In his Forrester report “CMOs: Define Your Role in Digital Transformation,” Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Thomas Husson notes that the average CMO tenure is just over four years. “This volatility is primarily due to the CMO’s poorly designed, unclear role and the high mismatch between the CMO’s authority and the CEO’s expectations,” writes Husson.

It’s easy to understand the frustrations that CMOs face. In an effort to better align the creative and technical capabilities of the brand, many organizations have redefined or broken up the CMO role into new ones: things like Chief Collaboration Officers or Chief Innovation Officers, both of which are positioned to bridge together the marketing and tech departments.

A lack of role definition can severely limit the effectiveness of a brand’s marketing efforts. “Consolidation and ownership are key when developing a campaign that goes beyond the status quo and evolves the brand,” says Chris Byrne, Director of Partnerships and Production at MediaMonks. “Some organizations involve too many decision-makers in the creative and production processes, while others enlist a Jack-of-all-trades who masters none.” The result can be a campaign that feels unfocused rather that holistic across the user journey, signaling the need for brands to rethink the way they reach audiences.

Transforming the Marketing Approach

In conversation with brands, Byrne has noticed that many of them still focus on making a shiny film or TVC that anchors their marketing strategy for a year—with support for other channels like social taking a back seat. “It should all be thought about up-front,” says Byrne. “Otherwise, you’re missing out on the breadth of the full consumer journey, and you’re incurring a lot of costs by scheduling different shoots every month.”

It’s easy to see why despite the costs, brands remain focused on the traditional big-idea model. “A nice film is something you can proudly show off, while it’s more difficult to show off a social post,” Byrne says. MediaMonks founder Wesley ter Haar made a similar point in the Forrester report “The Cost of Losing Creativity,” mentioning the importance not to dismiss opportunities for purposeful brand-building across the digital ecosystem.

Far from producing a TVC and calling it a day, brands must be equipped to look at the options available to offer their audiences more lasting experiences that speak to the contexts through which they engage. “Look at the success of brands like Quip or L’Oreal,” says Byrne. “These CPG brands have met success because they’re able to convey their value through a series of short social content.”

Building Equity Through New Interfaces

The evolving marketing approach goes beyond positioning relevant content to the user across touch points. Today’s most future-focused brands are seeking out new interfaces and ecosystems in which they can carve out a space and mark their territory, offering remarkable and never-before-seen experiences in the process.

One brand that has done an excellent job in anticipating future creative possibilities is Mastercard. Having dropped the “Mastercard” name from its logo earlier this year, the card lender unveiled its sonic brand identity—basically, the sound version of its visual identity, which will include hold music, acceptance sounds and sound logos. The change anticipates a world in which voice-operated and screenless digital devices become the primary interfaces through which consumers engage with the brand.

Voice is one major interface on the horizon, but what about augmented reality? Popular musical artist Childish Gambino has innovated beyond the typical music video with his Pharos AR app—released this year and developed in collaboration with MediaMonks, Google and Unity—which treats users to a personal and interactive performance that takes place within their immediate surroundings. In addition to bringing elements of Childish Gambino’s Pharos Festival to users no matter where they are, the app serves as a direct channel through which the artist can release new music and additional content.

Offering New Possibilities with the Latest Tech

Both of the forays into semi-uncharted territory mentioned above give brands the opportunity to create resonant, emotive experiences—which is exactly the thing that’s missing from too many campaigns in the era of ad blocking. Raja Rajamannar, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Mastercard noted the need for advertising and creative to go a little further to deliver purposeful, value-added experiences. “With all the ad blocks, with the migration of consumers to ad free environments, even by paying money, I don’t think that advertising, the way we know it, will last for a very long time. It’s going to transform completely,” he said on stage at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity last month. “In that situation we have to find alternate ways [to reach the consumer].”

And Mastercard definitely knows some unique ways to get people together—like employing advanced telepresence robots that let hospitalized children step onto the soccer field with their favorite players, as seen in its “Impossible Mascots” campaign.

The campaign shows the power to provide more purposeful experiences that don’t just touch viewer’s hearts through the TV screen, but truly impact lives for the better. Known for its iconic “Priceless” campaigns that highlight extraordinary experiences, Mastercard leveraged cutting-edge technology to truly make the impossible possible. Of course, pulling it off was tricky: working with WMcCann, we developed the robots to ensure they could safely traverse the field’s terrain in rain or shine. A built-in display and camera enabled the children to communicate with players face-to-face, and custom-designed streaming software ensured a crystal-clear signal immune to interference from TV transmitters and radio frequencies.

Of course, not every brand is in the market to develop custom-built, state-of-the-art robots—although it sounds like the world would be a cooler place if they could. Still, the point stands that brands must evolve beyond the traditional Madison Avenue mindset to make a bigger impact on their audience across their journeys. By developing more focused roles capable of marrying creative and tech, or by signing on partners who can fill in those gaps, brands begin to take the first step into an impactful future of resonant, meaningful messages.

Advertising Week Europe has come and gone, featuring hundreds of speakers from some of the major players in creative and advertising—including our very own Sir Martin Sorrell of S4 Capital and Martin Verdult, Managing Director at MediaMonks London.

Over the course of the week, brands and agencies alike aired out their grievances, celebrated achievements and explored emerging opportunities for storytelling and connecting with consumers. While there’s a lot to talk about among the 200-some events hosted by the conference, we’re zeroing in on a handful of overarching themes most urgent to brands and agencies alike.

5G is Coming (Eventually)

It’s no advertising conference without a lot of talk about 5G. And while there’s a lot of talk about the technology, there’s still a dearth in tangible examples of how the next generation of mobile connectivity will affect creative storytelling.

But that’s fine for now. 5G is said to revolutionize the way people work and consume entertainment, and political or privacy concerns are sure to rise in response to any technology that promises to change everything (especially in Europe). We’re happy to see the discussion around 5G approached from all angles; tech brands that are ahead of the curve will welcome these discussions rather than shy away from them, building consumers’ and partners’ trust in the process.

TV is Still Exciting to Brands…

The future of TV ad spend is unclear thanks to cord cutters’ mass exodus to streaming services and OTT boxes, but one thing at Advertising Week Europe is clear: brands still place TVC on a pedestal. This may be because broadcasters’ response to recent streaming video controversies was to  frame their own environments as brand-safe alternatives, according to Digiday. Or it might just be because TV viewing is on the rise once you add digital to the equation.

While the one-to-many model of the TVC is rather outdated in today’s omnichannel, connected and stream-binging world, there’s no denying that hero content or a quality film has a certain caché to it. That’s why we’re excited to see the opportunities that addressable TVC provides for brands to reach viewing audiences in a more personalized way. Essentially, the value of TVC won’t be as a primary pillar on which entire campaigns are built; rather, they become one of several entry points to hook consumers’ attention with increased contextual relevancy.

…But Audio is Gaining Traction

With growing popularity of smart speakers and audio content, organizations are beginning to wonder how they might use sonic branding to their advantage—whether that takes the shape of investing in voice or finding ways to better use a new class of influencers within radio and podcasting space. The rewards of sonic branding can be grand: after all, who will ever forget the sound of MailChimp’s iconic ad spot in popular podcast Serial’s heyday? But regarding influencers brand safety is of chief concern in the European market, which is why we’ve come up with some tips for how brands can collaborate while safeguarding themselves.

Every brand knows the importance of its voice, but now they’ll have to take things a bit more literally. When 5G does finally hit, it can drastically increase the capabilities of Internet of Things devices—the very same devices that users commonly invoke via Alexa, Google Assistant and sometimes even Siri. With the importance of voice rising as an interface, brands are looking for opportunities to speak up and be heard.

Brands and Agencies Feel at Odds

At The Drum’s “10 Questions With…” event on Tuesday, the general vibe of the room suggested that agencies in attendance were slow to recognize the need for a digital-first approach. Comments about a return to the old way of doing things—eschewing data-led campaigns and chasing the singular Big, Creative Idea instead—got the audience nodding. You know what they say: old habits die hard.

Unfortunately for them, brands aren’t keen to wait on an obsolete approach. The reality is that they require results for their advertising and marketing spend, highlighting the essential role that data and metrics play in their everyday needs. “Nowadays, more CMOs are compensated on how well they deliver ROI,” says Storm Keys, Director of European Partnerships at MediaMonks London. “The responsibility of a campaign’s success falls directly on them.”

In general, brands desire more control over their marketing, as we’ve seen in those that have gone in-house. “They want to own their data, better understand their consumers and better understand media buy,” says Keys. And that trend isn’t a bad thing; we know that brands and agencies can play nice because we’ve done it before. Through new, flexible models and end-to-end services, the agencies of the future will help brands become nimbler and faster in producing the content their audiences crave.