To stay ahead of the curve in customer engagement, brands must move beyond delivering AI-generated content (AIGC) to delivering AI-powered consumer experiences (AICX). While AIGC levels up content by creating content at scale, AICX levels up the customer experience by creating personalized interactions. Applying AI to CX is not just about chatbots for customer service, it's about adopting a customer-centric approach across all functions, from product development to marketing, and across all touchpoints, from digital to retail, all enabled by AI. AI has the ability to create intimate and hyper-personalized one-to-one interactions across all touchpoints of the consumer decision journey, and will be a key factor in how brands are perceived, valued and ultimately loved by consumers. Here’s how, in three ways.

AICX levels up storytelling.

Applying AI to consumer experience means moving from advertising a brand world, to participating and engaging in a brand world. The most discerning audiences in the world are demanding nothing less than a seamless and immersive brand experience: 73% point to brand experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions, right behind price and product quality. Here are the ways brands are already leveling up engagement via immersive brand experiences powered by AI, and developed by Media.Monks:

• Building smart and immersive flagship stores. Chinese EV brand JIDU launched the world's smartest showroom in Beijing, powered by Baidu AI technology. This immersive space offers a unique brand experience with life-size avatars and captures valuable user data.  
• Embedding consumers directly into any story. Intel’s AI-powered technology connects young people in China to their remarkable heritage by scanning and mapping their faces in real time onto historical figures in a series of animated films that were projected on the city walls of Xi’an.

AICX levels up personalization.

The benefits of personalized customer experiences—one-on-one interaction between a customer and a brand—helps to massively uplift sales and loyalty. Research suggests that personalized and tailored CX drives over 66% of customer loyalty—more than price and brand combined. Meanwhile, 78% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases and recommend companies that personalize their interactions. 

• Creating hyper-personalized celebrity content at scale. In collaboration with Spotify, we created an interactive listening experience with a deep fake version of The Weeknd giving users a personalized greeting using data from their Spotify accounts. We created an AI to synthesize the artist’s voice allowing for an interactive listening experience between the fan and the artist himself. Over 600K fans visited in the first few hours—and The Weeknd knew every one of them.
• Personifying an AI personal shopper. What if your customers could have a conversation with an AI personal shopper that could recommend style tips and products, creating cross-selling and repeat purchase opportunities for higher customer lifetime value? For a long time, brands have tried to do this with chatbots to handle questions or complaints in a customer service capacity further down the funnel, but now conversational UI creates a smoother experience and will be used earlier in the funnel for ecommerce exploration. 

AICX levels up co-creation.

Involving consumers in product development very early on in R&D is proven to drive product success, advocacy and conversion. Companies that involve customers in the product development process see numerous benefits, including a higher customer advocacy, than those that don't. The proof is there, but brands find it very difficult to execute on immersive co-creation because it typically involves different departments and different organizational structures. That’s where AI comes in. Here are some AI-powered co-creation applications that we’re helping brands experiment with today.

• Generating consumer insights. At the Estee Lauder R&D Experience Center in Shanghai, the beauty brand engages consumers and key opinion leaders in product testing, validation and co-creation sessions for new products. Touch tables and magic mirrors powered with AI technology enhance workshops and ideation sessions and support the generation of consumer insights from participants in the room.
• Co-creating new products with customers in real time. What if a fashion lifestyle brand could run live design sessions with their community, their best creative directors and celebrities in a livestream that could generate the must-have sneaker, handbag or you-name-it based on their input…in real time? Not only would it speed products to market, but community co-creation and input would virtually guarantee success.

Get ahead by embracing AICX now.

The evolution of AI technology—from analyzing and processing data, to creating more content faster and at scale, to facilitating personalized storytelling through experiences that deepen the collaboration and intimacy between brands and its customers—is extremely exciting…and disruptive. There are new developments in the technology and its application for brand engagement literally every day, and brands that are able to harness AI’s power will be able to build stronger, more meaningful relationships with their customers and drive business growth like never before. Again, this will mean looking beyond AI’s power to merely build efficiency; in an environment of content overload, delivering AICX is how brands can truly deliver value.

This was key to the design of our website, particularly our homepage, which emulates the look and feel of a newspaper. The format calls for experiences that feel new and contemporary on a regular basis, compounded by the accelerated pace in which our industry changes. Now one year since the launch of our brand, we’re looking at how our approach to content curation has panned out, solving key challenges that many brands face when it comes to delivering distinct digital experiences or breathing new life into their legacy content.

Set a foundation for flexibility at scale.

“Our homepage was designed to mark special moments in time, like a turning point for the company or when something is trending industry-wide that we have a strong point of view on,” says Vinicius Araujo, Creative Director. One recent moment was the release of The Transformation of Digital, our report detailing how consumer behaviors are shaping a new era of virtualization. To celebrate the launch of the report, our homepage took a new look: a unique color scheme, a curation of thematic content and an animated logo that represents the report’s visual identity.

Such an overhaul to the homepage may seem like a significant investment of time and resources, though the flexibility baked into our CMS made it a simple overnight change. Easy-to-update components and customizable fields also ensure that bespoke designs are scalable into the future. “It’s always ready to be updated in a heartbeat,” says Araujo. “And it’s ephemeral: it’s only there for a week, and then it’s gone.”

On the flipside, the flexibility baked into our website keeps our content timely while ensuring we can authentically represent the breadth of our capabilities. At the same time, brands following a similar approach can iterate experiences that support the different needs of diverse audiences. “In curating the content for the virtualization takeover, one thing we considered was: How do we get someone who doesn’t want to digest the whole report to understand what this is?” noted Gardner, who gathered a wide selection of content that make virtualization tangible while also representing the diverse skills of our team.

Collaboration enables new ways to shape and expand content.

With our homepage takeover, it was important to build an experience that felt distinct right from the jump—not exactly separate from the other content on the website, but something that commanded attention as soon as people landed on the website.

The first thing viewers saw when loading the page was a reanimated Media.Monks logo that leverages the bespoke identity crafted for the report—all built around a design language of four quadrilateral shapes that represented key themes of the virtualization report: ownership, identity, community and experience. These adapting shapes interact with each other at different frequencies throughout the report, keeping the audience focused on the insights. “It was important to create a wrapper that wouldn’t alienate the audience,” says Benjamin Tuffy, Design Director, noting that using iconography like VR headsets or futuristic environments could either limit virtualization’s scope, overwhelm non-technical readers or simply feel irrelevant for those who aren’t engaged in those channels.

But the shapes are just one kind of graphical element that made their way from the report to the homepage design. In discussing the role that bespoke experiences can play in enhancing the original source material, Tuffy spoke about a collaborative approach between design, copy and growth teams to pull the content into previously unforeseen directions.

Curation breathes new life into legacy content.

In addition to finding new ways to visually represent content from the report, our virtualization-themed homepage takeover also provided an opportunity to highlight ways that virtualization impacts different categories and audiences. “Leaders across different regions are bringing the story out to their teams,” says Tuffy, and viewers could see this play out through the content we curated to substantiate the report’s claims.

This highlights another purpose to building around key marketing moments: breathing new life into some of your existing content. In our case, this meant further drawing lines and connections between our multidisciplinary team. “We saw we had some content from Jam3 and a recently published piece by Chief Diversity Officer James Nicholas Kinney, both of which spoke to the purpose of virtualization from two different directions,” says Gardner, noting that the content helped showcase how we’ve been grappling with these ideas long before the report’s release.

Our special-edition homepage sought to leverage our CMS’s flexibility to deliver custom web experiences as new moments arise. Brands seeking to build bespoke, scalable web experiences can follow a similar approach by thematically curating and remixing new or legacy content, while also enhancing it further through added fit-for-format design elements. The result? A differentiated digital experience that never overstays its welcome and dazzles audiences with something new every time they visit.

Many might think that broadcasting is very traditional, loosening its grip on the cultural current as people turn more and more toward immersive, interactive experiences like gaming and the metaverse. But the IBC Show is anything but traditional, and this year our Monks on the ground (and on the stage) explored the broadcasting’s transformation in the virtualized era, from capturing new kinds of content to showing off workstreams that unlock incredible, new storytelling opportunities.

If it’s not interactive, it’s broken.

Video killed the radio star—and with the rise of the metaverse and an increasingly digital culture, is TV next on the chopping block? Smithingham opened the second day of the event with a keynote talk, “Step Into the Metaverse,” in which he set the stage for a new era of multi-dimensional, interactive media. The central thesis: traditional, flat media is less relevant today’s Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. “A core undercurrent across all of this is if something is not interactive to younger generations, it feels broken and disconnected,” says Smithingham, showing how live sports viewership is down and that most of the discussion surrounding the Super Bowl is about the halftime show instead of the game.

Still, Smithingham doesn’t want to discourage the industry; rather, now is the time for broadcasting players to take an active part in driving culture forward. “Broadcasting is culture. It’s the vehicle by which culture spreads,” he says, making the case by illustrating how text messaging volume directly correlated with American Idol viewership throughout the aughts. Likewise, broadcasting can embrace emerging technologies and behaviors—like livestream commerce—to connect more closely with today’s audiences and tap into new storytelling possibilities. For example, we partnered with Logitech to break out of the exclusive, VIP-focused awards show format with the Song Breaker Awards, making it more accessible and interactive for audiences in the metaverse. 

To Rob McNeil, VP of Live at Media.Monks, these immersive experiences will become complimentary to more traditional broadcast experiences. “It will coexist. Certain people will gravitate toward certain kinds of content,” he says, noting how he personally would rather watch sports in VR rather than on a TV. While he sees a future in 180- or 360-degree movies and TV shows, music performances and sports seem to be the use cases that make the most sense right now. “These are natural areas for immersive experiences,” he says, noting how music in particular takes advantage of spatial audio in the Meta Quest 2.

The lesson for brands and broadcasters? Break out of the traditionally one-way conversation of broadcasting and instead create a multidirectional ecosystem: a halo of virtual worlds, social content, streaming content, creator channels, podcasts, audience interaction and more. “It’s about feeding an audience that’s always on,” says Smithingham. “We have to evolve how we tell our stories.” You can learn more insights from Smithingham in the IBC interview below.

Esports points a way forward.

Marketers and broadcasters looking for examples of multidirectional ecosystems can turn to the esports space, which is taking some learnings from traditional sports while also establishing best practices of its own. Esports are a fast-growing industry, with 29.6 million monthly esports viewers this year—an 11.5% increase over 2021, according to Insider Intelligence. Funs Jacobs, our Gaming Category Lead, shared the stage with Nicolas Bourdon, CMO at EVS, and George Pratchett, Production Manager at Promod Esports, to discuss the new frontier of esports as they become increasingly mainstream.

Jacobs notes that most of the revenue earned in esports comes from sponsorships—but the number of esports games per year pale in comparison to, say, your average FIFA league, which amounts to less opportunities for sponsorship overall. That’s why in addition to hosting more games and tournaments, Jacobs encourages competitive gaming developers, leagues and teams to explore fan engagement on new social platforms. In addition, there is a new opportunity to strengthen their communities with blockchain-enabled technologies like NFTs, as brands can now cultivate a sense of ownership with their fans.

Teams like FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves have done well to expand beyond tournaments into video content—FaZe Clan has four YouTube channels and 8.66 million subscribers to its main one—apparel, NFT drops, podcasts and dozens of channels run by individual content creators and pro players that have signed onto teams. 100 Thieves is even in the early stages of developing a game of its own. 

The variety of digital content offers not only new opportunities for sponsorship and revenue, but also different options for fans and viewers to engage as they see fit. “One thing we can learn from streamers is the level of accessibility,” says Jacobs. “These creators are so accessible despite being so far away in terms of lifestyle and skill level.”

Cloud-based workflows unlock new storytelling opportunities.

Broadcasting of the future requires new ways of working, and Smithingham joined Samira Bakhtiar, Director of Sales, Media & Entertainment at Amazon Web Services (AWS) to give conference attendees an inside look at our global, AWS-based virtual production team. While broadcasts are typically produced by an on-the-ground team tangled in wires and packed in a truck, our cloud-based setup unites personnel who are working across several different locations. 

Here's what it looks like. We put together a rack of gear, coders, monitors and uninterruptible power supplies. We then send two or three people to a location who take the rack, power it up and plug it directly into AWS via a network connection. “This is a direct connection outside of the internet, so we’re not susceptible to interferences, says Patrick Jones, Senior Director of Engineering, Live/Broadcast and Creative Solutions at Media.Monks. “We don’t have issues like outages from local ISPs.” 

Anywhere from 36 to 40 virtual machines are connected in the cloud, ranging from graphics servers, audio servers, playback servers that enable instant replays, and more. The cloud also connects dozens of people throughout a distributed team. “A director in Florida can collaborate with a tech director in England and audio people in New York,” says Jones. And despite the distance across teams, latency is negligible and just a matter of milliseconds.

Still, any live broadcast comes with a series of factors that may present the need for redundancies, whether that be extra equipment or multiple recording backups. “We’re the department of redundancy. It’s what we do: continue to make sure we have multiple systems in place to protect us,” says Jones. He notes that while traditional broadcasting trucks also have redundancies built in, things break, and having two of every piece of equipment isn’t practical. “If you’re in a truck, you may not have the ability to get another computer in. But in the cloud, we can quickly pivot to spin up another system or backup.”

Beyond the added efficiencies in stability and collaboration, one benefit of the AWS-powered workstream shouldn’t go unnoticed: it greatly reduces the carbon footprint of a broadcast, which would traditionally involve flying out an entire fleet of professionals. “We just have three people flying in for a typical production, and everyone else is in the cloud,” says Smithingham.

Broadcasting continues to evolve and innovate.

“Two years ago, we didn’t have some of the tools in the cloud that we have now,” says Jones. After exploring the showroom floor, he applauds the level of innovation at IBC. “Seeing all the people that are innovating, we advanced by maybe three years in six months. The pandemic forced a lot of companies to up their game, and we’re all reaping the benefits of that.”

We showed off our own innovation at the booth for RED Digital Cinema, who is disrupting the film production scene with camera equipment that is more affordably priced than more traditional names. At the booth, we shared a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache VR performance, viewable on Meta Quest devices captured on RED’s cameras. Our team built a way to live-stitch the footage to accommodate VR viewing in a 4K resolution, streamed directly to Quest headsets as the footage is captured.

The shooting-to-viewing pipeline is important because advanced imaging isn’t just a learning curve for production crews; it forces performers to engage with the camera in new ways, too. “The camera’s movement is often limited, due to naturally occuring motion sickness,” says McNeil. “For artists, that’s challenging because they have to come toward the camera, rather than have the camera come to them.” Throughout the Twelve Carat Toothache shoot, the crew could let Post Malone inhabit the viewer’s perspective in between performances, influencing his stage presence.

To bring the same experience to the demo booth, we had headsets on hand capturing live footage of the conference floor. “As people create content with technology like this, we become desensitized to it, but people experiencing it for the first time were like, ‘This is simply stunning—absolutely amazing,’” says Jones.

The demo between team Media.Monks and team RED demonstrated more than just the potential of new technology. It also showed a spirit of partnership that permeated much of IBC this year. “You saw a lot of people going from booth to booth—not like an upstart going to the industry giants to get their foot in the door, but rather a lot of established names wanting to work together,” says McNeil.

To say that the world has changed since IBC’s last in-person conference in 2019 would be an understatement. But this year’s edition showed how the broadcast itself is in a state of evolution—one that will show no signs of slowing down soon. “We need to virtualize everything from our culture to how we do our work,” says Smithingham. From expanding content across different formats, to learning from emerging industries like esports, to exploring entirely new workflows, IBC 2022 offered several looks into the future of broadcasting—and it’s looking bright.

In addition to making digital spaces like the metaverse accessible to audiences far and wide, it’s crucial that brands offer consumers a wide variety of representational features to facilitate self-expression and secure a sense of belonging. Online you can be whoever you want—the beauty of the internet is that it has long enabled people to self-present on their own terms, but it is up to the creators behind the scenes to provide consumers with the tools to do so. 

Why are representation and self-expression in the metaverse important?

To younger generations, real-life and digital identities are equally important. The first generation that grew up with digital avatars has now come of age, and digital experiences are pivotal to shaping their identity, our virtualization report highlights. In fact, 60% of Gen Z and 62% of Gen Y “believe that how you present yourself online is more important than how you present yourself IRL.”   

Digital platforms are important spaces for identity construction, and virtual-first brands can satisfy an audience’s desire to build identity by providing accessible, personalized experiences that enable self-expression. Movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName, which have a standing both online and offline, are driven by identity and fuel the growth of social groups connected by shared beliefs, interests or experiences. Virtual-first brands that actively engage with such new, hybrid identities are able to foster a sense of belonging for diverse audiences.  

Beyond the element of fun, the metaverse can serve as a tool for empathy. Brands play an important part in determining the metaverse’s impact on consumers. The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato once said, “you learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a lifetime of conversation.” While we’re well into the 21st century, this statement is as valid today as it was back then. 

“The metaverse gives us a shared sense of space that you don't get through 2D experiences,” says Catherine D. Henry, SVP Growth, Metaverse & Innovation Strategy. “This medium enables intellectual and emotional connections that transcend our physical bodies, allowing us to experience (once again) the purity of relationships formed as children—when people connect over interests and shared play, rather than commonalities and socially imposed signifiers. This is truly liberating, and the reason why fantastical avatars and gender fluidity in the metaverse are so important.”

Through play, people can engage with others in a fun and meaningful way and learn to get along with their peers, as seeing others from a different point of view allows people to practice empathy, our Social Innovation Lab argues. Research shows that the embodied experience of inhabiting an avatar that is physically different from oneself can lead to behavioral changes that align with that avatar and influence someone’s self-perception, suggesting one can start to see overlap between the avatar and the self. “This is important because empathy and tolerance can be fostered in virtual environments, and help bridge the social divide created by Web2,” says Henry. “The missed opportunity for brands is not so much to have games, but now it’s more about amplifying authentic, often underrepresented voices and creating space for people to learn.” So, rather than an escape from real-world problems, virtual-first brands view digital as a tool to help solve them.

Besides all the perks, digital spaces also come with problems—that’s no secret. One thing to watch out for is (unconscious) biases of creators that limit representation and self-expression, such as customization options based on stereotypes and cultural appropriation, or exclusion of customization features that people want to use, like Black hairstyles. Even more worrisome is the issue that user behavior can go against expectations. Think of how some social media platforms are used as a tool to manipulate through fake news, or how online groups are weaponized to harbor hate groups—when they could serve as a refuge for those looking for belonging. However, the metaverse is a new digital chapter and thus presents new opportunities to do better. 

So, how do we achieve representation and self-expression in the metaverse? 

Diversify avatar use and customization. Given that in the US 48% of Gen Z consider themselves non-white and one-third of Gen Z identify outside the gender binary, providing a wide variety of representational features to facilitate self-expression and belonging is essential. This means offering a range of skin tones, choice of prosthetics, hairstyles, body shapes, voices, and so on. Another important step brands can take is to keep default avatars free or cheap, and only charge (more) money for additional differentiators, like a cool jacket. That said, features for self-presentation can go beyond physical characteristics to represent a more emotive sense of self-identity as well. Adidas, for instance, partnered with Ready Player Me to create unique avatars that are based on a person’s personality rather than their physical likeness, ensuring an authentic reflection of who they are. Above all, don’t force people to show up as themselves, but allow them to choose whatever they want their avatar to (re)present in the metaverse. 

As a brand, give user-makers the tools and get out of the way. It’s crucial not to constrain user-makers, since they’re the ones forging the future of how we use the metaverse—keeping in mind that we encourage brands to be transparent about how they monitor their users’ contributions to ensure the metaverse remains a safe space for everyone. That aside, brands can invest in education and work with influencers to market the tools they offer to DIY. Duolingo is a great example of a brand that has built assets for its users to create their own games, but then got out of the way. This circles back to the point of accessibility; we need to make sure as many creators from different walks of life as possible are included in the building process to counter biases.

Allow ways to gather and group for belonging. Digital environments offer a safe space for exploring identities—and to ensure safety, brands need to establish ethics and guidelines from the get-go. Online you can be whoever you want, so people tend to feel more confident to speak up. Fortunately, many people are able to bring something from that experience back to their real lives. For instance, people from the LBGTQ+ community were able to form community support systems within social VR—and for some, this offered the only form of support as they weren’t able to access any offline. This combination of a supportive community and the embodied avatar experience empowers many in the real world and helps them understand their identities better.  

In all, the whole engine behind the metaverse world must be diversified. From executives and employees who work at the companies making the metaverse, to decision-makers at brands creating experiences in the metaverse, owners of digital environments, and influencers and user-makers—the metaverse is for everyone, so everyone should be able to contribute a building block. The issue is, many people don’t know how.

In the same vein, looking at the expected influence and impact of the metaverse, brands can integrate metaverse strategies into their ESG commitments—the possibilities to diversify are endless. 

How does this all come back to the real world?

Digital behavior inspires real-world change, that’s a fact. Conversations that take place in the metaverse expand out into other spaces, such as meet-ups, talk shows and other real-life events. In a digital environment like the metaverse, we’re able to meet people from around the world that we would’ve otherwise never met and actually get to know them on a deeper level. Some may just see avatars, but we see people who are willing to be their authentic selves in connecting with others. 

“People are more willing to be open, vulnerable and their real selves when, ironically, they're not actually in person and when they’re behind an avatar, so people have more ‘real’ experiences connecting with somebody that in real life they wouldn’t have ended up talking to,” says Susan Parker, Executive Creative Director. “And then they might take it outside the metaverse.”

Enter the New Frontier for Business Growth

Virtualization is the transformation of digital: a set of new audience behaviors, cultural norms and technology paradigms resulting from 30 years of digital transformation, hyper-accelerated over the past five years. It follows previous eras of globalization and digital transformation. While digital transformation now focuses on the pipes and plumbing to connect digital touch points, virtualization concerns the experience layer on top of a brand’s digital investments. In the overlap of new consumer engagement and the possibilities of tech transformation, new business models are emerging to better support digital-native audiences and accelerate growth.

Virtualization Is Launching New, Lasting Legacies

The traditional customer acquisition model is over saturated and highly competitive, yet virtualization is a white space that provides room for early movers to outcompete. At the same time, it’s essential we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past as new ethical standards take hold. Through innovative ways of creating community, meaning, and value, virtualization is a new canvas to engage in culture upon which brands can mint their legacies, fuel longevity and define a new era.

Begin Your Virtualization Journey Now

We’re already partnering with the world’s most valued brands to drive incredible growth through virtualization, and we can help you do the same. Connect with us to explore the emerging consumer behaviors of the virtualized era, the influences that shape them, and how you can learn from them to better connect with your audiences.

Inspired by these trends, our Social Innovation Lab teamed up with the Phenomena.Monks, a community of strategists providing exploration of social phenomena, to explore this trend further and summarize their findings in their latest report: “Social Commerce Commences.” ​The resource investigates the different influences—including user behaviors, retail, platform features and more—that have made social channels the place to open up shop, and provides brands with some strategies and insights they can use to meet their audiences more effectively across the digital customer journey. The report is also available in Spanish and Portuguese.

How Social Shapes Shopping

Social commerce is all about meeting people where they are through platforms that provide a unique and evolved experience for shoppers. When the pandemic confined people indoors, mobile usage skyrocketed. At first, people turned to marketplaces to buy products that met their basic needs. Now, most feel comfortable buying almost anything on social platforms—even cars—and spending their time in virtual flagships. 

But although the pandemic played a pivotal role in the expansion of ecommerce, it wasn’t the only factor leading to this phenomenon. Successes in China, where social and live commerce are commonplace, as well as the rising influence of creators have both set the stage for everyone’s favorite new way to shop. With each come new ways for brands to differentiate and better meet the needs of their audiences everywhere they show up.

Mindset (R)evolution 

What we considered to be a “full customer journey” has been flipped on its head. Social commerce ecosystems have set the stage for brands to provide an immersive and frictionless shopping experience. Users are no longer passive customers, rather, they have evolved into creative agents. The “TikTok made me buy it” trend, featuring sometimes offbeat and quirky products that have gone viral on the platform, is an excellent example: social audiences now frame their self-expression by curating their virtual identity and consumption. 

With audiences online becoming a greater influence in the purchases of their peers, social commerce represents a shift in power from retailers and brands to people. This new dynamic suggests brands reexamine how they create meaning in each stage of the purchase journey across almost every product category. 

New Platforms and Spaces

Platforms have evolved from being a top-funnel involvement category to a high-interaction experience category. Consumers understand this, and are raising their expectations for technology’s role in their shopping journey. 

For users, social commerce is not a one-size-fits-all experience—so it shouldn’t be for brands, either. For platforms, the race to become the go-to social commerce destination comes down to powering more effective interactions by understanding their customers first. For example, WhatsApp helps brands meet consumers’ growing expectation for 24/7 customer service through a 1:1 chat interface, while Snapchat’s sophisticated AR lenses give people the chance to engage with and learn more about a product or brand. Aligning platform-specific features with the needs of your audience is the key to connecting with audiences on a meaningful and authentic level.

The report goes deeper into the changing role of communities, creators and platform algorithms in brands’ social commerce strategies, though retail stores are in the midst of a significant transformation of their own—one that runs in parallel to emerging social commerce trends as people rely on technology to fill gaps in the experience. For instance, the concept of “phygital” experiences happen when you mix offline (physical) and online (digital) experiences through technologies like mixed and augmented reality. The future of retail is multidimensional and omnichannel, with stores increasingly taking on the role of community hubs and spaces for brand building.

Above and Beyond: The Next Iteration of Social Commerce

Social commerce is thriving. Even though the key forces and players behind its growth are all operating as independent silos and platforms, their impact on consumer journeys and the decision-making process are still shaped by independent influences. When it comes to the future of social commerce and what drives change for these players, recognizing the adaptability of business models, technologies and the evolution of how trust triggers are designed will remain key to success. Social commerce is dynamic. It's fast-moving. And it requires all players to build out processes and tools to help brands and businesses adapt. To that end, our report will help you strategize to lay the foundation for more meaningful, consumer-centric experiences whether in feeds or in the shopping aisle.

Today, Cerveza Victoria’s Day of the Dead campaign is one of the most anticipated ones in Mexico—as much for the audience as for those bringing it to life. “After four annual campaigns, this has really turned into an epic series,” says Maarten Sündermann, our Head of Film Craft & Directors. “The last campaign was viewed by over 50 million people and grew into something enormous."

The million organic views online serve as a reflection of how branded content can actually build and impact culture. But with each new edition comes increased expectations and new consumer behaviors to take into account, which makes providing a fresh, relevant experience for audiences a bit more challenging every year. The recipe for success, however, is not in what we do; rather, in how we do it.

The Benefits of the Integrated, Multilocal Approach 

From the unforgettable “Xibalba” to this year’s heartfelt “Cempasúchil: The Taste of Reunion,” this series of films takes center stage at the brand’s annual Day of the Dead campaign. This time, the script was built on real comments that people left on Cerveza Victoria’s social channels throughout the years—which became the basis of a deeply touching film reimagining people’s reunion with their late loved ones. “This was a curation of real thoughts that took eight months of research to bring together,” says Sündermann. “It’s a truly unique approach and a great way to accomplish our goal of authentically showcasing Mexico's rich culture and heritage.”

In addition to the three-minute film, which was directed by the renowned Salomon Ligthelm, our team worked hand in hand with the brand and Ogilvy Mexico to craft two 60-second pieces for both the big screen and TV, fit-for-format content for various digital channels, and more. “In today’s virtualized world, it’s imperative that we complement film with digital-first content that brings a new layer to the experience,” says Mauricio Gaya, Media.Monks Creative Director. “We have to think beyond a single piece or format, and do so before the preproduction stage, because each element should be tailored to the platform it’s intended for.”

Even when brands can fully grasp the importance of moving beyond the big idea approach and producing different forms of content, the challenge usually lies in mastering such a wide variety of formats. “Having an integrated team was essential for us to deliver at speed,” explains Gaya. Add to that the flexibility and agility of our multilocal setup, and production at scale becomes much more efficient. “While our creators in Mexico City shot and edited the hero film, the Amsterdam team worked on post-production, and so on. There was a lot of collaboration and coordination between the Film.Monks, and Salomon, of course, in this process.”

Among the many benefits that integrated, multilocal production offers, rapid turnaround times and diversity of thought are some of the most valuable. This setup can provide brands with a multi-disciplinary talent studio where everything happens under the same (figurative) roof, which translates into more efficient results. In that regard, having different time zones also proved to be highly beneficial for the team, as it enabled them to produce almost around the clock. “It was incredible to wake up to new ideas and content from the team in Amsterdam, and vice-versa,” says Gaya.

A Taste for the Unexpected

In addition to enabling the production of fit-for-format content for a myriad of platforms, an integrated production team is key to fitting all the puzzle pieces together. Although each element must be tailored to its specific channel, they are all part of an ecosystem that should feel seamlessly connected in its consistency. “Banners, static images, Instagram stories—every element complements the other, and they all come together to tell one powerful story,” explains Adrián Pastrana, Media.Monks Executive Producer.

The team’s symbiosis in the exploration of channels also led to the discovery of new formats. One example of this is a series of posters featuring original designs, which grew from their desire to experiment with various assets—even when these weren’t part of the original plan. “In the end, we had so many experts working on this that they would keep coming up with new deliverables and ideas that we wouldn’t have tried otherwise,” says Pastrana.

In a similar vein, the cross-collaboration of specialists can open the doors for brands to get more ambitious and introduce technologies that require a higher level of expertise. While many shy away from VFX, for instance, our post-production team managed all special effects as well as the film’s original score.

Brewing Up Passion as the Driving Force

Naturally, the Day of the Dead campaign is known for stirring the passion of our creatives, which significantly contributes to the exploration of new formats. As Gaya puts it, “Everyone wants to be part of this project because they already know that it will expand its reaches beyond borders and cultures. And that speaks to both the outstanding production muscle behind these films and their power to resonate with people everywhere.”

And because the film speaks to our universal human experience, there’s no such thing as insurmountable cultural barriers. If anything, having a multilocal team has added new perspectives and wider reach to the cultural impact of Cerveza Victoria’s Day of the Dead campaign, which has earned media coverage in multiple languages and international outlets. 

Ultimately, it’s passion that forges ties between members of a team, as well as the rewarding experience of making a great project come to life. When experts from different disciplines, formats and regions work together through an integrated production framework, you can better amplify brand relevance and enjoy the sort of speed-to-market and personalization that will keep the audience engaged—time and time again.

To say that the last year and a half has been tough for the travel industry would be an understatement. The same can be said for their creative and advertising partners, who were forced to think on their feet to help them stay relevant for their audiences and connected to them. Now, with vaccination allowing for shorter—if any—quarantines and fewer obstacles, people are starting to plan future trips, and the opportunities to build a renewed relationship with travelers are expanding.

However, people’s approach to travel has changed. From longer trips to cheaper stays, consumer needs are not the same as they used to be—and more than ever they need brands to communicate and guide them in the process of re-entering the world of travel. As we gear up for the new era, here are four trends that will help guide your efforts in the right direction.

Domestic Tourism Is Here to Stay—Literally

In the last few months, the majority of those who dipped their toes into travel experiences did so close to home, fueling a significant rise in domestic holidays. While many of us are excited to hop on a plane and get as far as we can from the places where we quarantined for over a year, the unpredictable restrictions and overall risk of being abroad are clearly dissuading a significant number of people—especially those on the older side. 

Another consideration to weigh is access to social security programs. These are more likely to cover their beneficiaries while inside the country, whereas different programs are required for international trips—in fact, numerous countries list it as a requirement for entry. Unless this situation dramatically changes, we can expect people to carry on exploring their home countries and expanding this trend well into 2022.

For brands, this means that they’ll have to think outside the box and adjust their proposition to reach new audiences, such as in-country or even in-state visitors. In doing so, it’s important to approach domestic destinations not as the second-best option to international travel; rather, as an equally exciting, brand-new experience that’s relevant to today’s customer needs. Also, keep in mind that the content and overall messaging aimed at international travelers can hardly adapt to a local audience, so make sure to tailor it accordingly.

Remote Workers Go the Extra Mile for Travel

It may come as no surprise that the flexible office schemes prompted by the pandemic have allowed for a blend between work and leisure. While the community of digital nomads is not new, the concept of “workations” has definitely expanded, and more location-independent workers are looking to leverage that flexibility and enjoy a dose of new cultures—even if it means taking work with them. 

In the Caribbean, alluring places like Barbados and Aruba started extending visas in a bid to attract remote workers, an offer that was taken up by many. The destination options are endless, but one thing is certain: digital nomads look for longer stays, and therefore, cheaper accommodations, so make sure you keep their needs in mind while speaking to this growing community.

There’s a Thirst for Adventure

Whether you’re targeting “workationers” or tourists looking to fully disconnect, conveying a sense of security is key. In addition to the ever-changing restrictions calling for booking flexibility, travelers are demanding transparent hygiene and clear safety measures. But before you put the pedal to the metal and speed down that road, keep in mind that focusing solely on the safety aspect can be counterproductive. 

Even though the concepts of health and safety have never been more crucial, they are rarely what inspire consumers to seek new adventures. Instead, try to balance comfort and protection with nostalgia and excitement—reconnecting with our dormant love for travel while reimagining what holidays can look like in the near future.

To that end, influencer marketing can help brands lead the conversation around new and future travel paradigms. Booking.com’s Future of Travel campaign is a great example of this. Through their social channels, content creators offered a window into their own experiences, spreading a sense of reassurance and inspiring their audiences to follow their steps. These efforts are not merely about reach; rather, about carving a deeper connection between brand and consumer through the authenticity influencers provide.

Technological Innovation Goes a Long Way

Like with all industries, integrating new technologies can provide endless opportunities for travel brands to adapt and evolve the customer journey. Not long ago, Thomas Cook launched a video-sharing app that allows travelers to create, share and watch content from other users—being just one step away from booking a holiday themselves.

While engaging with audiences on the mainstream social platforms can help build a community, having your own spaces of interaction can result in a more integrated, seamless experience for your consumers. To that end, we at Media.Monks built an Apple TV app for Hotel Xcaret Arte in Mexico—a unified platform that helps guests get familiar with the park, book activities, order room service and even save the photos that were automatically taken in different spots throughout the park to carry their memories with them.

In addition to assisting guests in making the most out of their time at Xcaret, the app allows for a more personalized experience—which plays a major role in strengthening the customer-brand relationship. That said, you don’t need to go as far as developing an app: packing light with simpler experiences like a platform for visitors to download their tour photos can kick-start an ongoing relationship.

Although the travel landscape has changed, I firmly believe that there’s a wide window of opportunity for brands in the industry to engage with consumers in ways we’ve never seen before. As people reassess their approach to traveling and grapple with loads of information, they’ll seek brands’ expertise to connect the dots and help them make their travel experience as effortless as possible. I, for one, am excited to hit the road again and enjoy what travel brands have to offer.