising on the Micro-Moment Economy

Digby Lewis, Head of Platforms & Distribution at iris Worldwide

This is a story about change. Humans have a very linear perception of how things evolve: we believe things will change at broadly the same rate. The truth is, things have never changed so fast before… and will never change so slowly again. Even the concept of Moore’s law, where processing power doubles every 18 months, has been declared redundant by MIT. The truth is, technological change is exponential. Which means that we have to adapt ever faster to make our marketing communications more in step with consumer behaviour.

Maximising Mobile Video Content – Without Cutting Your Hand Off

Peter Haslett, Head of Client Development at Realeyes Ltd.

As the sun sets on Cannes, I was personally very pleased to see a theme of quality vs quantity get the spotlight.

The urge to push creative boundaries is no doubt high but as we know, high quality production doesn’t save an idea that does not inherently make us (the audience) sit-up and pay attention.  So this is about inspiring creativity, breathing oxygen in to ideas and identifying where risk brings reward vs going too far in an attempt to disrupt and/or surprise.

The crux of this is that getting feedback through the creative development process at speed, dramatically reduces costly iterations and disruption to time-pressured workflows.

RELEVANCY + INSPIRATION + DATA: MEETING THE DAILY DEMANDS OF MOBILE CONSUMERS

Ian James, General Manager International at Verve

For many, mobile devices have become a primary connection to the world — they teleport users from destination to destination throughout their day, at once utilitarian communication tools and personalized windows onto inspiring new experiences.

Today, there are two rising demographics of mobile influencers — a pair of generations that have never lived in a world without mobile. These Mobile Prodigies are born digital, growing up in a world of swiping, tapping, and scrolling. With so much to gain at their fingertips, they represent constantly evolving demands to which both advertisers and publishers must respond.

iOS 11: How will the new updates disrupt the mobile advertising industry

Nicolas Rieul, VP Strategy EMEA at S4M

Apple announced at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference 2017 a suite of news features for iOS 11 that will surely be welcomed by its loyal users. For mobile advertisers, this update doesn’t bring all bad news, there are also some exciting new potentials for marketers with the latest update. For users, it is all good news, as Apple’s new iOS 11 is putting user privacy centre stage.

 

Why & how more brands need to take a stand to become a love brand

Beate Rosenthal, Global Brand Director Digital & Media at Merck Consumer Health

In today’s world, crowded with messages and distractions, brands need to find ever more unique ways to stand-out.

That does not just mean that brands needs to add emotional benefits to functional superiority, but they need to consider taking a stand and commit to societal topics.

Brands need to take a stand about topics, people care about

Insights based ideas that connect with consumers at a higher level are important to create brand love, but they don’t replace the need for product benefit superiority. At Merck consumer health, the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company, we are committed to the love brand idea. By the way, brand love is a scientifically proven concept with various studies showing that simply seeing their favourite brand logos caused students’ hearts to slow temporarily – literally ‘skipping a beat’.

At Facebook we get things wrong – but we take our safety role seriously

Monika Bickert, Head of Public Policy Management at Facebook

Last month, people shared several horrific videos on Facebook of Syrian children in the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack. The videos, which also appeared elsewhere on the internet, showed the children shaking, struggling to breathe and eventually dying.

 

The images were deeply shocking – so much so that we placed a warning screen in front of them and made sure they were only visible to adults. But the images also prompted international outrage and renewed attention on the plight of Syrians.