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Martech in 2017 – a preview of the year ahead with Rik van der Kooi #IP2017

Martech in 2017 – a preview of the year ahead with Rik van der Kooi #IP2017

Author: Micha Sprinz

Predictions for the year ahead as well as perspectives and insights on some of the key trends driving the industry were the hot topics at the recent AdExchanger Industry Preview in New York. Rik van der Kooi joined the conversation with an insightful exchange onstage. The discussion spanned a range of topics such as AI, personal assistants, native and the role of TV, as well as Microsoft’s own strategy for marketers with Windows 10, LinkedIn and of course search advertising with Bing. View the full conversation here:

Some highlights included:

“The future of digital marketing is one of screen-less interactions” - Gartner predicts that by 2020, 30 percent of web browsing will be done without a screen.1 Van der Kooi indicated that 2017 will be the year we see screen-less interactions take off with truly intuitive interface technology and powerful underlying intelligence. Voice, touch, sight, conversation and gesture, are all part of natural human behaviour. When our technologies interact with these interfaces in the future, we should anticipate significant change in how people engage with technology and ultimately with brands. The depth of consumer understanding[ME1]  afforded to marketers will grow exponentially, the expectations and capabilities for personalisation will increase and the rules of brand engagement will change from selling to adding value.

“New era of conversational commerce is upon us” – Marketers are already thinking about how to use connections with people in the most human of digital spheres; through chat and voice search via conversations.  Chat bots will be the new focus for marketers.

 “Democratizing AI for businesses and marketers will drive ‘Hyper Personalization’” – Our connected reality today means that marketers need the tools to effectively integrate brand engagement based on consumer preferences; data which can be gathered through bots and personal assistants such as Cortana, Alexa and Siri. Microsoft offers the BOT framework and suite of tools to help companies build this capability – for free.

“Virtual reality in all its forms, augmented and mixed reality, will advance significantly in 2017” – Van der Kooi also indicated that VR will initially be a commercial opportunity for marketers in 2017, bringing products and services to life, such as seeing items from a furniture catalogue in your living room before you buy with devices such as HoloLens. Eventually, VR will become a huge play for consumers, with capabilities on smart phones and devices we already use every day, but likely not this year.

1 http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3482117

2 Bing US Search Data, 1 Jan – 4 December 2016