Changes over the last year have accelerated digitalization and bring to the fore the new needs companies need to take into account in order to continue making headway in their digital transformation processes.
Data will always be central to brands and agencies, but today, more than ever, data is the main focus. As a consequence of the pandemic, over just a few months, consumers have entered e-commerce channels so as to buy products online and companies has moved their operations online to be able to go on working with their teams, now remote. Acceleration of digitalization also brought into focus the issues of privacy.
According to a report by Kantar, 48 per cent of marketing professionals are worried about their companies not being potentially able to offer outstanding performance without cookies. However, only 40 per cent claim that their companies are ready for that (although this account for 35 per cent in 2019). Consumers, on their part, find themselves in a contradictory position: even if 54 per cent prefer a personalized account, 56 per cent are worried about their privacy. What happens then with marketing specialists? 51 per cent feel they do not count with all the data by users they need in order to make decisions in their positions. It is true that changes cannot be delayed but we can indeed stop and analyse which structures or processes are in force in our companies, going against this move towards the future.
From Google, two key factors have been identified: in the first place, the relationship between technology and marketing; in the second place the importance of counting with a technological services partener. Historically, decisions companies made over their data organisation turned around the CTO. Nowadays though, as data have become essential tolos for CMOs and their teams, it is crucial to erase the barriers in between areas. At present, teams most think together about the best structure in order to store and process data obtained as this will be the starting point for their strategies to succeed.
Key aspects of Digital Transformation
It is true that reaching digital maturity can be overwhelming, this is why brands must think of a partner in order to help them implement the technology they need to apply to their marketing plan. It is believed that one of the areas which will undergo the highest number of changes over the next five years is that of privacy, assigning control to users over all the data companies collect on them.
In this sense, Forrester and Google have proved that changes in consumer privacy regulations have led almost 50 per cent of brands to reduce their dependence on technology using third party data, and they are eager to find new ideas so as to offer personalization at a larger scale
Brands need agencies to counsel them on changes in their data privacy and to be help them evaluate ways in which they can compile and activate source data. Why should agencies be the ones to do so? Because they have had the foresight to invest in or acquire new solutions in order to give brands a unique vision of each client.
Today more than ever brands and agencies must continue working together, but in a different way, embracing the possibilities inherent in being partners. Since machine learningwill help us find user information there where it is missing, agencies will be the key actor in order to provide technological support to those companies who need it. The key element is upper management committing themselves to the formation of dynamic flexible teams to lead such initiative, able to find strategic support partners.
Source:Think with Google
