During SPARK we heard from key TEAM LEWIS experts and guest speakers from Google, LinkedIn, Statista, SWIFT and Unbnd. The event focused on three important topics that influence the action economy- creativity, ecosystems, and commerce. Here are the key takeaways for each session.
Creativity:
Session 1: Strategies to cut through the clutter
Being authentic, with less brand talk and more relatable and targeted content- these were the recurring themes for this session, held by Mark Tay Head of Content at TEAM LEWIS. This session highlighted 4 key strategies to creating refreshing content.
- Convince through context: Go beyond the numbers and provide real world application and results.
- Craft relatable messages: Every audience is different, make sure you understand what your audience wants, so you can relate and connect with them on a deeper level.
- Ensure content maximisation: Take your content even further by promoting it across different marketing channels and with different content types. For example, if you’re promoting a white paper, you can also create a video or graphic for social or audio recording for podcast and mobile sharing.
- Craft consistent content: Content marketing should ideally start with keeping your audience at the centre of your message and being consistent across all channels.
It is therefore important for brands to invest time and money to plan and develop content for their desired audience, as those that don’t will struggle to cut through the clutter and remain relevant in today’s competitive landscape.
Session 2: Building a sonic experience
It’s no question that music and sound can create instant recognisability for brands. In this session with James Mort, Creative Executive at TEAM LEWIS, he discussed the importance of building a sonic brand and how sonic can be used throughout the marketing matrix.
With the rise of audio applications such as Spotify, Alexa, and Clubhouse, sound has become an integral part of our lives and a powerful marketing tool.
As marketers, we usually prioritise visuals, however, the use of auditory elements in products and services has many benefits including; conveying meaning, creating engagement, grabbing attention, triggering recall, and boosting integration.
A brand’s sonic DNA can also create new and powerful experiences for customers by creating an emotional connection in a split second. Take McDonald’s sonic logo as an example, their famous jingle grabs attention and triggers a recall to a happy memory of being surrounded by family and food. Their sonic logo elevates the brand in ways that a visual campaign can’t.
Related: Sonic Branding: Turn Up Your Brand Recall and Recognition
Ecosystem
Session 1: Marketing in the multiverse
It’s becoming even harder for brands to cut through the noise as we live in a world where gaining a consumers undivided attention is difficult as we multi-task, use multiple devices, take on multiple roles and use a vast array of platforms.
In this session, Keso Kendall Head of Strategic Accounts, TEAM LEWIS highlighted that brands can no longer rely on an isolated moment or channel to build connections, they must find multiple moments and consider new techniques.
To drive action in the multiverse marketers must think outside of the ordinary and consider an immersive experience that is multisensory. Joined by guest speaker David Loughnan from immersive technology partner Unbnd, this session also delved into the importance of immersive strategies to capture audience’s attention. AR experiences are growing in popularity and are something brands should consider implementing into their marketing matrix. 64% of B2B and B2C consumer brands have invested in immersive experiences and more than 50% of consumers better recall brands that use this type of technology.
Session 2: Develop your green communications agenda
In the second ecosystem session, Jennifer Greatrex, Client Engagement Director, TEAM LEWIS discussed the importance of developing green communications. The research highlighted that if brands want to remain relevant to consumers today, sustainability messaging needs to be considered a high priority and sustainable practices should be a critical boardroom conversation. However, brands must be careful not to embellish, or consumers will call them out for greenwashing. Consumers want brands to demonstrate proof – to show, not tell. Truth in marketing has never been more critical.
Jennifer outlined a 10-step action list of items to help brands on their sustainability journey.
- Work with the executive leadership team to establish and determine goals
- Put sustainability at the heart of the entire organisation
- Seed sustainability mindset and practice through the entire employee culture
- Develop your sustainability roadmap
- Overlay customer analytics
- Align your goals and customer analytics with your company purpose
- Infuse creativity
- Develop go-to-market plan aligned to purpose
- Monitor your impact
- Recognise progress
Related: The Best Green Marketing Campaigns
Commerce
Session 1: The promise of commerce: An audience insight
In this session, Frazer Sakyi, Business Development Manager with our business data platform partner Statista, discussed how data and insights can be used to develop a brand’s commerce strategy.
It is more important now than ever for brands to be using data to inform their decisions and understand their audience. As marketers we have a significant amount of data and insights at our disposal to help us accurately reach and engage our target audience. However, to effectively leverage the data we must understand how to acquire it, analyse it, and translate it.
During this session with Statista, Frazer conducted a live demonstration of how businesses can effectively consolidate and analyse data. The demonstration looked at how you can get data from different sources, how to present the data with different layouts as well as how to do a company or industry comparison
Session 2: Instant and frictionless payment anywhere in the world
The world has embraced new waves of digitisation intensified by the exceptional challenge of a global pandemic. New competition, propelled by innovative technology has disrupted the payments business. In this session, Julie Bolan, Head of Business Innovation at SWIFT, discussed how their messaging network, supports international finance and commerce.
With over 11,000 members, SWIFT’s platform enables instant transactions from one account to another anywhere in the world. By increasing straight-through-processing, SWIFT helps make payments smarter, revolutionising data quality, screening, and pre-validation.
SWIFT also highlighted 4 payment trends transforming commerce:
- Digital wallets will continue to accelerate in use. This is currently dominating the APAC E-commerce space, with China leading globally at 72.1%
- Consumer payments will be at the speed of bytes, with efficient real time exchange rates
- Omnichannel options will expand. As the thirst for convenience continues to grow, business adaptability is a necessity
- Move towards Cryptocurrency, as an alternative investment and payment class for millennial investors
The informative sessions gave great insights for brands to challenge their marketing strategies and make use of resources available in the market.
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