By Business & Finance 
Pictured (L-R): Alan Coleman, CEO Wolfgang Digital, Kevin Kent, Laya Healthcare, Patrice Lennon, Dalata Hotel Group, Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair, Suzanne Quinn, Woodie’s, Louise McKeown Doogen, Magnet Networks
Panelists included Kevin Kent, Laya Healthcare, Patrice Lennon, Dalata Hotel Group, Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair, Suzanne Quinn, Woodie’s and Louise McKeown Doogan, Magnet Networks.
Wolfgang Digital, the award-winning digital marketing company, yesterday showcased the findings of their annual KPI 2020 Report to an audience of the top marketers in the country. This was followed by a panel discussion with a number of marketing experts from a diverse range of major Irish brands.
Wolfgang Digital CEO Alan Coleman
CEO of Wolfgang Digital, Alan Coleman, opened the presentation by saying the frenetic pace of the industry comes at a cost, that digital marketers don’t step back to look at the big picture often enough. He spoke about what he described as the largest migration known to humankind.
“Four billion of the world’s eight billion inhabitants have moved online to the digital world for communication, entertainment and shopping,” he said.
This has created a new economic paradigm whereby the oil and steel companies traditionally seen as the most valuable have been usurped by companies who are designed to monetise this migration to the digital world.
“Data is the new oil”, he said, adding that the core role of digital marketing is to create more valuable interactions for customers.
“Four billion of the world’s eight billion inhabitants have moved online to the digital world for communication, entertainment and shopping.”
Director of Wolfgang Digital, Brendan Almack, spoke about the importance of cultivating existing customers and the measurement of social transactions.
“When the next recession hits, as it will, we need to be able to show the value of social when being eyeballed by the CEO”. He added that a top priority for marketing teams is to own their company’s data.
“Our reliance on other party’s data becomes problematic. Own your own CRM system and build your customer data. You’ll get insights that you can then leverage.”
Panel Discussion
The panel discussion began with Louise McKeown Doogan from Magnet Networks speaking about her aversion to ‘brand love’ and how the emphasis should be on the delivery of promises made to customers, that this is what actually creates brand loyalty. She added that marketing teams need to fully understand the role of sales in a company and advocated that marketers spend a year in a sales team to fully grasp this.
“Data is the new oil”.
Following on, Kevin Kent from Laya Healthcare spoke about going back to basics and how it’s all about trust. He said their company motto, what’s right for the member is right for us, perfectly describes the ethos. He also described the value of email communication with customers with the caveat that the content is unique, relevant and timely.
“Our reliance on other party’s data becomes problematic. Own your own CRM system and build your customer data.”
Kenny Jacobs from Ryanair spoke about how ‘brand love’ is not a priority, that people love to travel but might not necessarily love the company that they travel with. He said that media reputation is not as important these days and what matters is getting the customer from A to B at the lowest possible price point. He emphasised the importance of having a user-friendly website and app and illustrated this with the statistic that 96% of Ryanair bookings are made directly on the website. He underlined the importance of fearlessness and told the audience of top marketers, “Don’t be afraid to make enemies.”
“Don’t be afraid to make enemies.”
Suzanne Quinn from Woodie’s said that a company can capitalise from ‘brand love’ if it exists organically but that there is little value in trying to create it otherwise. She added that Woodie’s was able to replicate the positive in-store culture from their branches onto their channels by creating an intuitive customer experience on their website.
“When the next recession hits, as it will, we need to be able to show the value of social when being eyeballed by the CEO”.
Patrice Lennon from the Dalata Hotel Group spoke about their frenemies, the online travel agents, that they generate 39% of the company’s business whereas the preference would be for direct purchases via their own website. She emphasised the importance of the customer journey and said they looked to their competitors to see how seamless the booking journey is and how clear the billing instructions are.
The panel concluded with some questions from the audience.
