The experience age has arrived...

@jonoalderson
The Experience
Age Has Arrived
Digital Marketing In A New Era

@jonoalderson
Setting the scene...

@jonoalderson
http://bit.ly/jono-future

@jonoalderson
I’m more concerned about
tomorrow than I am about 2020.

@jonoalderson
● The shape of the market, and consumer buying behaviour is changing
radically.
Immediate concerns

@jonoalderson
radically.
● Our approach to marketing, advertising and fulfillment is straining.
Immediate concerns

@jonoalderson
radically.
● The tech and the channels are moving and scaling faster than we can keep
up.
Immediate concerns

@jonoalderson
radically.
● The tech and the channels are moving and scaling faster than we can keep
up.
● Friction and complexity is killing brands.
Immediate concerns

@jonoalderson
Some tectonic shifts
happening right now...

@jonoalderson
Amazon
Market dominance on
“anything in a box”

@jonoalderson
The Next Billion People
Will come online, and disrupt our markets

@jonoalderson
The Nascent Distributed
Content Ecosystem
…represents a paradigm shift in how we build our empires.

@jonoalderson
3D (and 4D) Printing
...opens up new routes to market, and
reduces the cost+value of commodity goods

@jonoalderson
Marketplaces
...become the new marketplaces.
Commodity goods get cheaper, closer and better.

@jonoalderson
New Interfaces
...create new challenges

@jonoalderson
IPAs
Make decisions on our behalf, and
constrict the top and
the bottom of your funnel

@jonoalderson
Machine Learning
Systems become better
pattern-matchers than us.

@jonoalderson
This is scary.
I’ve some ideas about what happens next, and
what we need to do.

@jonoalderson
1. The finite capabilities of humans and businesses.
We’re going to explore...

@jonoalderson
2. How personal assistants & smart tech will kill the funnel.

@jonoalderson
3. How we need to change what ‘brand’ means.

@jonoalderson
3. How we need to change what ‘brand’ means.
4. How all of this spells the end of society as we know it.

@jonoalderson
1.
This is too much (for humans) to deal with.
Tackling even a fraction of this is unrealistic.
Individuals, and brands, will struggle and fail.

@jonoalderson
So, the remit is to...
Get better at everything.
Learn more. Upskill. Juggle it all.

@jonoalderson
We’re rockstar ninja gurus, right?

@jonoalderson
We’re rockstar ninja gurus, right?
Can’t be that hard, right?

@jonoalderson
Except...
People’s skills don’t scale infinitely.

@jonoalderson
Let’s look at a funnel
(I know this is a horrible, evil
oversimplification)

@jonoalderson
Awareness Consideration Evaluation Purchase
SE EtcSEO PPC Affiliates Display
Retention &
Advocacy
Email

@jonoalderson
So brands struggle
Budgets, structures and performance are constrained
vertically by people doing the thing-they-do.
Risk aversion. Management. Accountability.

@jonoalderson
Awareness Consideration Evaluation Purchase
SE EtcSEO PPC Affiliates Display
Retention &
Advocacy
EmailOffline
Mobile &
Apps

@jonoalderson
Purchase
Awareness
Consideration
Evaluation
Etc
SEO PPC
Affiliates
Display
Retention &
Advocacy
Email
Offline
Mobile &
Apps

@jonoalderson
Purchase
Awareness
VR/AR
Consideration
Evaluation
IPA purchase
recommendations
Etc
SEO PPC
Affiliates
IPA purchase
decisions
Display
Retention &
Advocacy
Email
Offline
Mobile &
Apps
3rd party
marketplaces

@jonoalderson
This is a mess
We’re trying to fit our channel mechanics
to consumer behaviour.

@jonoalderson
It doesn’t matter how agile you are
The tech, and your audience, moves faster than
your organisation and capabilities

@jonoalderson
What if...
We structured our activity around the
consumer, not our channels?

@jonoalderson
Demand retention
Demand creation Growing awareness, and
winning hearts and minds
Matching demand to supply
(within constraints)
Surprise and delight, to retain
and grow advocacy
Demand fulfillment

@jonoalderson
This is a variation on a holacracy
http://bit.ly/agile-digital-teams

@jonoalderson
Your company needs to
operate like this now
Because tomorrow, there are 100x more channels,
and your structure doesn’t scale.

@jonoalderson
2.
Assistants will use past behaviour as a proxy for preference
The way we need to think about advertising changes.
The top and the bottom of the funnel constrict.

@jonoalderson
Marketing & advertising...
Assumes that you can interrupt or
purchase my attention.

@jonoalderson
When the assistant decides?
They’ll use data and evidence of (past)
preference to make decisions.
Personalised, aggregated

@jonoalderson
Consumers may never enter the
research buying cycle.
How does anything commodified work?
e.g., car insurance

@jonoalderson
How will you build preference signals?
...six months before they need your product/service?

@jonoalderson
More than just
past actions
What happens when we
they can monitor
emotional and
subconscious
preference, too?
http://bit.ly/emotiontracking

@jonoalderson
We’re in a gold rush for
valuable training data
http://bit.ly/deepminddata
Distance, cost, time,
opening hours, etc., too.
How do you compete when
it’s no longer a
competition?

@jonoalderson
This is all one system.

@jonoalderson
What if they know
more than you do
about your
preferences &
priorities?
http://bit.ly/googlecancer
How should this affect
recommendations, results,
choices?

@jonoalderson
What’s your brand’s value?
How, and where, is it exposed?
How do others derive value from that?
What do you do next?

@jonoalderson
You need to re-engineer your platforms

@jonoalderson
Build hub-and-spoke models
Your website/platform is one output of a central API service.
What else can you do?
Where can you integrate?

@jonoalderson
If can’t compete directly, buy your
way in through data partnerships
If I want to sell more pizza and can’t advertise easily,
maybe I can craft an offer for Netflix viewers?

@jonoalderson
3.
Brands need to reinvent themselves
Smaller brands need heros.
Mid-sized brands pivot.
Bigger brands buy into new markets.

@jonoalderson
Small/new brands should focus on
reputation and recommendation
Influencer marketing becomes a focus again; you need
‘sponsors’ to recommend and endorse you

@jonoalderson
For bigger or
established
companies...
Internal disruption should
be your biggest focus.
If you can’t win the fight,
change the rules.

@jonoalderson
For mid-sized brands…
Maybe success doesn’t look like one big ‘super brand’.
Can you stop trying to be the biggest, and be the best
in one or more spaces?

@jonoalderson
For all companies...
...Detach what you do from what you are.

@jonoalderson
For agencies...
If they’re freed up from managing
ad bids and tactical execution,
maybe they could apply their skills
to become brand incubators.

@jonoalderson
4.
Technological breakthroughs disrupt industry and society
Machine learning, automation and VR chip away at our
commercial models, and trigger an arms race for data.

@jonoalderson
Automated
factories
reduce cost of
production
All commodity goods
radically reduce in price.
How do you compete?

@jonoalderson
Doing smart
stuff?
It doesn’t matter, if your
job involves pattern
matching.
What happens when
both sides use systems?

@jonoalderson
And it’s not just
pattern matching
What happens when we
train the machines to
think like us?
Kindred.ai

@jonoalderson
And it’s deeper
inference than
we can achieve
What happens when they
think differently with more
connectedness than us?
http://bit.ly/autolocation

@jonoalderson
How useful
are you,
really?
What happens when you
strip away all of the
pattern-matching skills?

@jonoalderson
If we had more time, we could speculate
on the socio-political ramifications...

@jonoalderson
...and explore how connected devices,
VR, and universal income irrevocably
break capitalism...

@jonoalderson
...and how we’ll need to reinvent
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for an
automated world.

@jonoalderson
But, what do we do in
the meantime?

@jonoalderson
I’ve wrapped all of this into five
tips to help you survive.

@jonoalderson
1.
Take stock of your organisation, and yourself.
Where are your strengths, weaknesses, threats & opportunities?
How do these play stack up against your competitors, and against the
changing landscape?

@jonoalderson
2.
Unlearn bad habits.
Stop thinking about channels, buying cycles, advertising.
Structure your teams and projects around consumer needs.

@jonoalderson
3.
Optimise your brand for agility.
Be prepared to pivot on platform, positioning, and product.
Build hub-and-spoke models to remain flexible.
Play to your brand strengths, and learn to reinvent.

@jonoalderson
4.
Build partnerships with other brands.
Find other brands where you’re stronger together.
Create ways to earn attention and preference in other ecosystems.

@jonoalderson
5.
Learn to love the machine.
Identify skills and expertise which are easily replaceable.
Map out the organisational impact.
Start broadening and reinventing your own skillset.

@jonoalderson
THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS

The experience age has arrived...

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