Our annual collection of essays. It is a truly global publication, focusing on how digital has transformed the ways in which consumers explore, discover, buy, and engage with products and services as well as with each other, transcending traditional channel boundaries, and transforming marketing.

1. RPNO
.5TRANSFORMING MARKETING

2. RP NO
.5 3
CONTENTS
Introduction 4
REVIEW
Asia Pacific: Rising expectations 8
Europe, Middle East and Africa: TV has (still) never been hotter 10
Latin America: Taking on Digital TV 12
North America: Technology marries creativity 14
PREVIEW
Data is changing how marketers plan 18
Data collection: Harmful or helpful? 20
Building brand audiences 22
Romancing the ecommerce shopper 24
Programmatic enters the next stage 26
Owned media: Finding the white space 28
The rise of digital video 30
Escape the live room 32
The power of building stories 34
Using the new 4Ps of marketing 36

3. Welcome to Review Preview No. 5. For this edition, we’ve created a guide for
implementing marketing brand initiatives in a digitally enabled world by identifying
the key components of this evolution. As in previous editions, our thoughts represent
the insights and experiences from a multitude of markets around the world.
The journey to marketing in today’s digital era requires a change of culture,
organizational structures, technology, measurement frameworks and operating
models. Digital transformation is more than a one time, single program or activity, it
is on-going. Digital has transformed the ways in which consumers explore, discover,
buy, and engage with products and services as well as with each other, transcending
traditional channel boundaries.
Digital experiences are supplementing brand impressions, and piecemeal strategies
of deploying digital channels are no longer sufficient: technology powerfully changes
how consumers experience brands. Rather than treating digital as a channel, focus on
delivering brand experiences that add value in the context of the consumer’s needs.
By 2017, in most major markets, digital touchpoints, such as mobile devices, will
influence over 50% of retail sales. Over 10% of all sales will be online. Increasingly,
sophisticated location and context aware apps and sensors are permeating the
physical world.
INTRODUCTION
You must think about your business as part of a digital ecosystem of value that
connects resources, networks and platforms inside and outside the company. You
must harness technology, both to deliver a superior customer experience and to drive
agility for operational efficiency. The biggest challenge is staying ahead of technology
and your consumers’ rapidly changing expectations. Open your services and data
to reach consumers in new ways. Fund disruptive innovation and experimentation
activities with consumers.
Based on the inevitable and breakthrough forces in today’s marketing arena,
we developed this guide of key marketing considerations. We hope that you will
continuously refer to this guide to explore new opportunities, that it will inspire new
thinking and, most of all boldness in your marketing efforts.
We would love to hear from you and provide on-going education, inspiration and support
throughout the year. Please join the conversation at www.mecglobal.com/blog/2014/12/rp5.
I’m looking forward to working with you to bring great, inspiring brand ideas to life.
Carl Fremont
Chief Digital Officer, Global
4 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 5

4. REVIEW

5. 8 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 98 RP NO
.5
The buzzwords heard in conversations among marketers in Asia are the same as
the buzzwords floating around New York or London. Those playing buzzword bingo
can cross off ‘Big Data’, ‘The Internet of Things’ and ‘Predictive Analytics’. These
terms, and the general understanding of their implications on businesses, has led
to a major evolution among Asian marketers, and this is most noticeable when it
comes to their expectations.
Return on Marketing Investment has never been a hotter topic among Asian CMOs
as they strive for recognition in the boardroom. Because of the vast amount of data
generated in digital communication, CMOs expect to always be able to correlate
their digital communication to sales. To meet these expectations, marketers
and agencies must embrace more evolved metrics that go beyond the traditional
channel measurements.
The evolution of digital campaigns means it is no longer clicks, but rather metrics
that link directly to the campaign outcomes. But are advertisers really ready to
throw away the cost per thousand or cost per click when these numbers are still
grounded in a measurable campaign return?
Overall, it is important to take a step back. We must move away from campaign
data analysis only as we move up that hierarchy of measurement. The value will be
greater when marketers go beyond analyzing campaign data alone to integrating
more data to understand the effect. Openness of data is important as we drive
towards more business impact, and marketers must work in close partnership
with their partners to share their data. Connecting up this data will finally allow us
start meeting marketing’s rising digital expectations.
“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts – for support rather than for
illumination.” Andrew Lang, Scottish writer
CONNIE CHAN
MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL SOLUTIONS APAC
RISING
EXPECTATIONS
ASIA PACIFIC REVIEW

6. TV HAS (STILL)
NEVER BEEN
HOTTER
What did you watch on television last night or the night before? I am pretty certain
that 90% of us could answer that without too much thought. The reason? Rather
than being undermined and even destroyed by digital media – which was predicted
by many – TV has instead witnessed a resurgence, with overall viewing figures
stable or growing.
From an advertising perspective, Enders Analysis reported in October 2014 that
“TV remains and will continue to be the core brand advertising medium in all
market territories for the foreseeable future”. Of course Netflix and other direct
to consumer distribution models threaten the existing TV model, but for now,
with increased investment in content and with dual screening breathing new and
exciting life into the media, TV has indeed never been hotter and never offered a
greater opportunity for advertisers to engage viewers and consumers.
Projecting forward, as programmatic buying makes it presence felt on television
and as precision targeting starts to become a reality, as for example seen in the UK
with tailored advertising service Sky AdSmart, it is more than likely that television
will continue in good health for years to come as long as it continues to embrace
developments in technology and consumer demands.
ALEX ALTMAN
MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL SOLUTIONS EMEA
10 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 11
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA REVIEW

7. RP NO
.5 1312 RP NO
.5
TAKING ON
DIGITAL TV
Latin America is finally jumping into digital TV. According to Research and Markets’
2014 study, the number of households with analog terrestrial television went
from 95% in 2010 to 54% in 2014 and is expected to drop to only 4% by 2020. The
digitalization is coming from digital terrestrial television rising from 4% in 2010
to 27% in 2014, supported by digital cable TV and paid direct-to-home, taking the
digital TV penetration from 18% in 2010 to 51% in 2014.
The digitalization of TV is followed by rapid adoption of over-the-top content (OTT)
in the region. According to Dataxis, Colombia and Mexico led the growth of OTT
subscribers in 2014. Colombia grew 135%, totaling 242k subscribers, while Mexico
reached 1.11m subscribers, growing 121% and becoming the Latin American
market with the highest number of OTT subscribers. Netflix is leading the OTT
market, and in 2014 the on-demand streaming provider announced the first
Spanish-language original, a series based on the Mexican blockbuster Nosotros
los Nobles.
Latin America is clearly catching up. Not only are digital TV and OTT services
raising, but the concept of multi-screening is also becoming a reality for the
region. According to eMarketer, Mexico is leading in smartphone penetration with
a 50% growth year-on-year, in 2014 totaling 33.3m smartphone users, more than a
quarter of the Mexican population.
Watching TV is under transformation in Latin America, and the rise of digital and
mobile create new possibilities to reach and engage consumers.
FANNY GARCIA
CEO, MEXICO AND REGIONAL TRANSFORMATION DIRECTOR, LATAM
DIEGO TERAN
MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL SOLUTIONS LATAM
LATIN AMERICA REVIEW

8. RP NO
.5 1514 RP NO
.5
TECHNOLOGY
MARRIES
CREATIVITY
In 2014, we embraced the second age of digital advertising with new creative
canvases and interactivity opportunities for marketers. The term digital marketing
was first used in the 1990s in reference to marketing and advertising of electronic
devices, for example computers. In 2014 we evolved digital marketing’s meaning,
leveraging a slew of different technologies and platforms to target consumers in
ways never before imaginable.
Asthesetechnologiesevolve,marketerscantapintonewstreamsofdataandnever-
before-possible opportunities for campaign creativity and relevancy. Technology,
such as ad targeting, allows marketers to analyze audiences in real time, make
strategy adjustments to live campaigns, and optimize content to reach audiences
via the right devices at critical times within the ever-evolving path to purchase.
Dynamic, real time behavioral or contextual targeting can result in dynamic,
real time content, not only helping marketers get the most out of digital media
investments, but also ultimately driving consumer purchases. For example, Honda
announced it’s working with Facebook and leveraging social tech marketing
company Blinq Media to target in-market car shoppers via localized direct-
response messaging to drive conversations and, ultimately, car purchases. Honda
is now purchasing different Facebook ads targeting corresponding prospect
consumers, such as those near specific dealerships, or those who’ve previously
interacted with Honda content. As a result, Honda can test and optimize different
types of ad units and creative in real time.
These tools and technologies allow marketers to be more thoughtful and creative
in their targeting approaches as well as with the ads served. With the continued
technological evolution, we will keep uncovering new data streams and new ways to
analyze those data points to ensure we target our audiences at the right time, on the
proper device, and with relevant content. This actionable intelligence will continue
to shape the way marketers create and disseminate content in the coming year.
WHITNEY FISHMAN ZEMBER
SR. DIRECTOR, INNOVATION AND CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY, NA
NORTH AMERICA REVIEW

9. PREVIEW

10. 18 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 1918 RP NO
.5
DATA IS CHANGING
HOW MARKETERS
PLAN
First, second and third party data is not new terminology and has been referred to
and used since the 1980s. Customer relationship management, dubbed CRM in the
1990s, advanced consumer addressability through direct channels, but the most
recent boom in technology is radically changing not only the importance of data
but how businesses market.
There are three ‘parties’ of data, and the numerical association refers to who owns the
actual data. Third party data tends to be blinded, meaning its sources or definitions
may not be publically available. In a digital space, third party data largely consists of
interest-based traffic on a website which a broker sells on behalf of said website.
First party data is owned and stored by its creator, usually the advertiser, and this
dataset is proprietary and shared or applied at the creator’s will. Second party data
is another company’s first party dataset.
Priority in terms of creating, augmenting or deploying datasets actually goes
in numerical order. Due to the proprietary nature of first party data, it almost
always outperforms second or third parties. Similarly, second party data tends
to be exclusive and obtained through direct contracts which means that it too,
outperforms third party data. Third party data has the most scale and tends to be
the most expensive however, the least predictive. This is due to the blinded nature
of the data and its availability to the entire marketplace.
The proliferation of first, second, and third party data is entirely due to technology.
We are now breaking out of the restrictions of using data in a limited number of one
to one channels such as direct mail and into digitally delivered channels such as TV
and press. In many markets it is now possible to drive the majority of an integrated
campaign through first, second, and third party data and move completely away
from broader, proxy audiences.
With the help of technology, data targeting pools are now effectively live and
no longer mailing lists that might be updated annually. With the help of a data
management platform, marketers can generate audience segments, which
subsequently are used to target specific consumers with relevant advertising.
This allows us to deploy our communications in an always-on way using the most
relevant, recent data points whenever an opportunity presents itself.
The data and technology advancements enable marketers to unlock and monetize
consumer insights at an unprecedented rate, making way for real-time solutions,
customizable audiences, endless creative iterations, and opportunistic channel
activations, optimized through brand impact and response. In a short period of
time, technology has once again transformed the game.
Action: Use data management platforms to prioritise and focus data sets with the
end-goal of pinpointing individual consumers rather than broad audience groups.
JAMES NORTHWAY
HEAD OF ANALYTICS AND INSIGHTS, GLOBAL SOLUTIONS AND EMEA
JAMES REYNOLDS
PARTNER, DIGITAL DIRECTOR, NA

11. 20 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 2120 RP NO
.5
DATA
COLLECTION:
HARMFUL OR
HELPFUL?
The amount of data available today, and the benefits this presents for advertisers,
are now well known. However, along with the opportunities come the fears about
privacy and data security which are causing a very public consumer backlash,
fueled by news organizations and privacy advocates who are calling for either a
consumer permission solution or government intervention. Either of these would
be destructive to the growth of digital media and advertising technology.
Unfortunately, many users confuse online behavioral advertising with identity
theft, credit card fraud, and data breaches, and this of course attracts the
attention of politicians. Yet, what harm could data collection for the purposes of
online advertising do to users? If the definition of harm is “the existence of loss
or detriment in fact of any kind to a person resulting from any cause,” as defined
in Black’s Law Dictionary, then the answer is: not much. Nonetheless, marketers
must be aware of the concerns harbored by users, and the issue will be decided in
the court of public opinion, not by the regulators.
There has been a huge effort by industry to mitigate the call for legislation through
vigilant self-regulation, particularly in the US and latterly the UK and other parts
of Europe. But the industry has to do more to help consumers understand that
data collection is necessary if they are to enjoy an advertising supported (largely)
free web.
The clear value equation is this: allow the industry to use non-personal data in
a responsible way in exchange for free news, education, and entertainment. In
addition, marketers should change their language – words like targeting, tracking,
and profiles are more akin to war than marketing. It would also be helpful to rewrite
privacy policies in a comprehensible language and be fully transparent about what
data we collect, and how we use and protect it.
Action: While embracing the new possibilities within digital and data, marketers
also need to establish a data policy to protect consumer privacy.
JOHN MONTGOMERY
COO,GROUPMINTERACTION,NA

12. 22 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 2322 RP NO
.5
BUILDING
BRAND
AUDIENCES
The availability of audience data is creating new opportunities for marketers to
reach existing customers and identify new prospects. Access to first, second and
third party data in actionable, consistent and controlled ways across paid and
owned channels is enabling marketers to create more personalized customer
experiences and better sequenced journeys for prospects, leading to increased
performance. The combination of first party data with third party data creates
segments that are value-focused and real time contextual based. Complementing
knowledge of a consumer’s brand usage with their interests and intents creates a
richer real-time picture as to who that individual is, giving marketers opportunity
to connect on a more personal level.
For example, first party CRM data, used to develop audience segments, combined
with third party data showing real time intent, can enable personalized audience
experiences in both paid and owned media, thus focusing on the value of the
customer to the brand as well as on the value that the brand can continue to deliver
to the customer. Such a targeted approach is highly effective and will create ROI
ratios that traditional advertising rarely comes close to.
From a marketer’s perspective, accessing second party data to identify new
prospects is as good as leveraging first party data to personalize existing customer
experiences. Second party data is exclusive, not publically available and provides
unique populations with known interests and intent. We’ve used second party
data to help a brand identify high value prospects in partnership with a publisher
that provided incredibly rich content geared towards helping consumers better
understand the brand. The data partnership enabled us to target users with specific
offers based on the knowledge that those users read articles on that product within
a specific time frame. In this instance, the recency of the data was key, and by
working closely with the publisher we were able to establish an ideal window of
opportunity where a targeted ad from our client would have the greatest impact.
The result was a 17% increase in new customer acquisitions.
Data availability is transforming the marketing industry, and it is imperative that
marketers have a data strategy. An audience architecture solution helps marketers
create data strategies by focusing on building the most desired audiences through
valuing different data sets and detailing ways data can be used, combined and
accessed to better communicate with existing customers and to identify new high
valued customers.
Action: Centralize audience data in order to create specific audience strategies
that build a seamless and cohesive experience across platforms.
JOSH BERMAN
HEAD OF DIGITAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, GLOBAL

13. 24 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 2524 RP NO
.5
ROMANCING THE
ECOMMERCE
SHOPPER
Ecommerce thus far has been primarily driven by consumer convenience, and most
brands have gotten by with bolting ecommerce onto existing market strategies.
This has resulted in clinical websites with banal product pages, as low volumes
meant that brands haven’t had to think through an ecommerce strategy that is
fundamentally about connecting with consumers.
But the sheer volume of everyday consumer decisions that will be made via
ecommerce will necessitate brands to, as David Ogilvy said “charm the consumer
into buying their product.” With ecommerce sales set to reach $2 trillion in 2015, the
romance of persuasion comes back into every purchase, big or small. Ecommerce
will undergo a transformation, from being about a few considered categories like
travel, to a continuous cycle – with food and beverages set to be one of the fastest
growing categories.
When the shopper interacts with a brand on a screen, the marketing challenge will
be to ensure that the brand tells a compelling story, whether on a brand website, a
social network or a retailer’s page. Cohesive content across all the touch points will
become extremely important. Brands can deliver this by making their ecommerce
strategy consumer focused and technology led, and by understanding the role that
ecommerce plays from a branding and marketing standpoint.
There is much more to ecommerce than giving consumers a place to enter in a
credit card number, and in 2015, categories not immediately associated with
ecommerce will start to see its impact whether the final sale is via clicks, bricks,
or a mix. Digital-first retail is here, and brand communications will reflect that. In
late 2014, Coke Surge and Pepsi True were launched as Amazon exclusives within
weeks of each other. When a marketing battle as a legendary as the Cola wars
moves to ecommerce, we know we’ve crossed the point of no return.
Action: Brands should leverage consumer insight and technology to tell a cohesive,
consistent and compelling story across all ecommerce touchpoints.
MUDIT JAJU
DIGITALANDDATAPARTNER,GLOBALSOLUTIONSANDEMEA

14. 26 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 2726 RP NO
.5
PROGRAMMATIC
ENTERS THE NEXT
STAGE
DSP, SSP, DMP, RTB, and many more… Abbreviations are the name of the game
in the ecosystem of programmatic media. But more importantly, what is also
shortened by programmatic, is the route from communications to consumer.
Programmatic media buying is widely accepted as one of advertising’s biggest
steps towards reaching the right person at the right time with the right message.
Programmatic is growing rapidly as the predominant way to discover brands’
audiences and buy digital media, but it is not expected that it will replace all
managed and reserved buys. That said, many non-digital channels will become
programmatic in the coming years, and yes, even TV is nominated to become
part of this change. Hence Europe’s largest broadcasting group RTL investing in
purchasing their own video demand-side platform named SpotXchange.
The battle for transparency continues
With the growing adoption of programmatic buying via demand-side platforms
beyond direct response campaigns, marketers are now taking steps to further
ensure campaign effectiveness through the implementation of third party brand
safety and viewability tracking. Audience data is also under greater scrutiny as
marketers are looking for ways to combat ad fraud. Both comScore and Nielsen
have launched audience verification products, and Integral Ad Science is a much
used technology to make sure ads are seen.
Quality and impact
Advertisers with a strong emphasis on branding require handpicked publishers
to secure high quality exposure. Programmatic can meet this need with private
market places consisting of inventory from selected premium publishers. So far,
the responses from major premium publishers have been lukewarm, and they
have only released limited inventories for programmatic buying.
Another way of creating effective, high quality programmatic campaigns, is by
drawing in the outside world. The most valuable triggers for programmatic
campaignsareoftenplacedoutsideabrowser,andsmartprogrammaticcampaigns
connect to elements in the real world, for example the weather, a user’s location, a
goal in a soccer game, or the timing of a TV ad.
In the immediate future, we also expect that larger and impactful creatives will
become available in programmatic: in-page video, homepage takeovers, and even
IAB rising stars.
Lastly, remember that the opposite of programmatic is not premium, it’s manual.
Action: Step into next stage of programmatic, embrace it and make sure
transparency and viewability are in place.
ANTONY YIU
HEADOFSEARCHANDPERFORMANCE,APAC
ELJA POLAK
HEADOFDIGITAL,THENETHERLANDS

15. 28 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 2928 RP NO
.5
OWNED MEDIA:
FINDING THE
WHITE SPACE
Owned Media is not a new idea, but this opportunity remains an interesting
intellectual challenge for marketers. Effective use of owned media is the ability to
see communication opportunities where others simply see ‘stuff’. As new channels
continue to proliferate, the definition of owned media is expanding. Innovative
marketers are leveraging these new touchpoints to engage and inspire.
Connected devices and the Internet of Things
Brands like Apple and Google include connected devices as part of their suite of
owned assets. For example, Amazon leverages devices like the Kindle as another
vehicle to market its products.
While most brands do not offer connected devices, there is an opportunity to
activate everyday owned assets through the use of beacon technology. Retailers
from Nike to Walmart are testing beacons in-store to share relevant products and
discounts to customers’ mobile phones. Hotels are leveraging this technology to
accelerate the check-in process and facilitate keyless room entry. Unilever even
connected their Magnum ice cream coolers to allow customers to access special
offers and locate friends nearby.
Opportunity: Test beacon and sensor technology to connect formerly inanimate
owned assets and create unique, value-add experiences.
From utility to experience
Brands have the opportunity to evolve their owned assets to transcend pure utility.
The American natural foods supermarket Whole Foods provides a strong example
through their site, Whole Story, which integrates rich lifestyle and recipe content
with subtle marketing. Taxi service Uber takes a similar approach by incorporating
unique experiences, including Christmas tree delivery, into their otherwise
practical mobile app. These unexpected experiences transform mundane assets
into powerful marketing opportunities and delight consumers.
Opportunity: Create impact by transforming conventional owned assets into
relevant marketing opportunities.
Harnessing the white space
The most compelling owned media opportunities occur when marketers have the
vision to identify new communication channels in unlikely spaces. There are a
number of compelling examples, such as Hellmann’s printing branded recipes on
the back of receipts at point of sale, or non-profit Water Is Life developing a clean
water awareness book that doubles as a water filtration system (https://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=qYTif9F188E).
Opportunity: Rethink standard assets to unlock the potential of new owned
channels.
Action: The opportunities within owned media are becoming more expansive,
providing rich possibilities for creativity and experimentation. As this landscape
evolves, it is critical for marketers to consider innovative uses of owned media as
part of an effective marketing mix.
KRISTINE SEGRIST
DIGITALPRODUCTDEVELOPMENTDIRECTOR,GLOBAL

16. 30 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 3130 RP NO
.5
THE RISE OF
DIGITAL VIDEO
It is widely known that consumer content consumption habits have significantly
changed over the last few years. As screen and content choices continue to
proliferate, video will become an ever greater part of our lives. According to Cisco,
digital video consumption will grow over 180% from 2014 to 2018, with mobile
video skyrocketing 670% over the same time period. Marketers are starting to
adapt by planning and buying video agnostically across screens, and we have
successfully been working with advertisers to implement the proper tools and
measurement systems to prove the effectiveness of this approach. However, with
the rise of mobile and the dominance of social platforms in terms of time spent by
consumers, marketers need to think more about how they can leverage digital’s
unique capabilities to create immersive and relevant video experiences. There
are three areas marketers need to keep top of mind: interactivity, native video
advertising and social TV.
Interactivity simply extends the brand’s story by providing additional content to the
consumer within the video player. Aligning the right content to the message of the
video with the consumer’s interests is the challenging part. However, when done
right, time spent with the video can increase well beyond the 15 or 30 second spot,
thereby capturing and maintaining the user’s attention.
Nativeadvertisingnowlendsitselftomultipleplatforms,withnativevideobecoming
much more relevant due to its wide range of possibilities for communication and
interaction. New video ads are out-stream formats, these formats are not inserted
into the traditional video streams but in another kind of editorial content, between
paragraphs in a text or article, including images of a gallery or social networking
newsfeed which creates greater contextual relevance for the consumer.
TV and social media are changing our passive experiences to make it more social
and interactive: now conversations about shows are taking place in real-time.
Brands can take advantage of this situation by reaching their audiences mainly
through video seeding or pre-roll formats with video view guarantees while the
consumer is watching their desired TV program.
Action: Implement a video neutral planning and buying approach, but ensure that
digital’s unique capabilities and functionalities are being leveraged to extend the
brand’s story and create immersive consumer experiences.
PATRICIO POBLETE
INTERACTIONMANAGER,CHILE
FERNANDO MONEDERO
HEADOFDIGITAL,LATAM

17. 32 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 3332 RP NO
.5
ESCAPE THE
LIVE ROOM
In the 2000s we built labs, and in the 2010s we’ve built live rooms; these magical
places that brands and agencies have created to sift through the noise that is real
time data. A live room is a war room setup where everyone sits together, gathering
deeper insights and actionable meaning from data.
However, so many of these rooms are nothing but great theatre. In most
organizations the live room use only accounts for a mere fraction of teams’ working
hours. Live rooms take up a great deal of space, time to set up and shut down – and
when the project is finished, they turn back into sad, lonely conference rooms with
lots of expensive screens.
Live rooms are nonetheless very powerful in real time event marketing.
We’ve created live rooms for marketers on competitive quests, outperforming
competitor announcements with a social storm of relevant messages. Getting
brand and partners in the same room, working as a team against a specific clock,
can be very effective.
But what happens when you don’t have an event to support? Escape the live
room, take the data with you and put it into your everyday workflow. Engage with
consumers in real moments, both endemic and non-endemic. Real time marketing
shouldn’t end when the war room shuts down, in fact it’s often only just beginning.
Get out of the room and be always on and always live. This is your chance to be
nimble and opportunistic.
Brands need to consider four things when deciding to do real time marketing, with
or without a live room:
1. Are tentpole events important enough to the brand that you need a war room
where people can work in real time? This is a great case for a live room activation.
2. What are your consumers’ interests and behaviors outside of the obvious? Be
with your consumers all the time, not only in the live room.
3. Are you prepared to listen all the time? Once you enter the conversation in real
time, be prepared to meet consumer expectations to responsiveness.
4. Can you be nimble and opportunistic in your responses, or are you mired down
in process? Maybe being always on is going to be more of a challenge.
Action: Live is not a space, but a cultural transformation, a new way of working.
Marketers must be ready to be always on, meeting their consumers in real time
whether from inside the live room or not.
SHENAN REED
PRESIDENTOFDIGITAL,NA

18. 34 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 3534 RP NO
.5
THE POWER OF
BUILDING STORIES
In the midst of a massive cultural and technological renaissance, the modern
marketing world continues to transform in ways that generate equal parts anxiety
and unbridled optimism. At the forefront of this shift, content has emerged as a
major marketing disrupter, empowering brands to educate, entertain, and mobilize
audiences.
Historically, storytelling offered marketers a unique pathway to drive deeper levels
of emotional engagement with audiences. However, the market is increasingly
pivoting towards a more ambitious story-building construct; multi-layered
narratives that develop over time, designed for multiple screens and feeds, and
socially engineered for the participation generation. In an era where democratized
content creation appears to have fully emerged via Vine, Instagram, YouTube and
Snapchat, audiences are now uniquely equipped to build upon and extend the brand
story. They leverage social and mobile technologies (i.e. #hashtags, annotations,
ephemeral visuals) to scale participation – creating an exciting new model for
marketers to explore.
Of course, the concept of story-building also applies to how the canvas itself
continues to evolve for publishers and brands alike, adding new layers of creative
dynamism that deliver an immersive content experience for audiences. This year
Netflix, the provider of on-demand streaming media, applied some of those rich
elements in The New York Times in support of the Season 2 premiere of Orange
is the New Black. At its core, the native advertising project was pure editorial
journalism focused on elevating themes on the topic of female incarceration (http://
nyti.ms/14W3biU). The brand opportunity emerged via Netflix’s ambition to build
additional contextual layers into the story, elegantly weaving in-stream video,
provocative imagery, and data visualizations to reinforce and enhance the overall
narrative. The Netflix example provides an exceptional blueprint for marketers
eager to connect with an increasingly mobile audience by delivering multi-sensory
content experiences that delight, inform, and are ultimately designed for feed
consumption (Netflix, The Future of Storytelling: http://bit.ly/1F7FGyj).
Story-building’s recent ascension in the marketing mix has as much to do with
its effectiveness, as with its unique ability to break through a hyper-congested
marketplace. Ultimately, the performance currency all marketers are vying for is
attention.
Action: Brands must strive to consistently deliver culturally relevant experiences
that emotionally connect and energize their target audience. When doing so
successfully, they will not only gain consumers’ attention, but their long-term loyalty.
GIAN LAVECCHIA
HEADOFDIGITALCONTENTMARKETING,NA

19. 36 RP NO
.5 RP NO
.5 3736 RP NO
.5
USING THE
NEW 4PS OF
MARKETING
In 1960, Michigan State professor E. Jerome McCarthy introduced the concept
that successful marketing depends on a harmonious balance of Product, Price,
Placement, and Promotion. Around the same time, Intel founder Gordon Moore
observed that the processing power of computers doubles approximately every two
years. Today, the original 4Ps are as relevant as ever, but now, thanks to Moore’s
Law and the evolution of digital, we have four new Ps to contend with: Portability,
Personalization, Proximity, and Presence.
Portability: Consumers move between desktop, tablet, and smartphone screens
all day long, and content that is useful, usable, and engaging across all three is
simple table stakes. Smart brands are creating content that changes shape to
accommodate the nuances in consumer behaviors from screen to screen. The
one-size-fits-all model is a thing of the past.
Personalization: Thanks to wearables and location-based services like Google
Maps, consumers are increasingly aware that they generate data and increasingly
comfortable with exchanging this data for something of value. For brands, there’s
a growing opportunity to help consumers share the personal data that will shape
the content they consume.
Proximity: Location isn’t just latitude and longitude but proximity to other places,
things, and events. Brands have the opportunity to take these layers of location
context, often the strongest indicators of intent and stimuli of action, and create
more meaningful and effective customer experiences.
Presence: In the Internet of Things, everything has potential to be a screen.
Wearables, the connected car and home, in-store screens, and social machines
are providing brands with the opportunity to create meaningful experiences in the
most unexpected places.
Over fifty years later, our world is influenced by Moore’s Law to a degree Moore
himself could not have foreseen. Technology has made life simultaneously easier
and more complex, and smart marketers understand that the key to success is
reducing friction in this increasingly frenetic world. This implies creating smart
and targeted content, leveraging consumer data and being aware that consumers
also move in a very real world where communications touchpoints are only limited
by your creativity. The 4Ps create a framework for navigating this new landscape,
and the brands that understand how the original paradigm is activated, augmented,
and amplified by the new one are the brands that will thrive.
Action: Use the new 4Ps as a checklist to assess your marketing strategy, both
traditional and digital, and ensure your brand still delivers superior experiences
to consumers.
RACHEL PASQUA
HEADOFMOBILITY,NA

20. NOTES? MAKE THEM HERE.

21. NOTES? MAKE THEM HERE.

22. NOTES? MAKE THEM HERE.

23. ASIA PACIFIC
18 Cross Street
China Square Central
#04-01
Singapore 048423
Tel +65 6225 1262
Stephen Li
Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific
stephen.li@mecglobal.com
GLOBAL
1 Paris Garden
London, SE1 8NU
United Kingdom
Tel +44 20 7803 2000
825 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
USA
Tel +1 212 474 0000
Charles Courtier
Chief Executive Officer, Global
charles.courtier@mecglobal.com
Alastair Aird
Chief Operating Officer, Global
alastair.aird@mecglobal.com
Caroline Foster Kenny
Chief Client Officer, Global
caroline.fosterkenny@mecglobal.com
Carl Fremont
Chief Digital Officer, Global
carl.fremont@mecglobal.com
Stephan Bruneau
Chief Analytics & Insight Officer, Global
stephan.bruneau@mecglobal.com
EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
1 Paris Garden
London, SE1 8NU
United Kingdom
Tel +44 20 7803 2000
Alastair Aird
Chairman, Europe, Middle East and Africa
alastair.aird@mecglobal.com
Tom George
Chairman, UK and North Europe
tom.george@mecglobal.com
LATIN AMERICA
601 Brickell Key Drive, Suite 804
Miami, FL 33131
USA
Tel +1 786 264 7600
Renato de Paula
Chief Executive Officer, Latin America
renato.depaula@mecglobal.com
NORTH AMERICA
825 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10019
USA
Tel +1 212 474 0000
Marla Kaplowitz
Chief Executive Officer, North America
marla.kaplowitz@mecglobal.com
www.mecglobal.com
© MEC All content, logos and trademarks used within this publication
are protected by copyright and cannot be used without permission
from MEC or the permission of the relevant trademark owners.
www.mecglobal.com