If you listen early on and understand what the user needs, you have a clearer sense of the results you’re looking for. We want to create experiences that are innovative, we want to create experiences that are differentiating, but we also want to create experiences that take those user needs into account.
Jameson Proctor is a partner and digital strategy director at Athletics, a cross-disciplinary creative agency based in New York City. The agency develops products, cultural and commercial experiences at the intersection of design and technology.
Founded in 2004, Athletics helps companies like JP Morgan, IBM and Citrix (as well as startups) turn ideas into sustainable businesses and adapt to the demands of modern culture. Proctor’s interest in coding and technology started when his grandfather gave him a hand-me-down Apple II Plus in the 1980s.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Proctor shares his thoughts on creative agility, the importance of the customer experience and the rise of brand journalism.
Putting the customer first (0:26)
We want to create experiences that are innovative…and that are differentiating, but we want to create experiences that also take user needs into account.
Although marketers know that customer experience is important, many companies don’t always leverage that knowledge when developing their customer journeys. In the Global Customer Experience Excellence report by KPMG, they found three defining characteristics of customer obsessed organizations. These companies 1) always put the customer first; 2) are insight-driven; and 3) anticipate customer needs.
Creative agility (3:05)
We’re able to be nimble with the platform and there’s not a lot that stands in our way. What we’re focused on is realizing brand opportunities and solving business challenges with WordPress as a platform and that’s the open source movement in general right now.
The ability to remain agile, or creative agility, depends on many factors beyond the digital platform. According to a 2016 Forrester report, it’s also critical to eliminate process bottlenecks when developing robust web and mobile experiences. Those surveyed said that technology management and the ability to hire the right team with data and front-end skills is a challenge, given the high demand for these skill sets.
The rise of brand journalism (4:51)
The evolution of brand journalism is raising the bar from what we’ve considered in the past to be content marketing. You combine real journalism and content with best-in-class design and best-in-class technology to create experiences that are on par with what leaders like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian deliver.
Enacting a brand journalism platform is a great way for companies to develop trusted, owned content. For more considerations about brand journalism, the Content Marketing Institute has some tips. They recommend providing balanced, objective content and always citing the sources of statistics and reports.
The ingredients of personalization (7:58)
Right now it’s a promise and we have all of the parts and pieces that we need to actually kind of make good on that promise but I think that people are still having a hard time understanding how to put them together.
There’s no hotter marketing buzzword right now than personalization. And for good reason. IDC predicts that in just two years, market demand for tailored digital marketing experiences will double every six months industry wide.
To learn more about Athletics, visit their website and follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter & Instagram.
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