Must Brands be Always-On? Geometry UK’s Captivate Explores

We love this analogy from Matt Heinz, President, Heinz Marketing Inc: “Imagine pulling up Amazon.com and, instead of seeing a smorgasbord of goods to buy, there was just a note reading: “SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED. Hours of Operation, 9am-5pm M-F.”

‘Always On’ is a hot topic for us, for our clients and will, we predict, fuel up further as brands look to maintain and grow their share of purse in a buyer’s market.

We invited a panel of inspiring marketing pioneers to help us dive deep into ‘Always On’ and what it means for brands and retailers today in the third of our Captivate thought leadership events.

Joining us were Thom Noble, CEO & Founder of NeuroStrata – credited with being one of the earliest pioneers in the field of neuromarketing; Nick Baldwin, Head of Digital Media, tenthavenue, game changer in retail media; and Tom Moore, Geometry’s Head of Shopper & Retail, with a 15-year career built round understanding human behaviour. We were delighted with our full house – including business leaders from GSK, Unilever, Fuel 3D, and Kimberly-Clark.

Looking through three different lenses: neuroscience, digital retail, and shopping behaviour, we spotted a number of trends/issues successfully helping modern business grow. Here are just a few take-outs…

“Be live in the moment”, Nick Baldwin commented, “Take the Great British Bake Off ingredient search - you can’t predict this – but who wouldn’t want to be the branded butter, flour or chocolate on the search list? Be always-on to pounce on opportunity.”

Persuasion marketing should tap into emotion as well as reason. The question is no longer whether we should always be on – but, how will we do it in a more relevant way to connect with the shopper. What associations does the brand have for people? Thom Noble remarked that ninety percent of current decision-making is made emotionally. “What have people got in their armoury to enrich their association with the brand?” he asked.

Investment in “Always On” remains a struggle for all of us. How do you start to prioritise investment? A major drinks manufacturer, recognising the power of mental and physical availability, re-structured its business to deliver against this. The company’s marketing and sales teams began building campaigns around these key pillars and, beyond campaign work, built always-on plans against key channels.

Key considerations for marketers looking to provide a step in the right direction:

Understand the context. In always-on marketing, context is everything. Locations, rhythms, competition, locations, emotion all have an impact. The context of how our products and services are used, talked about, bought and viewed will define our ability to deliver.

Understand the consumer. Always-on is the ultimate extent of consumer-centric marketing. It requires a deep understanding of the patterns, motivations, considerations and analysis of consumer behaviour. It requires this to cover all elements of the business, and anything that impacts the consumer experience – either directly or indirectly.

 

Understand the data. Always-on marketing is ultimately data-driven; and without using both your own data – and data from the broad digital world – you will not understand and know enough to deliver true always-on marketing.

 

Become Service & Product driven. Always-on is not advertising, it requires a view of brands and businesses being of service to consumers, practically and, or, emotionally useful. Understanding consumer requirements is being able to predict, create and deliver services and products they might want. Providing the vehicle to 'pull' your business into their daily world.