Things We Learned from the Conference
Consumers should be called humans
Human marketing was the buzzword of ANA with presenters arguing that with all of the talk on targeting, many brands seem to forget their customers are people.
Brands need to know what they stand for
“Customers are looking for more meaning from brands. We’re operating in a really competitive environment. We’re all essentially going after the same customers, and with the digital age, the barrier to entry is zero,” said Greg Revelle, CMO of Kohl’s.
Marketers are far from really being smart about data
Data can be super useful for marketers, but each brand needs to figure out how and why. Suzy Deering, CMO of eBay Americas, said her company has been looking at data — particularly what people are searching for and buying — to understand what stories they could be telling in their ads.
The D2C movement is an argument for in-housing
The rise of direct-to-consumer brands are threatening big brands and retailers. One reason companies have embraced in-housing is for transparency and cost-cutting, but others have shared that it simply allows them to work faster.
Source: Flynn, K. (2018, October 29). People, Not Consumers: 5 Things We Learned from the ANA Meeting. Digiday.
Editor’s Note: There were several articles on the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) Masters of Marketing Conference, here is one take from Digiday.