The CMO, as we understand it, may no longer be enough.
To increase value – and profits – companies must certainly continue the process of developing their products or services and, likewise, understand the behaviors and habits of their customers.
However, to do this, companies must develop internal skills or acquire them from the market, because marketing (both digital and traditional) requires increasingly specialized expertise and knowledge in technology.
And by technology – at the table of the big players – we can no longer mean the standard attacking trio:
- website;
- Google;
- social network.
Or rather, not only.
Coca-Cola was the first company in the world to internalize this concept, taking it even further: as early as 2017, it announced that it had eliminated the role of CMO within the company and replaced it with the CGO: Chief Growth Officer.
A role that, as defined by the company, "will be responsible for marketing, commercial strategy, and will keep a keen eye on consumers and innovation."
And innovation is precisely the key point: knowing your market – your consumers – means designing an all-encompassing experience, no longer confined to "silos," where communication strategies and advertising campaigns come together to create true relationships with customers.
How many companies are still unable to measure how the actions of an online campaign can influence in-store purchases? How many even fail to coordinate their offline and online strategies?
The reason lies precisely in the lack of models for accelerating commercial growth and developing sustainable strategies that allow bringing the future here, today.
Companies can no longer rely solely on traditional methods of expansion and innovation. This growth depends on a long-term vision, based on technology and the ability to interpret data.
The McDonald's case: checkmate to Burger King with the integration of OOH and Digital
In October 2018, Waze, the navigation app owned by Google, which helps find the best route with real-time assistance from other drivers, tested an advertising campaign for McDonald's, something never tried before.
Around 300 McDonald's billboards were placed on the roads of Southern California, equipped with a tracking system, displaying messages about daily offers or the latest menu items.
The cars passing through those roads were "tagged," and at the first traffic light or STOP near a McDonald's, the driver would see the same message – in full screen – inside the Waze app, with a CTA (Drive There) encouraging the user to set the restaurant as their destination.
The results were surprising.
Waze only provided the truly measurable data, so it didn’t count how many people might have reached the restaurant the next day or the following week.
More than 6 million impressions, 2 million users reached, 8,400 customers who visited the restaurants. All of this in 8 weeks.
Todd Palatnek, head of Waze's OOH business unit, clarified the tactics used in delivering the campaign:
- Only cars that were actually near a restaurant of the chain were "targeted";
- Only route changes from pre-set paths were calculated, in order to verify that users had actually altered a previously decided route, indicating a high likelihood of purchase;
- They never mentioned the relevance of the ad on brand awareness, which was actually significant, considering that the message layout was displayed in full screen on the user's phone and the brand was highly recognizable.
Welcome to the "digital dark zone": the importance of OOH/Digital integration
The McDonald's/Waze case is an example that should make us reflect on the importance of technological culture and how innovation is the most powerful verb for any company.
The integration and fluidity of offline and online strategies in this case found their point of convergence in the so-called "digital dark zone," a micro moment in a consumer's life where, until now, it was impossible for a digital marketer to create a stable and effective relationship.
Respecting the rules (not encouraging the consumer to use their phone for purposes other than navigation), but breaking the mold through the use of technology, is the task of those within the company who must not only develop better products but also know how to use the most powerful tools to connect customers in the right place, at the right time.
Knowing your customers, innovating, technology: words often overused, but they are the key to opening the door to the future and revenue.
Photographic credits: David Tonelson / Shutterstock.com
Crediti fotografici: dennizn / Shutterstock.com
