Chris Wood

🧠 “PRIORITISING THE CUSTOMER PROBLEMS FIRST”, so true, so effective, we’re really reeping the benefits from this mantra. Real solutions for real problems lead to real improvements (CX) and real results (performance)! And often just the simplest of solutions🚀

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Not everyone likes to hear this I know but standardisation and getting the fundamentals right are key to the success of retail media. Let’s work together as an industry to make this happen

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Omar Oakes in The Media Leader UK on the increasing gulf between the media that produce content with its attendant cost and risk versus those that take their content from users, without risk and where the 'cost' is revenue share (hardly the same thing). Advertising spend performs several functions including provision of the funding for high quality content to advertise in. Making good content is a risky business and if media owners don't get the ad revenues they need, they will rely more heavily on lower cost and less risky content. Or eventually disappear. Too much of advertisers' money goes into their extended supply-chains, intermediaries and media that has no content cost or risk and which is less effective at reaching audiences and delivering business. Time to reassess... https://lnkd.in/emDgMxQN

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A fascinating read about a key moment in the history of advertising self-regulation, thanks to Sue Eustace and the team at History of Advertising Trust.

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Let’s celebreate good when we see it… This certainly got my attention. Well played to the Currys plc social team (and their partners!). Great use of the platform with a real understanding of how to create assets that work in the right context. And it’s not dull! We need more entertaining advertising. Here was my favourite comment: ‘For an ‘old brand’ this is really good’. #mediaplanning #advertising https://lnkd.in/eKQSNGUs

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If you use market research you've probably heard of synthetic data, generated by AI language models, which could in theory be used in place of consumer responses. Our latest article considers how realistic that is, and the cases in which it fails. Find our article here: https://lnkd.in/eYuiM5qK #SyntheticData #MarketResearch #AI

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Feels like there's a huge consultative opportunity at the moment for agencies to: 1) Assess the in-depth operational set up of a Media function, channels/tech/data/creative/measurement, the usual 👩‍🔬 2) Understand the opportunity for a tailored AI integration programme in the short/long term 📈 3) Tailor what's available today and stick around to embed it / measure the impact. Plan for the longer term outlook and work together towards more AI integration (if the results clearly state there's benefit in doing so) 🎢 The AI Media space feels confusing for client side marketers at the moment and I'm not seeing anyone truly nail the simplification and "what this means for you". Huge value opportunity for agencies/consultancies in this space. #Media #DigitalMarketing #MediaAI #Agencies

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Google Plots Break Up of Google Interesting story into today's Daily Telegraph (See: https://lnkd.in/ee-ua9FX) about the US government's potential plan to break up Google. This centres around Google's incursions into the browser and mobile operating systems market. It even features a comment by yours truly (See image below). I'm often a critic of Google, espectially the way they have degraded the original search engine product. But in this case I am coming out in their defence. Essentially, Google's Chrome browser is a much better product than the Internet Explorer product, from Microsoft, that it replaced. In the case of the Android mobile operating system, had it not existed, there would be no serious competition for Apple's iPhone. Both products have created consumer choice is highly competitive markets. If Google is transgressing by utilising both these technologies to bolster their defences in the search market, then market regulation should focus its efforts directly in that area. My personal view is that regulators are always some way behind developments in both technology and markets. Never more so than in the online world. Competition unfolds at lightning speed. Only a year ago the financial markets signalled that Chat GPT would massively weaken the whole position of traditional search engines and Google's market capitalisation with it. Perhaps, in about 5 years time, regulators will shift their attention to breaking up the leaders in AI.

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The use of AI to deliver strategic insights provides a competitive advantage to brands as well their retail partners. Couple this with the opportunity it provides to deliver personalisation with real purpose to improve customer experience across all touch points and you have a real game changer.

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Tricky to get into, fairly good chances of promotion, average pay and poor retention of staff. That's The Economist's view of working for WPP in their recent "best British companies to work for to get ahead" report. Is this a judgement on WPP or the wider marketing and communications industry? I sense it's the latter. We know from industry censuses that our industry has to do better on mental health, gender equality, parental support, age related inclusivity and class participation. That said, my experience in the industry has been highly positive. It's been hard work, but also incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to do work I'm proud of for amazing brands in many different sectors. I've been lucky enough to learn, grow and lead surrounded by supportive and talented people - which is all I could hope for. For me this highlights the importance of the ongoing work to improve access to and better support people through the industry - especially at a time where views on ED&I initiatives are changing. https://lnkd.in/e9pi-ZAD

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Working with the success of our Brands brings success to your Businesses

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Fully support the stance of the the DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK techUK Centre for Information Policy Leadership (CIPL) and Advertising Association. Regardless of the outcome of tomorrow's UK General Election, it is imperative that all political parties recommit to modern data policies. This will ensure the UK can fully harness the power of data-driven and digital technologies which are crucial for economic growth and improved public services. And the pace of this transformation is only continue to accelerate. https://lnkd.in/eR3QXdrA #DataPolicy #DigitalTransformation #EconomicGrowth #PublicServices #UKElection

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Today's all-new Cog Blog on how a simple example based on newspaper audiences illustrates many of the issues faced within today's media planning and buying business. Or should that be media buying and planning business?

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Insightful data on the UK video market from our friends at Enders Analysis that is consistent with our analysis. In 2030 52% of viewing will be via broadcast vs 58% in 2023. So a slow decline not a massive dropofff. While 60% of British <15s watch YouTube on TV every week (thanks to Evan Shapīro for that stat from #IBC2024 - validated by what happens here in the Firth household), the UK has an old population vs. the US for example with well-funded PSBs, and linear broadcast still has a strong foundation for years to come. Still, the need to innovate on cross-platform distribution of linear broadcast remains - we expect to see an increase in partnerships as broadcasters, content owners and platforms realise that together-is-better in a fragmented market. https://lnkd.in/e5Ez8RRj

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Im excited to be speaking at the The AI Summit in London - please join me on June 12th at Tobacco dock. If your a business leader and there is anything in particular you want to hear about, let me know below and I will do my best to address it. My talk is called 'Navigating the New Frontiers: the transformative power of AI across industries'. I am aiming to give business leaders an overview of how AI is impacting across multiple industries, but also the expectations that consumers are going to have in the near future because of AI. More so than ever consumer experiences in products and services powered by AI will create significant expectation shifts in speed of delivery, personalisation and experience. Im going to go over this and lay out how to think about and plan what business can do to take advantage of these shifts. As always my aim is to speak with clarity, a lack of jargon and to give some confidence about what's happening and also what's going to happen so leaders can prepare with confidence. 12 Jun 2024 10:10 Industries Stage

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Really grateful to two market-leading Editors of subscription-led businesses and terrific ex-colleagues of mine, Catrin Griffiths and Alastair McLellan, for spending time with me last week on B2B content strategy. If you want to watch on-demand there is a link below. Highlights for me included: Impact on content strategy of the move to a paid subscription business model 17min46 Building a high value B2B content proposition 14min02, 23min05, & 31min29 How to motivate editors & editorial teams 29min42 & 50min47 Removing Print as a platform 45min02: https://lnkd.in/gbwftfwR

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Despite the latest IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Bellwether report showing a freeze in marketing budgets, Alex Cheeseman, our Head of Enterprise NE, sees potential in this moment. Brands that pivot to trusted publishers and invest in video content can build consumer trust and navigate economic uncertainty. With 91% of users craving more video content, this shift is crucial. Read more on Performance Marketing World. #IPABellwether #IPABellwether

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I was excited at the prospect of Quirk's Media London Insights event, and it certainly didn't disappoint! The energy, enthusiasm and positivity at the event was palpable - the insights industry is full of creative, intelligent, engaging and thoroughly friendly professionals (no, we are not all spreadsheet freaks / clipboard warriors / .ppt addicts 😉). So, it was a real privilege to spend time chatting with friends, old and new, as well as listening to a diverse range of talks and visiting stands to learn about new tools and approaches from agencies that I can welcome into my network of partners. Key highlights? 🎯 lots of focus on the importance of building empathy with our consumers/shoppers/customers... moving beyond static reporting of research results to accessing and using real consumer/shopper stories and experiences to add authenticity and power to insights 😑 despite this drive towards closing the empathy gap... Katie Angier telling us that as more and more people "of a certain age" use Botox, it becomes increasingly difficult to build empathy with each other as the stuff doesn't merely iron out wrinkles, it also inhibits our muscles to the point that micro-expressions are no longer possible (so we can't read each other's reactions / feelings so well)... who'd have thunk it?! 🖥 the inevitable march of AI solutions from predictive to generative and how these will, over time, completely change how we create, manage and deliver insight projects. Slightly concerning that there is an emerging belief that AI analytical power (especially of qualitative data) will close the gap between qual and quant research to the point that there will no longer be a distinction, and that human researchers can easily and credibly be replaced by AI bots: qual at scale is where we are headed in this belief system. This is not a viewpoint I adhere to, preferring instead to see a future where "traditional" (for want of a better word) qual. and quant. can co-exist with the (very good) scalable unstructured research tools that are now emerging 😤 Phil Barden telling us that he hates consumers! That was a shock - I've never heard him say that before... but was soon reassured that his comment was tongue in cheek, referencing the fact that consumers don't read strategy papers, so creating more work for the rest of us in creating brain friendly touchpoints that will successfully deliver what we want to convey 🙃 the sight of my good friend Katherine Rhodes rushing for her bag in search of a tissue when I burst in to tears as I told her of the recent departure of our beloved dog, Millie (the fluster and the rush... and her kindness helped stem the tears and bring back a smile 🙂) 🍹 Paul Thomas delivering a fascinating talk on connecting authentically with bartenders and, via his delivery style, winning the prize for "the most audience laughs of the day" Can't wait 'till next year now...

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Great start already to today's PRCA Conference. Fascinating to hear from Simon Whitehead at Burson about the merger of two behemoths, the PR industry of the future and its own push into data management and analysis, creative strategy and direction, and emerging tech and new publishing platforms. As ever I asked the question about how we demonstrate value to business. Wholly agree with Simon's response that we need to "press higher into organisations", talk to the C-Suite - and that predictive technologies offer a way for us to become a more valuable service. FT Strategies George Montagu also full of interesting insight. FT's research has looked at what young people want from news because the provision is currently broken for them. Young people say they want trusted sources, information that is personally significant to them and content in a range of storytelling formats. Brands need to show up in their spaces and to provide the reporting entity and structure, but to leave the story telling to creators. Young people also want to understand a brand’s motivations, where the funding is coming from their news sources - and how that impacts reporting in terms of bias. Looking forward to the rest of the day. Image: George Montagu from FT Strategies next to a slide describing the ideal news experience for young people.

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