From a business standpoint, the market is on an upward trajectory thanks to the upcoming Expo 2020 and the new initiatives announced by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that helped facilitate a high level of digital understanding among multiple new sectors, developing new market players in the process. Digitally, we are entering a new phase of data gathering and analytics. We have moved away from building personas to identifying potential customers based on their behaviour, and the frequent upgrades to technology will make it even easier and faster to shift a consumer from an awareness stage to a conversion and retention one.
WHAT WILL MOST DISRUPT THE INDUSTRY IN THE COMING YEAR?
Integrated data hubs between multiple digital platforms and the accurate collated data will be two key results of the artificial intelligence phase we are at. AI will be in the spotlight for the coming few years, rendering digital transformation outdated.
WHAT WORK FROM LAST YEAR ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
We successfully helped a key Dubai government entity advance on its digital marketing tactics in just six months, taking it from mass to personal communication and allowing it to skip the personalisation phase by way of our in-depth understanding of data science.
WHAT ONE DIGITAL HABIT SHOULD WE ALL ADOPT?
We should interact with the ads that represent our personality to help platforms understand us. Our digital journeys and content exposure will be based on the data we are leaving behind every digital interaction; it is not based on random, future targeting plans.
HOW DO YOU SEE ONLINE AND OFFLINE INTERACTING IN THE MEDIA SPHERE?
Though Facebook, Google, and other platforms have launched products to help marketers track real conversions from online to offline and capture real interaction, like a push to stores and store-visit ads, I don’t personally believe we are at the cusp of perfect integration. However, we are in an evolutionary phase, and nothing is impossible.