5 Marketing Leaders on the Future of Marketing
By Ryan Dinger
ANA events bring together some of the smartest and most-talented marketers in the industry to share insights and best practices that help ANA members get the most out of their own marketing efforts.
Naturally, when ANA members and other top marketers get together, the potential for a great soundbite or two is very high. For this reason, we'll be collecting and sharing the top quotes from ANA events during each month throughout 2022.
Below, you can find the top quotes from ANA speakers for April:
"The next five years will be more disruptive than the last 15. This is not business as usual. A lot of technology that came in three years ago doesn't work anymore."
— Saul Berman, chief strategist and VP at IBM
You thought things had moved quickly over the last 15 years? Wait until you see what the next five have in store for marketing disruption and innovation. Saul Berman's prediction at the 2022 ANA Masters of Data and Technology Conference has us thinking only one thing: Buckle up.
"There is no data that is unbiased and there is no data that is error free. Understanding and acknowledging that is the first step toward finding truth in data."
— Jonathon Wells, SVP of data science at Nielsen
As innovation and disruption kick it into overdrive in the next five years, data will be a huge part of any brand's success. But simply having access to consumer data isn't enough. Even the largest data sets have their limitations. Ensure your team always has the best data possible by regularly auditing your data sets and by working to aggregate as much self-reported, first-party consumer data as possible.
"In this new world, we think that first-party data will be king. So, we recommend that there be huge urgency for marketers and publishers to invest in this privacy-first, user-centric future and have a plan."
— Grace Liau, global business lead at Google
We told you first-party data was going to be important. Now Google's Global Business Lead is telling you. If your brand does not have a means to reliably and regularly collect first-party consumer data, you'd better start figuring that out immediately.
"Consumers are demanding relevance in all of the content they consume."
— Halli Goddard, advanced TV lead consultant at Kroger Precision Marketing
Sorry for sounding like a broken record here, but first-party data — there's that phrase again — can be especially useful in helping your brand to determine what is and isn't relevant to consumers. Understanding this will be critical as competition between brand's heats up and consumer loyalty dwindles.
"What helps people, helps business."
— Leo Burnette, founder of Leo Burnett
While it's been fun talking about how important first-party data is, there is something else you can't forget: Consumers want more than great products, great experiences, or great customer service. While these things are important, more than ever consumers want to do business with brands they feel connect with their values and make the world a better place. If you can demonstrate how your brand meaningfully helps people, you can build a great case for consumers to do business with you.
The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the ANA or imply endorsement from the ANA.
Ryan Dinger is a director of editorial and content development at ANA.