The ripple effect from digital transformation has led to significant changes that are specific to CMOs and their agencies, Bidon points out. “There’s a race to first-party data,” he says, citing Unilever’s purchase of Dollar Shave Club as one of many examples. Companies such as CPGs that lack first-party data and don’t have customer data from partners find it challenging to engage in a relevant dialog with their consumers, he adds.
Marketers can buy demographic and behavior data today, but it will be harder and harder to acquire it, Bidon notes. “With GDPR and CCPA consumers will have to give consent,” he says. “And brands will have to prove that when they have customer data, they can make the experience more engaging.”
Consumers are more likely than ever to switch to a competitor if that customer experience doesn’t meet their expectations. “Being a CMO is one of the hardest jobs today,” Bidon says. “Growth is hard; there’s no inflation, so it’s not going to come from raising prices.”
Some big brands are turning to in-housing programmatic to get more from their data, as well as get more insight into return on ad spend. “In-housing programmatic is all about data,” Bidon says. But he warns that trying to go it alone can backfire over the long term. “You can’t be a specialist at everything with how fast the industry is moving.”
That’s why, in spite of the disruption media agencies are facing, they still have a vital role to play, Bidon asserts. One of the benefits of working with an agency is the broader view they have by working with multiple clients. Another is the opportunity to work with agencies’ machine learning/AI specialists and data scientists, who can be tough for brands to afford, attract, and recruit. “To me, the future is more about a hybrid model, where agencies are guiding brands on the best ways to get business outcomes from media buying,” he says. “It won’t be the ‘all or nothing’ that people in the market are hyping.”
Marketers can buy demographic and behavior data today, but it will be harder and harder to acquire it, Bidon notes. “With GDPR and CCPA consumers will have to give consent,” he says. “And brands will have to prove that when they have customer data, they can make the experience more engaging.”
Consumers are more likely than ever to switch to a competitor if that customer experience doesn’t meet their expectations. “Being a CMO is one of the hardest jobs today,” Bidon says. “Growth is hard; there’s no inflation, so it’s not going to come from raising prices.”
Some big brands are turning to in-housing programmatic to get more from their data, as well as get more insight into return on ad spend. “In-housing programmatic is all about data,” Bidon says. But he warns that trying to go it alone can backfire over the long term. “You can’t be a specialist at everything with how fast the industry is moving.”
That’s why, in spite of the disruption media agencies are facing, they still have a vital role to play, Bidon asserts. One of the benefits of working with an agency is the broader view they have by working with multiple clients. Another is the opportunity to work with agencies’ machine learning/AI specialists and data scientists, who can be tough for brands to afford, attract, and recruit. “To me, the future is more about a hybrid model, where agencies are guiding brands on the best ways to get business outcomes from media buying,” he says. “It won’t be the ‘all or nothing’ that people in the market are hyping.”
