Space to ponder is sparse in today’s media landscape, says Marie Abiad.
Real-time marketing means brands must think on their feet
The term real-time marketing has been an industry buzz word in the past couple of years. Various trend reports identify real-time marketing as one of the trends to watch out for in the coming years, highlighting its potential for transforming brand communication.
What is the state of real-time marketing in our region? What are its implications for our industry? What needs to change to develop ongoing real-time marketing communication? What are the paybacks of investing in real-time marketing?
Looking back at the emergence of social media platforms, brands had to rethink the way they communicated with consumers; having time was no longer a privilege. Content had to be created frequently and rapidly to stay relevant and engage with the ever-growing online communities. But there was still room for planning, scheduling and organising our communication. Community managers, content calendars and content themes were created and have become the norm.
Today, with the growing popularity and allure of real-time platforms, the need for real time marketing has become a harsh reality. Snapchat started the trend and the other platforms followed suit, with Facebook and Twitter investing in their own live products Facebook Live and Periscope. Likewise Instagram launched Instagram Stories, the latest addition to that app.
In today’s world all the social media platforms have a live/real-time product rolled up and ready to attract brands and consumers alike. Consumers are embracing the platforms, sharing everyday moments big and small to tell their today’s story. Still, it seems that regional brands have yet to adopt these live platforms.
One of the earlier and most popular example of real-time marketing was the Oreo Dunk in the Dark tweet during the Superbowl blackout. Since then, more and more brands have responded to real-time events such as the World Cup, the controversy around the colour of that dress and, lately, the Pokemon Go phenomenon. Brands grabbed these opportunities to create consumer engagement and relevancy. These were the first attempts at real-time marketing. Needless to say, some brands have got it right, while others got some backlash from consumers. But then again all these examples were short-lived, one-off examples. Moving forward, the challenge for marketers and brands is going to be: how can we make real-time marketing an ongoing strategy and a way to engage with consumers regularly?
What needs to change? The answer may be a lot, and the cost of entry could be high. Entering the new realm of real-time marketing means that we as an industry have to rethink our approach to communication planning.
Our traditional process of developing communication – which requires proper consumer research, insights, strategic planning, creative development, distribution and measurement – is a long and thorough process that is revisited till all stakeholders feel confident about the end product and are ready to go and live with it.
Real-time marketing is challenging our processes and our structures. Our approaches to consumer research, strategy, planning and creative process have to be tweaked to be more timely and reactive.
We’ll need always-on structures that not only have the capability to identify an opportunity and act on it but also have the authority to go and live with it while it’s still relevant. Which means we may have to create new team structures and skillsets in place.
Things are moving faster than ever and it’s forcing the industry to embrace new behaviours. In the pursuit of perfection, campaigns are not launched unless all parties feel confident about the content we put out there. This is not going to be possible with real-time marketing. We’ll be required to think on our feet, trust our instincts and dive head-on into new waters. Achieving Perfection will not be attainable; there will be no room to test and retest the assets. Real-time marketing is about taking a calculated risk. Content – and a lot of it – will be created in real time. With no room for prior planning, having access to the right data in a timely manner is crucial and having the teams to analyse the data will be a vital part of any marketing initiative.
The role of the planner as we know it could change and a new function, real-time planners, could surface. These people will have to have the right mindset, know the pulse of things and know their audience inside out, with a deep understanding of the culture. Marketing plans and media planning calendars will have to be more broadly defined, with room for flexibility. New challenges will arise, lessons will be learned, some will succeed and others will fail and a select few will master the art of brand storytelling in real time.
The question remains: will real-time marketing improve my brand metrics and drive sales? Time will tell.
Marie Abiad – Strategic planning director at MEC MENA
