Presented by Jean Lim (Global CEO) and Nick Bailey (ECD/CEO)
This was one of my favourite sessions and I really learnt a lot from the case studies and examples. It was good to talk "shop" rather than the general opinions expressed in panels. Of course, branding and content is also a favourite specialisation and passion of mine and it all came together nicely in this Isobar session.
Nick spoke about legacy stores which have evolved well into the digital age with their concepts like Argos. They are now launching new concept stores (which look a lot like Apple stores, I thought). 46% sales are now online and there is now an EBay partnership allowing collecting in Argos stores.
The landscape of commerce is changing. L'Oréal USA is to make ALL ads, online and offline shoppable. Google have opened first shop in shop stores in the UK. Porter magazine is an example of an online business going into offline space. Disney invests $1 billion in the magical wristband where restaurant table allocation and ordering is done in advance changing the entire experience for parents linking physical and virtual world.
China is a significant market for e-commerce. In a single day: 11/11/14 $9.1 billion 43% mobile (last year 25%). We are in a world showing we need to embrace the combination and integration.
McDonalds, as traditional fast food chain, tried an ice cream experiment in China with Baidoo showing ice-cream icons with nearest McDonalds with time-limited coupon. It created 20 million transactions. Online delivery is $1bn/month. Shows how consumer behaviour has changed.
In the past we spoke about brand + commerce but key notion should be brand x commerce i.e. a well-connected experience bringing you to a place you never expected.
90% of us start a task on one device and finish on another. 65% start a commerce journey on one platform and finish on another. By 2020, there will be roughly 6 smart objects per human!
Technology connects the virtual with the physical. In China, people can order online in store. I recently found a pair of shoes at J-Crew and there was another colour available online. I had already completed the online transaction before the physical in store transaction had been done at the snail pace of the saleslady!
In China, they now have WeChat stores and vending machines allowing you to scan your WeChat.
We need to tell stories across screens and create connected experiences. This is what makes brand commerce a truly omnichannel experience. 82% of people still purchase in store, 45% purchase online and 17% on mobile. This means there isn't one central channel which should be first.
It is the power of brands, not technology that creates a pricing advantage. This is not new. Look at the difference between Android and Apple showing the power of brand. Apple is higher as it's aspirational.
Brand commerce increases sales. We now have a grey area of web-driven offline sales.
The ideal situation of a brand inventing itself is the example of "Everything is awesome" song from the Lego movie sung at the Oscars culminating in a Lego-made Oscar held up by Oprah Winfrey and viewed by 2.5 billion! Back in 80's both Lego and Kodak were facing threat from digital technology. Lego could be obsolete with gaming and Kodak could have been behind the next Flickr. Lego knocked Ferrari off its perch as world's most powerful brand with powerful product innovation and partnerships like Lego movie. Another example is Vero cool, a Lego fusion animating a design by taking picture with an Ipad.
A campaign is not something you deliver but something you run in order to be successful. Media agencies have long recognised this but creative agencies only now starting to recognise.
There is even a Japanese politician who hired Dentsu to give his team tools to be better in touch with electorates and he won!
Data is indispensable. Big data is just made up of bits of small data.
Just launched Kellogg's Silver spoon campaign, with 120 promotional packs in 30 markets in 12 languages. They created a platform that clients has access to and changed name from big and small to kids and adults. I must confess to have 6 boxes of cereal at home as both my kids needed to personalise a spoon (3 coupons per spoon required!).
Another good example from China is "Lyric Coke" with Inspiring lyrics on coke bottles e.g. Call Me Maybe. 50 lyrics and 50 expressions, and when you scan QR code you can share the song. Use the Musicon, musically emoticon, to share your feelings. Creative idea didn't come from data but the success was powered through a business case using data.
Where do agencies fit in? Creativity more important than ever. Need to become inventors, work more collaboratively.
5 key Takeaways
- A changing landscape
- Data is the red thread
- Driven by technology
- Connecting real and virtual
- Powered by creativity
New business models have been created! E.g. Fiat showing live store allowing real-time conversations and views of the cars in the show room from 10 am to 10 pm. It is a revolutionary way of seeing the car lives with a custom go-pro style headphone worn by sales person. Can even follow other peoples conversations or follow tutorials.
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