What a way to kick off Innovation Week 2015! After a brief welcome from OMD UK CEO Dan Clays and Head of Innovation Toby Gunton, Debbie Weinstein, Google’s Director of Brand Solutions & Innovations, took to the stage to share her thoughts on why now is the most exciting time to be in marketing.
With a packed out reception area, more than 100 OMDers, clients and media owners heard from Debbie who explained that while the fundamentals of marketing have stayed the same, the tools that we use to find more potential customers, cut through the noise and measure who we are reaching have changed beyond recognition.
One of the key takeouts was that people are no longer going online – they live online. So much so that Durex has recently noted that people are having 20% less sex than before because people are constantly living their lives through connected devices. So people’s core behaviour is being altered. Google themselves are noticing this as they are helping people find answers 3 trillion times a year!
Debbie suggested brands should find audiences by looking at people who are in the market for products, people who look like existing customers and people who chose to interact with advertising. Once you find these people, you can cut through using mobile, content and choosing a specific length of advert – it takes two to three minutes to make an emotional connection but only five seconds to create an invitation. Finally, Debbie noted that Brand Lift is an effective tool to measure engagement.
It was a fascinating talk and set the benchmark for what is going to be a great week.
