AI opens its own set of ethical issues that needs to be addressed. It’s an incredible tool that allows marketers to develop content that is hyper-personalized and individualized, which is potentially incredibly powerful. But the machines don’t have it quite right yet.
Shari Reichenberg, an integrated marketing executive, is the Managing Director at RAPP, an individual-centric agency. Prior to RAPP, Reichenberg was a Partner at Prophet, a digital consultancy agency. She’s also a Founding Member of Chief, a network designed to move more women into C-suite roles.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Shari Reichenberg shares her thoughts on branding, machine learning and diversity.
Up close and personalized (0:44)
Brands need to be building relationships with individuals at scale. They need to be relevant and meaningful to prospects and customers from the very beginning and that relationship has to be different between the brand and each of those individuals.
According to McKinsey & Company, within the next five years personalization will be the prime driver of marketing and brand success. However only 15% of CMOs think their company is on the right track.
If personalization is done right, it can boost a company’s sales significantly and help generate leads. More than that, it can provide a meaningful connection with the individual based on their unique values and perspectives, no matter what device or channel they happen to be using.
For example, RAPP partnered with Toyota to target a younger age group who had previously owned smaller Toyota vehicles. The goal was to introduce them to the more adventurous RAV4 by leveraging brand loyalty. How did they do this? Through a coloring app. It’s a great illustration of how to customize and personalize the customer experience.
Deus ex machina (1:56)
We’ve evolved our approach to content so that the right content can be developed for different individuals and be delivered in the right place through the right channel at the right time.
Much of successful marketing is now AI-driven. The ability to extract relevant customer data to gain insight and deeper understanding into your customers is a key benefit. But according to Bynder’s 2020 State of Branding Report, despite the potential of machine learning, 77% of marketers remain concerned about the effects of automation and AI on branding.
A study conducted by OpenMarket, Empathy in the Age of AI, found that 80% of consumers want brands to be more efficient and empathetic, which can be accomplished through automation. Clearly there is a disconnect between marketers and the audience they’re trying to reach.
Get real (3:05)
It shouldn’t just be about delivering a message or delivering an ad about communications at scale, but more about experiences and interaction points that can create true customer intimacy.
Customer intimacy can encourage and trigger real interactions and relationships. In its campaign for Cinemark, RAPP tapped into the customer journey to promote its app by featuring the audience themselves, not the typical movie releases.
Serving private data (6:14)
[We put] data privacy at the center of everything we do. We build out experiences and capabilities from there. We see not only a lot more comfort with the individual and a willingness to opt-in, but also a more successful experience that we create.
There tends to be a generational gap when it comes to providing personal data and privacy. Not surprisingly, 47% of Baby Boomers report being “very concerned” about privacy compared to 28% of Gen Zers. This newest generation is also more likely to provide personal data if it means receiving more personalized content.
Open culture (7:57)
RAPP is all about the individual and we’re really proud of the way [that] we think about our talent and the experience we want to create for them as an employer.
RAPP is known for its commitment to diversity in the workplace and during the hiring process. Reichenberg cited research that has identified so-called “trigger words” in job descriptions that will discourage certain people from applying. One thing they’re doing to remedy that is identifying and removing those terms. The company also participates in blind recruiting and a number of events which promote inclusion.
To learn more about RAPP, visit their website and follow them on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter at @RAPP.
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