1. Tell us about your role at Cheetah Digital?
As VP of content at Cheetah Digital my goal is to capture and promote the stories of success and triumph from our clients. We also harness and promote the thought leadership from our in-house team to inspire and educate in a fun, energetic manner.
2. Can you tell us about your journey into this market?
Over the last dozen or so years I have used SAAS software for mass consumer marketing at roles inside brands, I then joined the technology firm Wayin to help shape the solutions it was providing for the market, I also supported sales specifically in the media and entertainment space and also own an agency that does audience development for global brand. So I have had experience across all four corners of using, developing, selling, servicing marketing technology.
3. What do you think is the biggest technological challenge in marketing right now?
Balancing privacy with personalization. Creative used to be the difference maker before technology allowed more finite delivery of messaging to consumers. But with more advancements in technology comes the need for more privacy. Consumers expect more personalized communications and offers but still want their information to be secure. That is undoubtedly the largest challenge for marketers today.
4. How has customer-centric approach empowered the AdTech industry?
Brands need to be more focused on the unique relationships they create with each and every one of their customers – not thinking about them as cohorts based on certain demographics that they may or may not fit into.
Marketers are increasingly realizing this, and we’re seeing that change accelerate in recent years. Google removing cookies is a great example of it as well. It is forcing brands to collect zero-party data, which is deeper and more meaningful. And when brands do this, a value exchange is created, where customers are given more personalized offers that matter to them, in return for sharing their personal interests and preferences. It is this move towards what specific customers are interested in that is making the AdTech industry more effective and able to address the privacy and security concerns that many consumers have as well.
5. We are witnessing a rise in the number of brands that are prioritizing data ownership rather than relying on third-party data providers. What is your take on this shift in the market?
It’s about time! We are very excited by this shift and want to see more of it. When brands rely on Google, Apple, Facebook, and the like, they are in essence just renting data – they are inferring customer preferences based on online browsing activity and demographics. In some cases this could be helpful but at the end of the day, you’re just guessing about what you think someone might be interested in. And past activity is no guarantee for future behavior. Rather, when you collect zero-party data about your customers, you are collecting psychographic preferences that each unique customer provided, and with that, you can make offers to them that are tailored to what they say they want. As far as data ownership, you could use a dating app to find someone that matches your personality but eventually as that relationship grows you remove that third-party service and have a one to one relationship. This is what brands are essentially doing by asking for and owning customer data themselves.
6. According to you, what are the digital experience strategies on which retailers should focus to bounce-back in post-COVID period?
Again, retailers will be successful when they can get a better sense of what their customers actually want. Some may be ready for in-store shopping, some may not be. Some may be interested in discounts and promotions, some may be interested in being the first to try the latest styles. Retailers should be asking strategic questions and collecting data on what their customers prefer to then make offers on an individual level based on those specific data points. It should be personal, and it’s not hard to do. It just involves asking the right questions and getting to know your customers. In terms of specific strategies, we’ve seen brands have a lot of success with email, as you can target the entire message – including the subject line and the offer itself – a million different ways to a million different customers. We’ve seen less interest in social media advertising, and some consumers even prefer to not engage with brands who they feel are making offers based on their social media activity.
7. What features of your customer loyalty and customer engagement solutions differentiates it in the market?
We offer an entire customer engagement suite where we help brands with every step of the process – data collection, messaging, engagement, etc. Our solution is also holistic and does not feature a bolt-on approach that you often see from marketing cloud providers. I.e., all of our clients’ data is in one location which provides a true 360° view and all actions (Email sent, SMS messages sent, loyalty offer sent, website and app personalization, mobile wallet offers, etc.) are orchestrated, delivered and analyzed negatively in one single platform. We also help brands understand the strategic questions and customer data signals needed to personalize, we help craft the messaging and the offers that will appeal to those customers based on their responses, organize all of the data so that brands know who to engage with, when, and what to offer them. We help marketers break their reliance on social media to match offers with customer groups. Instead, we guide them on with a specific offer to appear to a specific person. Nobody else has the kind of data acquisition and management services, along with the scale and creativity that we offer all under one roof via our Strategic Services arm.
8. What are the biggest changes you expect to see in the MarTech industry in the next few years?
We are closely watching some of the changes coming from Google and Apple – notably the shifting timeline for phasing out cookies, and changes to IDFA policy in iOS 15 (which will make it impossible to gauge email open rates). Philosophically, we are still expecting a push to greater levels of personalization and more brands embracing data ownership – due to its long-term benefits and ability to engage with customers on a deeper level. We’re also going to see digital experiences become a bit more humanized, thanks to a desire for personalization coupled with hesitations about privacy and security. On the email front, with less ability to gauge open rates, we think catching customers at first glance (with a powerful subject line) will matter a lot more moving forward as well.
9. What advice would you like to give to technology startups?
If your exit plan is acquisition, find a niche that helps power either privacy or personalization solutions at scale. This will be invaluable to marketing platforms that are lacking those capabilities. If your goal is to set the world on fire and build a ginormous brand eventually, hire incredibly intelligent people who can see the future, have a track record for success but also are willing to bootstrap and ride an incredibly rough road for a long time before success arrives. Strap in and buckle down.
10. What work-related hack do you follow to enjoy maximum productivity?
Voice to text. I’ve always had horrible penmanship even though I went to Catholic school. I also will admit to being horrible at typing. I use voice to text for almost everything. Including this interview. Sorry for any typos!
11. How do you prepare for an AI-Centric world?
It’s all about the data. I don’t care how elaborate or advanced someone says they’re AI engine is. If you don’t have good data you won’t have good results.
If you have great data, you can get great results. It is not guaranteed but the data is everything.
12. Can you tell us about your team and how it supports you?
My team spans nearly a dozen time zones. We are global. We are young mentally. That helps. We collaborate and everybody from every position can contribute thoughts and ideas. It’s not always a democracy but everyone gets a short window for their voice to be heard and their idea to be pitched. We also push each other to learn new skills and lean on each other for our own individual experiences
13. What movie inspires you the most?
Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It’s just such a great movie and now being 47 years old I have more empathy for Mr. Hand. As long as everyone gets their work done and we’re moving forward even Mr. Hand can have a good time. Plus I haven’t worn a tie in years. I pretty much dress like Jeff Spicoli every day.
14. We have heard that you have a very joyful work culture, so can you share with us some of the fun pictures of your workplace?
15. Can you give us a glance at the applications you use on your phone?
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