Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Sara Morić, Junior Community Manager, Dialog komunikacije
On Tuesday, 14 March, Zagreb hosted the Digital Takeover conference, where over a course of a few hours we had the chance to hear lectures by local and foreign experts on the topic of digital transformation in business and the need to change the paradigm of marketing. The conference, organized by 24sata in Zagreb’s Branimir center, brought important names like Rob Khazzam, General Manager of Uber for Central and Eastern Europe, Damian Huba, Google’s team leader for media buying for Central and Eastern Europe and Evgeniy Roshchupkin, Viber’s top man in Russia.
Among other things, we learned what is especially critical in the implementation of new technologies and communication with consumers through digital channels, and I would emphasize the following:
1. In order for new technologies and digital transformation to be implemented as efficiently as possible, it is important that there is appropriate legislation. This issue was strongly underlined by Uber’s Rob Khazzam, who said that through the implementation of Uber’s services, like UberBoat and UberPool, up to 10,000 new jobs could be created in Croatia in the next two to three years. Smart regulation lead to digital innovation, Rob concluded with an appropriate photo of the Croatian Parliament.
2. Nikša Gopčević from Styria taught us that the crisis can be a time to find a new focus. Nikša said that investment in the digital transformation does not mean investing only in technology, but also in people. Styria has invested heavily in its platform that prioritizes the needs of users – not just readers, but journalists and editors, who with the help of the digital platform can focus on the content – which means production of larger amounts of content and its higher quality. Nikša said that Styria continues to invest in digital transformation, and that at the next conference he will present their new project, a fully personalized cover.
3. We learned that there is a tool that can tell the ultimate story of a brand – the Promethej. It was presented by Karlo Stojčević, CEO of the agency Red Point and member of the management boards at agencies Pixsell and Newsroom, who explained how they taught Promethej how to recognize the attributes of the brand, but also how the human brain responds to advertising. Karlo argued that advertising, as opposed to popular belief, acts on the instinctive brain. This means that they don’t trigger the rational mind, and they don’t act on emotions, but dig deeper, into the area of the subconscious. In this way, the brand becomes top of mind, and people instinctively remember it in a particular category.
4. Google’s Damian Huba believes that a holistic approach and optimization of public is what should be aspired for in digital campaigns. He stressed that three things are crucial in targeting audiences. The first is to find the right consumer, for which it is no longer enough to look at the demographics, but identify them through signals, which may be their behavior and interests, place of residence, environment and the like. The second is to find the right time – to put ads to appear when we want to see them, and within the right context, and the third is to send the right message. Huba pointed out that testing, trials and experimentation of multiple options is the only way to see which message gets the best response.
5. Communication must be adapted to the platform on which a brand advertises. The importance of adapting communication was pointed out by Viber’s Evgeniy Roshchupkin who suggested that brands who want to communicate with consumers via messaging apps have to become their friends, and talk in a friendly way, and by sending entertaining content to which users of these platforms are already accustomed to, like branded stickers, gifs, photos and videos.
Lecture by Professor Klemens Skibicki, which concluded the conference, summed up the main message of the day: there is a fundamental change of paradigm – the digital age is here and now, the older generations and company managements must deal with it, and it’s up to the digital crowd to explain to them how and why to do so, in the clearest possible way.
The digital revolution has begun. We look forward to the next conference!