DOOH is the Epicenter of Media and Marketing. Showcasing the DPAA Conference for 2021.

This year’s DPAA conference took place in person on October 12 and spoke to the value of DOOH. Barry Frey, President and CEO, DPAA is bullish about the value of DOOH and its capacity to hyper target to the right consumer at the right time. “There is no better way to see trustworthy messaging in an utterly brand safe environment. No fake news, no echo chamber talk, no ad skipping or pod fraud,” he stated.

There was a range of compelling case studies showcasing how different companies in a range of categories met the challenges of 2020, reinventing themselves while maximizing the value of DOOH.

DOOH is Growing

The conference launched with an overview of a recent research study that confirmed the growth of DOOH. Roey Franco, Vice President of Product and Innovation, Xaxis, reported that DOOH has made great strides this year especially among agencies. The topline results showed that 77% of those brands and advertisers polled said their awareness of DOOH increased over the past 18 months, 81% plan to recommend DOOH in their media plans in the next year and 66% have activated new DOOH campaigns in past 18 months. “There was a strong correlation between activation and greater sophistication,” noted Franco who added, “We can credit it to two things. One; A lot of investment in education and from a sophistication perspective, we that found that enhancements within the space itself, drives adoption.”

Facing Covid and a Business Transformation

For his company, Patrick McLean, Senior VP and CMO, Walgreens noted that in the early days of Covid it was a matter of unknowns and survival. Even adding plexiglass dividers across all of their stores was daunting as well as finding certain products for increasingly empty shelves. Masks became a must-offer followed by meeting the demand and complexity of the vaccine roll-out. “We had to build this new muscle to take this on the road,” he explained. “We were very customer driven at this time. We learned quickly that everyone is different. Approach had to match up,” to the specific consumer. “A lot of dynamics were in play.”

Not only did Walgreens develop several key messages they brought to market, “We were also in the process of transforming our business. We were not really known for its digital capability and our marketing was traditional,” he admitted. So at the same time as Covid, Walgreens was re-positioning to a mass personalization position by implementing marketing technology.  My Walgreens loyalty program was previously siloed, he noted, but now was moving swiftly into a more one-to-one digital customer experience. This required a re-authentication of the full customer database which could then enable a more seamless customer communication process. This has enabled Walgreens to fortify their first party data as well as to, as McLean explained, “Get back to our core of health and wellness,” brand positioning for their customers. He noted that their data strategy has become, “a powerful asset for our company,” enabling Walgreens to expand the use of their data knowledge.

Connecting with the Social Media Generation

There is arguably nothing more ubiquitous than milk, which, because of its ubiquity, has experienced a weakened brand position, especially with the digital generation. For Yin Woon Rani, CEO of Milk Pep, this was a challenged that needed to be overcome. “We realized that to change, we needed to build a bold new strategy; one for the social media generation,” she began, and added, “They are a challenging generation. They are true digital natives and are sophisticated about marketing.” This presents high standards for marketers. Her goals was to, “Drive reconsideration of milk through new messaging and positioning,” something that is, “assertive and muscular.”

The tagline, “You’re Gonna Need Milk for That” was developed and supported by DOOH marketing which was eventually migrated and shared on Tiktok with great success. Going forward, the milk campaign is dedicated to greater cultural collaboration, experimentation using constant reiteration and the mantra to Be Remarkable.

The Importance of Both Quantitative Data and Qualitative Creative

For Jonathan Gudai, CEO Adomni, “It has been said the Data is the new Oil. You need an engine for oil to matter. We on the programmatic side, we on the digital home side are that engine that is ingesting that data and then creating all sorts of new opportunities to reach consumers in brand new ways that drives relevancy and engagement. But data is useless unless it’s being applied.”

On the creative side, Rob Master, Vice President and Digital Engagement, Unilever, has seen great creative possibilities with the convergence of media. “The convergence between media and commerce is one of the most exciting things we are facing today. It’s filled with so many great opportunities,” he explained, giving retailers great opportunities to connect with consumers through platforms and technology. “And ecommerce products and experiences tend to create a premium,” he added.

Brands can strengthen their presence through storytelling. “Storytelling helps lead to people being passionate and loving your brand or understand that they need your brand or understand the functionality of your brand,” he continued, “Storytelling is such an integral part of the marketing experience and all these platforms and the convergence of telling that story allow what we hope is a frictionless great consumer experience.”

Conclusion

As we evolve to a post pandemic environment, it is clear that DOOH is in the perfect position to not only re-emerge but to thrive. There is pent up demand to get out of the house and that brings more people into streets and venues where their yearning for stimuli is at its peak. The convergence of media, the ability to cultivate a range of data sets and the immense potential for creativity places DOOH in the epicenter of media and marketing.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

 

Branding with a Purpose. A Leadership Conversation with Unilever’s Aline Santos

Corporations today are facing many challenges and changes in the consumer landscape but those who have been keeping a strategic, inclusive and global perspective are poised for great success. Unilever is one of those prescient companies whose initiatives have not only raised the voices of under-represented people but also sparked global recognition for change.

Jack Myers sat down with Aline Santos, Global Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Unilever this week to talk about her company’s ongoing successful efforts to address societal needs while also enriching the company’s position in the marketplace by being in the forefront of cultural change and evolution. 

Be a Good Global Citizen

When it comes to developing and implementing a plan to effect global change, companies need to be activists. Santos, understands that she plays a bigger role in Unilever, as she explained, “I'm not just making the Unilever brands. We are trying to bring a new way of doing business that hopefully is going to be inspiring.” To do that, new frames of references need to be introduced so that we, “break down old stereotypes,” throughout the entire advertising and marketing industry. “How much we can change the shape of culture, how much we can change the way we represent people?” she noted. Activism and using your voice to push for change, as Santos stated, “In places that matter, in places in the industry that can really create a kind of a ripple effect,” is the ultimate goal.

Activism is an important empowering component in society today, going beyond advocacy. “When I think about the work that I am doing at Unilever, I am not just making the Unilever brands grow but we are trying to reach a new way of doing business that is hopefully going to be inspiring to many other people,” she said. “When we think about advertising we are thinking about inspiring people with new references that are breaking the old stereotypes.” Finding the activist voice and taking action in movements such as Black Lives Matter to combating domestic abuse and food insecurity requires a high degree of sincerity and authenticity to, as Santos explained, “to change the shape of culture.”

Represent the Under Served and Under Represented Both Internally and Externally

Santos has been working on gender opportunities within the company for the last ten years, and “it’s not been an easy journey,” even though the CEO has advocated for inclusivity within the company. “Gender representation has been on the top of the agenda. But even with that it is not easy. But we got there and now we have 50/50 (in the management level) in our company that has 155,000 employees.” Unilever has also looking to recruit talent from across the employment spectrum. “Representation has always been important to me, the right representation,” she noted. “It is about all the dimensions. It is about, ethnicities. It is about nationalities. It is about being disabled. It is a big passion for us. We wanted to be the most desirable company to work with if you have a disability.”

From a consumer perspective, she recognized early in her career that there were groups that were terribly under served. As she noted, she started her marketing career in Brazil with skincare products, “and I was noticing that although 54% of the population of Brazil is a population of color, there weren't any range of products that were specially developed for the black community.” To that end, “we developed an amazing product people remember today because that was such an iconic moment… made with love and care for the black community. And it was the first time that we were doing advertising using black talent as well.”

Balancing Technological Rationality with Emotional Connection

Today’s troubled environment with the pandemic, protests, “the rise in food insecurity, the burden on women, the financial insecurity that we are seeing now, depression, it is really a spectacular combination of negative factors,” she explained. It is all impacting human behavior, the way we interact, the way we work and the way we live. “We have been focusing too much on transactional ways of doing business. We have been too clever, too rational, too technological. Everything is tech, tech, tech,” she admonished. It may be a good time, she posited, to pause and reflect to see what more we can do to, “change the paradigm of the business”  to create more empathy, care and kindness.

And yet technology has also hearkened in positive changes in the way we work, from being heard to networking. “The way we have been working using zoom technology or Microsoft Teams … has helped us,” she noted. “Many women are saying that now they feel more represented because the size of the boxes in the screen are the same. When they want to say something they can press that button with the little hand so nobody's talking on top of them.”

When it comes to networking and building relationships, the playing field is suddenly more equal. “You know, men normally are much better than women in terms of networking,” she began, “Although women have been getting better in the last couple of years, men are still better than women in terms of networking. But with the lock down, everybody was locked down, so there was no ‘let's meet on the golf course tomorrow morning or on Saturday’, no beer and watch the game. Women are finding that it’s now much more equal than before.”

Purpose in Advertising

Unilever is the company behind the Dove Real Beauty campaign, which was first launched in 2004, broke body type stereotypes and sparked a body positive movement for women.  Santos is highly attuned to voicing the message so that it is authentic and affirming. “Every time we choose a script, we are choosing how we want to shape culture and it's very important that we have this consciousness,” she explained. “At Unilever, 94% of the ads we tested were free from stereotypes and the 6% that were not free from stereotypes, we didn't launch. We didn't put out there.”

What she found was that handling the messaging this way is, “not only good for society, it's also good for business. We have 37% more branded impact every time we have advertising that is free from stereotypes. We have 20% more purchasing intention. All the KPIs go through the roof.” Companies who don’t focus on the consumer this way are, she added, “still in inertia from the past.”

The secret of success is clear to Santos. “The brands that are winning today, almost without exception, are brands that have their finger into the pulse of culture and changing at the same pace as culture. This is something that is really challenging and difficult - not simple to do. In the past, brands were dictating culture. Then consumers started to dictate. The (brands) that are winning are doing this with consumers at the same time.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com 

Aline Santos and Jack Myers in Conversation. What Do Companies Need to Do to Suceed

It is often thought that the larger the company, the slower it is to change but that is not necessarily true. Take Unilever for example. This huge global corporation with over 150,000 employees, is not only a world leader in advancing initiatives, it also has the impetus for change baked into its DNA. 

This Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 1p, MediaVillage’s Jack Myer sits down with Aline Santos, Global Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Unilever to discuss a range of global issues and how her company is proactively instituting change that not only impacts the company itself but arguably society at large.

Among the subjects to be discussed include:

     >  Unilever’s leadership in creating a world for the greater good through activism and initiatives that can also advance a rippling effect throughout the industry.

     >The company’s focus on product development to meets the needs of un-served or under-represented consumer groups. 

   

      >Highlighting Unilever’s ongoing efforts to break down stereotypes both within the company in throughout the global marketplace.

     >  Understanding the need to further dimensionalize the consumer beyond gender, for example, by adding in nationality and body type to gain further insights. 

     >  Recognizing the impact of current events on the business from Black Lives Matter to domestic abuse to food insecurity and being sincere and authentic in addressing these issues.

     >  Changing the paradigm of business from the rationality of technology to a more empathetic human condition both in internal leadership and external efforts. 

     >  But also note where technology and the current pandemic lock-down can increase human connection and representation. Remote meetings give everyone a chance to speak and be heard while sheltering-in-place reduces face-to-face networking over lunch and on the golf course which can place women at a disadvantage. 

     >  Focusing of diversity in the workplace that goes beyond broad concepts and fully integrate all ranges of personnel experiences and conditions including their disability initiative and the push for paternal leave.

     >  Insuring that all of Unilever’s brands are fully connected to the needs and aspirations of real people and understanding that the consumer is now in charge of culture, rather than the company dictating what the culture is to the consumer. The importance of trust and authenticity is paramount.

     >  Unilever’s imperative to create content and messaging that speaks to and respects the consumer, is created by diverse voices, places the brand in unique contexts and programming and might even have a greater political and legal impact.  

Being on the forefront of cultural change can be challenging but it is also invigorating, energizing and affirming. It is also good for business as Santos’ conversation with Myers will reveal.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com