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UK marketers ‘stuck in the past’
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Almost a quarter (23%) of UK marketers say their approach to digital marketing and delivering digital experiences is stuck in the past.

That’s according to new research from Optimizely, which also found that the majority of marketers (61%) don’t believe their teams are progressive or willing to try new techniques when it comes to digital experiences.

The Culture of Experimentation report, based on a survey of 200 UK in-house marketing executives, assistants and managers, reveals that 27% of UK marketing teams take a fixed approach to delivering digital experiences, with a further one in ten having no digital experience strategy in place at all.

The report also reveals the extent to which marketers are using experimentation to drive continuous improvement for the customer experience. One in five (22%) marketers say they use experimentation all the time and around half (47%) say digital experimentation plays a key role in their marketing strategy. However, when asked about how experimentation is implemented by their marketing teams, around two in five (37%) admit to taking an ad-hoc, unstructured approach.

Looking at the overarching goals of marketers, the top drivers for focusing on digital experience strategies are linked to overall business success: increasing market share, changing brand perceptions and creating a more customer-centric business.

According to Kirsten Allegri Williams, CMO of Optimizely, more needs to be done to formalise and streamline the use of techniques like experimentation to help them achieve these ambitions.

“Marketing teams are under pressure to stand out from their peers, but current strategies aren’t set to deliver against their ambitions to increase market share and change brand perceptions. Embedded into the marketing strategy, continuous experimentation can drive informed, data-driven decisions that will create stand-out digital customer experiences.”

Do you specialise in Creative & Design services? We want to hear from you!
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Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in November we’ll be focussing on Creative & Design solutions.

It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help marketing industry professionals find the best products and services available today.

So, if you specialise in Creative & Design solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact Clair Wyld on c.wyld@forumevents.co.uk.

Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy
Jan – Content Management
Feb – Lead Generation & Tracking
Mar – Email Marketing
April – Digital Printing
May – Social Media
Jun – Brand Monitoring
July – Web Analytics
Aug – Conversion Rate Optimisation
Sept – Digital Signage
Oct – Brochure Printing
Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy

Digital Customer Engagement Summit – Just a month to go!
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Don’t miss out on your complimentary delegate place at the Digital Customer Engagement Summit, which takes place in London on November 24th.

The Summit is unaffected by the recent government announcements, but we wanted to update you about the guidelines that we have put in place at the event;

– Plenty of space as the venue be running at 50% capacity

– Registration will be staggered ensuring no long queues – Your temperature will be taken at arrival

– Face masks must be worn at all times, unless exempt or seated

– The event will be as paper free as possible – your itinerary will be sent to you via email

– Sanitation stations will be dotted around the venue for you to use

– Meeting booths will be spaced out (in line with the current social distance measures) and will consist of a table and two chairs with a protective screen

– There will be a one way system in place, which will be pointed out with arrows on the floor

– All meals and refreshment will follow the government guidelines –  creating a relaxed and fun atmosphere. Please note, we have Flexible attendance options – for duration and also the ability to switch to VIRTUAL attendance at any given time.

We look forward to seeing you on the 24th November at Hilton London Canary Wharf.

Click here to register.

Or if you have any questions then you can contact Haley Stratton at h.stratton@forumevents.co.uk.

WEBINAR: Video for your business made easy
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Pitchy is a video-editing solution that enables you to create professional videos without any skills on your own. Access a demonstration of the solution by registering for our free webinar on Thursday 14th October at 11:30am.

Register for free!

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14th | 11:30 AM (BST)

✔ Editing and video styling

✔ 1200+ motion design animations

✔ All types of videos (presentations, interviews, tutorials, social media…)

✔ All types of formats (landscape, portrait and square for social media)

✔ Access to 1M+ of royaltee-free media (pictures, videos, icons, music…)

✔ Automatic subtitling and translation in 50+ languages

✔ Voice over and the text-to-speech features

✔ And much more!

Register for free!

Pitchy is a SaaS online video editing solution, that allows professionals to create their corporate videos in a completely autonomous and personalised way.

“What we really liked about Pitchy was the concept […] that allows us to be free, autonomous, to be able to make the amount of videos we wanted, at a completely controlled cost.” – Emmanuelle Leduc, Head of Project Contributions and Deployment at BNP Paribas

“This tool was popular among the departments because it was easy to use, enabling everyone to produce professional quality videos independently without having prior video editing skills.” – Alexandre Guerfal, Deputy Head of department DECADE IGPDE

Setting the bar as a trusted brand
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By Cyrus Gilbert-Rolfe, CRO, EVRYTHNG

The consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry is a tough one. Highly competitive, crowded, and frequently driven by price. Now producers are being put under even greater pressure, as consumers increasingly only want to buy from brands that they feel align with their own values.

With people becoming more aware of what they are putting into their bodies the focus on health issues is intensifying, coupled with sustainability and inclusivity being taken more seriously (particularly by millennials and Gen Z). This means that brands that want to retain, or even gain, a share of the market need to be seen visibly contributing to these causes.

Consumers are increasingly holding brands to account, wanting more information than can be delivered on a label or billboard. Businesses must now be able to show that their products have been sourced, produced, even transported, in a safe and sustainable way – along every step of the supply chain.

These demands for data are too important to ignore, with 99% of consumers saying that transparency is important in fresh food products, and 75% of consumers stating they would switch to brands offering more complete information[1].

With the addition of regulators requiring enhanced transparency and accuracy around Environmental Social and Governance (ESG), it’s more important than ever that companies seek to establish a reputation of trust.

True transparency

It’s no longer enough to simply state that a product is Fairtrade/organic/non-GMO. Consumers want to see the proof of this. They want evidence that a brand is treating its workers fairly and behaving in an ethical and safe manner – and this expectation extends across the entire supply chain. As younger generations gain more buying power this demand for rich information will increase, and brands need to adapt to this market now.

So far, gaining this full visibility across the whole supply chain has been difficult, with data being disparate and inconsistent across suppliers. However, with the ability to mass serialise products, digitally print unique identities onto goods on a mass scale is becoming more affordable. Coupled with the computing power and cloud capacity to share, process and store these massive amounts of data from each product, true end to end visibility is within reach.

This stands to revolutionise the CPG industry – enabling consumers and businesses to access all the information around a product’s life cycle by simply scanning a code – delivering true end to end visibility for the first time. It also provides businesses with both the challenge and opportunity of finally being able to meet customer expectations of transparency. Consumers will expect it, and it will be up to businesses to ensure they deliver it – or risk losing market share to those that do. Done successfully, this provides a chance to build trust, even generate loyalty, across a customer base that can be engaged with both pre and post purchase on an ongoing basis.

Maximising engagement to build trust

Up until now opportunities to directly engage with consumers across the CPG market have been limited due to the lack of product registrations in this arena. Product digital identity stands to change all that, as consumers are able to scan a code pre-purchase – giving a line of communication to potential purchasers, and further opportunities to engage post purchase – all with the aim of encouraging repeat or further purchases from the same brand.

Of course, this all depends on the consumer liking what they see when they access that information. As the market matures there is no doubt that there will be an increasing expectation of richer data and superior levels of transparency and authenticity.

Changing the game on product recalls

The benefits of this new technology go beyond meeting consumer demands for information on how a product is produced. It will also make a significant difference to the tricky area of product recalls.

No matter how focused a company is on safety, recalls are commonplace. How this is managed can have a significant impact on a brand’s reputation and the trust its customers place in it. In the CPG arena recalls are frequently done via in-store posters, social media, and email. There is very little opportunity for direct-to-consumer engagement, purely because the nature of the market means that product registration is rare (for example, a consumer would not register a bottle of shampoo, or a tin of beans).

As well as enabling companies to maximise both pre and post purchase engagement, it will also provide a direct channel to issue safety alerts should the need arise. Managing crisis points in this way will go even further in protecting, if not building, that all important consumer trust.

Plan now for the consumer of the future

There is no doubt in my mind that product digital identities are the future. In addition to meeting the ever-growing demands for data from the consumer, it also plays into the ESG movement by providing information on product life cycle, highlighting opportunities to enhance sustainability.

Businesses must start to plan now for the consumer of the future and consider how they will meet customer expectations but also maximise the potential opportunities and establish themselves as a trusted brand. This means:

  • Starting to gather information across the entire product and consumer journey
  • Unifying data from supplier, internal, and consumer facing applications around a unique and cloud enabled product identity
  • Enabling each point of contact with the product to read and write contextually relevant data
  • Let customers know. Highlighting the fact that they are fully transparent, and that consumers can easily access the product life cycle and a full suite of information about its origins
  • The industry as a whole must work together to fully embed this new technology so that everyone can benefit.

It is essential that businesses start taking these steps sooner rather than later and use the plentiful opportunities that end to end visibility and product digital identities offer in order to build a reputation as a trusted brand – ensuring that they are the ones that consumers are switching to, not from.

[1] Response Media Survey & Food Marketing Institute

Life after the pandemic: Navigating the next chapter in marketing
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By Esther Flammer –Head of Wrike Marketing at Citrix

There’s no doubt that the last 18 months have proved challenging for marketers. The pandemic created an unforgiving landscape, as shrinking budgets were met with growing expectations. Industry-wide cut-backs resulted in dramatic decreases in spending and marketing leaders and teams around the world were under pressure to do more with less while searching out new and innovative channels in an increasingly saturated digital market.

As we continue to navigate the evolving landscape, we’re starting to see the return of some normality. However, for marketers, not everything is set to return to the way it was pre-pandemic. Fundamental shifts in both consumer behaviour and employee working habits mean that the industry will never be the same.

In order to navigate this new landscape and come out on top, CMOs and their marketing teams will need to adapt and innovate in order to become more strategic drivers of business and revenue.

Prioritising digital

For consumers, the pandemic is set to have a lasting impact on the way that they interact with brands and access services. Whether it’s shopping, entertainment or even just communicating with colleagues, family and friends, many aspects of our daily lives took a digital format even more so over the last year and a half. Whilst initially thought of as a temporary way to limit the spread of the virus and keep the most vulnerable safe, this new online environment has had some unexpected benefits – especially in terms of convenience – and the likelihood is that it is here to stay.

In fact, according to McKinsey, consumers are continuing to shift towards digital and reduced-contact ways of accessing products and services, with 84% of marketers believing that their customers are placing more value on digital experiences than before the pandemic. Whether it’s developing a meaningful brand image, or executing specific campaigns to attract and retain customers, marketing teams need to take this shift in consumer preferences into account.

In this new digital world, marketers need to focus on delivering personalised offers and messages that truly speak to their audiences. In order to know if these messages are landing, they need to be able to measure which marketing channels deliver the best content to the right audiences at the right time. Teams are under more pressure to ensure projects are a success and deliver noticeable return on investment (ROI). Therefore, having an effective multichannel marketing tech stack – to centralise and maximize all of your data and manage complex customer journeys across multiple platforms – will be key. A good system is essential to track all of your leads’ interactions and engagement. It can also help you make better decisions and take action on your leads’ unique paths.

Managing hybrid

It’s not only customers that are increasingly preferring online methods of buying. The pandemic also saw a drastic shift in terms of how employees expect to operate moving forward. Although remote working isn’t a new concept – especially in the marketing industry – since the outbreak of the pandemic, work has infiltrated the home at a never-before-seen scale. Many individuals have embraced the flexibility that comes with this and want it to stay in place permanently. In an effort to attract and retain the industry’s talent, marketing leaders are having to adjust their working practices. In fact, recent research discovered that 82% of marketing organisations have new policies in place around remote work following the pandemic.

When we transitioned to remote work, organizations made sure we did not lose something that we all took for granted in an office environment – the benefit of face-to-face communication. When shifting to a more flexible, long-term model, marketing departments need to ensure that they do not lose something that we might take for granted – visibility. Relying on chat platforms and video conferencing tools to collaborate could make it more challenging to keep track of projects happening on other platforms.

One way of creating visibility in a hybrid environment is through the use of collaboration software. These technologies make it possible for information sharing and greater transparency across marketing teams. Tasks are easily accessible to everyone, meaning fewer mistakes, greater consistency and a shared knowledge of what others are working on. This not only helps encourage a certain level of transparency and accountability within teams, it also promotes a culture of open communication.

Through increasing visibility, you can ensure that each individual is aware of exactly how they are contributing to a project and their role as part of the wider team. If a certain element of a campaign is delayed or not where it should be it quickly becomes apparent, and can easily be picked up on before it has a knock-on effect. This helps marketing teams keep things on track and swiftly spot mistakes, leading to an overall increase in productivity and results.

The role of the marketing team has never been more important. In today’s uncertain climate, innovation  is essential and implementing the right tactics at the right time could be the difference between an entire business surviving or collapsing. By focusing on digitally-driven multi-channel strategies and leveraging technologies that can facilitate communication and collaboration amongst employees, regardless of their location, marketing leaders can set themselves up for future success, regardless of what comes next.

OPINION: Don’t rip up the UK’s data privacy rules
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A major announcement earlier this month of a consultation on overhauling current data legislation made by the former Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden, has been questioned by a leading expert in data privacy regulation. Privacy expert Nigel Jones (pictured), Co-Founder of the Privacy Compliance Hub and ex-head of legal for Google in EMEA, urges against ripping up the UK’s privacy rules…

The stated aim of the consultation is to drive greater innovation and growth in the UK’s data sector and better protect the public from major data threats.   However, there are a number of issues with the announcement. While I broadly welcome some aspects of the consultation, there is actually little by way of explanation in the announcement as to why the UK’s current data rules and regulations are insufficient to enable all these things to be addressed without the planned reforms.

The stated aims of the proposed reforms – to boost international trade; reduce burdens on business; deliver better public services; drive economic growth; boost innovation including reducing barriers to responsible innovation; protect the public; and strengthen public trust in use of data are ones that most organisations – as well as the general public – would agree with.

However, my view is that there is little, if anything, in the current legal framework that is stopping the UK from executing the aims of this consultation now, and there is insufficient detail in last week’s announcement to explain why such a consultation is necessary. Changes to the current agreement may threaten the very important adequacy decision that the UK has with the EU.

The announcement last week contains many references to science, healthcare and research and how the use of data in these areas needs to be simplified.  It is unclear what the Government feels is wrong with the current rules as they apply to science, healthcare and research.  It refers to advances made by Moorfield’s Eye Hospital and University College London in identifying eye disease by making use of AI, but those advances were successfully made under the current data framework using the power of Google Deepmind.  What exactly do they think is wrong with the status quo?”

The announcement also claims that there are plans to impose tougher penalties and fines for nuisance calls and text messages. My view is that there is nothing in the announcement that explains why this is necessary as current penalties are already very stringent.  Under the UK GDPR, the current maximum fine is already up to £17.5 million or 4% of worldwide turnover – that this is sufficient deterrent.

The announcement refers to disproportionate burdens for compliance on many organisations. While it is logical for the announcement to claim that a hairdresser shouldn’t have the same data protection processes as a multimillion pound tech firm, this ignores the fact that the current regime doesn’t require a hairdresser to have the same processes as Facebook. Also, how many hairdressers do we hear complaining about the burdens that the current UK data framework places on their business?

The consultation states that a shakeup of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is proposed, to include an independent board and chief executive.

The tenure of Elizabeth Denham, the current Information Commissioner, comes to an end this year.  She has come in for criticism during her time in charge from those that feel that, as a heavily funded regulator, the ICO should be able to achieve much more, especially in the area of enforcement.  Perhaps the government feels that by taking power away from the Commissioner and putting it in the hands of an independent board which it can appoint, it will be able to ‘take back control’ of data regulation.

However, I’m very much in favour of the statement in last week’s press release that the government plans to “replace box ticking with common sense.”

We couldn’t agree more. Data protection has never been about box ticking and it never should be. It is about creating a culture of continuous compliance and we take great heart from the government’s apparent enthusiasm for what it calls ‘Privacy Management Programmes’.  All companies that process data should build a culture using such a Privacy Management Programme which makes all its staff understand privacy, care about it and do their bit to use data wisely and securely.”

I also agree with the aim outlined in the plan to mitigate the risk of bias in algorithmic systems. This is a hugely important objective but it will be interesting to see how the government proposes to improve the current framework which exists under the UK GDPR.

It is intriguing that the government feels that the UK’s current data legislation is in some way holding the country back in areas such as international trade, public services, innovation, research, healthcare and hairdressing.  While of course any improvements in these areas are to be welcomed, we should bear in mind that the current rules are based upon a framework that has been in place for a very long time and that those rules already allow for much flexibility.

The government should make changes at its peril, and be careful to make sure that any planned amendments don’t threaten the very important adequacy decision that we have in place with the EU, our largest trading partner.  In our view, it would be better to make use of the existing flexibility we have than to suggest ripping up existing rules and starting again.

Half of consumers ‘will dump brands’ if they can’t log in
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The majority of consumers (56%) have ditched a digital account or online service when logging in was ‘too frustrating’, with 77% having abandoned or stopped creating an online account for a variety of reasons, including being asked to provide too much personal information (40%), needing too much time to enter info (33%), and too many security steps (29%).

That’s according to a new survey from Ping Identity, Brand Loyalty Is Earned at Login, which shows that while consumers are interested in securing their online accounts four in 10 (39%) are unwilling to spend even 2 minutes adjusting privacy settings.

The news comes as Microsoft announced that users will be able to log in with biometric scanning instead of traditional passwords, in a bid to safeguard digital identities and make the user experience more convenient.

Key findings include:-

Consumers demand easy, fast experiences

  • 77% have abandoned or stopped creating an online account for a variety of reasons, including being asked to provide too much personal information (40%), needing too much time to enter info (33%), and too many security steps (29%).
  • 56% have abandoned an online service when logging in was too frustrating.
  • 63% are likely to leave an online service for a competitor who makes it significantly easier to authenticate identity.

As passwords get worse, passwordless looks even better

  • 58% are comfortable with the concept of a digital ID capability that stores personal information securely on a smartphone to share electronically.
  • 46% would prefer to use a service or site that offers an alternative to passwords.
  • 44% admit to weak password practices, including making a minor change to an old password (29%) or reusing a password from another account (15%.)

Privacy should be transparent and simple

  • 85% are interested in learning how online services share their personal information, but 72% say that information is difficult to find.
  • 72% have manually adjusted their profile settings to control privacy—including a massive 89% of Gen Z.
  • 60% have dropped an account over privacy concerns, including 46% who have done so more than once.

“With more options than ever before, businesses now need to integrate their security, privacy and user experience strategies to keep up with modern consumer expectations,” said Richard Bird, chief customer information officer, Ping Identity. “Individuals have no hesitations about finding better experiences elsewhere, so companies that prioritise customer experience now will earn loyalty in the long run.”

The Ping Identity Consumer Survey: Brand Loyalty Is Earned at Login asked more than 3,400 consumers across the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia about their typical registration and login experiences, attitudes toward online privacy and willingness to share personal information.

 

Do you specialise in Brochure Printing? We want to hear from you!
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Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in October we’ll be focussing on Brochure Printing solutions. It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help marketing industry professionals find the best products and services available today. So, if you specialise in Brochure Printing solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact Clair Wyld on c.wyld@forumevents.co.uk. Here are the areas we’ll be covering, month by month: Oct- Brochure Printing Nov – Creative & Design Dec – Online Strategy

Global digital ticketing transactions will exceed 33bn in 2023
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A new study from Juniper Research has found that global digital ticketing transaction volumes will exceed 33.8 billion in 2023, from 20.8 billion in 2021; surpassing pre-COVID levels for the first time.

The research found that this 62% growth will be driven by a resurgence in travel, as well as the recovery in events ticketing.

The research predicts that, while consumer concerns around safety in the post-pandemic environment will persist, adopting digital ticketing solutions, which limit contact and provide information on congestion, can alleviate these concerns. It found that this appeal will lead to a more digital recovery in ticketing; providing a significant opportunity for digital ticketing vendors.

The Digital Ticketing: Industry Trends, Competitor Leaderboard and Market Forecasts 2021-2026 report found that metro and bus ticketing will account for over 33% of digital ticketing transaction volume in 2023; making it the biggest segment, compared with rail, airline and events ticketing. The report identified the high average number of trips in this segment; making it an ideal option for digital ticketing disruption. While average ticket value in this segment is low, it will seed greater digital use in other segments; driving the whole market forward.

The research also found that contactless ticketing is thriving in the pandemic recovery, with over 23% of global digital ticketing transaction volume in 2026 being via this method, compared to only 10% pre-pandemic in 2019. As many transit operators expanded their contactless roll-outs mid-pandemic, this has accelerated digital ticketing adoption. The report predicts that as contactless payments accelerate via a permanent shift in consumer behaviour post-pandemic, this will be reflected in the ticketing space, with transit increasingly dominated by contactless ticketing.

Research co-author Harry Crabtree said: “As travellers get used to digital ticketing within metro and bus, this provides the opportunity to disrupt further areas, as user familiarity grows. This will allow ticketing vendors to target more lucrative segments.”