Yesterday I joined over 4000 other delegates in London for the Adobe Summit - their Digital Marketing Conference. It's the first time I have attended such an event. I was particularly interested because SAP and Adobe signed an agreement back in March around the Adobe Marketing Cloud solution so I was keen to find out a bit more about what Adobe were doing for Digital Marketing.
It was a pretty incredible turn out - a 30% increase from last year. Delegates arrived from 47 different countries from many different companies including Lego, Bank of Scotland, Telenor, BT and William Hill. Shell alone sent over 40 members of their marketing team - I guess that goes to show how seriously they take Digital Marketing!
Brad Rencher, SVP Digital Marketing at Adobe, opened the keynote talking about the need to reinvent Marketing. Digital technologies provide so much intelligence that marketing is now insight driven. "From data collection to insights to action" - marketing needs to be smart, targeted and provide the same experience across every single interaction the business has with the customer.
System integration will power the next generation of intelligent marketing. The ability to link all the back office systems to CRM will provide the insight marketers will need in order to provide a unified customer experience.
The challenge for many of the organisations sat in the room was "How do we change?"
Brads message was simple...we need to 'unlearn' the way we run marketing.
We need to recognise that digital technologies are transforming the way we reach customers. Companies that start from scratch today are at a huge advantage. They're deploying these digital methods from the 'get go' but larger organisations are feeling the pain of transformation. Skills transformation. Technology transformation. It's not easy but it's essential.
Brad went on to give an example. The day before the Adobe Summit, he challenged himself to 'unlearn' how to drive. He's and American and thought it would be a great idea to learn how to be a cab driver...in London. I'm British, I learned how to drive in this country and I wouldn't try driving through London!
The point is that we should challenge ourselves to do things differently. The task of digital transformation is fast falling upon the shoulders of the marketing department. Digital is not an option for marketing professionals - it's a requirement. It can't be passed to the millennial who understands the 'digital stuff'. It's not something to be outsourced to an agency.
Our profession is changing - we need to change with it.
The most memorable part for me was the live demonstration of Adobe Marketing Cloud. All 4,000 delegates received an email during the keynote speech showing customised insights into the attending audience. I could see how many folks matching my profile were in the room e.g. how many from the UK, how many shared the same role title as me. Real-time insights that were relevant to my role. A true demonstration of the personalised digital experience customers expect today.
You can watch the other sessions online and follow the action from the summit on Twitter #AdobeSummit
