All too soon, deals won in the discounts battle fought during major retail events such as Black Friday & Christmas fade into last year’s bottom line and marketers turn their thoughts to a new year and fresh battlegrounds! But Chris Baldwin has advice and strategies that will create value for retailers all year round.
We are currently witnessing a period of immense change within marketing, says Anoma van Eeden. Consumers are far more aware of the ways in which brands are communicating with them and more savvy in determining and dictating their own customer experience – so here’s how the Mazda customer journey was made unique to the individual, bringing a fully connected and personalised experience.
All digital marketers are becoming direct marketers. So says Phil Andrews here, as he examines the evolution of what he calls Direct Marketing 4.0 and decides that a combination of digital and direct disciplines are the way forward – a collaboration that will drive effective use of tight marketing budgets, win engaged consumers and increase sales. It’s a future where great creative is driven by insight and data.
As the year draws to an end, the UK DMA has staged an awards event in London, giving top accolades to campaigns that have demonstrated inspirational marketing in action. Here’s a look at some of the best ones:
The Black Friday/Cyber Monday period is the starting pistol that signals that start of ‘the golden quarter’, when most retailers lock in their profits for the year. It’s also a time when having a good customer database – along with reaching the right consumer with the right offer at the right time – is critically lucrative for brands. However, the looming prospect of GDPR is set to make the gathering and use of customer data more complex. So what should marketers be doing now to ensure their golden quarter & GDPR plans go platinum in 2018?
The way we were, as consumers, has changed beyond recognition – ask your gran about the tiny corner shop, or half-day closing! Now, we have e-commerce and the ability to buy anything, anytime we like. But how about tomorrow’s world – and how will marketers and e-retailers cope with the ever-increasing demands of the savvy e-shopper? In this interview by Steven van Belleghem, an expert practitioner shares his online shop expertise and view of the future:
It seems to Robert Howells that marketers are beginning to see clearer skies ahead as the mist around GDPR lifts, panic subsides and the May 2018 deadline approaches. But, in case you are still wary and unsure of how to finalise getting your data shipshape and in good order before the new regulation comes into force, here are some guidelines to help you.
Global spending on native ads is predicted to hit $85.5bn a year within the next two years; it’s a format that is deemed to offer a more appealing and engaging user experience and is thus rapidly growing in popularity among marketers and brands – likely to overtake banner ads as the field leader in display advertising. Here’s a glimpse into tomorrow’s digital ad world and what the more creative, relevant and editorially compelling native advertising 2020 could add up to.
For most marketers, 2018 will be a milestone year – the year when their data comes under scrutiny by both regulators and consumers themselves, who are increasingly aware of the value of their personal details and concerned about how they are used. Is your company ready to comply with the changing GDPR? Are your data policies in order? Marketers need to focus on the merits of GDPR and how it will rebuild consumer trust. Here’s what you should be aware of and why you should be preparing now, before the new regulation becomes law in May 2018.
It is now generally agreed that the process of analysing data is key to successful marketing. Collecting data from happy and consenting customers is fine, but putting that data to good use – identifying trends, optimising campaigns and examining effectiveness in detail – is still a skill that many marketing departments lack. How skilled is your data scientist? …What’s that? You don’t have one, just a regular marketer trying to keep all the balls in the air (and dropping a few)? Find out why the science of data is so important – as is the need to fill that specific role.