Two years ago, Netflix launched one of its most popular international TV series to date: La Casa de las Flores. Teaming up with Manolo Caro, one of Mexico’s hottest directors, the series has not only become one of the country’s most talked-about shows because of its star-studded cast – including legendary soap opera actress Verónica Castro – but also because of its huge cultural and social relevance due to its open and positive portrayal of LGBT topics. The series’ third and final season made its debut last week on April 23rd.

The pandemic has significantly shifted the way audiences are spending their time, with a 57% increase in usage of streaming services and a 47% increase in time spent on social media, according to DataReportal. With more people at home using streaming services, brands can no longer rely on OOH and other flashy stunts to promote their content with relevance and fuel social chatter.

With our attention spread across many channels, and even more competing entertainment options, it’s important to understand how content performs differently on each with a fit-for-format approach. By tailoring social content to user behaviors that are unique to a given platform, brands can maximize effectiveness. Despite linear TV being a more traditional format, Netflix – in partnership with Circus Marketing, who merged with MediaMonks earlier this year – demonstrated how brands can extend the value of content to digital audiences with a fit-for-format strategy, just as it did by creating an ode to the classic TV special by celebrating La Casa de las Flores before its final season premiere. 

Extending the Experience

La Casa de las Flores rapidly became a phenomenon thanks to its careful portrayal of social topics and willingness to tell stories that viewers may not commonly see in the media, depending on where they live. Given its popularity and propensity to get people talking, Netflix decided to give fans a space to reflect on the series and create a dialogue through a TV special that extended into social platforms as well. Circus Marketing worked on the ideation, scripting and creative direction for the special, and executed in partnership with Plataforma who led remote filming and small crew shoots to work within recommended safety guidelines.

Hosted by the series creator, the special aimed to generate buzz for the upcoming season by connecting fans, turning them into active participants by voting on the best and most shocking moments from previous seasons. The very same digital channels that viewers use every day became the stage for the special, with cast members chatting in video calls (both in and out of character), fans contributing through polls, WhatsApp audio and other social content. Taking this digital format over a traditional production approach enabled us to create the program within local safety guidelines. “What is really exciting is not just the project itself, but the timing and how we approached the strategy to reach these goals,” says Bruno Lambertini, Founder of Circus Marketing. 

“We used animations, audio, polls, fan art, tweets and other types of social assets to connect with users on different platforms and in different ways,” says Israel Rojas, Content Lead at Circus Marketing, noting the importance of using an omnichannel strategy to reach such a wide and varied audience. The special itself took different forms based on where viewers saw it: without standard television ratings and regulations, for example, the YouTube version was uncensored, clocking at 40 minutes in its entirety. From there, we were able to develop dozens of smaller, snackable assets distributed across social channels.

Not All Platforms Were Created Equal

What makes La Casa de las Flores really special is that while it may fit in the classic format of a telenovela, it’s widely viewed as a millennial soap opera. Given this reaction, we knew the special couldn’t live on TV only – it would have to meet its audience in the very space where they meet and discuss the show itself: online.

To prepare fans for this event weeks in advance, Netflix shared hundreds of snippets for social media, each one adapted to different platforms. This content was shared on the series’ official social media channels on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but also through influencer activations. “Not only did we create a 40 minute long video format, but we also took that to different platforms and levels from a single production – with fit-for-format,” says Yaneth Velázquez, Global Head of Client at Circus.

“Social content is really important when creating fandom,” says Velázquez. “We’re creating clusters of people looking for a show – spaces where you can consume content and extend the experience of watching it.” During the first 72 hours after launching, the special program registered over 2 million views on online platforms.

People go to various platforms for different reasons. What works on Instagram won’t work on TikTok, even for the same user, because the way one engages with content on each differs. By building upon the way that viewers discuss cultures and shows across different platforms, the La Casa de las Flores special successfully built impact in the leadup to the series’ third, final season. It serves as a great example of how a fit-for-format mindset is important to maintain relevance when casting such a wide net on digital audiences – especially when people are looking to connect with others and engage with them sharing their love for the show.

With the La Casa de las Flores TV special, Netflix delivered a piece of content that adjusted to the current times, pivoting OOH and other experience-led social campaigns into the means available today – cleverly rethinking the creative process to create buzz, connect with viewers and give these shows and social movements the interaction, engagement and recognition they deserve.

In building assistive experiences across the customer decision journey, effective channel strategy is key. Tobias Wilson, VP of Growth, recently made this point clear to Campaign, where he advised brands whose strategies were affected by COVID-19 to “pivot in a way that makes sense. If the channels you’d invested effort in were no longer viable (such as out of home or in-person experiential, in this case), the worst thing you can do is just try to haphazardly replicate that activity online.”

This requires brands to not only look at digital channels they may know, like owned social feeds, but beyond what may have been previously thought possible, reaching audiences where they’re at in this moment. This need led MediaMonks, Reporters Without Borders and DDB to collaborate in building the Uncensored Library, a Minecraft map that users can explore to discover stories written by journalists who have been jailed, exiled or even killed for their work, even if censorship stops them from accessing such stories through other channels. Recognizing Minecraft as an increasingly important space for global youth to gather, socialize and exchange ideas, the virtual library demonstrates how far brands can go to actually connect audiences like never before.

We’ve long advocated for digital, user-centered strategies, which are even more critical as brands look for ways to connect with socially-isolated consumers. We find that customer obsessed organizations (which we explore in-depth in our latest report) are better set up to reimagine what these connections can look like and execute them swiftly.

“Astute brands seize the power of digital and flex it to their categories’ unique need profiles to build experiences of irreplaceable value,” according to Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP & Principal Analyst at Forrester, et al., in the report, “Generate Brand Energy With Digital Experiences: Engage, Excite, And Entangle Your Customer.” Focusing on user needs is vital for brands that want to maintain and improve their connection with consumers. By reinforcing native user behaviors and aligning them with brand values in a creative way, brands can offer relevant solutions that build an emotional impact.

Improve Connections by Fostering Interactions

In today’s changed landscape, brands can no longer rely on face-to-face interactions with their customers. “As we come to grips with a world where we can’t shortcut to experience through physical engagement and personal proximity, the challenge is to deliver on the original intent of digital,” says MediaMonks founder Wesley ter Haar. “Interactive, tactile and personalized moments of magic that create conversation, conversion and commercial opportunities.”

Spotify has exhibited these moments of magic since its start, by receiving, connecting, and interacting diverse social and cultural inputs from thousands of channels and content. One such event is Spotify’s recent digital-native take on musical award ceremonies, including a livestream around the world and via TV broadcast, awarding winners across 57 different categories chosen by user-driven data.

In the months leading up to the ceremony, fans were encouraged to promote their favorite artists and music on social media to boost their chances of winning. “Knowing that their behavior could have a real impact became an incentive for fans to help their favorite artist win by consuming their music on Spotify, whether it was by listening to their tracks, adding them to playlists or following them on the platform,” explains Alejandro Ortiz-Izquierdo, Creative Director at Circus, which merged with MediaMonks in January 2020. 

Tasked by Spotify to build the visual identity surrounding the show, the creative team led by Ortiz-Izquierdo and Alberto Guerra, used a data-driven approach as inspiration. Its main motif was the polygon, designed by connecting the top five streaming cities in Mexico, the regional focus of the show, together. Other polygons took shape by connecting the top streaming cities for different artists, resulting in a series of unique shapes used to develop graphic materials for all communications. “After this, we launched a personalized campaign that focused on celebrating the power of the fans through the data that they generated on Spotify,” says Ortiz-Izquierdo. “From the get-go, there was a great response from the users, with a lot of excitement, engagement and involvement. When we launched the awards, people actually campaigned for their artists.”

Users’ excitement to engage highlights an important part of meeting consumers’ needs in impactful, new ways: operating with transparency. With a focus on user-generated data at every level of the award show’s planning and visual design, listeners understood how their actions made impact. And it drove results, too: “With the event, the number of conversions to premium users grew; new users, streams, and general behavior on the platform increased from the moment we launched the list of finalists,” says Daniela González, Head of Digital Strategy at Circus.

There Are No Borders, Your Playground is Digital

In a world defined by globalization, digital platforms allow users to connect, engage and share with people all over the world, irrespective of nationalities, languages, or cultures––and this, in turn, helps them define their own identities and the communities with which they seek to connect. 

If brands want to connect with their target audience, especially with Gen Z, it’s vital for them to remain aware of how communities are built and redefined. This includes understating the new ways that younger consumers reshape the ways they gather, build identity and engage with brands, which is the focus of a recent whitepaper from IMA, our influencer activation team.

Social channels, in particular, have allowed people from different backgrounds and across the world to connect in virtual spaces, where they can congregate with others who share their interests, beliefs and values. But to recognize these interests and what truly resonates with audiences spread across the CDJ, brands must improve their digital maturity through smarter investments in personalization.

“Social media has become a true melting pot, where everyone and everything fits; interests, similarities and differences in culture, ethnicity or gender, as well as attitudes, personalities and values. Making room for all users to feel at home within a massively globalized world,” says Bruno Lambertini, Founder and CEO of Circus. 

The rate of hyperadoption, in which consumers quickly develop new behaviors, has picked up at a critical time when meeting consumers’ needs across the customer decision journey has become table stakes for brands. By recognizing and rewarding such behaviors through relevant channel strategies, brands better position themselves to bring diverse audiences together online ––and across the world.

Al desarrollar experiencias de asistencia en el proceso de decisión del cliente, tener una estrategia de canal efectiva es clave. Tobias Wilson, VP of Growth, recientemente dejó claro este punto a Campaign, donde aconsejó a las marcas cuyas estrategias se vieron afectadas por COVID-19 que “ajusten de una manera que tenga sentido”. Si los canales en los que invirtió su esfuerzo ya no eran viables (como fuera de casa o experiencia en persona, en este caso), lo peor que puede hacer es intentar replicar esa actividad en línea sin ninguna estrategia adecuada.”

Esto requiere que las marcas no solo vean los canales digitales que pueden conocer, como los canales sociales propios, sino más allá de lo que anteriormente se creía posible, llegando al público donde quiera se encuentren en este momento. Esta necesidad llevó a MediaMonks, Reporteros sin Fronteras y DDB a colaborar en la construcción de la Biblioteca Sin Censura, un mapa de Minecraft que los usuarios pueden explorar para descubrir historias escritas por periodistas que han sido encarcelados, exiliados o incluso asesinados por su trabajo, incluso si la censura les impide acceder a tales historias a través de otros canales. Al reconocer a Minecraft como un espacio cada vez más importante para que la juventud global se reúna, socialice e intercambie ideas, la biblioteca virtual demuestra hasta dónde pueden llegar las marcas para conectar realmente al público como nunca antes.

Hace tiempo que abogamos por estrategias digitales centradas en el usuario, que son aún más críticas a medida que las marcas buscan formas de conectarse con consumidores socialmente aislados. Descubrimos que las organizaciones obsesionadas con los clientes (que exploramos en profundidad en nuestro último reporte) están mejor configuradas para reimaginar cómo pueden ser estas conexiones y ejecutarlas rápidamente.

“Las marcas inteligentes aprovechan el poder de lo digital y lo adaptan a los perfiles de necesidad únicos de sus categorías para crear experiencias de valor irremplazable,” según Dipanjan Chatterjee, Vicepresidente y Analista Principal de Forrester, et al., en el informe, “Generate Brand Energy With Digital Experiences: Engage, Excite, And Entangle Your Customer.” Centrarse en las necesidades de los usuarios es vital para las marcas que desean mantener y mejorar su conexión con los consumidores. Al reforzar los comportamientos de los usuarios nativos y alinearlos con los valores de la marca de una manera creativa, las marcas pueden ofrecer soluciones relevantes que generen un impacto emocional.

Mejore las Conexiones Fomentando Interacciones

En el cambiante panorama actual, las marcas ya no pueden basarse en las interacciones cara a cara con sus clientes. “A medida que nos enfrentamos a un mundo en el que no podemos tomar atajos para experimentar a través de la interacción física y la proximidad personal, el desafío es cumplir con la intención original de lo digital,” dice Wesley ter Haar, Fundador de MediaMonks. “Momentos de magia interactivos, táctiles y personalizados que crean conversación, conversión y oportunidades comerciales.”

Spotify ha exhibido estos momentos de magia desde su inicio, al recibir, conectar e interactuar con diversos aportes sociales y culturales de miles de canales y contenidos. Uno de esos eventos es la reciente versión nativa digital de Spotify de las ceremonias de premiación musical, que incluyó un streaming en vivo en todo el mundo y a través de una transmisión de TV, que premió a los ganadores en 57 categorías diferentes elegidas por datos impulsados por los usuarios.

En los meses previos a la ceremonia, se alentó a los fans a promover a sus artistas y música favoritos en las redes sociales para aumentar sus posibilidades de ganar. “Saber que su comportamiento podría tener un impacto real se convirtió en un incentivo para que los fans ayudaran a su artista favorito a ganar consumiendo su música en Spotify, ya sea escuchando sus canciones, agregándolas a listas de reproducción o siguiéndolas en la plataforma,” explica Alejandro Ortiz Izquierdo, Creative Director de Circus, que se fusionó con MediaMonks en enero de 2020.

Encargados por Spotify para construir la identidad visual que rodeó al evento, el equipo creativo liderado por Ortiz Izquierdo y Alberto Guerra, utilizó un enfoque basado en datos como inspiración. Su tema principal fue el polígono, diseñado conectando a las cinco principales ciudades de streaming en México, el foco regional del evento. Otros polígonos tomaron forma conectando las principales ciudades de streaming para diferentes artistas, lo que resultó en una serie de formas únicas utilizadas para desarrollar materiales gráficos para toda la comunicación. “Después de esto, lanzamos una campaña personalizada que se centró en celebrar el poder de los fans a través de los datos que generaron en Spotify,” dice Ortiz Izquierdo. “Desde el primer momento, hubo una gran respuesta por parte de los usuarios, con mucha emoción, compromiso y participación. Cuando lanzamos los premios, la gente realmente hizo campaña por sus artistas.”

La emoción de los usuarios por participar destaca una parte importante al momento de satisfacer las necesidades de los consumidores de formas nuevas e impactantes: operar con transparencia. Con un enfoque en los datos generados por el usuario en todos los niveles de la planificación y el diseño visual del programa, los oyentes entendieron cómo sus acciones tenían un impacto. Y también generó resultados: “Con el evento, el número de conversiones a usuarios premium creció; los nuevos usuarios, los streamings y el comportamiento general en la plataforma aumentaron desde el momento en que lanzamos la lista de finalistas,” dice Daniela González, Head of Digital Strategy de Circus.

No Hay Fronteras, Tu Cancha es Digital

En un mundo definido por la globalización, las plataformas digitales permiten a los usuarios conectarse, interactuar y compartir con personas de todo el mundo, independientemente de sus nacionalidades, idiomas o culturas, y esto, a su vez, les ayuda a definir sus propias identidades y las comunidades con las que buscan conectar.

Si las marcas quieren conectarse con su público objetivo, especialmente con la Generación Z, es vital que se mantengan al tanto de cómo se construyen y redefinen las comunidades. Esto incluye comprender las nuevas formas en que los consumidores más jóvenes redefinen las formas en que se reúnen, crean identidad y se relacionan con las marcas, que es el foco de un reciente whitepaper de IMA, nuestro equipo de activación de influencers.

Las redes sociales, en particular, han permitido que personas de diferentes orígenes y en todo el mundo se conecten en espacios virtuales, donde pueden congregarse con otros que comparten sus intereses, creencias y valores. Pero para reconocer estos intereses y lo que realmente resuena con audiencias repartidas por todo el recorrido de decisión del consumidor, las marcas deben mejorar su madurez digital a través de inversiones más inteligentes en personalización.

“Las redes sociales se han convertido en un verdadero espacio de fusión, donde todos y todo cabe; intereses, similitudes y diferencias culturales, étnicas o de género, así como actitudes, personalidades y valores. Haciendo espacio para que todos los usuarios se sientan como en casa dentro de un mundo masivamente globalizado,” dice Bruno Lambertini, Fundador y CEO de Circus.

La tasa de hiperadopción, en la cual los consumidores desarrollan rápidamente nuevos comportamientos, se ha acelerado en un momento crítico cuando satisfacer las necesidades de los consumidores a lo largo del camino de decisión del cliente se ha convertido en una apuesta para las marcas. Al reconocer y recompensar tales comportamientos a través de estrategias de canales relevantes, las marcas se posicionan mejor para reunir a diversos públicos en línea, y en todo el mundo.

It’s fitting that the premier digital experience conference went all-digital this year, as just one of many tech conferences that have rapidly adapted their strategies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic—building the on-demand streaming alternative in just a month. Pictured above, you’ll see MediaMonks Founder Wesley ter Haar speaking at Adobe’s last tentpole event, Adobe MAX.

This urgency for stronger digital experiences served as a key theme for the conference. “We are clearly living in unprecedented times,” said Adobe Chairman, President and CEO Shantanu Narayen. “COVID-19 is changing everything about life and work as we know it. Now more than ever, we must come together as a community to share best practices to digitally engage with customers.”

During the keynote address, Adobe unveiled new tools and updated features that can help brands provide a better customer experience and reach their business goals: most notable is the Digital Economy Index, a tool that analyzes more than a trillion online transactions across 100 million product sales to help brands understand, act on and anticipate digital commerce trends. In addition to that and new updates to Adobe Experience Cloud Manager, Narayen called for a stronger relationship between CMOs and CIOs as brands spend 2020 refocusing their digital strategies and seek new ways to connect all known user data across the customer journey.

Digital is Table Stakes, and Brands Need to Adapt

 “Whether you’re replacing an in-person conference with a digital event, or working to engage with your customers virtually, the theme is the same: digital is revolutionizing how we interact with each other,” said Narayen. This sentiment has become all the more obvious in the past month, in which social distancing policies have shed a spotlight on the gaps that brands must fill in their digital transformation efforts and the need for emotionally resonant creative digital experiences.

Today, customer experiences are much more than just delivering delightful and relevant experiences in real time, it is supporting the users’ needs in an almost completely digital world. From e-commerce services bringing products to our door, to paperless contracts and virtual offices, or digital tools enabling students to continue with their education, “digital isn’t only changing and reshaping our daily lives, it’s driving the economy,” says Narayen.

This change isn’t exactly new, but has become a moment of reckoning for brands. “Everything has been moving remote and online in one way, shape or form over the years,” says Henry Cowling, Managing Director at MediaMonks San Francisco, in our most recent report on reactivating customer obsession. “This is the chance for brands to really look at that, and reinvent how the digital experience looks and feels, because they’ll need to do it eventually.” 

The Moment for Real-Time CX is Here

Prioritizing customer experience management has become fundamental in a world dominated by digital interactions. Users expect more and demand more from brands, and they do not have the patience to wait for it, they want it all right now. Brands need to understand and use their data to craft a personalized and relevant experience that their users will enjoy in real time.

In one breakout session, Adobe Principal Product Manager Trevor Paulson reassured audiences, “Almost everyone is trying to better understand the entire customer journey across all their channels … So, if you think you’re behind your competition, chances are you’re probably not.” Among the top challenges in customer journey analytics he identified are disconnected data, not enough data expertise and inability to action insights—each of which inhibit a brand’s ability to meet its audience’s needs throughout the full, end-to-end brand experience.

Cross-functional collaboration helps brands gather together diverse knowledge and expertise to bridge these gaps. Successfully achieving data-driven creative workstreams is key to building the creatively differentiated experiences that build brand love, assisting consumers wherever and whenever it’s most needed along the CDJ.

Get Ready for a Cookie-less Future

Third-party cookies have been a key part of digital experiences for a long time, but that is coming to an end. With browsers having banned them gradually over the last years, Google announced a few months ago that it will eliminate all third-party cookies in 24 months. We are entering a new era of cross-domain personalization enabled only for known users.

“Cookies aren’t that good for marketing, they overstate how many people brands are actually reaching, they lead to wrong demographic targeting, they miss conversions that are happening, and they overrepresent the individual you are trying to target,” said Justin Merickel, VP of Adobe Advertising Cloud. “They haven’t been great at providing the value that they were set out to do.”

“Delivering personalized experiences at scale requires rethinking the approach to data,” says Pari Sawant, Director of Product Management at Adobe. First, they must remember that personalization should aim to truly help consumers; and to execute on that need, they must realize the power of context over relentless retargeting.

Knowing that brands will soon not be able to use third-party data, which today may make up a good portion of all their data points, they need to rethink how they use it to build truly valuable experiences by owning, operating and maximizing first-party data. Data clean rooms offer one interesting solution; as brands aim to reinvent their CX strategies or digitally transform in a fast-changing digital landscape, brands can lean on their creative partners to highlight new technologies as they emerge and determine which make the best fit.

Customers Expect Control All Across their Journey

For decades consumers were forced to stay static and receive an experience where they had no input whatsoever, but with the emergence of digital and mobile environments, they have become empowered, and they know it. Consumers expect to have a say on everything, from the decisions they make, to the content they consume, at every single touch point. 

For decades, consumers have had little control over how their data was used by brands. But with brands focused on a need for building first-party relationships a cookie-less world, an opportunity emerges for them to empower customers. to become active participants in the creative experiences they consume. There needs to be a clear value exchange for users to part with their data, further driving home the need for content to be assistive. This approach requires brands to take ownership of the customer relationship.

The bar has been raised for consumers and brands alike, particularly when it comes to digital native newcomers who have forged deep relationships with consumers by aligning purpose with data-driven creativity. “The experiences they receive in the applications and services they use online every day have led them to demand the same from every brand they deal with,” said Nick McLachlan, Product Marketing lead for Advertising Cloud in APAC at Adobe. Between 65% and 70% of consumers expect highly contextual, personalized experiences in real time.

Brands face a unique challenge in order to fulfill the customers’ expectations; they need to create strategies that cater to those needs across every channel, taking a user-centered approach to how they do business. These challenges have come to a head in a year where fractures in brands’ existing digital strategies are apparent. Thankfully, the Adobe Summit streaming platform goes live at the perfect time for brands to begin refocusing their strategies for the rest of the year and beyond.

Celebrating our recent merger with Mexico City-based Circus Marketing, a fully integrated digital agency, we’re sharing some insights relevant to the Latin American region. Circus Marketing is one of the most highly respected agencies in Latin America, and enables us to offer the best quality of talent possible for the region–helping us scale up our offering to meet the growing needs of the increasingly digitally mature region, which are discussed in detail below. You can read the following post in Spanish by clicking here, and in Portuguese here. Catch more of our latest and most exciting work from the region right here.

Latin America’s digital landscape has been growing nonstop, driven in part by the increasing availability of mobile services all across the region, where 79% of users will have broadband mobile connection by 2020. With changing user expectations and a new era of connectedness, opportunities abound for brands seeking to enter the vast LatAm market. Global companies such as Uber and Spotify have shown how far they can go: Uber’s second-biggest market after the US is Mexico, while Spotify has been the dominant paid streaming service in the region since 2013. These trends impact all industries and travel is a great example of it.

An approach like this will help brands and their partners understand human behavior and preferences to respond quickly and accurately to customer needs. The challenge today is to create human experiences without points of friction, making them as human as possible. While technology is necessary to enable such experiences, brands with true digital maturity put “emotion into the code” so interactions don’t feel robotic and merely transactional.

There is still plenty of room for designers, strategists and technologists to improve the brands’ digital offerings, digitizing and personalizing them with a human perspective to create a creatively differentiated user experience. “The challenge is the humanization of digital. Because in the end, digitization is about transforming products and services into return on investment,” says Rivera.

Digital transformation is a perpetual, never-ending process, and a focus on results is key to starting small and building toward more long-term goals. Brands can successfully begin their digital transformation journey by beginning with projects that have the highest impact on improving the customer experience or driving internal efficiency, becoming more digitally savvy in lockstep with their customers. With customer obsession leading their digital transformation strategy, brands will become well equipped to stay competitive.

Do you want to know how digital innovation can benefit your brand?

Over half of Latin American travelers use online services to research, plan and book trips – with that number continuing to climb exponentially year over year. As we detailed in our recent Travel Trends report for LatAm, travel brands in the region must embrace new digital opportunities available to offer customers seamless experiences, both online and offline, in order to compete in an increasingly competitive market.

In an environment where 67% of business customers prefer to buy through digital channels, according to Salesforce, traditional and small brands cannot afford to postpone their transition to digital any longer, or they risk losing their audience to digitally native brands. Today’s users expect to have everything in their mobile phones or computers, and if they do not get it from your brand, they will look for it elsewhere. Digital transformation has become essential for brands in the accommodation, services, loyalty and entertainment sectors of the travel industry. 

“Digitization is now part of all the travel industry verticals. Digitization is not a trend, it is a necessity,” Carlos Rivera, Consulting & Platforms Lead at MediaMonks, said as part of a panel on travel on Mexican TV network, Canal Once, last month.

Digital is the new black

Imagine wanting to book a room at a hotel your friends have widely recommended in a beautiful Caribbean beach. With your mobile phone in hand, you access the corporate website where just a single image of the hotel’s façade and a telephone number greet you. They expect you to call them not only to book a room, but even to get any information at all. Are we living in the 1940s? They just lost a customer.

The number of people travelling within and to LatAm reached 207 million in 2017, and that customer base continues to grow. That, coupled with the rising mobile phone adoption rate, provides travel brands a vital opportunity to enhance their digital services and offerings in the region. Customers today expect a connected digital experience at all times throughout the customer journey. Not getting it, or getting a poor one, will turn potential buyers away. 

To offer great digital experiences, brands must first realize how digital they truly are – or asses their digital maturity. How can a brand know if it’s ready? “To identify your correct target state and how long it will take to get there, evaluate how urgently you must change given the criticality of customer obsession and technology to your firm and how difficult that change will be considering the headwinds you’ll face in terms of company culture, executive trust, legacy systems, and regulators,” writes Laura Koetzle, Sharyn Leaver and Glenn O’Donnell in the Forrester report “The Roadmap For Delivering Customer-Obsessed IT Transformation.”

Having a website or a Facebook page alone does not make a brand digital. Brands must invest in transformation as an ongoing process that will enable connected offerings and touchpoints across platforms. Additionally, brands with lower digital maturities will need to rethink the bare essentials in how they engage with customers – for example, turning the mundane act of booking a plane ticket into an opportunity to meet someone across the world, as we did with our campaign that won Aeromexico the only Gold Cannes Lion for Mexico in 2019. Delivering such experiences seamlessly and instantaneously can require an overhaul in mindset or operations – or both.

This strategy enables brands to maintain a more customer-centric focus, gaining a more direct and closer relationship with their audience. “Digitization is increasingly present in the lives of consumers,” says Rivera. Consumers are becoming increasingly digital, and there are already so many great digital experiences out there that those with a lower digital maturity need to keep up to stay relevant.

Brands must focus not only on customer-facing technology; platforms and integrations that operate behind the scenes and under the hood impact how the business not only delivers experiences to consumers, but operates as a whole. The far-reaching influence of these technologies can make digital transformation feel like a big, unwieldy initiative. MediaMonks helps brands overcome this by focusing first on the high-priority, quick wins that fuel momentum and ladder into subsequent projects.

One quick project that focused on implementing a mature backend for a unique customer experience is the mobile assistant we made with DDB Berlin and Lufthansa, which makes travel recommendations based on a user’s immediate surroundings. We implemented a CMS that would connect user input – uploaded photos – with Google’s Cloud Vision AI service to identify objects within the photo, which then output copy about a related place. For example, a photo of headphones would recommend visiting Glasgow to hear live bagpipes. Bridging together user input with AI and Lufthansa’s own collection of destinations, the assistant takes full advantage of the power of digital in a unique way. And this is precisely the basis for customer obsession, brands using digital to fully understand their audiences, predicting their needs and delivering a satisfying and emotionally resonant experience.

Humans after all

No two travelers are alike. Even if they look for the same things while traveling, their preferences will set them apart. Many may seek a nice restaurant for dinner, but maybe one of them will want it by a beautiful seaside view, while another will prefer to look at a busy street and yet another one will want to sit away from the windows. The travel experience must be personalized based on preferences such as these. In fact, data from eMarketer shows that 69.4% of US digital marketers see demand and interest from customers being an important driver in data-driven marketing initiatives–higher than any other factor–highlighting just how important personalization is to deliver the experiences that users want.

Discover how digitization is impacting the travel industry in Latin America.

As part of our relationship with Booking.com, this meant creating dynamic video ads where content is delivered in one of 54 different permutations with Google’s Vogon technology, based on individual preferences. The dynamic video speaks directly to customers’ travel needs in how it builds a narrative, using data to offer a more human-centered message.

“The main challenge when adopting new technologies is to create new travel experiences that really connect with each user and that will have the right balance of technology with human contact. We have to humanize technology, make it intuitive, easy to use and user-centered,” says Rivera.

On this subject, Wesley ter Haar, MediaMonks Founder, says that “storytelling is a constant pursuit to identify those things that digital and interactive can provide to create imprints on memory and moments of emotional resonance – that feel personal, but remain true to what research tells us end users will respond to.”

The humanization of technology entails putting users at the very core of all experiences and products that brands have to offer. Whether starting with a user-centered UX/UI design or implementing more complex technologies such as AI or machine learning, the customer must be the main focus for everything brands do in the digital world. To truly become customer-obsessed, brands must focus their strategies and budgets “on the technologies, systems, and processes that win, serve, and retain customers,” according to Forrester.

Celebrating our recent merger with Mexico City-based Circus Marketing, a fully integrated digital agency, we’re taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming to share some insights in Spanish relevant to the Latin American region. Circus Marketing is one of the most highly respected agencies in Latin America, and enables us to offer the best quality of talent possible for the region–helping us scale up our offering to meet the growing needs of the increasingly digitally mature region, which are discussed in detail below. You can read the following post in English by clicking here, and in Portuguese here. Catch more of our latest and most exciting work from the region right here.

Para celebrar nuestra reciente fusión con Circus Marketing, una agencia digital totalmente integrada con sede en la Ciudad de México y presencia en ocho países, hacemos una pausa en nuestra programación habitual para compartir algunos insights en español muy relevantes para América Latina. Circus Marketing es una de las agencias más respetadas en LatAm, y nos permitirá ofrecer talento de la mejor calidad posible para la región, ayudándonos a ampliar nuestra oferta para satisfacer las crecientes necesidades de una región cada vez más madura digitalmente, que se discuten a detalle abajo. Puedes leer este artículo en inglés haciendo click aquí, y en portugués aquí. Mantente al día con de nuestros más recientes y emocionantes trabajos en LatAm aquí.

El entorno digital de América Latina experimenta un crecimiento sin precedentes, impulsado en parte por la creciente disponibilidad de servicios móviles en toda la región, donde el 79% de los usuarios tendrán conexión de banda ancha móvil para 2020. Con las cambiantes expectativas de los clientes y una nueva era de conectividad, hay una multitud de oportunidades para marcas que buscan entrar al mercado latinoamericano. Compañías globales como Uber y Spotify han mostrado con tan lejos pueden ir: el segundo mercado más grande de Uber después de EU es México, mientras que Spotify es el servicio de streaming por suscripción dominante en la región desde 2013. Estas tendencias impactan a todas las industrias y la de viajes es un gran ejemplo de ello.

Un enfoque como este ayudará a las marcas y a sus socios a entender el comportamiento y las preferencias humanas para responder de forma rápida y precisa a las necesidades de los clientes. En la actualidad, el desafío es crear experiencias humanas sin puntos de fricción, haciéndolas tan humanas como sea posible. Si bien la tecnología es necesaria para facilitar este tipo de experiencias, las marcas con una verdadera madurez digital ponen “emoción dentro del código” para que las interacciones no se sientan robóticas y meramente transaccionales.

Aún hay mucho espacio para que diseñadores, estrategas y tecnológos mejoren las ofertas digitales de las marcas, digitalizándolas y personalizándolas con una perspectiva humana para crear una experiencia de usuario diferenciada creativamente. “El reto es la humanización de lo digital. Porque a fin de cuentas, la digitalización se trata de transformar productos y servicios en retorno de inversión,” dice Rivera.

La transformación digital es un proceso sin fin, y tener un enfoque en resultados es clave para empezar de a poco y construir hacia metas a largo plazo. Las marcas pueden comenzar con éxito su viaje de transformación digital empezando con proyectos que tengan el mayor impacto para mejorar la experiencia del cliente o que empujen la eficiencia interna, volviéndose más conocedores de lo digital a la par de sus consumidores. Con la obsesión por el cliente liderando su estrategia de transformación digital, las marcas estarán bien equipadas para mantenerse competitivas.

¿Quieres saber cómo la innovación digital en viajes puede beneficiar a tu marca?

Más de la mitad de los turistas latinoamericanos usan servicios en línea para investigar, planear y reservar viajes – con el número aumentando exponencialmente año tras año. Como lo detallamos en nuestro reciente reporte de Tendencias de Viaje en LatAm, las marcas de viajes en la región deben aprovechar las nuevas oportunidades digitales para ofrecer a los usuarios experiencias fluidas, tanto en línea como fuera de ella, para poder competir en un mercado cada vez más competitivo.

En un entorno en el que el 67% de los clientes de negocios prefieren comprar a través de canales digitales, de acuerdo a Salesforce, marcas tradicionales y pequeñas no se pueden dar el lujo de posponer más su transición a digital, o se estarán arriesgando a perder audiencia frente a marcas digitales nativas. Los usuarios actuales esperan tener todo en sus teléfonos móviles o en sus computadoras, y si no lo obtienen de tu marca, lo buscarán en otro lado. La transformación digital se ha vuelto esencial para las marcas en los sectores de hospedaje, servicios, lealtad y entretenimiento de la industria de viajes. 

“La digitalización es ahora parte de todas las verticales de la industria de viajes. La digitalización no es una tendencia, es una necesidad,” señaló Carlos Rivera, Consulting & Platforms Lead en MediaMonks, durante un panel sobre la industria de viajes en el canal de televisión mexicana, Canal Once.

Digital es la nueva norma

Imagina por un momento que quieres reservar un cuarto en un hotel ampliamente recomendado por tus amigos en una preciosa playa del Caribe. Con tu celular en mano, entras al sitio corporativo donde sólo encuentra una foto de la fachada del hotel y un número de teléfono. Esperan que llames no sólo para reservar un cuarto, sino también para obtener información sobre el alojamiento. ¿Estamos viviendo en 1940? Acaban de perder un cliente.

El número de personas viajando hacia y dentro de América Latina alcanzó 207 millones en 2017, y esa base de cliente sigue creciendo. Eso, sumado a la creciente tasa de adopción de teléfonos móviles, otorga a las marcas de viajes una gran oportunidad para mejorar sus servicios y ofertas digitales en la región. Hoy en días, los consumidores esperan siempre una experiencia digital conectada a través de su viaje de cliente. No obtenerla, o que la experiencia sea mediocre, puede alejar a posibles compradores.

Para ofrecer grandes experiencias digitales, las marcas primero deben darse cuenta que tan digitales son realmente, o evaluar su madurez digital. ¿Cómo puede una marca saber si está preparada? “Para identificar tu estado meta correcto y cuánto tiempo te llevará llegar ahí, evalúa que tan urgentemente debes cambiar teniendo en cuenta lo crítico de la obsesión con el cliente y la tecnología de tu empresa, y qué tan difícil será ese cambio considerando los obstáculos que vas a enfrentar en cuanto a la cultura corporativa, confianza ejecutiva, sistemas de legado, y reguladores,” escriben Laura Koetzle, Sharyn Leaver y Glenn O’Donnell en el reporte de Forrester The Roadmap For Delivering Customer-Obsessed IT Transformation.”

Tener un sitio web o una página de Facebook no significa que tu marca sea digital. Las marcas deben invertir en la transformación como un proceso continuo que permitirá que haya ofertas y puntos de contacto conectados en todas las plataformas. Adicionalmente, las marcas con baja madurez digital deben repensar de manera profunda cómo interactúan con los consumidores, por ejemplo, transformar el simple acto de reservar un boleto de avión en una oportunidad para encontrarte con alguien del otro lado del mundo, como hicimos en nuestra campaña que le dio a Aeroméxico el único León de Oro de Cannes para México en 2019. Entregar esas experiencias de forma fluida e instantánea puede requerir una revisión en la mentalidad o en las operaciones – o en ambas.

Esta estrategia permite a las marcas mantener un enfoque centrado en el consumidor, obteniendo una relación más directo y cercana con sus audiencias. “La digitalización está cada vez más presente en la vida de los consumidores,” dice Rivera. Los usuarios son cada vez más digitales, y ya existen tantas experiencias digitales de primer nivel que aquellas marcas con una madurez digital baja debe actualizarse para seguir siendo relevantes.

Las marcas deben enfocarse no sólo en la tecnología que ven los clientes; las plataformas y las integraciones que operan detrás de escena y por debajo de la cubierta impactan tanto cómo el negocio entrega las experiencias a los consumidores, así como toda la operación en sí. La gran influencia de estas tecnologías pueden hacer que la transformación digital se sienta como una iniciativa grande y difícil de manejar. MediaMonks ayuda a las marcas a sobreponerse a esto al enfocarse primero en las victorias rápidas y de alta prioridad que dan impulso y escalan en proyectos posteriores.

Un proyecto que se enfocó en implementar un backend maduro para crear una experiencia de cliente única es el asistente móvil que hicimos con DDB Berlin y Lufthansa, que hace recomendaciones de viaje basadas en el entorno inmediato del usuario. Implementamos un CMS que conectaría aportaciones de los usuarios – fotos cargadas – con el servicio de inteligencia artificial Cloud Vision de Google para identificar objetos en las fotos, que luego generarían texto sobre un lugar relacionado. Por ejemplo, con una foto de unos audífonos recomendaría visitar Glasgow para oír gaitas en vivo. Establecer una conexión entre las aportaciones de los usuarios con inteligencia artificial y la colección de destinos de Lufthansa, el asistente aprovecha el poder de lo digital de forma única. Y esto es precisamente la base para la obsesión con el cliente, las marcas usan digital para entender por completo a sus audiencias, prediciendo sus necesidades y entregando una experiencia satisfactoria y emocionalmente resonante. 

Humanos después de todo

No hay dos viajeros iguales. Incluso si buscan las mismas cosas al viajar, sus gustos los van a diferenciar. Muchos podrán buscar un buen restaurante para cenar, pero a lo mejor uno de ellos querrá tener una espectacular vista al mar, mientras que otro preferirá ver a una avenida llena de vida, y otro querrá sentarse alejado de las ventanas. La experiencia de viaje debe personalizarse con base en preferencias como éstas. De hecho, datos de eMarketer muestran que el 69,4% de los especialistas en marketing digital de EE. UU. consideran que la demanda y el interés de los clientes son un factor importante en las iniciativas de marketing basadas en datos, más que cualquier otro factor, lo que resalta la importancia de la personalización para ofrecer las experiencias los usuarios quieren.

Descubre cómo la digitalización está impactando a la industria de los viajes en América Latina.

Como parte de nuestra relación con Booking.com, este significó crear anuncios de video dinámicos en los que se entrega contenido en una de 54 variaciones con tecnología Vogon de Google, basada en preferencias individuales. El video dinámico habla directamente a las necesidades de viaje de los usuarios en la forma en que construye una narrativa, usando datos para ofrecer un mensaje más centrado en el ser humano.

“El principal reto al adoptar nuevas tecnologías es crear nuevas experiencias de viaje que realmente conecten con cada usuario y que tengan el balance correcto de tecnología y contacto humano. Tenemos que humanizar la tecnología, hacerla intuitiva, fácil de usar y centrada en el usuario,” dice Rivera.

Sobre este tema, Wesley ter Haar, Fundador y COO de MediaMonks, dice que “el storytelling es una búsqueda constante para identificar las cosas que digital e interactivo puede proveer para crear impresiones en la memoria y momentos con resonancia emocional, que se sientan personales, pero que se mantengan fieles a lo que las investigaciones nos dicen que responderán los usuarios finales.”

La humanización de la tecnología implica poner a los usuarios al centro de todas las experiencias y productos que las marcas ofrecen. Ya se empezar con un diseño UX/UI centrado en el usuario o implementar tecnologías más complejas como AI o machine learning, el consumidor debe ser el foco principal de todo lo que las marcas hagan en el mundo digital. Para realmente volverse obsesionadas por el cliente, las marcas deben centrar sus estrategias y presupuestos “en las tecnologías, sistemas, y procesos que ganen, sirvan y retengan a los consumidores,” de acuerdo a Forrester.

Celebrando nossa recente fusão com a Circus Marketing, agência integrada digital fundada na Cidade do México e com presença em oito países, estamos compartilhando algumas ideias relevantes para América Latina. A Circus Marketing é uma das agências mais respeitadas da região e nos permite oferecer a melhor qualidade de talentos e ampliar a nossa oferta para atender às crescentes demandas da região, cada vez mais madura digitalmente, como você pode ver nos  detalhes abaixo. Para versão em espanhol clique aqui e em inglês aqui. Veja mais sobre nossos alucinantes e mais recentes trabalhos para a região aqui.

O cenário digital da América Latina não para de crescer, impulsionado em parte pelo aumento da disponibilidade de serviços móveis em toda a região, onde 79% dos usuários terão conexão móvel de banda larga até 2020. Com as novas expectativas dos usuários e uma nova era de conexão, são inúmeras as oportunidades para marcas que buscam estar neste amplo mercado. Empresas globais como Uber e Spotify, por exemplo, já mostraram sua força: o segundo maior mercado da Uber depois dos EUA é o México, enquanto o Spotify é o serviço de streaming pago dominante na região desde 2013. Essas tendências se refletem em diversas indústrias e como não poderia deixar de ser, o setor de viagens também ganhou atenção especial.

Uma abordagem como essa ajudará as marcas e seus parceiros a entenderem o comportamento e as preferências humanas para responder de maneira rápida e precisa às necessidades dos clientes. O desafio hoje é criar experiências sem pontos de atrito, tornando-as mais humanas possível. Embora a tecnologia seja necessária para permitir essas experiências, marcas com verdadeira maturidade digital colocam “emoção no código” para que as interações não pareçam robóticas e meramente transacionais.

Ainda há muito espaço para designers, estrategistas e especialistas em tecnologia melhorarem as ofertas digitais das marcas, digitalizando e personalizando-as com uma perspectiva humana para criar uma experiência de usuário diferenciada e de forma criativa. “O desafio é a humanização do digital. Porque, no fim, a digitalização é transformar produtos e serviços em retorno do investimento”, ressalta Rivera.

A transformação digital é um processo contínuo e interminável, e o foco nos resultados é fundamental para começar pequeno, mas navegando em direção a objetivos de mais longo prazo. As marcas podem iniciar com êxito sua jornada de transformação digital ao começar com projetos que têm o maior impacto em melhorar a experiência do cliente ou aumentar a eficiência interna, tornando-se mais experientes em termos digitais, trabalhando em sintonia com seus clientes. Trazendo a obsessão do cliente para liderar a estratégia de transformação digital, as marcas estarão preparadas para permanecerem competitivas.

Deseja saber como a inovação digital pode beneficiar sua marca?

Dados apontam que mais da metade dos turistas latino-americanos usa serviços online para pesquisar, planejar e reservar viagens, um número que cresce exponencialmente ano após ano. Conforme detalhamos em nosso recente relatório de tendências de viagens para a América Latina, para navegar neste oceano, as marcas de viagens da região devem adotar novas oportunidades digitais disponíveis, visando oferecer aos clientes experiências ininterruptas, online e offline, e assim vencer em um mercado cada vez mais competitivo.

Em um ambiente em que 67% dos clientes corporativos preferem comprar por meio de canais digitais, segundo dados da Salesforce, as marcas tradicionais e pequenas não podem mais adiar sua transição para o digital ou correm o risco de perder público para marcas nativas digitalmente. Os usuários de hoje esperam ter tudo em seus smartphones ou computadores e, se não encontrarem essa comodidade vinda de sua marca preferida, certamente irão procurar em outro lugar. É por isso, a transformação digital se tornou essencial para companhias que atuam com acomodação, serviços, fidelidade e entretenimento no setor de viagens.

“A digitalização agora faz parte de todos os setores verticais da indústria de viagens. A digitalização não é uma tendência, é uma necessidade”, destacou Carlos Rivera,Consulting & Platforms Lead at MediaMonks, recentemente em um painel sobre viagens na rede de TV mexicana, Canal Once.

Digital is the new black

Imagine querer reservar um quarto em um hotel que seus amigos recomendaram em uma linda praia do Caribe. Com o celular na mão, você acessa o site e apenas uma imagem da fachada do hotel aparece, e um número de telefone o cumprimenta. Essa empresa espera que você ligue para eles não apenas para reservar um quarto, mas também para obter qualquer informação. Até parece que estamos vivendo em 1940, certo? Eles acabaram de perder um cliente.

Em 2017, o número de viajantes na América Latina chegou a 207 milhões e o montante continua aumentando. Esse volume associado à crescente adoção de smartphones, oferece às marcas de viagens uma oportunidade vital para que aprimorem seus serviços e ofertas digitais na região. Hoje, os clientes esperam uma experiência digital conectada o tempo todo ao longo da jornada do cliente. Não obtê-la ou ter uma vivência ruim, afastará os potenciais compradores.

Para oferecer ótimas experiências digitais, as marcas devem primeiro perceber ou avaliar sua maturidade digital. Como um anunciante pode saber se está pronto? “Para identificar seu estágio atual e quanto tempo levará para chegar lá, avalie com que urgência é preciso mudar, pensando em quão crítico é o seu cliente e a obsessão que ele tem por tecnologia. Além disso deve se ponderar as dificuldades desse processo, considerando as tempestades que você enfrentará se baseando na cultura da empresa, confiança executiva, sistemas legais e reguladores”, explicou Laura Koetzle, Sharyn Leaver e Glenn O’Donnell no relatório da Forrester,“ O roteiro para a transformação de TI obsessiva pelo cliente”.

Ter um site ou uma página no Facebook por si só não torna uma marca digital. É preciso investir na transformação como um processo contínuo que permitirá ofertas conectadas e pontos de contato entre plataformas. Além disso, os anunciantes com menor prazo para fazer essa transição, precisarão repensar o essencial sobre como eles se relacionam com os clientes, por exemplo, transformar o ato de reservar uma passagem de avião em uma oportunidade de conhecer alguém em todo o mundo, como fizemos com a campanha para a Aeromexico que conquistou o único Leão de Ouro de Cannes para o México, em 2019. Entregar essas experiências de forma transparente e instantânea pode exigir uma revisão geral da mentalidade ou das operações, ou ambas as coisas.

Essa estratégia permite que as marcas mantenham um foco mais centrado no cliente, ganhando um relacionamento mais direto e mais próximo com seu público. “A digitalização está cada vez mais presente na vida dos consumidores e já existem tantas experiências por aí que aqueles com menor maturidade digital precisam se manter relevantes para se manterem vivos”, diz Rivera.

As marcas devem se concentrar não apenas na tecnologia voltada para o cliente; plataformas e integrações que operam nos bastidores afetando o modo como entregam experiências aos consumidores, mas também como operam os negócios. A influência de longo alcance dessas tecnologias pode fazer com que a transformação digital pareça uma iniciativa difícil e trabalhosa. Entretanto, a MediaMonks ajuda as marcas a superá-la, concentrando-se primeiro nas conquistas rápidas e de alta prioridade que entusiasmam, e em seguida entram em projetos. 

Um exemplo de trabalho rápido focado na implementação de um back-end maduro para uma experiência única do cliente é o assistente que fizemos para a DDB Berlin e a Lufthansa, que faz recomendações de viagem com base no que está ao redor do usuário. Implementamos um CMS que conecta a entrada do usuário – fotos enviadas – ao serviço de Cloud Vision IA do Google para identificar objetos na imagem que fariam sentido sobre um determinado local. Por exemplo, uma foto de fones de ouvido, pode recomendar uma visita a Glasgow para que o indivíduo ouça gaitas de foles ao vivo. Reunindo a entrada do usuário com a IA e a própria coleção de destinos da Lufthansa, o assistente aproveita ao máximo o poder do digital de uma maneira única. E essa é precisamente a base para a obsessão do cliente. Sendo assim, as marcas que usam o digital para entender o público, prevêem suas necessidades e oferecem uma experiência emocionalmente ressonante.

Humanos, afinal 

Não há dois viajantes iguais. Mesmo que eles procurem as mesmas coisas enquanto viajam, suas preferências os diferenciam. Muitos podem procurar um bom restaurante para jantar, mas talvez um deles o deseje com uma bela vista à beira-mar, enquanto que outro prefere olhar para uma rua movimentada e um terceiro opte por sentar-se longe das janelas. A experiência de viagem deve ser personalizada com base em preferências como essas. De fato, os dados do eMarketer mostram que 69,4% dos profissionais de marketing digital dos EUA veem a demanda e o interesse dos clientes como um fator importante em iniciativas orientadas a dados – mais altas do que qualquer outro fator – destacando a importância da personalização para oferecer as experiências que os usuários desejem.

Descubra como a digitalização afeta o setor de viagens na América Latina.

Como parte de nosso relacionamento com a Booking.com, criamos anúncios dinâmicos em vídeo, onde o conteúdo é entregue em uma das 54 substituições diferentes da tecnologia Vogon do Google, com base nas preferências individuais. O vídeo dinâmico fala diretamente às necessidades de viagem de cada um na maneira como cria uma narrativa, usando dados para oferecer uma mensagem centrada em cada ser humano.

“O principal desafio ao adotar novas tecnologias é criar novas experiências de viagem que realmente se conectem com cada usuário e que tenham o equilíbrio certo de tecnologia com o contato humano. Temos que humanizar a tecnologia, torná-la intuitiva, fácil de usar e centrada no usuário ”, diz Rivera.

Sobre esse assunto, Wesley ter Haar, fundador da MediaMonks, diz que “contar histórias é uma busca constante para identificar as coisas que o digital e a interação podem fornecer para criar impressões na memória e momentos de ressonância emocional – que parecem pessoais, mas permanecem fiéis às pesquisas”.

A humanização da tecnologia implica colocar os usuários no centro de todas as experiências e produtos que as marcas têm a oferecer. Seja começando com um design UX / UI focado no usuário ou implementando tecnologias mais complexas, como IA ou machine learning, o cliente deve ser o foco principal de tudo o que as marcas fazem no mundo digital. Para realmente se tornarem obcecados pelo cliente, as marcas devem focar suas estratégias e investimentos “nas tecnologias, sistemas e processos que conquistam, atendem e retêm clientes”, de acordo com a Forrester.