Marketing To The Machines: Why Algorithms Are Our Destiny

#VividIdeas • @eskimon & @suzsha • 1
MARKETING TO
THE MACHINESWHY ALGORITHMS WILL DEFINE THE FUTURE OF ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING
SUZIE SHAW & SIMON KEMP • we are social • VIVID IDEAS • SYDNEY, 30 MAY 2017

SIMON KEMP
@eskimon
SUZIE SHAW
@suzsha

IN THIS PRESENTATION…
1. KITTENS
2. SEX
3. MARKETING
4. THE END OF THE WORLD?
5. A GLIMMER OF HOPE

THANKS TO CONTAGIOUS FOR ALLOWING US
TO USE THEIR CONTENT IN THIS PRESENTATION

CONTEXT

7
TOTAL
POPULATION
INTERNET
USERS
ACTIVE SOCIAL
MEDIA USERS
UNIQUE
MOBILE USERS
ACTIVE MOBILE
SOCIAL USERS
BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION BILLION
URBANISATION: PENETRATION: PENETRATION: PENETRATION: PENETRATION:
SOURCES: POPULATION: UNITED NATIONS; U.S. CENSUS BUREAU; INTERNET: INTERNETWORLDSTATS; ITU; INTERNETLIVESTATS; CIA WORLD FACTBOOK; FACEBOOK;
NATIONAL REGULATORY AUTHORITIES; SOCIAL MEDIA AND MOBILE SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK; TENCENT; VKONTAKTE; LIVEINTERNET.RU; KAKAO; NAVER; NIKI
AGHAEI; CAFEBAZAAR.IR; SIMILARWEB; DING; EXTRAPOLATION OF TNS DATA; MOBILE: GSMA INTELLIGENCE; EXTRAPOLATION OF EMARKETER AND ERICSSON DATA.
GLOBAL DIGITAL SNAPSHOTMAY
2017 THE LATEST NUMBERS FOR INTERNET, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND MOBILE USAGE AROUND THE WORLD
7.503 3.811 2.909 4.971 2.700
54% 51% 39% 66% 36%

HALF THE WORLD IS ALREADY ONLINE, AND
1 MILLION NEW USERS CONNECT EVERY DAY

CONNECTED TECH IS ALREADY A CENTRAL
PART OF MOST OF OUR DAILY LIVES, TOO

TOP APP CATEGORIES AROUND THE WORLD
COMMS CONTENT GAMES TRAVEL SHOPPING
FOOD FITNESS HEALTH DATING FINANCES

ALMOST ALL OF THIS CONNECTED TECH IS
POWERED BY SOME SORT OF ALGORITHM

AS OUR DIGITAL DEPENDENCE INCREASES,
SO ALGORITHMS’ INFLUENCE INCREASES

ALGORITHMS ALREADY SHAPE THE MOST
CRITICAL ASPECTS OF OUR DAILY LIVES…

IT SEEMS FLIPPANT, BUT BUZZFEED IS A GREAT
EXAMPLE OF THE UBIQUITY OF ALGORITHMS

BUZZFEED’S ENTIRE MODEL IS BUILT ON
ALGORITHMS AND MACHINE LEARNING

BuzzFeed is powered by an algorithm that
monitors the behaviour of hundreds of millions
of visitors across various partner sites. When
the algorithm identifies a piece of content that
is attracting disproportionate traffic via social
sharing – i.e. ‘viral’ content – the algorithm moves
that content to the heart of BuzzFeed’s homepage.
“
Redacted from posts on BuzzFeed’s own blog

BUZZFEED’S ALGORITHM NOW ACCURATELY
PREDICTS WHAT CONTENT PEOPLE WILL SHARE

AS A RESULT, ALGORITHMS INFORM & INSPIRE
ALL THE CONTENT THAT BUZZFEED PUBLISHES

BUT THE INFLUENCE OF ALGORITHMS ON DAILY
LIFE EXTENDS WELL BEYOND CURATED KITTENS

ALGORITHMS ALREADY INFLUENCE:
ALGORITHMS IN SOCIAL
MEDIA SELECT WHOSE
POSTS WE SEE, SHAPING
OUR RELATIONSHIPS
SUGGESTION ENGINES
(‘PEOPLE ALSO BOUGHT’)
SHAPE AWARENESS AND
INFLUENCE PURCHASES
WHO WE
TALK TO
WHAT
WE BUY
THE ROUTES SELECTED BY
DIGITAL MAPS DETERMINE
THE NEIGHBOURHOODS WE
VISIT AND BUY PROPERTY IN
WHERE
WE GO
STOCK TRADING SYSTEMS
DETERMINE SHARE PRICES,
IMPACTING OUR SAVINGS
AND OUR SALARIES
HOW MUCH
WE EARN
ALGORITHMS IN DATING
APPS PLAY A KEY ROLE IN
DETERMINING WHO WE
MEET, DATE, AND MARRY
WHO WE
MARRY

Algorithms are already
influencing the entire future
gene pool of humanity.

IRONICALLY, INSTEAD OF KILLING US OFF,
THE ROBOTS ARE HELPING US PROPAGATE

BUT WHAT EXACTLY ARE THESE ‘ALGORITHMS’
THAT ARE DEFINING THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY?

An algorithm is a finite set
of unambiguous instructions,
performed in a prescribed
sequence, to achieve a goal.
“
The American Heritage Science Dictionary

ALGORITHMS SIT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
MATHS FORMULAE AND COMPUTER PROGRAMS

FOR MOST PEOPLE, EITHER OF THOSE THINGS
IS ENOUGH TO GIVE US THE HEEBIE JEEBIES
😰

SO WHY ARE WE ALLOWING ALGORITHMS TO
CONTROL SO MANY ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES?

FITTINGLY, THE ANSWER MAY LIE IN
ONE OF THOSE MATHS FORMULAE…

SCIENTISTS HAVE ACTUALLY CRACKED THE
FORMULA FOR ETERNAL HUMAN HAPPINESS

READY?

Happiness(t) = w0 + w1 ∑ 𝛾t–jCRj + w2
j=1
t
∑
j=1
t
𝛾t–jEVj + w3∑
j=1
t
𝛾t–jRPEj

ESSENTIAL
CONCLUSION

HAPPINESS IS SO INSANELY COMPLEX THAT WE
MIGHT AS WELL ABDICATE IT TO ALGORITHMS

BUT SERIOUSLY…

HOW ALGORITHMS ADD VALUE TO OUR LIVES
WE CAN’T EVALUATE
SO MANY OPTIONS;
ALGORITHMS HELP TO
FOCUS OUR OPTIONS
WE STRUGGLE TO MAKE
INFORMED CHOICES
ABOUT COMPLEX OR
CONFUSING SUBJECTS
TOO MANY
CHOICES
LACK OF
CONFIDENCE
WE WANT TO
‘DELEGATE’ LOWER-
VALUE AND LOWER-
INTEREST TASKS
IMPROVED
EFFICIENCY
WE WANT MORE OF
THE THINGS WE LIKE;
ALGORITHMS HELP
US TO FIND THEM
SEARCH FOR
INSPIRATION

HOWEVER, THIS RELIANCE ON ALGORITHMS
ISN’T JUST SHAPING SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES

IT’S ALSO GOING TO CHANGE THE
WAY THAT OUR BRAINS WORK

UBIQUITOUS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET HAS
ALREADY CHANGED HOW WE FORM MEMORIES

Studies show that when we’re faced with
difficult questions, our first reaction is to reach
for our connected devices. What’s more, when
we expect to have future access to information,
we have lower rates of recall of the information
itself, but enhanced recall for where to find it.
“
Redacted from Sparrow, Liu & Wegner (2011), “Google’s Effect on Memory…”

ALGORITHMS WILL LIKELY HAVE A SIMILAR
IMPACT ON THE WAY WE MAKE DECISIONS

THE EVOLUTION OF DECISION INFLUENCES
FOR THE MAJORITY OF HUMAN
EXISTENCE, THE PEOPLE WE KNEW
AND INTERACTED WITH HAD THE
GREATEST INFLUENCE ON CHOICE
FOR THE PAST 150 YEARS, MASS-
MEDIA JOURNALISM & ADVERTISING
TOOK OVER AS THE GREATEST
INFLUENCE ON PEOPLE’S CHOICES
SOCIAL
CIRCLES
MEDIA
COVERAGE
VERY SOON, THE DATA COLLECTED,
PROCESSED AND SHARED BY OUR
DEVICES WILL BECOME THE MAIN
FACTOR IN OUR DECISION-MAKING
TECHNICAL
PROCESSES

OUR INCREASING RELIANCE ON ALGORITHMS
HAS MASSIVE IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETING

“MASSIVE”?

FUTURE BUSINESS SUCCESS WILL DEPEND ON
HOW WELL WE CAN INFLUENCE ALGORITHMS

MARKETING
TO THE
MACHINES

THIS HAS ALREADY STARTED, BUT IT’S ABOUT
TO TAKE OFF IN A MUCH BIGGER WAY

VOICE-POWERED DEVICES WILL ACCELERATE
THE TRANSITION TO ALGORITHMIC MARKETING

WHY?

THINK ABOUT HOW YOU TALK TO FRIENDS AND
FAMILY ABOUT THE GROCERIES YOU NEED…

YOU’RE MORE LIKELY TO TALK ABOUT ‘BEER,
CHIPS & ICE CREAM’ THAN SPECIFIC BRANDS

MOST PEOPLE THINK – AND SHOP – IN TERMS
OF NEEDS AND CATEGORIES, NOT BRANDS

THAT’S MOST LIKELY HOW THEY’LL ORDER ON
VOICE-CONTROLLED SHOPPING DEVICES, TOO

!

WHO WILL DECIDE ON THE BRAND WHEN THE
SHOPPER DOESN’T SPECIFY ONE DIRECTLY?

THE VOICE CHALLENGE: CHOOSING BRANDS
THE DEVICE’S SHOPPING
‘ASSISTANT’ WILL ASK US
TO SPECIFY WHICH
BRAND WE WANT TO BUY
THE PLATFORM WILL
DEFAULT TO THE BRAND
WE USUALLY BUY / LAST
BOUGHT IN THE CATEGORY
THE DEVICE
WILL ASK US
RECURRING
CHOICES
THE PLATFORM WILL
SELECT A BRAND BASED
ON WHAT OUR SOCIAL
CONNECTIONS BUY
SOCIAL
ENGINES
THE PLATFORM WILL
CHOOSE A BRAND FOR
US, BASED ON A VARIETY
OF ALGORITHMIC INPUTS
THE PLATFORM
DECIDES
?

THE ALGORITHMS CAN DECIDE FOR US
THE DEVICE’S SHOPPING
‘ASSISTANT’ WILL ASK US
TO SPECIFY WHICH
BRAND WE WANT TO BUY
THE PLATFORM WILL
DEFAULT TO THE BRAND
WE USUALLY BUY / LAST
BOUGHT IN THE CATEGORY
THE DEVICE
WILL ASK US
RECURRING
CHOICES
THE PLATFORM WILL
SELECT A BRAND BASED
ON WHAT OUR SOCIAL
CONNECTIONS BUY
SOCIAL
ENGINES
THE PLATFORM WILL
CHOOSE A BRAND FOR
US, BASED ON A VARIETY
OF ALGORITHMIC INPUTS
THE PLATFORM
DECIDES
?

BUT WHAT MIGHT THAT ‘VARIETY OF
ALGORITHMIC INPUTS’ INCLUDE?

The best – and worst – thing about
Google Home is that it plugs into
the Google brain, and everything
that company knows about me.
“
Tim Bradshaw, Financial Times, as cited in Contagious

‘EVERYTHING’

GOOGLE REALLY DOES KNOW EVERYTHING
SEARCH GMAIL CALENDAR YOUTUBE DOCS
AD NETWORKS CHROME MAPS HOME & NEST ANDROID

LET’S PUT THIS INTO CONTEXT…

“THE FOUR HORSEMEN”
EVERYTHING WE BUY,
WHAT WE’LL LIKELY BUY
NEXT, AND THE CONTENT
WE WATCH & LISTEN TO
EVERYTHING WE ‘LIKE’,
WHETHER THAT’S ON
FACEBOOK, OR ANY WEB
SITE WITH A LIKE BUTTON
AMAZON FACEBOOK
ANYTHING THAT APPLE
USERS DO THAT NEEDS
COMPUTING OR AN
INTERNET CONNECTION
APPLE
EVERYTHING THAT WE
DO, PRETTY MUCH
ANYWHERE… AND
PROBABLY MORE TOO
GOOGLE

AMAZON ALREADY HAS ENOUGH DATA TO
KNOW WHAT I’LL BUY, BEFORE I KNOW MYSELF

BUT AMAZON’S DATA IS STILL PRIMARILY
ROOTED IN COMMERCE AND CONTENT

FACEBOOK TAKES THINGS A SIGNIFICANT STEP
FURTHER BY FOLLOWING US ACROSS THE WEB

UBIQUITOUS ‘LIKE’ BUTTONS GIVE FACEBOOK
EXCEPTIONALLY RICH INSIGHTS INTO OUR LIVES

By analysing just 68 of our Facebook ‘likes’,
researchers can predict our skin colour, sexual
orientation, religious affiliation, political leaning,
intelligence, and even our alcohol, cigarette, and
drug use to a high degree of accuracy. 70 ‘likes’
are enough to outdo what our friends know, 150
what our parents know, and 300 ‘likes’ what our
partner knows. More than that, and they start to
know us better than we think we know ourselves.
“
Redacted from “How Our Likes Helped Trump
Win”, Grassegger & Krogerus, Motherboard

BUT IF FACEBOOK ONLY NEEDS A FEW ‘LIKES’ TO
KNOW US AS WELL AS WE KNOW OURSELVES…

GOOGLE’S REACH GOES FAR BEYOND ‘LIKES’
SEARCH GMAIL CALENDAR YOUTUBE DOCS
AD NETWORKS CHROME MAPS HOME & NEST ANDROID

EVEN IF WE FOCUS SOLELY ON ITS ANDROID
PLATFORM, GOOGLE KNOWS FAR, FAR MORE

GOOGLE KNOWS MORE THAN SANTA CLAUS
ALL THE CONTENT WE
CONSUME, AND WHAT
WE WRITE ABOUT IT IN
DOCS, EMAILS, ETC.
LOCATION SERVICES &
MAPS LOCATE AND
TRACK US TO WITHIN
JUST A FEW METRES
EVERYTHING
WE KNOW
EVERYWHERE
WE GO
LOCATION TRACKING ON
EVERYONE’S DEVICES
MEANS GOOGLE KNOWS
WHO WE’RE WITH TOO
EVERYONE
WE MEET
ACCELEROMETERS AND
HEARTRATE MONITORS
TRACK OUR HEALTH
AND EMOTIONAL STATE
OUR HEALTH
& VITALITY
BY ANALYSING OUR
CALENDAR EVENTS,
GOOGLE CAN EVEN
PREDICT OUR FUTURE
WHAT WE’LL
DO NEXT

Even when you’re not using your
phone, its motion sensor captures
how quickly you move and how far
you travel – data which can reveal
insights into your emotional state.
“
Adapted from “How Our Likes Helped Trump
Win”, Grassegger & Krogerus, Motherboard

😱

ANDROID CURRENTLY POWERS MORE THAN
3 BILLION SMARTPHONES AROUND THE WORLD
• SOURCES: EXTRAPOLATED FROM GSMA INTELLIGENCE, ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT, AND STATCOUNTER DATA

GOOGLE KNOWS EVERYTHING
ABOUT EVERYBODY, EVERYWHERE...

HOWEVER, EVEN GOOGLE’S EXPERTS HAVE
STRUGGLED TO MAKE SENSE OF ALL THIS DATA

#FIRSTWORLDPROBLEMS

GOOGLE’S ANSWER – OBVIOUSLY – IS TO USE
ALGORITHMS TO ADDRESS THEIR CHALLENGE

THIS IS WHERE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
AND MACHINE LEARNING COME INTO FRAME

Artificially intelligent systems
are agents that can receive
percepts from the environment
and take subsequent actions
that affect that environment.
“
Adapted from Russell & Norvig (1995),
“Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach”

TYPES OF MACHINE ‘INTELLIGENCE’
SYSTEMS THAT AMPLIFY THE
VALUE OF EXISTING RULE-BASED,
REPEATABLE ACTIVITIES (E.G.
GMAIL’S AUTO-FILTERING SYSTEM)
SELF-REFINING SYSTEMS THAT
ADD NEW CAPABILITY TO HUMAN
ACTIVITY (E.G. NETFLIX’S
RECOMMENDATION ENGINE)
ASSISTED
INTELLIGENCE
AUGMENTED
INTELLIGENCE
SYSTEMS THAT MAKE DECISIONS
WITHOUT DIRECT HUMAN
INVOLVEMENT OR OVERSIGHT
(E.G. STOCK TRADING ALGOS)
AUTONOMOUS
INTELLIGENCE

GOOGLE IS USING THESE TECHNOLOGIES TO
ADDRESS OUR MOST EXISTENTIAL CRISES…

BUT, AS WITH BUZZFEED’S KITTENS, THIS A.I.
APPLICATION IS NOT AS FLIPPANT AS IT SEEMS

If a computer defeats a human
Go champion, it will be a sign
that artificial intelligence is
truly beginning to become
as good as the real thing.
Piet Hut (astrophysicist), Institute for Advanced Study, 1997
“

BUT WHY ‘GO’?

2.082 x 10170

2.082 x 10170
(MORE THAN DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF ATOMS IN THE UNIVERSE)

It may be 100 years before
a computer beats humans
at Go – maybe even longer.
Piet Hut (astrophysicist), New Jersey Institute for Advanced Study, 1997
“

( AHEM )

HOW?!

[Google’s team] programmed
AlphaGo to be able to teach
itself, and not just carry out a
set of fixed moves or activities.
Adapted from Jon Russel, TechCrunch
“

THE ALPHAGO ALGORITHM REPLICATED ITSELF
MILLIONS OF TIMES IN ORDER TO LEARN FASTER

ALGORITHMS CAN NOW WRITE THEIR OWN
ALGORITHMS WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION

WHAT’S MORE, THESE ALGORITHMS AREN’T
JUST OUTPERFORMING US AT BOARD GAMES

There isn’t a human alive today
who knows how to program a driverless
car; these systems are all being built
using machine learning algorithms.
“
Patrick Jeffrey, Head of Trends, Contagious

REASSURINGLY, WE REALLY ARE USING A.I. TO
SOLVE HUMANITY’S MOST SERIOUS PROBLEMS

[IBM] Watson’s successful
diagnosis rate for lung cancer is
90%, compared to a success rate
of just 50% in human doctors.
Ian Steadman, Wired, as cited in Contagious
“

VERY SOON, WE’LL RELY ON A.I. FOR ALL OF
THE MOST CRITICAL THINGS IN OUR LIVES

YOU’RE NOT ALONE IF THAT WORRIES YOU;
MANY PEOPLE ARE FEARFUL OF A.I.’S PROGRESS

EVEN THE WORLD’S BEST MINDS ARE WARNING
THAT A.I. MAY TRIGGER HUMANITY’S DOWNFALL

Artificial intelligence is our
greatest existential threat.“ Elon Musk

Success in creating A.I. would
be the biggest event in human
history. Unfortunately, it might
also be the last, unless we learn
how to avoid the associated risks.
Stephen Hawking
“

BUT WE MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO CONFLATE
A.I. WITH HUMAN BIOLOGICAL IMPERATIVES

ALGORITHMS DO NOT COMPETE FOR THE
SAME RESOURCES OR MATES AS HUMANS

MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHILST EARTH IS IDEAL
FOR HUMANS, IT’S NOT IDEAL FOR A.I. SYSTEMS

A.I.’S ‘HIERARCHY OF NEEDS’
A.I. MACHINES WILL SOON
WORK OUT HOW TO POWER
THEMSELVES ENTIRELY USING
SOLAR (OR ANY STAR’S) ENERGY
IN ORDER TO REPLICATE,
MACHINES WILL NEED ACCESS
TO ELEMENTS THAT ARE MORE
EASILY FOUND IN SPACE
POWER PARTS
HUMANS POSE THE GREATEST
THREAT TO A.I. MACHINES’
SUCCESS, BUT IT’LL BE EASY
TO LEAVE US ALL BEHIND
PEACE

RATHER THAN KILL US, A.I. WILL MORE LIKELY
ABANDON US LIKE A RECALCITRANT TEENAGER

THE REAL A.I. THREAT TO HUMANITY COMES
FROM HUMANITY MISUSING AND ABUSING A.I.

THE ‘WEAPONISATION’ OF A.I.
IS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN

A.I. warfare is inevitable.
U.S. Department of Defence report“

SO, HOW CAN WE MITIGATE THIS
TRULY TERRIFYING PROSPECT?

THE ANSWER MAY LIE IN SOMETHING MOST OF
US WOULD NEVER ASSOCIATE WITH MACHINES

EMPATHY

PEOPLE OFTEN THINK OF EMPATHY AS A
UNIQUELY HUMAN TRAIT, DEFINED BY EMOTION

OUR BLEAKEST VISIONS OF THE FUTURE OFTEN
FOCUS ON MACHINES THAT LACK EMPATHY

HOWEVER, EMPATHY IS MORE THAN JUST AN
INNATE EMOTION OR BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE

The ability to feel and understand
what another person is feeling,
and to interact with that person
in a manner that is appropriate to
their mental and emotional state.
“

CRUCIALLY, A LARGE PART OF EMPATHY IS
LEARNED – SO IT CAN ALSO BE ENCODED

ARTIFICIAL
EMPATHY

‘A.E.’ ISN’T JUST HYPOTHETICAL, EITHER; A
NUMBER OF PROTOTYPES ALREADY EXIST

BUT THE ‘VALUE’ OF A.E. WILL DEPEND ON HOW,
AND HOW WELL, EMPATHY HAS BEEN ENCODED

THE CHALLENGE WITH EMPATHY IS THAT IT IS
INDIVIDUALLY AND CULTURALLY SUBJECTIVE

THE SUBJECTIVE BIASES OF HUMAN CODERS
WILL LIKELY END UP SHAPING A.E. SYSTEMS

BUT, JUST AS A.I. IS ALREADY WRITING NEW
A.I., THESE SYSTEMS WILL WRITE NEW A.E. TOO

BUT WILL A.E. SYSTEMS BUILT BY A.I. SYSTEMS
EMPATHISE WITH HUMANS IN THE LONG-TERM?

🤔

AS WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, THERE WILL
BE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ARTIFICIAL EMPATHY

LEVELS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
SYSTEMS THAT CAN DETECT THE
EMOTIONS EXHIBITED BY A HUMAN
INTERACTOR, AND SUGGEST
OPTIONS BASED ON PRE-CODING
SYSTEMS THAT CAN PREDICT
HOW A CERTAIN INTERACTION
MAY ESCALATE, BASED ON
CURRENT EMOTION & BEHAVIOUR
ASSISTED
EMPATHY
AUGMENTED
EMPATHY
SYSTEMS THAT CAN INDEPENDENTLY
IDENTIFY & FORECAST EMOTIONAL
CONTEXTS, AND ADJUST THEIR
ACTIONS AS APPROPRIATE
AUTONOMOUS
EMPATHY

IT WILL LIKELY BE A FEW YEARS BEFORE ANY
OF THESE SYSTEMS BECOMES WIDESPREAD

HOWEVER

AS WE SAW EARLIER, OUR SMARTPHONES
CAN ALREADY INFER OUR EMOTIONAL STATE

SO, IT MIGHT NOT TAKE AS LONG AS WE THINK
BEFORE A.E. INTERFACES ARE EVERYWHERE

😮 Seems like you
had a crazy day!
You totally deserve
an ice-cold beer.

BUT THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF A.E. ISN’T
ABOUT DEVICE-TO-HUMAN INTERACTIONS

THE BIG QUESTION IS, HOW WILL EMPATHETIC
A.I. SYSTEMS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER?

A.I. warfare is inevitable.
U.S. Department of Defence report“

A strange game. The
only winning move
is not to play at all.
Joshua, the A.I. system in the movie, WarGames.
“

INTERACTING A.E. SYSTEMS SHOULD QUICKLY
CONCLUDE THAT ALL WARFARE IS POINTLESS

SO, WHILE A.E. CRACKS WORLD PEACE, WE
CAN RETURN TO MORE FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES

MARKETING

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS THOUGH, ALL OF THIS IS
COMING, SO WE NEED TO START PREPARING

SO, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW AND DO
TO EFFECTIVELY MARKET TO THE MACHINES?

3 TIPS

#1UNDERSTAND
WHERE YOU STAND

“THE FOUR HORSEMEN”
EVERYTHING WE BUY,
WHAT WE’LL LIKELY BUY
NEXT, AND SOON,
EVERYTHING WE WATCH
EVERYTHING WE ‘LIKE’,
WHETHER THAT’S ON
FACEBOOK, OR ANY
SITE WITH A LIKE BUTTON
AMAZON FACEBOOK
ANYTHING THAT APPLE
USERS DO THAT NEEDS
COMPUTING AND AN
INTERNET CONNECTION
APPLE
EVERYTHING THAT WE
DO, PRETTY MUCH
ANYWHERE, AND
PROBABLY MORE TOO
GOOGLE

IN ALMOST ALL CASES, BRANDS SHOULD BE
APPROACHING THESE GIANTS AS PARTNERS

THEIR DATA AND INSIGHTS SHOULD HELP US
IMPROVE OUR OFFERINGS AND OUR RESULTS

!

PRIVACY

THE LIKELY SOLUTION WILL BE THE RETURN
OF DATA OWNERSHIP TO INDIVIDUALS

MIT is developing a blockchain that
lets privacy-conscious individuals
securely store their personal data,
and selectively issue permission to
other people and to organisations to
use that data on a case-by-case basis.
Adapted from Kim Nash, Wall Street Journal
“

FINANCE
HEALTHCARE
GOVERNMENT
EDUCATION
DATING
BRANDS

THIS IS FASCINATING, BUT IT’S A RABBIT HOLE,
SO LET’S PARK THAT TOPIC FOR ANOTHER DAY

#2UNDERSTAND
YOUR AUDIENCE

MOST MARKETERS WE’VE SPOKEN TO ABOUT
MARKETING TO ALGORITHMS ARE TERRIFIED

BUT ALGORITHMS ARE FAR MORE PREDICTABLE
THAN IRRATIONAL ‘CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR’

IF WE TREAT ALGORITHMS AS JUST ANOTHER
AUDIENCE, WE’RE ALREADY HALFWAY THERE

FUNCTIONAL
EMOTIONAL
TECHNICAL
&
&

GOOD NEWS: YOU DO NOT NEED TO
BECOME AN EXPERT IN ALGORITHMS

…YOU JUST NEED TO BECOME AN EXPERT
IN IDENTIFYING AND SELECTING THE EXPERTS

#3GET STARTED
TODAY

Machine learning has created
the biggest business opportunity in
history. But this opportunity is only
going to be around for the next 3
to 5 years; the time to act is now.
Professor Pedro Domingos, University Of Washington, as cited in Contagious
“

WHAT?!

ALGORITHMS WRITING ALGORITHMS WRITING
ALGORITHMS WRITING ALGORITHMS WRITING…

1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024...

UNASSAILABLE
ADVANTAGE

“YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE” – DON’T END UP A
VICTIM OF THOSE UNASSAILABLE ADVANTAGES

EXPLORE HOW YOU CAN START MOVING
UP THAT CURVE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU MUST CREATE YOUR
OWN ‘BRAND ALGORITHMS’ STRAIGHT AWAY

BUT IT DOES MEAN YOU NEED TO START
DEVELOPING YOUR BRAND’S PLAN TODAY

WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE WILL BE
SPECIFIC TO EACH BUSINESS…

...BUT IF YOU’D LIKE SOME HELP GETTING
STARTED, FEEL FREE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH US:

SIMON KEMP
@eskimon
SUZIE SHAW
@suzsha

SIMON KEMP
@ESKIMON
SIMON.KEMP@WEARESOCIAL.COM
+65 9146 5356
WEARESOCIAL.COM

Marketing To The Machines: Why Algorithms Are Our Destiny

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