Another whirlwind Advertising Week has concluded in New York City. While the glitzy theater venue and a few industry celebrities – Seth Godin, Arianna Huffington, and David Droga, among others – added glamour to this event, the attendees seemed unfazed. They were there to listen, learn, and connect with others.
What can we take away?
In past years, remember attending these events and being able to differentiate who was who? You knew for certain who was the brand director, the agency strategist, or the platform representative, and so on from the terms they used and the different perspectives they shared. However, this year, whether it was the general congeniality of the panelists or the many head-nodding conversations across the evening networking events, it become clear that “we” – the brand marketers, agency teams, platforms, and publishers – are actually agreeing more than ever before on the challenges we face and the solutions we need in order to evolve, in fact, in order to survive the inevitable data-driven future. But it’s more than that – we are finally using the same language.
What does this mean going forward?
This year, I saw a group of people from all corners of our industry who were all articulating the same problems and coalescing around the same topics:
- Customer-centricity is essential in the age of the hyperconnected customer. We are all facing the same reality – consumers are empowered and in control. To meet heightened customer expectations, everyone in the ecosystem must learn to not only identify their audience across touchpoints but also to create privacy-conscious experiences that meet their needs and collaborate with partners in new ways to delight (and keep) their customers, now and in the future.
- Everything can and will become more data-driven. Whether discussing advanced TV, consumer insights, marketing measurement, or creative development, multiple sessions at Advertising Week focused on how data is essential to each and every part of the process. The most impactful companies today are increasingly data-driven. With technology changing at an exponential rate, organizations must have a data strategy in lockstep with their technology investments that keep them ahead of the curve.
- Trust and transparency are critical to future-proof our brands. As LiveRamp’s Chief Privacy Officer Sheila Colclasure said in her session, “Changes Ahead: Future-Proof Your Enterprise,” “Trust is the foundation of all human relationships.” An entire track session at Advertising Week this year discussed ways trust and transparency can help future-proof an enterprise and how it can build stronger and more valuable relationships among industry players and most importantly, consumers.
What’s important about a common language?
As we all look ahead, our industry’s mutual success is dependent on the use of a lingua franca, which increases efficiency and transparency. But it’s more than that. To truly future-proof our organizations we must understand each other in order to do the real work of building brands that engage customers in new and exciting ways, ultimately driving the outcomes we’re all looking for.
If you missed us at Advertising Week 2018, we are continuing the conversation. Join LiveRamp at one of our upcoming events, including RampUp on the Road in New York and London, as well as the 2018 ANA Masters of Marketing Week.