These slides are from James Caig's talk at the October 2016 Digital Gaggle Conference. James is Head of Strategy at True Digital, an award winning Digital Marketing Agency based in Bristol. Talk summary: As technology proliferates, making sure your brand still feels human can give you competitive advantage. But it’s not always easy. Digital marketing increasingly feels like it keeps customers at arm’s length, and as your business gets bigger it’s hard to maintain a personal touch. In this talk James will explore these challenges and propose some ways to keep your brand connecting with people as its world turns digital.

1. @jamescaig
Head of strategy, True

2. How many people check their
phones within 5 mins of
waking?
Source: Deloitte, Game of Phones 2015

3. How many people check their
phones within 5 mins of
waking?
53%
Source: Deloitte, Game of Phones 2015

4. How many people people put
their phones down 5 mins
before sleep?
Source: Deloitte, Game of Phones 2015

5. How many people people put
their phones down 5 mins
before sleep?
28%
Source: Deloitte, Game of Phones 2015

6. Source: Ofcom 2015 Communications Market Report
9 hours and 54 minutes

7. Source: Ofcom 2015 Communications Market Report
20 hours and 30 minutes
9 hours and 54 minutes

8. http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecrandell/2015/08/26/adobe-study-finds-email-is-an-addiction/#3c59d6704238

9. http://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecrandell/2015/08/26/adobe-study-finds-email-is-an-addiction/#3c59d6704238
28% find it annoying they have to read the entire email
21% find it annoying to wait for images to load

15. 20% more touch
points annually.
Source: McKinsey 2015

16. “Digital isn’t just IT
anymore. It isn’t just
marketing. It’s a slice
across the business.”

21. Making digital
marketing more
human

23. Human Tools
Human Metrics
Human Experience

24. Human Tools
Human Metrics
Human Experience

25. What really counts?
Worries and aspirations?
What do they hear around them?
Who influences the audience?
What are others saying?
What do they see around them?
What is their environment?
Attitude
Behaviours
THINK & FEEL
HEAR
SAY & DO
SEE

26. Mel
Alex PERSONALITY CHALLENGES
EMOTIONAL
FUNCTIONAL
GOALS CONSIDERATIONS
• Needs clarity – contract, detail
• Risk averse
• Understands sector as critical to
factory success
Works with
Factory Manager
• Defers to food quality team to gauge
the level of risk
• Balancing factory standards with costs
• Needs team to stay on top of regs
• Cost reduction
• Explicit contracts, no hidden costs
• Evidence of service capability
• Hard to give clarity
• 3-4 companies who are suitable
• Starts with assessment
Food processing
Role:
Procurement
Specialist experience aids her
in comparing & negotiating
with suppliers
Richard,
Procurement Manager
Similar needs to

30. Human Tools
Human Metrics
Human Experience

33. 15% drop in bounce rate on adopting
continuous scroll

34. Technology is trying to keep
us busy.

35. Technology is trying to keep
us busy.
Because technology’s
primary metric is the time we
spend with it.

37. “Ocado is a time travel business. We give back our customers the time
that they would have spent traipsing around a supermarket”
Paul Clark, Ocado CTO

38. 1x = €7.95
2-3x = €4.95
>3x = €1.95

42. Human Tools
Human Metrics
Human Experience

44. https://boagworld.com/usability/stop-abusing-users-time/

46. “Making perfectly targeted ads
appears to be much harder than it
sounds.
Most digital ads are clumsy and
annoying, and easily ignorable.
Information about consumers is not
the same as insight into human
beings.
The more fundamental problem
with micro-targeting is that for big
brands, advertising has never really
been about messages, even if brand
owners never quite realised it.
It is about the creation of shared
memories, triggered at the point of
purchase.”

48. Hidden charges at
checkout
41%
Having to register
before buying
29%
Unclear delivery
details
11%
Lengthy checkout
process
10%
Phone number not
provided on
website
8%
Other
1%
Why do people
abandon
checkout?
http://www.brainsins.com/en/blog/psychology-ecommerce-checkout/3751

49. Admit your human flaws
http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2016/09/21/the-power-honesty-advertising-and-why-your-brand-should-flaunt-its-flaws

50. Make transactions more
human

51. Make interactions more
rewarding
https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/19/kiip-series-c-12-million/

52. Human Tools
Human Metrics
Human Experience

53. The essence of being human
is that one does not seek
perfection.
George Orwell