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Beth Sidhu, Chief Brand and Communications Officer, Stagwell
hello@stagwellglobal.com
Enjoyed these insights? View more commentary from our global marketing, technology, and creative experts in Stagwell’s “C[x]O” series for the C-Suite. Click here to explore more.
Generative AI is changing the marketing game. In April, Stagwell headed to Google Next to discuss that change, and what it means for Chief Marketing Officers and other C-Suite leaders in the next year.
The event also marked Stagwell’s first software release via its Google Cloud partnership, introducing a data clean room to securely enhance client data with Stagwell’s extensive resources. More on that here.
For now, hear from our at Stagwell Marketing Cloud and Left Field Labs about the three biggest takeaways from Google Next.
At Google Next – and at several marketing and technology conference this year, including CES and SXSW – the clear challenge to attendees was the two-step from theoretical implementations of AI to hard use-cases that provide value to consumers (and reasons for investment). It’s no wonder companies in attendance debuted over 101 real-world use cases for generative AI, spanning applications to consumer experiences, back-end-operations, insights, and more.
Some common themes emerged as to where AI is providing the most immediate value:
Artificial intelligence represents a quantum leap for creativity and productivity. As a network on the beat of marketing, we know that AI’s rise will mean a rewriting of almost all customer interfaces as companies race to deliver consumers the personalized experiences they’ve desired since the dawn of the internet. At Google Next, Stagwell CTO Merrill Raman and Stagwell Marketing Cloud CTO Mansoor Basha emphasized that the first step brands should take to reap the benefits of AI should be assessing their organization’s data infrastructure to ensure it is primed for AI.
Tactically, that may mean deep clean-up of existing first party data sources using data science best practices to get the information organized in a manner that AI can extract useful insights from. Or it may mean partnering with a third-party data provider who can supplement your view of existing and prospective consumers.
As Left Field Labs CEO Sarah Mehler shared at Google Next: with growth in AI utilization, a critical question to consider is how do we build trust with audiences when considering AI implementation? Striking the right tone in AI-enabled communications is a primary step. And remember that communication that reflects cultural and demographic nuances is what ultimately resonates with audiences and builds trust in new systems. Well-practiced organizations will apply sentiment analysis to better understand the emotions of a user and provide appropriate responses (thus driving traction and building more successful outcomes).
Attention to detail is also crucial for building trust in AI implementations. A “Chain of Verification” is one of several methods that can be employed to enhance the accuracy of information provided by AI systems. This process involves multiple steps to validate information before it is conveyed to the user. For instance, after our language model generates a response, we can employ a separate validation model to scrutinize the facts within that response. This secondary check helps to identify and correct any inaccuracies or ‘hallucinations’—instances where the model generates false or misleading information. By systematically verifying data through multiple layers, we can provide more reliable and trustworthy outputs.
Email Beth Sidhu, Chief Brand and Communications Officer at Stagwell, to discuss how we can support your organization’s digital goals.
Artificial Intelligence, In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Augmented Reality
Apr 25, 2024
In the News
Apr 25, 2024
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With nominations across categories including Marketing, Innovation, Health & Wellness, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and more, Stagwell and its agencies are on course to take home big wins at the 28th Annual Webby Awards, the leading international award recognizing excellence on the internet. Twelve Stagwell agencies are up for consideration in the People’s Voice vote: 72andSunny, Code and Theory, Doner, Instrument, GALE, PRophet, Rhythm, Left Field Labs, Movers+Shakers, Anomaly, Allison, HUNTER and Mediacurrent. Every vote counts—click through the nominations listed below to cast your vote.
Voting takes less than ten seconds:
Voting closes on April 18.
Wisp: Anti-Choice Ads — Online Guerilla & Innovation
Wisp: Anti-Choice Ads — Video Ad Shortform
United: Believing Everything Changes — Best Media Strategy
Wisp: Made By Choice — Public Service, Social Impact & Activism
NFL: The Table Read — Sports
Johnnie Walker Red Carpet Strides — Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
YETI: Map The Gaps — Products & Services
YETI: Map The Gaps — Best Use of Online Media
Amazon: Ads That Work As Hard As You Do — B2B Campaign
Scout by Sutter Health: A Powerful Tool For Building Resilience in Today’s Youth — Health, Wellness & Fitness
The NIL Student Nurse Initiative — Health, Wellness & Pharmaceutical
The NIL Student Nurse Initiative — Best Partnership or Collaboration
Hungry Howie’s: The Missing Slice — Public Service & Activism
Chipotle: Doppelganger — Best Use of Data Driven Media
MilkPEP: Wood Milk — Comedy
Lactaid: Kelis Partners With Lactaid to Get You to Drink Real Dairy — Best Influencer Endorsements
Catona Climate — Corporate Social Responsibility
Figma: Shortcut by Figma — Business Blog/Website
Microsoft: The hidden power of feelings — Health & Wellness
Microsoft: The future of work is neurodiverse — Responsible Innovation
Google AR & VR Website — Best Visual Design – Function
search.google — Web Services & Applications
Rhode Island School of Design — School/University
Prometheus Real Estate Group — Real Estate
Additionally, Allison is supporting several clients who are up for Webby nominations.
Niantic:
IHG:
Artificial Intelligence, In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Augmented Reality
Apr 25, 2024
In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Stagwell’s agencies led the show at this year’s Campaign U.S. Agency of the Year Awards, one of the biggest U.S. award shows recognizing creative excellence and outstanding business performance across marketing firms.
Assembly was crowned U.S. Media Agency of the Year, reflecting the impact its investments in data, talent, and technology have had on its clients’ businesses. The agency achieved a record client retention rate of 95%, which has resulted in tremendous growth, securing $30 million in new contracts and 25 net new clients including Carter’s Cole Haan, Vera Bradley, ONE, Inogen and Brooks Running. Additional factors contributing to the win include:
GALE won U.S. Advertising Agency of the Year for its remarkable blend of advisory/consulting services, media, and storytelling expertise – a model that has driven clear results for client partners such as Chipotle and MilkPep. Editors celebrated the impact of GALE’s work in 2023, including:
Congratulations are also in order for 72andSunny and Code and Theory who were recognized as honorable mentions in the Advertising Agency and Digital Innovation categories. The agencies have a proven track record of recognition for business and creative transformation.
Artificial Intelligence, In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Augmented Reality
Apr 25, 2024
In the News
Apr 25, 2024
As an essential convergence point for marketers anticipating the future, SXSW helps businesses unveil the trends at the intersection of culture, commerce, and digital transformation that will shape a new age of consumers. As our teams emerge from SXSW, here are five consumer trends that demand attention, offering insights into what lies ahead. Connecting each trend is an opportunity to build fandom with consumers around your business.
Brandon Marshall, former 12-year NFL wide receiver and host of I AM ATHLETE, says today’s athletes are multi-hyphenate leaders – building businesses and nonprofits, and creating identities that go well beyond the field, court or track. For brands, this offers a major opportunity to write a new playbook for partnership that positions athletes as multi-dimensional ambassadors to reach consumers who are hungry for authentic connection. For Kalen Thornton, a former NFL player and current senior PepsiCo executive, the three things to consider are authenticity, connection and distinction. Authenticity is especially crucial in today’s marketing landscape; consumers appreciate genuine connection, and it can make or break whether they transition to long-term brand fans. If CMOs can build stronger partnerships with athletes that reflect that, they’re in a better place to activate athletes as brand storytellers – in turn creating fandom with customers.
There were few explicit sessions in the advertising track at SXSW on AI – but of those on the agenda, sessions like “Navigating Advertising Hype Cycles” made it clear marketers are over the buzz, and in the mood for clear use-cases. Here’s one to noodle on. Generative AI is ushering in subtle yet impactful changes in consumer interactions with products and services. The focus extends beyond convenience; whether stated or not, we are now in an arms race to create realistic versions of popular sci-fi bots like Iron Man’s Jarvis. In this “age of anticipation,” as Code and Theory Chairman Dan Gardner calls it, brands must stay ahead by developing or integrating with the best personal assistants available to link their consumer experiences to a broader ecosystem of value. Already, we’re seeing global brands like L’Oreal and Walmart take steps to infuse AI assistants into their brand proposition, whether by providing beauty advice or enhancing moments across the retail experience. Gardner emphasizes the imminent digital transformation of customer experiences, fueled by vast data and AI’s ability to anticipate needs rather than merely reacting. This is an opportunity for every sector, and one that requires keen collaboration between CEOs and their marketing and technology leaders.
“For too long, we’ve been looking at ‘personalization’ as the answer. That was just targeting. Now, we will begin to see industries disrupted by a reimagined approach to delivering value. We are finally at the point where AI plus data can anticipate customer behaviors. This will boost sales in the near term as well as build affinity in the future,” says Gardner.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered seismic shifts in digital transformation, giving rise to entirely new consumer behaviors and sectors. For Gen Z, already wielding significant global purchasing power, the pandemic resulted in missed rite of passage moments, impacting independence and income security. 38% of Gen Z women feel like their lives were ‘canceled,’ and 61% of Gen Z say the pandemic has increased their feelings of loneliness, per Stagwell’s Harris Poll.
At SXSW, conversations in the advertising track like “Building Brands in the Unhappiness Era” converged around the opportunity to create positive and delightful experiences for consumers – a bulwark against the bad vibes COVID left behind. Whether that’s adopting a play-centric approach to brand expression or leaning into branded entertainment, the challenge and opportunity are clear: the most active purchasing group for the next decade is eager to make up for lost time. How will brands help them conquer this opportunity? Strategies that cultivate equity and fandom by incorporating community, connection, and experience into marketing will dominate.
In a polarized landscape, brands risk losing support if they enter politics improperly. Activating consumers’ “political brains” divides the base and diminishes brand support. Stagwell Chairman and CEO Mark Penn says: “At best, politics splits this country 50–50. If you get involved in politics in any way, whatever your popularity is, it [gets] cut in half. For brands like targeting mass market consumers, you cannot win. You can only win if you’re a smaller niche brand that has a group of customers that would be very compatible with your values or political values, or you’ve expressed those values during a prolonged period of time, so they’re already baked into your brand.”
To insulate themselves, Chief Communications Officers must tread carefully, avoiding making consumers feel like they’re casting a vote with each purchase. They must seek, as well, counsel from perspectives across the political spectrum, acknowledging their consumers are diffuse in their ideology as well.
“Brands are at a pivotal moment in time when it comes to e-commerce,” says Lauren Kushner, CEO, Kettle. “Many retailers had a booming few years followed by some softness in their conversion funnel and they are taking a hard look at how e-commerce can work harder for them. Enter tools and experiences powered by AI.”
AI is poised to elevate e-commerce by forcing brands to rethink their online interactions, moving beyond the push to a push-and-pull cycle with their customers. With tools and experiences powered by AI, brands can create contextualized and innovative online experiences that anticipate consumer needs. Hyper-personalized recommendations and streamlined purchase flows promise to forge more meaningful connections with brands and drive conversions.
As Redscout CEO Ivan Kayser tells it, a modern approach to the marketing mix places community, advocacy, and content at its core. “We are just starting to dig through the rubble of the DTC reckoning, beginning to draw lessons from rule-breaking brands that are operating from a completely new playbook. Brands that are deepening value for and with their existing customers rather than focusing solely acquisition should be watched closely.” Per a new study from Assembly and Dotdash Meredith, unveiled at SoHo House at SXSW on Monday, communities provide marketers with the chance to talk, explore, and support the motivations and values that drive consumer behavior.
The balancing act moving forward is seeking strategies that genuinely benefit the business bottom line – while engaging customers in a manner that doesn’t scream transactional. While on the ground at SXSW, Kayser has been on the lookout for measurement approaches focusing on differentiation, consumer preference, and margin. And for brands that treat every aspect of the business as an expression of the brand, greatly expanding the opportunity to build fandom with each touchpoint. If you can advance short-term revenue goals while building a cohort of customers that will follow, and purchase with you, in the future, you can crack the fandom code.
Artificial Intelligence, In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Augmented Reality
Apr 25, 2024
In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Stagwell will return to Las Vegas for CES 2024, where we will host a series of conversations at the intersection of business, marketing and impactful technology. Join us for interactive briefings, hands on experiences, and shared discourse to level up your experience at the world’s biggest technology show.
Boot up! The U.S.’ biggest technology show, CES, is just around the corner and Stagwell is headed to Vegas with our eyes peeled for the technology that will drive marketing and business transformation in 2024. CES is inspirational, no doubt. But for modern business leaders, finding focus on the convention floor can be tricky.
To help the C-Suite parse the fads from the frontiers at CES, Stagwell is launching the first edition of a new insights series, C [×] O. Across some of the biggest creative, technology, and marketing events this year, we’ll bring our brand of smart, quick insights to focus the C [×] O in your organization on the most valuable transformations to track. At CES, we’ll be looking out for trends for the CEOs, CMOs, CTOs, and C(Communications) Officers.
Still getting your plans together for Vegas? Meet our experts here and read on for their predictions of what to expect on the ground.
CES can be the equivalent of watching a focus group with a loud and polarizing participant who creates a dynamic around one POV that suits their purpose. I refer you, with caution, to the years where we heard that drones would take over the world; AR/VR would change everything we did; Climate issues would be core to all that we buy: TV screens were dead and gone: and of course, AI will rule the world.
In 1970, at CES, Phillips introduced the consumer VCR, bringing a $50,000 TV studio product to our homes…which evolved to the Streaming we have today. Keep your eyes open and your minds free. Think about that VCR, ignore the group think, and see if you can spot what actually might be next. Contrarian thinking may unlock an unpopular or unexpected path to transforming your business. More to come from the floor.
CES 2024 will be another chapter in the narrative of finding the balance between technology and people. AI will, of course, be the champion as it’s top of mind for virtually everyone, but 2024 will be about how companies utilize the tech to enable even smarter marketing. CMOs will continue to have to find the right magic middle of leveraging AI for efficiencies while re-investing those savings into areas to drive their business. AI will allow dollars to be spent towards smarter creative; more access to creators as advertisers; reduced media waste with AI-enabled adtech; revitalizing purpose-driven investments from equity to sustainability; and stronger digital experiences to drive personalization in a cookieless world. Life post-pandemic has always been about efficiency, but we’re optimistic 2024 enables brand building to re-emerge even smarter than before.
Technology transformation surged in 2023 with the adoption of consumer-friendly GenAI. This shift mirrored the early days of social media, swiftly evolving from initial skepticism to a rallying cry for global businesses and tech leaders. CES 2024 promises to chart AI’s continued trajectory as we are treated to tangible results from a year of experimentation across various sectors.
CES will be a pivotal moment for tech leaders, emphasizing the imperative collaboration between Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs). Expect organizations to rekindle focus on this partnership, which is essential for transforming innovation into category-defining opportunities. On the ground, I’ll be tracking how immersive tech like AR and VR gains traction, infiltrating education, fitness, and business applications; how industries expand blockchain’s applications, especially in healthcare; and how quantum computing, a game-changing tech, takes the spotlight for its problem-solving prowess and security enhancements, demanding collaboration between tech experts and the government to navigate associated risks.
For Chief Communications Officers at this year’s CES, “responsible tech” needs to be a major theme. While AI was THE headline of 2023, adopting it – as well as other game-changing technologies – responsibly and ethically will be job one for those of us trusted with stewarding an organization’s reputation. Comms leaders need to be focused on technology and its role in misinformation – especially leading up to the U.S. General Election; polarization and how to use technology to bring people back together; and better anticipating the ever-increasing reputation risks technology will pose in the year ahead.
Artificial Intelligence, In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Augmented Reality
Apr 25, 2024
In the News
Apr 25, 2024
hello@stagwellglobal.com
We’re going strong after Cannes LIONS 2023 – even after hosting more than 5,000 people at SPORT BEACH. The emerging themes still on our minds:
Get ready, because we’re diving deep into all three …
The message at Cannes LIONS from OpenAI, Google, and other tech companies was the same: AI won’t replace creatives, it will make them more creative.
READ MORE: 3 Quick Things from Cannes 2023: AI will lead to an ‘explosion of creativity’
How AI and AR Will Transform Sports
There was plenty of debate over purpose-driven ads at Cannes LIONS this year. But that doesn’t mean brands can’t embrace causes – as long as they’re consistent with their politics.
Robyn Freye, Chief Growth Officer at Stagwell, shared this stat: only 1% of prime TV ads include topics, visuals, or themes related to people with disabilities. That’s despite the fact that more than a quarter of the U.S. population lives with a disability. Ultimately, brands have a huge opportunity to reach people who don’t feel seen in ads.
READ MORE: 3 Quick Things from Cannes 2023: Making the World a Better Place
The Intersection of Sport and Sustainability
There were plenty of Spike Lee fans at SPORT BEACH. But it’s not just filmmakers, athletes, and musicians who have fans. It’s also brands.
3.5x more likely to advocate for a brand than the average consumer.
3x more likely to stick with a brand even if it does something they don’t like.
READ MORE: 3 Quick Things from Cannes 2023: Fans, fans, fans for your brands, brands, brands
What Turns Customers Into Fans
Artificial Intelligence, In the News
Apr 25, 2024
Augmented Reality
Apr 25, 2024
In the News
Apr 25, 2024