Customers are more impatient than ever. They wield mobile tech like smartphone samurai and have increasingly high expectations from the brands they visit—be it online, on the phone or in person. Call it the Veruca Salt Doctrine—I want it, and I want it now. It’s a reality that’s driving the new era of on-demand marketing.
Digital media drove a shift in marketers’ budgets to “always-on” digital media, such as search, display, and social. That focus is moving now to “always relevant” marketing. For brands and their agencies, this shift requires a much more sophisticated and targeted approach to address the ubiquity of touch points so that they can be there at a consumer’s moment of need—no matter where or when it is. In this environment, advertising needs to become a service.
Technology is the catalyst for all this change. Many companies are already investing in massive analytical capabilities to support the brand’s stewardship of their customers’ information (Companies will spend $232 billion on Big Data investments in the next 5 years.) Advanced analytics are helping companies sense interactions and respond in real-time with content tailored to every customer “touch.” NFC chips in phones, as well as smart tags that can go on any object, are opening up an “Internet of things” that is intelligent, interactive, and always accessible. Breakthroughs in mobile technology are creating an infinite number of ways to connect with consumers.