3 Takeaways from the 2016 Digiday Brand Summit

The Digiday Brand Summit took place in the lush atmosphere of Key Biscayne, where more than 20 international legacy brands came together to meet with digital innovators and technology developers to examine the issues that arise in collaborating internally and externally on brand-building strategies. Over three days of panel discussions, workshops and case studies, a few themes came out and resonated as core concerns on the forefront of many agencies’ and brands day-to-day operations. Here are three key takeaways that came out of the 2016 Digiday Brand Summit.

Communication is Problematic

Whether you’re IBM working internally with an in-house marketing team, or you’ve decided to collaborate with an outside agency – communication is a land where much improvement needs to be laid down in the infrastructure of both the day-to-day and carrying out long-term strategies. Tools like Percolate, Zoho, Slack or other platforms have managed to streamline the disconnect between communication and project management, but there still lacks one singular platform that is customizable enough to be used in the agency life.

Leveraging Technology is not as easy as it seems

Erin Dwyer, SVP of Kardashian Beauty, tackled the issue that many upper levels of corporations can often lose sight of a measurable goal in favor of getting FOMO because they feel they are losing out on an opportunity to be hip or contemporary. “The goal is to keep brands focused on strategy, not the tactics themselves.”

For many in the digital marketing world, it’s easy to fall into this, and to manage client’s expectations when dealing with new platforms and whether or not they have the budget or vision to execute it. Kim Gnatt, Global Group Director of Digital Marketing for Coca-Cola, advises brands to “test technology only if you can scale it,” and to operate on a data-driven mind frame. Just like digital marketing, companies and agencies should
work together on developing a strategy that will be measurable, scalable and can be sustained.

Disrupt, or be disrupted

Perhaps one of the biggest definitions of success in the marketing world is to successfully get in front of the audience you want, and to have the numbers of engagement reflect that. Wade Allen, VP of Digital Innovation for of Chilis said that we live in an immediacy society. “We have to be disruptive, or we will be disrupted.”

Snapchat was a focus as well in defining how marketers and advertisers can leverage social media and technology to get in front of people. By combining great content, employing the use of relevant influencers, brands and agencies may be able to get the kind of results they want. “Always consider how and where to leverage a tool for an agency,” said Evan Garber, professional Snapchat influencer.

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