FINAL WORD
Cyrus Gilbert-Rolfe , President and Managing Director , EMEA and Oceania , EVRYTHNG
Whether I am holding something I already love ( Heinz beans in my case ) or something I want to understand better ( can this jumper tell me what the working conditions were in the factory where it was made ?) the chance to cement the relationship for the brand is new and fresh . As a producer , manufacturer or retailer , I already know the consumer has their phone with them . Can I inspire them to take an action ? If I can , my product will become a sensor sending data directly back to me about my products .
own label version front and centre at half the price . The squeeze is on .
The social impact of DTC – toxic trends
This opportunity hasn ’ t existed since products were sold at market stalls and where sellers meet 100 % of their customers . Now food producers , luxury goods , retailers and brands can do that for the billions of items they ship every year . This is a major opportunity for brands to reclaim their relationship , with their consumers , directly .
Digital Transformation – saving brand equity – product by product
And the retailers are not the only friend turned foe . We can now see that Facebook and Google created an opportunity for a renaissance of Direct to Consumer ( DTC ). The challenger brands , with no history and no retail placements , came punching through . Thousands of DTC brands took off in the late 2000s and 2010s . Social was well established as a credible channel for awareness and reach , and new brands took to selling products directly to end-users over the Internet , cutting wholesalers and retailers out of the process . A new shopping process evolved , tailored around the consumer , not the retailer .
Today , DTC marketing dominates social media feeds , tube platforms and podcasts . Niche brands became powerhouses without ever being available offline – Bloom & Wild , Eve , Gousto , Allbirds , Harry ’ s , Warby Parker – there is a very long list of brands that have never competed for shelf space with their competitors , not literally anyway , and never bought a single billboard or page in a magazine , at least not until they were already tearaway success stories . Worst still , DTC customers tend to be very affluent with an appetite for shopping . This is a toxic trend for the traditional superpowers .
Time to change the conversation
The biggest opportunity for brands right now is to make the product itself the channel to the consumer . The technology exists to make a physical item inherently digital – just hold your phone near it and unlock your digital relationship .
Technology is transforming the landscape for all players – the industry and consumers , alike . The next wave of brand engagement is here . We can connect physical products to their own , unique digital identities .
Whether it is an Airwick air freshener , or a box of Ritz crackers , a Ralph Lauren polo shirt , or a Tissot watch – literally any physical item – a connection can now be made . Personalised experiences will trigger on a customer ’ s smartphone , tailored just for them – based on the current context , who they are , where they live , what they have done before , all in the language that they speak . This is a new horizon for brands , and they are seizing the opportunity .
Stories are back in fashion – traceability , sustainability , recycling , reviews , reordering , offers , related products – with a direct digital connection between the consumer and the brand now in place , there are very few limits on what can be created . My AFC Wimbledon shirt can act as my season ticket . My Leon sandwich can tell me if I am allergic to its ingredients . Every product can let me know if the brand behind it is thinking about me – or not .
Alexander Nix , then Chief Executive of Cambridge Analytica , famously gave a presentation entitled , ‘ From Mad Men to Math Men ’. We ’ re still on the journey , but increasingly the maths is available to everyone , and we don ’ t need Facebook or Google for transport – proximity between our phone and the product itself is more than enough . Brands are on their way back . x
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