"Humanising the brand"
One of the key takeaways from the Adobe Summit in London was that the marketing profession will «radically change» over the next two years. The event is considered the largest digital marketing conference in Europe.
The Adobe Summit EMEA took place in London on May 15 and 16. The congress in the ExCel Arena in Docklands is regarded as the leading trade fair in Europe for digital marketing and web-based innovations in this sector. 3800 marketing experts and advertisers, including 136 from Switzerland, listened to presentations from over 100 specialists from all over the world. One of the provocative theses was: "The most valuable thing for a brand company is no longer the product - it's its own customers." How these can be nurtured in an increasingly digital world was the common thread in most of the discussions. Under the motto "Reinventing Digital Marketing", Adobe wanted to highlight trends and practical examples in the field of digital marketing. In addition to high-ranking Adobe managers, the keynote speakers included Jez Frampton, Group CEO of Interbrand, Michael Aidan, Head of Digital at Danone, Gaston Legorburu, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of Sapient Nitro, and actor Kurt Yaeger. A representative from the Vatican was also welcomed as a guest in the auditorium. Monsignor Lucia Adrian Ruiz amazed the audience by confessing that the Pope created his first website back in 1995 and now operates 46 different portals. But even if technology has changed radically since then: "Our content has been the same for 2000 years," the man of God earned many laughs for his punchline and also applause for his statement: "Content is above everything." This was also the credo of many other presentations, which followed each other every 45 minutes for two days in over 20 halls.
Creation and distribution
It goes without saying that the content of these panels was eagerly discussed on Twitter. Live streaming not only disseminated the findings of the summit in-house, but also around the world. Anyone who wants to "be there" afterwards can still find exciting insights and valuable links at www.adobe-newsroom.de. Marketing today is "in the age of the customer". This means that companies need to meet their customers where they are. For example, by delivering personalized and seamless user experiences across the entire range of mobile devices and social networks. "Data has never been as important as it is now to be able to offer our customers exactly what they expect from us," said the trend researchers at Adobe. In London, for example, they presented their "Adobe Digital Marketing Think Tank". This Europe-wide group of experts consists of five members representing the UK, Germany, France, Scandinavia and the Benelux countries. They meet several times a year to discuss new findings and perspectives on digital marketing.
Adobe's new business model
In the past, Adobe built up its business primarily in the area of graphic tools. Today, marketing tools account for one billion dollars of its annual turnover of over 4 billion dollars. Adobe Analytics is at the heart of the Adobe Marketing Cloud. It offers a wide range of integrated solutions for digital marketing. With a new version of Adobe Media Optimizer presented in London, the company aims to set new standards in campaign performance thanks to new forecasting functions. Another new feature is the live analysis of customer actions, which are fed into Adobe Analytics, including data from other modules such as Adobe Target or Adobe Social with all their futuristic gadgets.
Andreas Panzeri
