The marketing business has been faced with various changes in the past. However, there are some that have enough scale and momentum to be dubbed as revolutions that are forcing marketers, agencies and media companies to transform. The situation is the same for technology-led businesses such as Google as well that have identified the likes of mobile, video, programmatic and machine learning among the revolutions that are making the most impact on businesses.
At the centre of it all is the consumer and what steps a company can take - irrespective of the nature of its business - in creating value for consumers. "There is nothing that we do unless it is creating some kind of value for consumers - at times immediately, and some times over a period of time," explained Philipp Schindler, SVP & Chief Business Officer, Google, while speaking at Advertising Week.
With consumers at the core, another layer that is of significance for Google is creating the right partnerships that include client relationships. Some partnerships that Google has formed entailed creating a joint business plan with a revenue share model. "We need to focus on creating success for our partners because when we get that right, everything else will follow. It is important for us that partner ecosystems grow successfully, and this can only be achieved when you keep the consumer focus in mind," he reiterated.
At times the mantra is as simple as follow the consumer but sometimes, products need to innovate and something unexpected has to be offered to consumers. Cases such as these can result in as much success as it can in failure.
"We do focussed groups and market research to better understand the consumer. There are cases when it is difficult for consumers to say what they want, when they don't know something but the eventual success of every product depends on the consumers," Mr Schindler said.
A more recent example of the failure was in the form of Google Glass. He admitted that Google Glass was one of the examples when Google did get it right. But he added that when companies are pushing the boundaries of technology, such things happen. He also divulged that even though Google Glass did not get consumer level of acceptance, it worked well for enterprise solutions, where this kind of technology is useful. This is mostly in cases, when professionals have significant amount of information to digest, and timing is of essence.
Another area where Google's approach has become more sophisticated is towards collecting and utilizing data. "There is immense value that can be created for consumers from data. However, it is important to not collect data for the sake of data but put it to use for creating good products, while ensuring the balance privacy, transparency and control," he said.
The revolutions that are transforming the way Google is conducting business and gearing up for the future, are the same for agencies and advertisers as well. Eventually traditional media models will evolve, and with better targeting and advertising solutions, more value will be created for advertisers as well.
