Annie Smith Lions
Annie Smith, senior content manager at Cannes Lions, said that on the subject of everything going digital, 60 percent of agency leaders identified ecommerce as one of their brands’ chief priorities in 2021, while 45 percent said it was one of their three priority areas for experimentation. These figures are the result of a study by Cannes Lions in which 1,500 senior creatives and brand leaders took part. She said during a session of Lions Live entitled The LIONS Guide to Unconventional Creativity that there currently exist four areas in which brands are making great strides toward going digital – they include personalization, gaming, the use of assistants like chatbots and voice assistants, as well as new ways to buy products. As for personalization, Smith said the nirvana of all advertising is to connect the right person with the right ad in the right place at the right time. This area is therefore at the top of a brand’s investment agenda. No less than 50 percent answered that they were making it their priority. She said that in using this toolkit one must take into account that there exists “a fine balance” with regard to the use of data. “One can take a wider view than just dates and birthdays, but made-to-measure messaging based on personal data could become somewhat daunting.” She recommended using a mix of open-source data and requested participation to appear less intrusive. The use of assistants – which includes voice assistants – is the second preference of brands, of which 45 percent identified them as one of the three main creative tools they have experimented with. Among their advantages, Smith said, is that they allow brands to be present 24/7, and because of their interactive abilities, the voice assistants in particular have a natural ability to motivate sales, while the chatbots save clients a lot of tedious work. “Voice assistants can do more than provide client service – they also create entertaining interactive moments that provide a greater connection with the consumer,” Smith said.
