Doug Livingston Partner Togerther
Doug Livingston, partner for the United States and Canada at together w/, spoke with PRODU about the trends to be seen this year and a little beyond. He noted a growing offer by independent creative agencies, more investment in machine learning and a greater withdrawal from traditional media. The pandemic has caused a transformation of media and budgeting for remote work. “That means individuals have analyzed their bandwidth, their equipment, and have established offices in their homes and are able to work comfortably in virtual situations and overcome many obstacles,” he said. “It’s the equipment that enables people to do so.” Parallel to that process has been the pressure of brands on holding companies. “Talent has left in large numbers and are beginning to start their own independent agencies, which are now policreative and very skilled at handling big brands along with their support systems. But they are also very skilled at working remotely. They recruit remote teams when it’s profitable to do so and that keeps them safe from the flood of changes.” Another big trend is the increasing investment in machine learning that supports chatbots and the analysis of feelings in many of the automated services that are proliferating everywhere.“What will be different in 2021 is that we’ll see more than one new layer of creativity employing remote technology. It’s not just something being pushed into IT or into a tech group. We’re going to see a greater integration of creativity, a better voice for a brand, better brand expression, and in general a better brand experience through these automated services that really differentiate brands in the market through such platforms,” Livingston said.Finally, we will see a greater deviation from traditional advertising channels. “One example is the lingerie line Savage X Fenty by Rihanna,” he added. “Since it was launched last October it has had neither a spot on the Super Bowl broadcast nor any spot on TV. It has scarcely been seen in media bought and paid for – everything has been on its social media platform and, of course, in the press, and that gave its launch a lot of visibility.” Amazon tagged and tracked the case while the Rihanna company was also able to gather a lot of valuable CRM (Customer Relationship Management) data. “So what the company has been doing since October is to run a very sophisticated program of retargeting with paid digital media and a further gathering of CRM details, while also using Amazon to retarget. As a result, Rihanna took in no less than $1 billion in the four months following the launch.”Livingston’s statements form part of the monthly edition of FastFWD through 2021 trends (Fast FWD sobre las tendencias 2021).
FastFWD What’s on AdBusiness?: Data, flexibilidad y empatía para navegar el 2021