BAM Marketing Congress
Day 2: technology redresses the balance
On Day 2 of the BAM Marketing Congress participants' brains were once again shuffled between human and technological approaches. A marriage between the two does not yet seem to be in sight, although that is probably where the key to successful marketing practice lies.
The battle between human and artificial, round 2. So it seemed on the second day of the conference. On Friday too, quite a few presentations were scheduled on either of the two – at first sight still divergent – themes
Only it seemed that the balance had been somewhat restored. Speakers such as Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, Annette Doms and Daniel Hulme explained the possibilities of AI in a clear and accessible way. That message was firmly reinforced by less obvious voices. For instance, Studio100 CEO Hans Bourlon ended the conference with his message that his company will look completely different within a few years. Merely the result of the entry of AI into the world of animation.
Notorious B.I.G. brought to life
Things got really concrete with the presentation by Kurt Frenier, Vice President of Marketing Transformation at PepsiCo. He was very honest about the steps the FMCG giant is taking to approach marketing in a totally different way. "All projects start brimming with enthusiasm, but a lot of them failed. For some, that was very painful," it echoed.
It was definitely not a walk in the park but well worth the effort. Because of the gems that surface. Pepsi, for instance, released an unknown jam session by Notorious B.I.G. to mark hip-hop's 50th anniversary. The brand knew through online conversations that hip-hop and Notoriouis B.I.G. are still very trendy.
Another is its support for Cropin, an app that helps farmers monitor their crops via satellites and ensure yields. Not insignificant when Lay's – the world's biggest crisps brand – Is in your portfolio of brands.
Frenier also implicitly touched on different generations in his presentation. A topic that also came up with DuoLingo social guru Zaria Parvez (Gen Z) and Joeri Van den Bergh (Gen Alpha). In both cases, the importance of social media and screens in their lifestyles cannot be underestimated.
Embrace the chaos
Whether you think it’s moving more towards the human or just more towards the artificial... In all cases, one thing is crucial: create a 'culture of change'. Journalist Bob Safian elaborated on that. He creates the podcast Masters of scale - Rapid Response, in which he talks with CEOs of both multinationals and scale-ups. And it’s precisely from those conversations that his lessons come. After all, CEOs are faced daily with the great and ever-changing
So if there is one thing that is best remembered from these two days of conferences, it is the mindset you need to navigate among the novelties that will reach us ever faster. A good listener...
