“Martech solutions are proliferating, which will become increasingly confusing to companies looking for solutions due to the array of options on the market.”
Tell us a little bit about your role and how you got here. (what inspired you to start a martech company)
After working for several years as a marketing strategist at McCann and as an organizational psychologist, I realized that consumer companies were lacking a crucial input in their marketing planning: competitive knowledge. Before the digital age, it was rather straightforward to track the competition in printed publications and on TV. Today, many marketing campaigns are hidden from view in “dark marketing,” or hidden posts. So, a team of experts in cyber methods and artificial intelligence and myself, founded BrandTotal, to assist companies gain a competitive edge by illuminating and analyzing their competitors’ dark marketing campaigns.
Given the massive proliferation of marketing technology, how do you see the martech market evolving over the next few years?
Martech solutions are proliferating , which will become increasingly confusing to companies looking for solutions due to the array of options on the market. Therefore, providing a unique offering is vital. The martech solutions that provide the most holistic view and value will win.
What do you see as the single most important technology trend or development that’s going to impact us?
Artificial Intelligence enhancements can help marketers by providing them with an extra boost in providing insights that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to generate or it would take them so long that by the time they got to these insights they would be out of date.
What’s the biggest challenge that CMOs need to tackle to make marketing technology work?
The first challenge they face is not only staying on top of the latest Martech technology trends, but hiring talented and trusted people who can select the right technology. This ensures that they don’t just buy a particular technology because people are talking about it, but having a strategy in place on how to use it.
Another challenge, is that the majority of CMO’s know that they need technology, but because most of these executives have been working in Marketing for many years, they might not be familiar with the latest and most effective Martech offerings.
What’s your smartest work-related shortcut or productivity hack?
There really are no short-cuts. Just hard work, a positive attitude, dedication, and a responsible team to back you up.
How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a marketing leader?
With the right team of experts and knowledge at our fingertips we will have the flexibility and ability to adapt to enhancements in AI to remain competitive and relevant.
What is the core marketing technology capability of your firm that you bring to a marketer? Where does your product fit in vis-a-vis the customer life cycle?
BrandTotal offers almost impossible-to-find competitive intelligence, helping brands understand their place in the competitive landscape, faster and better than with any other tool. It uses AI to distill usable insights from the massively targeted campaigns across multiple channels. It allows brand marketers to benchmark against the competition, to understand what resonates with their audience, and to quantify their brand marketing. Since digital changes rapidly, brand marketers need to stay on top of current trends, and adjust to competitor strategies. BrandTotal provides the real time data and insights needed to stay agile.
Are there any new features or upcoming upgrades that you’re excited about and would like to give us a sneak peek into?
We are currently working on several new features, including new campaign alerts to keep you on your feet at all times, and a cool tool that will give in depth insights to specific audience related questions, such as “who is targeting a specific age group?” or “where and when are my competitors targeting female senior citizens?” Stay tuned!
What is your take on the massive explosion of MarTech across so many categories? Do you see competition, opportunities to partner and/or integrate?
Yes, there is an explosion but that is because the need is so great. We do expect to see consolidation over time. There are many opportunities, and we already partner with the some of the high-tech giants such as Microsoft and Oracle. We do see that the larger companies are interested in innovative solutions on the market as well as our customers. It’s a very exciting time to be involved in MarTech.
Could you share for our readers, an infographic or description depicting your marketing stack (various marketing software products or platforms your team uses or subscribes to)?
Currently we’re still building up our stack as a start-up. Follow our blog and social media to get updated.
Alon Leibovich is the CEO and co-founder of BrandTotal, a platform that empowers marketers to understand their competitors' marketing strategy and to quantify their brand marketing. He co-founded BrandTotal based on his experience as an organizational psychologist, and then lead strategist at McCann, where he developed marketing and communication strategies for household brands in the FMCG, auto, telecom and retail segments.
Working with some of the world’s most reputable names, we're a high-tech and VC-backed agile marketing intelligence company that helps enterprises reverse-engineer the marketing strategies of their competitors.
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