Digital Marketing Platforms - Is this a reality?
There is marked shift amongst CPG companies to shift their marketing spends to digital from traditional media - close to 12% - 15% spend is planned for digital.
Why are CPG companies moving to digital media? What are the questions they are grappling with?
· How do we react to the shift of control from marketer to consumer?
· Consumers are now in control of the messaging they receive - therefore, how do we focus on the 'pull' instead of the 'push'?
· Consumer data has always existed but brands are now realizing the true potential of data and the need to treat it as one of the most important assets. How do we create and mine the asset to realize the maximum ROI from our loyal customers? How do we reach those who matter?
· How do we create digital campaigns that can be launched in hours, not months?
· How do we increase digital activities and still keep costs in control? How do we foster digital creativity and yet, ensure that we reuse what we have already built?
Traditionally, CPG companies have decentralized digital marketing - let the brand managers do what they want, how they want, when they want. Though this has driven creativity and speed, the lack of a central approach has led to a fractured model of digital marketing.
The front-runners in digital are now focusing on 'Digital Marketing Platforms'.
What would a digital marketing platform do - is it about hosting all websites at a single location? Does it force our digital agencies to work on a specified technology and therefore, inhibiting creativity? Neither of the above.
· Platform that allows marketers and creative agencies to build on multiple technologies with tools and reusable components thereby, reducing time and effort - such a platform, if used effectively, can reduce campaign launch times within 24hours
· Centralised consumer data that the analytics brain of the digital platform can then leverage to provide meaningful insights - imagine the power of being able to send targeted messages across channels based on your asset's (read, consumer) browsing pattern or registration profile
· Adapters and solution components that seamlessly integrate with multiple channels including mobile and social channels such as Facebook - if we need to engage with our assets, we need to go beyond websites and microsites and engage more intimately and frequently
· Processes and solutions that ensure that the digital campaigns have been built robustly and are scalable and secure - how often have we seen digital campaigns break as they go viral?
· Solution components for the future - marketers focus on brands, platforms focus on the latest cutting edge technologies and processes to support the brands
