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London, Jan 12th - dentsu today confirmed its intent to integrate iProspect and Vizeum to create a new, future-focused, end-to-end global media agency under the iProspect banner. By integrating these two award winning agencies, dentsu brings Vizeum’s media strategy and planning, storytelling, and brand building capabilities together with iProspect’s digital expertise, audience knowledge, and performance mindset. Clients will have access to the unique capabilities of both agencies, all from one integrated team leading the new territory of performance-driven brand building by delivering digital-first media strategies underpinned by data and technology at every touchpoint in the consumer journey. The new iProspect media agency will draw from the broader dentsu capability set, allowing clients the flexibility to seamlessly build bespoke and specialised teams with resources from across the network. Clients will gain access to expansive new audience insights, integrated and more effective strategies, market-leading planning and activation, and unparalleled business performance. Carat and dentsu X clients will continue to access industry leading digital performance services through our dentsu Media Scaled Services. The new iProspect entity will be led by Global President Amanda Morrissey, bringing together more than 8,000 media and performance specialists across 93 key global markets. “iProspect is designed for clients at the intersection of brand and performance. We believe brand drives performance, and performance drives brand. We no longer exist in an ecosystem where these elements can be planned and bought separately. We must look at business and brand goals through a combined lens, bringing accelerated growth for our clients,” said Amanda Morrissey, Global President, iProspect. “By focusing on how consumers behave in their digital world and applying that to real world scenarios via a highly connected and creative use of all channels, we position our clients to combine the learnings from the short and long term to drive more effective business growth today and tomorrow.” Peter Huijboom, dentsu international Global CEO Media & Global Clients, said, “At dentsu our goal is to help our clients to make meaningful progress and thrive in a world of change. Because we know people better than anyone else, we deliver human-centric solutions designed to drive growth for our clients and good in society. By bringing iProspect and Vizeum together we are creating a global digital-first, end-to-end media proposition. This will give our clients a scaled choice that sits alongside Carat’s brand-first approach and dentsu X’s experience-driven approach while also allowing greater access to our Creative and CXM service lines.” The new agency will now be launched through a phased market plan over a three-month period with a target completion date of 31st March 2021. This integration is a proof-point of dentsu international’s strategy to simplify how it operates to deliver even greater agility and flexibility for clients through a more focused portfolio of six leadership brands. 0
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The corona crisis has changed the shopping behavior of a large group of Dutch people: almost one in three shoppers ordered online more often during the crisis and half of them also bought more products per order (source: GFK). This upward trend is expected to continue. According to Kantar research , 20-40% of the Dutch indicate they continue to shop in the online stores they discovered during the COVID-19 crisis. It makes sense for companies, now more than ever, to invest in online commerce. The social giants are also busy. In order to facilitate brands in social commerce, they launched one new feature after another. What are the latest developments in social commerce? And what can you best invest in as a brand to boost your online sales? 1. Facebook and Instagram Shops Despite the recent coverage of Facebook in recent months, the giant continues to develop in e-commerce at lightning speed. In view of the increasing restrictions on finding first- and third-party target groups on digital platforms, the recent launch of Shops is a godsend for advertisers aiming to continue toward target advertising. Facebook Shops act as copies of web stores where products are displayed on both Facebook and Instagram. The products, or a selection thereof, are linked via a catalog or loaded directly from a website via shopping partners. It has been possible for some time to tag products in an image or video. With a single tap, the user can immediately access the product details. Recently it has also become possible to advertise in the Netherlands in this way. A new development is the Shop tab, in which you can discover the entire collection within the Facebook page or Instagram profile Shop. Shoppers can then pay on the advertiser's website or most recently - and this is where it gets interesting - without leaving the app. Facebook Pay Facebook users in the Netherlands can now link payment details (credit card, debit card or PayPal), contact details and delivery address to their Facebook profile by means of Facebook Pay. The user sets this up once. With this you can pay in the Facebook Shop within the Facebook app. If successful, this will be rolled out further to Instagram, Messenger and Whatsapp. This way the target group can make a purchase immediately with minimal obstacles. Besides a better shopping experience, this is a great opportunity for advertisers to stay relevant to their customers. Privacy regulations make it increasingly difficult to use website data within other platforms and apps, but with the help of Facebook Pay the advertiser retains the option to continue to show relevant advertisements based on purchase data. As a brand you can already study Facebook Shops. In a cookie-free future, you will have both the data to remain relevant for your customers, and an advanced consumer experience when customers expect this from brands. 2. Snapchat - dynamic ads We already know them from Facebook and Instagram, but last month Snapchat also launched Dynamic ads in the Netherlands. A big advantage of dynamic ads is that all products from your product catalog are loaded into your advertisement. If products change, the advertisement changes immediately so that you always show up-to-date advertisements that fit within every advertisement format. This has many advantages; Snapchatters see more relevant ads, brands see a higher ROI and content creators spend less time on small adjustments. Snapchat is increasingly collaborating with partners who make the dynamic ads applicable for multiple platforms by means of feeds and templates. It is a great advantage that you can offer your assortment automatically on multiple channels to invest in technology solutions that make this possible. Snapchat - Beta Brand Profiles In July, Snapchat started testing Brand Profiles for 30 major brands in a closed beta. Brands are given additional options such as saving and showing previously posted Snaps, videos, stories, and AR lenses. This way you can discover multiple products within Snapchat and test them virtually. In addition, potential customers can checkout directly in the app through Shopify. 3. Pinterest shopping Whereas the platform first focused on inspiration and awareness, it is increasingly shifting towards conversion-driven solutions: Shop the look, Collection ads, Dynamic product ads and Shopping tabs. One of the newest features is Shopping Spotlights, which gives influencers a bigger role on the platform. The promoted content appears at the top of the search tab and links directly to the brand’s (product) site. In addition, Pinterest launched Shop with Your Camera on June 1, where a photo of a product leads to suggestions from Pins with products similar to this one. The products that are in stock can be purchased directly in the new shop tab via the advertiser's checkout page. This is expected to be available in the Netherlands shortly. Also read: One year of Pinterest advertising: six key learnings Pinterest advertising - be the brand they see first 97% of pinners' search traffic is still non-branded. They are looking for inspiration very early in the Pinterest buying process, even before deciding on a brand or product. The target group therefore actively moves towards the content. It is precisely in this orientation phase that you have the opportunity to expand your search strategy and be findable with the right product. Pinterest Business itself states: Be the Brand they see first. Even with the short period Pinterest advertising is available, it is still relatively easy to climb as a brand on Pinterest in both organic and paid search results. The big difference here compared to other social platforms is that the content has a much longer lifespan. An investment you make now to make content easy to find can have positive effects on the algorithm in the long term. Take into account a longer path to purchase. 4. Conversational commerce via social media Thirty-five percent of online shoppers regularly contact a brand or company, in most cases with questions about the delivery ("Where is my package?"), but there are also many questions about the price and quality of a product. In order to speak to customers in an efficient and effective way, an increasing number of commerce parties, have added so-called messaging apps (also called conversational commerce) as a complement to their in-person customer service. The quality of the services of these messaging apps provide is improving rapidly. Messaging apps such as Whatsapp and Messenger offer consumers the opportunity to interact with a company in an accessible way. Messaging bots or Quick Replies exist for even faster and more efficient service, and customers are growing accustomed to these enhancements. The contact they then have via these apps is comparable to a physical store assistant. This can increase trust in a brand or product by removing doubts: 57% of conversational shoppers say they chat with a company for additional information about products and 34% for more confidence in the brand.* In addition to improved emotional value, you can also negotiate the price of a product via conversational commerce: 35% of conversational shoppers indicate they negotiate prices or offers via Messaging apps. In fact, two-thirds say they spend more money after chatting with a company. The Dutch consumer increasingly expects companies to be available through conversational commerce. Conversational commerce is therefore clearly here to stay. As a brand you want to respond quickly to this development, preferably before your competitor has this perfectly in order and your target group already has a smooth user experience with another brand. You can scale up later when it suits the business. * Source: “Conversational Commerce: the next gen of E-com” by BCG (Facebook-commissioned study of 8,864 people across BR, ID, IN, MX, MY, PH, TH, US and VN), Aug 2019. Pick your battles The precondition for the above developments is that a platform must match a brand. For walkers you don't have to advertise on Snapchat and a recruiter has little to look for on Pinterest. In addition, the foundation of your e-commerce must be in order before you use the many possibilities of social commerce. Shopping tools, catalogs and campaign management tools allow you to quickly scale up to multiple platforms. Changing afterwards or setting up each platform separately costs a lot more time and money in the long term. It is better to start on a small scale and be ahead of the competition. This way you can scale up with a strong product when they start experimenting rather than the other way around. Finally, and this is perhaps the most important, pick your battles. Be critical about which developments really have potential for your organization, then invest in improving and automating that process. A company must look beyond today's fast conversions, as KLM has done with conversational commerce. This can yield you more in the longer term than, for example, a one-off campaign on TikTok. Would you like to chat about social commerce for your brand? Please feel free to contact kitty.bakker@iProspect.com. 0
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Welcome back to this two-part blog series focusing on all things Voice. ICYMI, part one covered the top 6 lowest hanging fruits to make your website content Voice Search ready. In part one, we learned that winning Position 0 is critical to gain Voice Search visibility. However, conversational AI technologies and voice user interfaces (AKA: Voice-based applications) offer opportunities for brands to engage with consumers beyond the search engine results page. When we take a step back to look at the evolution of media consumption it becomes clear that consumer behaviour and purchasing habits have shifted following the succession of technological revolutions. With the rise of the Internet of Things and Smart Devices, interactivity has become the new standard. We went from passive mediums such as print, radio, and TV to user-generated content, to customer-initiated communication with mobile and tablets. As a result, simply producing a piece of content and hoping it reaches your target audience, is not enough. Much more must be done for brands to respond effectively to how humans and machines interact. As it stands now, Voice Search does not necessarily allow brands to measure user engagement and understand trends to improve user experience. Also, most voice answers about a specific brand come from other highly authoritative sources (ex. Yelp, Wikipedia), which are not controlled by a brand. As a result, brands risk weakening their customer experience and even losing market share to competitors who are Voice ready. That's where Voice-based applications come into play. So, What is a Voice-based Application? A Voice-based Application or Voice App is a conversational interface designed to extend the functionality of voice-enabled devices such as smart speakers (just like screen-based apps would do on mobile). Users can interact with this easy-to-use voice-directed technology using its invocation name. A few favorite examples… H&M Home Stylist The H&M Home Stylist voice application allows users to ask questions on décor inspiration for different rooms in the house. How it works: Ask for help with a specific room Choose from a range of styles such as classic or modern Receive inspiration and mood boards based on your preferences See example products from H&M Home, along with suggestions for materials and colour schemes Mystery Oreo Mondelez turned to Alexa to promote a new Oreo flavour contest. The purpose was to boost awareness, interest and engagement with the brand as part of a two-month long “Mystery Oreo” campaign. How it works: Users activate the voice technology with the query: “Alexa, what’s new with Oreo?” User receives weekly flavour cues When prompted, order cookies via Amazon Domino's Anyware As part of the Domino’s Anyware initiative, the restaurant chain launched voice-activated pizza delivery for pizza lovers. How it works: Speak to a voice device (Google, Alexa, Siri) and ask it to "Talk to Domino's" Build a new order from scratch or reorder a most recent order Integrates with Domino's Tracker Also integrates with Slack and Facebook Messenger Voice expert lives in the Domino's app to take voice orders In my opinion, these examples prove that the best voice interactions are usually not approached as an advertisement but as an extension of the brand experience. How are Voice-based Applications Being Used by Consumers? Voice devices are everywhere. They are often in shared spaces in the house (living room, family room) such as smart speakers like Amazon Echo (Alexa) or Google Home. They are usually on your mobile (Siri, Bixby). They are also on-the-go in your Car or Smart Watch. Voice devices are mainly used for education (asking questions to a bot), utility, and entertainment. People enjoy interacting with Voice Apps while multitasking to get things done faster (save time from not having to type) or enhance daily routines (to-do list, commute times, weather, reminders). Taking the first steps towards launching your own Voice-based Application may seem daunting without in-house expertise or a proven roadmap. When working with clients in developing an Application, we focus on 4 key considerations. Consideration no.1: Find your “Why” When thinking about how to engage with Voice, the first thing to do is identify how your brand can provide value within the voice ecosystem. The goal here is to figure out what are the top use cases for Voice Applications, understand different ways in which customers approach these cases and how it refers to your products and services. That is going to allow you to find natural connections between your brand and consumer needs. This can be done by applying a creative approach. You can begin by brainstorming and ideating with your team. You can also adopt a data-driven approach by taking an in-depth look at your internal data. Whether they are coming from a website chatbot, call transcript, or findings from a digital footprint analysis, all data is welcome. We have identified 3 ways that brands can bring value to the customer in a business setting. Product Extension: Extending the value of the product through a Voice Experience (ex. Unboxing moment, instructions on how-to put a piece of furniture together) Content Strategy: The brand may have existing content that can be translated into an interactive experience on Voice platforms (e.g. Educational, curated lifestyle advice, tips, CSR). Customer Support: Makes any information a customer might need accessible through Voice with ease and convenience. Once you have decided what the main focus of your app will be, you will then need to decide what phrase or invocation name will be used to activate it. Consideration no. 2: Put the User at the Center of the Design Process If it is not easy and enjoyable to use, it is not likely to succeed. In order to design meaningful user experiences that work through voice-enabled devices, it is important to take into account how people naturally use their voice to communicate, and what they expect from a voice interaction. We recommend the following: Do not settle to a machine's limitations. Instead, be willing to stretch technology to meet user expectations. Your voice app should be able to accommodate multiple variations of the answer, rather than just requiring the question be answered precisely the way you phrase it. Think of the best way to help users and then consider the level of technical complexity required. Allow users to use natural language. All of us use slang and have unique ways of saying the same thing. So, if you know your niche audience, it is essential to adapt the speech and tone accordingly. We recommend spending some time thinking of how users will interact, what questions they will ask, and how you intend to respond. Take context into account. Not every consumer will interact with your Voice Application under the same conditions. They could be experiencing it at home or on-the go. It is essential to adjust the experience and level of information to the user's context. Give users a good reason to come back by providing new and returning visitors with relevant information. People are most likely to go back if the content is updated regularly. Consideration no. 3: Don’t be Afraid to Iterate We are at a tipping point in the adoption of Voice Technology where an early majority of Canadians have started using Voice-activated devices. Close behind, brands, marketers and agencies are still trying to figure out what to do to attract consumer's attention. At this stage, it's important to not focus on having the perfect Voice Application from the get-go, but to have something out on the market and see how your customer base interacts with it. We recommend focusing on proven use cases and low effort implementation. The sooner you launch, the more time you will have to experiment, learn and improve your voice-based application. Consideration no. 4: Promote your Voice App There are currently over 100.000 Alexa skills and over 33,300 Google Assistant Actions available. Unlike mobile apps, when it comes to the voice ecosystem, there is no popular distribution platform to promote your voice application. This general lack of awareness about what voice-based applications can do and how to find them makes driving voice discovery and engagement a critical challenge for brands to overcome. In order to get more users, we recommend integrating Voice with existing digital & offline channels as support. Discoverability is hard in the voice assistant market. Voice experiences seem to do a better job at creating a deeper user engagement than creating awareness. The scale is not necessarily the metric by which the success of Voice application should be measured. Looking ahead... Times are changing and search is not just about keyword rankings anymore. While optimizing on-page content for Voice Search is a good first step towards entering the Voice ecosystem, we believe there are several moments within the customer journey where the effective use of voice-enabled applications could create a game-changing shift. A smart voice-first strategy should start with putting a simple voice application out there to see how users interact with their AI assistant. Keep in mind this is a new channel for both your customers and your brand so there is lots of experimenting to be done - but the time to get started is now. 0
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