Senior marketing professionals’ exodus to technology giants had raised eyebrows once; even signalled the leadership position that disruptors such as Google and Facebook had begun to command. Over time however, it is this switch that has made conversations between technology-led media owners and marketers and agencies productive.
Kirk Perry, who was with Procter & Gamble (P&G) for 24 years before moving to Google as president of Brand Solutions, is a case in point. With accomplishments such as the ‘Proud Sponsor of Moms’ campaign during the London 2012 Olympics or the turnaround of P&G’s baby care business under his belt, Perry knows what it is to sit on the other side of the table. “I have been on the marketer’s chair, and now I endeavour to take the best of that world and apply it to tech,” he says. At Google, he leads the company’s efforts with 30 largest advertisers and top six holding companies.
Among the things that he wishes he did differently at P&G, is making digital training integral to building an organisation. “At P&G in the 1990s, we would inculcate people’s DNA with training. You would know what would work and what won't. That is not true for digital. In the industry, we start screen-first, but consumers don’t think like that,” he comments.
Staying In The GameChange, before you have to, is the mantra. “I have worked in an industry where if you grew slightly faster than the category, it was success. In digital, if you don’t grow over 20 per cent, you fail. Look at examples such as BlackBerry, Altavista or Netscape — they did not change. At Google, we obsolete ourselves before someone else does,” says Perry.
He explains that disruptors, across industries, are coming from nowhere and chipping into the shares of larger, more established players. “Productive paranoia drives us,” he says.
Perry is a firm believer in the programmatic of everything. While advertising technology is already buying and planning for digital, it will be soon seen in TV, print and out-of-home as well. “At some point, the industry will go the way of the stock market and exchanges, and we want to prepare our partners and clients before that happens,” he insists.
While marketers have access to data, by the time they plan and execute, the data has already changed. “It is shot gun when you need laser. Real-time marketing mix and modelling is coming. Imagine clients directing dollars in real time for all media,” Perry says. Real-time insight is a strength Google has spoken of for long. The platform’s ability to study trends coming from the daily searches of 2.5 billion people, allows for discussions from product and marketing standpoint.
Perry is also bullish on the growth of dynamic creative. A marketer’s ability to combine sight, sound, motion and dynamically create and serve these ads is still seen bordering on science fiction, but Perry states the technology is nearly here. “We have no choice but to change before we have to. We cannot expect our clients to be experts on all things digital. The art of a great leader is asking the right question. Those are the ones who change the trajectory of the brand,” he says.
