DUBAI: The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), an industry body focusing on mobile technology and marketing, held its virtual event MMA Impact MENA in November in partnership with AdColony, InMobi and TikTok.
The event brought together speakers from a range of organizations including Bayer and L’Oréal, agencies Starcom and ArabyAds and ad tech firms.
After an opening note from Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA, Vassilis Bakopoulos, senior vice-president and head of industry research at MMA Global, spoke about research findings on how chief marketing officers view consumer data readiness.
The session on “Using Data to Drive Marketing Excellence” was held by Elaine Rodrigo, chief insights and analytics officer at Reckitt. Rodrigo talked about deploying data and insights as the foundation of marketing and driving marketing excellence by choosing a few big business questions and creating value around them, in addition to engaging with the community.
The role of data and analytics was clear: every marketer needs them. But with new privacy initiatives coming into place it has become harder for marketers and agencies to navigate this space. In her session, Jessica Moini, sales director at InMobi, simplified the regulations around data privacy, particularly around Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).
Although the sessions were focused on technology and data, Moini reminded attendees of the value of emotional connection. “Most companies are doing a fantastic job at embracing technology, but we need to work harder to humanize the digital experience because emotional connection is what keeps customers coming back,” she said.
Oya Canbaş, general manager for the UK & Ireland Cluster at Bayer, discussed how brands can effectively respond to changing consumer trends through four steps: deliver evolving experiences, personalize messages at key trigger moments, create data-driven real-time connections and turn purpose into action.
The final session of the event, “Attention Economy,” brought together panelists Shaimaa Ismail, chief marketing officer at L’Oreal Egypt, Donnacha Kinsella, strategy insights and data lead for P&G at Starcom MENA, and Mike Follett, managing director, Lumen Research.
They discussed why attention is the holy grail of advertising. Every marketing campaign has a different objective — whether it’s reminding people of a brand’s existence or radically changing a brand’s image. And depending on the objective, marketers need to use different media channels and analyze different metrics to measure campaign success. However, one metric that remains constant, regardless of the channel used or campaign objective, is attention.
It is also a huge measurement challenge. Digital ad measurement today is focused on verifying if an ad is viewed, which is already challenging given the fragmentation of digital channels. Still, this metric alone isn’t enough to measure business or brand performance. The panelists agreed that the next step in digital measurement is attention which, although difficult, is critical to driving broader business outcomes.
From explaining privacy and data changes to sharing marketing strategies and research findings, the event shed light on the emerging trends and challenges of digital marketing, leaving attendees with some food for thought.
