Keynote speaker Rishad Tobaccowala, advisor to Publicis Groupe, author, educator and speaker in his address at MarTech Asia spoke about maximising technology and combining it with humanity in the modern data driven age.
Tobaccowala started off by stressing the importance of understanding the hopes and likes, and behaviours of the consumers. He said that if a brand fails to understand that, it doesn’t really matter what technology it uses. Consumers’ expectations change, so it is important to track that change first, he said.
He mentioned that consumers now have maximum power. They can find products, compare them, reveal them and share opinions. So when brands say they empower consumers, they don’t. Consumers are already empowered and this is because of the technology, he added.
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Tobaccowala mentioned that consumers look for solutions. They do not purchase products just for the sake of it, they purchase to solve problems. They also look for access, that is making things easy and increasing accessibility. He stated that consumers look for values in a company, even more in this purpose driven world. They also look for experience that involves dealing with the company, its employees, its website and so on.
Data is like electricity in that modern businesses cannot operate without it, he said. He advised not to get fixated on DSPs and DMPs, since data that a company might think is exclusive to it, may not be. So while data is an essential component for companies to function, it isn’t the sole component.
Tobaccowala also shed light on the biggest challenge to technology, that is the organisation and people. He mentioned that everything is easy, but organisational structure and yesterday’s mindsets get in the way. When there is technology, there is revolution. Taking up the example of General Motors and Ford, he pointed out that it wasn’t expected by them to see a change in the industry that was brought by Tesla and Uber.
He pointed out that the biggest difference in technology is for the management to know that there is a requirement for change. The change needs to happen in the business model as well, and not just in technology.
(This is an executive summary of the session, and the longer version will be uploaded in the coming days)
