People expect brands to use data to build experiences: Contagious

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“Customers expect more now,” he said in his seminar presentation Thursday. “They know marketers can connect with them and collect data across platforms and they in turn expect more from brands they choose to invest their time, money and data with.” It is his view that a lot of brands are great at designing around their own products, but find it much harder to design around the lives of consumers. “Nobody lives according to media silos,” he added.

This is why so many integrated marketing campaigns look like matching luggage, he said. He stressed the importance of moving from this approach to one based on context, stitching together real-time data points including time, place, platforms, habits, intent and persona. He urged brands to build up this rich and nuanced sense of personal context and use it to communicate with consumers.

Sansom shared some rules of thumb to contextual integration:

• Create a fair exchange: Technology has opened up the world for brands to create value for consumers. They have to create a proper reward. People care about being sufficiently rewarded for using their data.
• Increase relevance not quantity: In theory if we do something that is more meaningful and personalised, it’s worth much more. Ensure you communicate with consumers only at a specific point of need.
• Collaborate on engagement, don’t compete for attention: It’s far more intriguing for brands to work together to create transformational experiences for people. “This is really important to nail the context argument.”
• Be brainy and be brave: Get out there and work out what data is relevant. Data is there to make your brand smarter. Brands willing to go out and experiment are the ones that will be successful.

Campaign observation: The session offered creative ideas to deliver hyper-personalised experiences and build meaningful relationships with consumers.