How Digital Dinosaurs can survive and prosper in the Digital Age

Van Wim Decraene, managing Director Accenture Digital BeLux en een van de sprekers tijdens het BAM Congress 2017, wilden we weten hoe marketing er op dit moment aan toe is. En om u al een beetje te laten wennen aan de drietalige configuratie van het BAM Congress, krijgt u vraag en antwoord in het Engels.

According to you what are the key challenges that marketeers face in 2018?

"Put simply, what marketeers need more than ever is a Custodian of Brand Experience. Today, CMOs have to think about more than advertising and communications in a connected world that is in a constant state of digital transformation. Today’s marketeers need a single company – what we call an “Experience Agency of Record” - to take care of every single facet of a consumer’s interactions with a brand. It is about much more than customer experience, but about truly meeting every target’s expectations in an era that is as much about people as it is about digital evolution.  Marketeers are increasingly looking for one party that is capable of creating and also implementing the components that make up “human brand experience” at every touch point of the customer journey – from the inception of an idea to developing and designing a product, building awareness and then selling and distributing it. We (Accenture Interactive) are uniquely capable of being that Custodian of Brand Experience  - Human Brand Experience - because of our huge range of capabilities across human insights, brand strategy, design, creative campaigns, user experience and digital solutions, data, analytics, customer relationship management, e-commerce, content, advertising, service design…  and I am only just getting started. There is truly nothing that we are not capable of delivering, and this is a model that today’s CMO is increasingly determining as the most viable solution in today’s world where everything must work seamlessly together to deliver the perfect brand experience to their customers.  As the largest digital agency network in the world, we have succeeded in creating a new breed of agency that is able to answer the challenges of senior brand leadership today. And after winning three Effie awards in 2017, Kunstmaan – the Accenture Interactive agency in the Belux – has proven the strength of this model with their recent recognition as the Most Effective Agency of the Year."

How should one adapt oneself to the fast-evolving digital world?

"In short, the key is to understand that the world is always changing. If you ever think that you have “caught up” you are wrong. As you are busy implementing one solution, change is taking place underneath your feet. To be able to thrive in this ever-changing world, we believe large organisations should do three things: first, create investment capacity by transforming the core business of today.  This can be done by using digital technology to reduce costs and to increase revenues.  Second, organisations should design and build their new business of tomorrow, today. To do so, organisations should build a portfolio of innovative new businesses (not just one), create a culture that accepts failure and put human centric design at the heart of their innovations. And last but not least, organisations should pivot wisely from their current core business to the new business they have designed.  Timing for this is critical."