It is inevitable that marketing will evolve to being real-time. By real-time I mean listening to signals from consumers and paying attention to what’s happening in their world; then delivering content that resonates at that point in time and place—on whatever device.
Technologies like addressable TV, the increasing sophistication of intent and location-based marketing, and the eventual ubiquity of digital signage—all these point to a real-time future. It’s easy to envision small digital displays on every grocery store shelf—under every SKU, all networked into head office. From there brands will control, monitor and test offers. Decisions made at head-office will be reflected at the point of sale in real-time. If you think the CPG space is commoditized now, just wait.
Smartphones, location-aware devices and gamified experiences will play a key role, as will the next evolution of listening platforms. Creativity will matter more than ever—as it does when a natural system gets hypercompetitive.
People like Shiv Singh, Head of Digital for PepsiCo Beverages America will gamble their futures on it. In a recent article Singh stated that he is staking his whole career on real-time marketing. I had to raise an eyebrow when reading his post. A couple of years ago when meeting with some senior marketing folks at Pepsi Canada I used an image of Barack Obama drinking a Pepsi to illustrate the point that they, like most of their competitors, were organizationally incapable of moving at speed. Here was an opportunity that fell into their lap: an image of the most beloved presidential hopeful since JFK consuming their product—and they did nothing to amplify or own the moment.
The technology and tools of real-time marketing will be here well before most organizations can fight the inertia created by corporate affairs, legal, PR and inter-agency fiefdoms.
Like Singh, I too believe the future of marketing will be real-time and that all organizations will need to play there in order to thrive. The aggressive and agile ones will grab the spoils that come with first-mover advantage.
