Conor McGovern

The transformative impact of AI for innovation in businesses is indisputable. The integration of AI is reshaping the way we work, communicate, and make decisions. It is vital that senior business leaders embrace and adapt to this AI-driven future, safeguarding their organizations’ competitiveness and resilience in a rapidly evolving world.

In a data-driven era, analytics capabilities can determine the winners and losers in recessionary times. Organisations rely on the insights gained from them to help keep extraneous costs low and supply optimum. It is imperative that leadership teams prioritise re-engineering their data analytics processes now, so that they are ready for the post-Covid world and are able to react to changing customer behaviors quicker than ever before.

“Dear enterprise: You are your algorithms”... wise words from Gartner at its 2015 Symposium ITexpo. This has never been more true, but the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing weaknesses in analytical models and processes. What should organisations do to remedy this and position themselves better for the recessionary times ahead?

There’s no doubt that customer experience is absolutely essential for brand survival. AI and analytics will increasingly be deployed to support the customer experience, as well as being the principal means to deliver it.

With increasing customer expectations and the complexity introduced by omni-channel, progressive retailers and manufacturers have realized the need to become more customer-centric, insight-powered and digitally empowered organizations. They can step it up further and improve sales performance by working together as collaborative partners in their digital journey.

The true power of big data is only now starting to emerge – and how to use it effectively is a challenge for businesses large and small. Overcoming that challenge will be crucial for those hoping to maintain competitiveness in an era of digital enterprise.

Compared to organizations in the retail, communications and financial services sectors that are gaining noteworthy value from advanced analytics, it is arguable whether consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies have yet to achieve the same results. Often they are still using outdated approaches to sales and marketing, and many are also not using social and mobile data to their full potential.

In today’s increasingly digital world, consumers have mobile, on-line, and social channels at their fingertips, in addition to in-store channels, to research product offers and compare competitor deals before making a purchasing decision.

Today, tech-savvy customers are armed with multiple devices and looking for the best deal in store, online and on the go. Increasingly price aware, price sensitive and even price influencers they expect companies to mirror this ability to actively compare their prices across all channels, in real time.

Fueled by the proliferation of mobile devices, consumers expect brands to deliver relevant experiences and fulfill their needs at every touch point. To successfully reach consumers, companies must harness data analytics to understand consumers’ intent and develop a strategy to connect with them at the right time and place.

The volume, velocity and variety of big data can be intimidating and overwhelming for marketers. Taming it to make business sense is like controlling and harnessing the force of a waterfall to generate energy. Not easy but doable with the right capabilities and tools.

Measuring Marketing ROI in the Digital Era

When recruiting for marketing roles, companies are increasingly looking for graduates who can combine analytical rigor with the ability to apply this knowledge creatively

“Drive relevance at every consumer touchpoint!” It’s the rallying cry in the war for customer share of wallet. When customers are met with content that causes them to hit the back button, the real hit comes in at the bottom line. Today, too many companies are floundering in their attempt to infuse relevance and extend reach in their marketing activities: They’re spending even more money on a wider array of channels and pumping up funding in digital assets.

A study is based on in-depth interviews with 12 business leaders, 14 marketing leaders and a quantitative benchmark study of over 130 senior marketing, brand and capability leaders in major international organisations, controlling over £3.2 billion in annual marketing spend, and representing a population well in excess of 25,000 marketing practitioners.