Seventy percent of consumers like to see some form of personalisation from marketing communications, according to market research by SAP Emarsys, while 44 percent expect personalised offers or discounts in exchange for their loyalty to a brand. What’s more, according to research from management consultancy McKinsey & Co., companies that excel at personalisation generate 40 percent more revenue from those activities than average players.

SAP Emarsys, an entity of leading software producer SAP, is an omnichannel customer engagement platform that builds, launches and scales personalised marketing campaigns across digital channels. The company works with more than 1,500 brands, including the likes of Adidas Runtastic, Aldo, Brand Alley, Harrods, Innovasport, Puma, Reformation and Zumiez.

To power personalised marketing campaigns, SAP Emarsys collects customer data to create AI-powered analytics to measure and drive business intelligence on the end-consumer. This streamlines the customer lifecycle management to grow acquisition, lifetime value, purchase frequency, average order value and retention.

Customer campaigns to drive loyalty are enhanced by SAP Emarsys’ partners such as communications platform Sinch, with whom the company educates customers like Harrods on best-in-class practices such as conversational channels and how to boost customer engagement via WhatsApp and other channels. SAP Emarsys users can also now take advantage of generative AI-powered tools through its ‘AI Subject Line Generator,’ enabling marketers to streamline their communications and customer engagements.

These initiatives are elements of the overarching omnichannel strategy which SAP Emarsys empowers marketers to adopt. Resources like The Omnichannel Difference, published in partnership with research and advisory company Forrester, highlight the benefits of embracing this approach. Key findings note that 89 percent of organisations will prioritise “personalising experiences across channels/touchpoints” over the next 12 months. The report concludes that omnichannel “isn’t a nice to have, it is a business critical”.

Now, BoF sits down with Emarsys CEO Joanna Milliken, to further explore how the company is leveraged by fashion and beauty businesses to drive customer loyalty and engagement.

What are the core aspects of SAP Emarsys’ omnichannel strategy for fashion and beauty clients?

The world moves quickly — there’s a new channel preference every day, so being adaptable is at the core of our strategy. Each customer has unique challenges — thus, ensuring that they are growing, while remaining responsible to business and being equipped with the tools to be nimble and move quickly, is important to us.

Connection is another critical aspect. Our approach is tailored to each industry — but regardless, we want to make sure that when it comes to our solutions, everything is connected. Our customers work with a large partner marketing ecosystem and it is important that they can connect those solutions with their core marketing automation solutions such that they can be fully empowered to maximise value for their customers.

The solutions we offer have to be insightful — another core pillar — which is all about being AI-driven. This means we can provide the necessary insights that marketers need to understand what they should do next, which variables to change, or which combinations of factors work best.

Why is personalisation critical in brand marketing today?

How personalisation is executed has changed a lot, but the desire and the intent for personalisation from marketers has been pretty consistent. That is because it shows a customer that you are listening. Customers are also smart — and understand the concept of a value exchange. If they are giving you all this information in order to download and use your app, they expect you to use it responsibly.

How can brands leverage SAP Emarsys to enhance customer loyalty and engagement?

When we look at metrics like customer lifetime value, we are looking for sincere engagement with the brand and customers that default to using that brand or that product — loyalty is the ultimate outcome. But there are many different types of loyalty, which we track in our yearly SAP Emarsys global Customer Loyalty Index: there can be active or “true” loyalists, actively promoting something on your behalf; there can be “silent” loyalists who have used a product for 20 years, but not necessarily advocating for it; there are “incentivised” loyalists that are only loyal based upon price and promotion. Understanding those insights, combined with AI, becomes useful in knowing what levers are the right ones to adjust for your business.

Through our research, we are seeing that loyalty is on the decline, because price and product are not the only factors that businesses need to compete on. They must also compete on that overall experience — and that is where differentiation can be found.

Meeting your customer on the right channel, finding out where they spend their time, where they want to engage and showing that you are listening to that and honouring those preferences by delivering content that is relevant to them, can increase customer loyalty. You are removing all the friction such they can enjoy each of those brand interactions.

Take for instance our new Mobile Wallet channel, which has been adopted by customers like City Beach and many more globally. If you sign up for loyalty on a website, you immediately get that loyalty card in your wallet. As a result, our customers have permission to continue to communicate with the consumer that way. Adding these new channels is driving uplift, both in terms of traffic back to websites and increased purchases.

How do you work with other leading service providers to boost brand partners’ experience through SAP Emarsys?

Mention Me are customer advocacy marketing experts and a technology partner of SAP Emarsys. We marry our expertise to empower businesses to understand their customer base through not only their purchasing behaviour but also their advocacy actions such as referral and reviews. Through unique advocacy data and insights, Mention Me enables brands to drive incremental revenue and increased profitability — and SAP Emarsys can utilise these insights for enhanced customer engagement and personalisation

For example, in 2021, global sports brand and SAP Emarsys customer, Puma, was looking to transform its fanbase into a key growth driver for their direct-to-consumer channel to achieve two goals: acquiring new customers and nurturing brand advocacy and loyalty. Through our partnership with Mention Me, they identified their biggest advocates and loyal customers. Results so far from Puma’s referral programme include: delivering six times ROI (following six months of optimisation); referred customers are four times more likely to introduce new customers; while 10 percent of referrals convert into new customers.

Why is the adoption of AI capabilities critical for marketing organisations’ success?

Marketing organisations now and in the future are going to face challenges if they are not leveraging AI solutions because of the need for speed to market. For example, AI-powered subject line generators can help marketers when they might otherwise have spent hours thinking up the right subject line for an email. Every brand needs to move faster and AI allows them to automate many tasks, but also glean the necessary insights in order to do that effectively.

Through our research, we are seeing that loyalty is on the decline, because price and product are not the only factors that businesses need to compete on. They must also compete on that overall experience.

Data is the currency of AI, so when you are using a marketing solution like SAP Emarsys, we are collecting all of that data. You need advocacy data, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) data and supply chain information, customer behaviour data — all of that has to be brought together in order to make actionable and leverageable solutions.

If you are not able to do that as a business, then you can’t feed the AI to generate the results you need to make the correct decisions. For example, we help our customers predict the best time to launch their campaigns based on past consumer behaviour in different time zones. We can provide AI-powered insights on segments and audiences for past performance, as well as future predictions of what they are going to do. We are constantly trying to find places where AI adds immediate value.

What insights can you share on the evolution of the customer journey?

We have a report that we did in conjunction with research and advisory company Forrester called ‘The Omnichannel Difference’, which is designed to map out various stages of the customer journey and offers insights into what is happening there. For example, we studied customers’ pre-purchase journeys and found that 50 percent of customers are struggling with websites and chatbots.

The report also found that there is an overreliance on third-party channels such as social media and digital advertising. Email, mobile and direct mail are less popular with marketers even though they are better sources of first-party data. When used effectively, these channels are sufficient to inform omnichannel strategy without reliance on third-party data.

The report provides insight back to the customers about the importance of being effective when you are using those channels, the real time engagement and also the inherent need that we all have for human interaction from time to time as well.

What is the next strategic business focus for SAP Emarsys?

We are experiencing one of the most rapid technological revolutions of our lifetime. We have used AI solutions for a long time and I think we have been taking them a little bit for granted — a huge part of our efforts are around continuing to put AI first for our customers.

Additionally, we want to continue making it easier than ever to adopt all the new channels for marketing. We provide mobile solutions, SMS solutions, mobile wallet, website personalisation and TikTok advertising. As a result, customers can try and test new channels more easily with our help. Supporting them with overall adoption is going to be key for us.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by SAP Emarsys as part of a BoF partnership.

San Francisco-born fashion brand Gap, which sits within the brand roster of parent company Gap Inc. alongside Banana Republic, Athleta and Old Navy, is on a journey to reignite the brand. Under the direction of Gap Inc. CEO Richard Dickson, former president and chief operating officer of Barbie-owner Mattel, and Gap CEO Mark Breitbard, Gap’s renewed focus is both creative and strategic.

Positioning the brand as a platform for creative and cultural players, Gap is tapping into what made it special in its heyday. To spearhead this strategy, Gap’s creative team is delving into the archive and collaborating with today’s creative talent in the entertainment and music industry, celebrating self-expression. Its most recent spring campaign, Linen Moves, focuses on linen and nods to the brand’s heritage. British music group Jungle and South African singer songwriter Tyla collaborated with Gap to feature in a new video, wearing the brand’s spring linen collection. The campaign aims to nod to the cultural zeitgeist in an authentic way through music, dance and movement, tapping into Gap’s cultural voice once more.

Critical to reigniting the Gap brand and its product offering are the creative teams at the core of the business. Gap Inc. boasts a 95,000-strong workforce globally and its San Francisco and New York headquarters foster creativity through its collaborative workspaces and culture — which supports talent’s movement across its roster of brands.

Leading the creative team at Gap, a group of graphic designers, editors, art directors, stylists and more, is Calvin Leung. His career began on the frontline with customers, working at brands including Banana Republic before working with streetwear labels like The Brooklyn Circus. Ultimately, Leung joined Gap Inc.’s Rotational Management Program, designed to build future leaders by providing talent with a range of brand and product function experiences. Leung went on to hold merchandising and creative leadership roles at Old Navy and Yeezy Gap before landing his current position.

Now, BoF sits down with Leung to learn more about how the brand is inspiring its creative team, fostering talent and evolving for the future.

What is your creative focus today as head of creative at Gap?

We want to focus on creating cultural relevance for Gap again. Gap is one of those brands that, in the best version of itself, can be a leader, a cultural beacon. It’s about getting back to that place, which starts with looking at the past to inspire the future.

The spring campaign is an example of this approach. I had my eye on Jungle for a while, and when the music video for “Back on 74″ went viral, I was inspired by the movement. So we reached out to them. It turned out Gap’s Khaki Swing ad from 1998 was on their moodboard. We wanted to work with them, but to add a new lens to the campaign, we reached out to South African singer songwriter Tyla, who not only has an amazing sound, but is also creating buzz in the dance community and sharing a powerful cultural message through her work.

We wanted to celebrate the unique talents of everyone involved – those making waves in culture and the creative minds behind it who deserve a platform. From Jungle and Tyla to the amazing dancers and choreographer Shay Latukolan, as well as the director Charlie Di Placido, we all came together to create something special: a new side of the genre, with cultures and worlds colliding in a way that felt fresh and interesting. The whole experience from there was truly organic; it was purely creative and a collaboration between us all.

How do you encourage the team to work with Gap’s brand legacy?

When I was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, Gap was one of the “it” brands. When you wanted to show up to school looking good, you went to The Gap. A lot of people identify with that same story. So, for me, it starts with reflection.

With a legacy brand like Gap, there’s such rich history. We have an incredible archive, with more than five decades of our most iconic marketing, photography, product – a true personification of our purpose, which is what this brand was founded on.

There’s a difference between recreation and evolution. What we are doing should feel familiar in the best way.

There’s a difference between recreation and evolution. What we are doing should feel familiar in the best way — all of the iconic codes that make Gap, Gap – but fresh and relevant for today.

What informs the culture of the creative team at Gap?

As a team, we are curious. Always asking ourselves: “What if? What could be? What if we tried? And what could be better?” We are creating a culture of exploration. Exploration is about putting yourself in a position to be informed, which could include competitive research, participating in culture and spending time absorbing the zeitgeist.

For me personally, creativity comes when I can step outside of my day-to-day. Today, we often move so fast that we skip the exploration part of the workflow and end up drawing from muscle memory rather than finding the time to create something new.

How would you describe the working style of your team?

At Gap, we are in a constant cycle of sharing. Our style of communication is like a group chat, sharing things all the time. It might provoke an idea, or it might not. It might validate something we’re doing, or it might not. Ultimately, it’s about keeping us energised by what’s happening out there.

We work to keep learning from each other. I aim to create an open dialogue, creating a cycle that allows people to feel like they can bring their true selves to the conversation, where it’s less about being concerned whether the idea is right or wrong.

I aim to create an open dialogue, creating a cycle that allows people to feel like they can bring their true selves to the conversation.

The diversity of the team is part of the magic that we’re able to draw from, because Gap isn’t a “one size fits all” environment — the brand means something different to each person and it’s about how we draw from that to create a confident point of view.

How do you foster creative talent internally?

For one, there’s no one voice or face of the creative team. When our talent has ideas or work, they present it. It’s about fostering confidence through exposure, learning to drive by taking the wheel, dealing with the nerves and with feedback.

We also encourage the team to spend time understanding the market by visiting stores — I worked in Gap stores and that experience opened my eyes to what the consumer values, what that experience is like and how clothes can make you feel.

We want our team to feel inspired by finding white space. Whether that is in a store, a gallery, or the beach, we want everyone to find that moment of calm and creativity, where they can recharge and discover new ideas.

What role does collaboration play in your team’s development?

The world moves fast. To keep up, we have to be in sync as a team, with clarity and empathy for what everyone does, knowing we each play a part in the total equation. It’s not about me versus you. It’s about working as a collective. We win together; we lose together.

Ultimately, we know where Gap belongs in culture and I’m excited to get the brand there with quality.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Gap as part of a BoF partnership.

Today, traditional components of the global fashion industry continue to perpetuate legacy strategies and seasonal consumption patterns. As fashion weeks receive even greater attention from global audiences, the culture of consumption that underpins them must be continuously examined — particularly as these objectives are increasingly at odds with the goals of international regulators, most prominently in the European Union.

While running as a bi-annual fashion showcase like its counterparts, Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) is an organisation prepared to disrupt what fashion weeks look like, who they serve and what their lasting impact could become. Since the Autumn/Winter 2023 season, the event — spearheaded by CEO Cecilie Thorsmark — has enforced 18 minimum sustainability requirements for showing brands, which span six key areas across the fashion value chain: strategic design, material choices, working conditions across the supply chain, consumer engagement, set design and show production.

To complement this framework, the organisation has invested in a talk programme of panels and discussions to a live audience, running alongside its showcase and aiming to address and unpack some of the fashion industry’s most pertinent issues, from supply chain complexities to championing next generation talent.

To further its efforts in this space and amplify the cultural impact of fashion weeks, CPHFW partnered with BoF to host an executive roundtable for its Autumn/Winter 2024 season. It gathered fashion leaders, insiders and experts to ask how fashion weeks can not only future-proof themselves as pressures mount from both regulators and consumers, but also propel the fashion industry toward a future benefitting brands and consumers, while respecting planetary boundaries.

“While fashion weeks captivate and inspire, the culture of consumption that they enforce must be addressed,” said Thorsmark, in her opening statement at the event. “It’s our responsibility to foster conversation around how we celebrate fashion in new ways and inspire industry action to do better.”

Held at Soho House Copenhagen, and moderated by BoF’s Robin Mellery-Pratt and Alice Gividen, the event assembled industry leaders, designers, strategists and cultural change-makers from across the industry, including: Omoyemi Akerele, founder and CEO of Lagos Fashion Week and Style Files; Ana Andjelic, global chief brand officer of Esprit; trend consultant, Sam Trotman; designer and founder of Mother of Pearl, Amy Powney; author and sustainability strategist, Alec Leach; founder and 1 Granary editor-in-chief, Olya Kuryshchuk; fashion designer Henrik Vibskov; and chair of the Danish arts committee for craft and design, Anni Nørskov Mørch.

Conducted under the Chatham House rule, below we share condensed, anonymised insights with the BoF community and wider industry.

Optimising the Digitisation of Fashion Week

“Today, consumers really enjoy the peer-to-peer engagement that new channels bring. This is markedly different from reading reviews on Vogue. Fashion weeks have more responsibility today to be much more democratic — speaking to an audience in a way that is much more understandable and digestible,” said one guest.

“We have to ask, ‘what is the actual meaning behind what we’re doing? What is the cultural context?’ Younger audiences today have such a thirst for knowledge, especially if they haven’t come from a fashion background. Let’s make it accessible for them.”

Another guest highlighted the fashion and luxury industry were focusing on digital channels, but opportunities exist to optimise the impact of fashion week activations.

It’s not about simply those 10 minutes of a show, or those three hours of a party. It’s about content and how that endures.

“To use the example of Louis Vuitton. [I believe] they measured the success of the show in YouTube views and in impressions, not in how many buyers were there, or how many people actually bought that collection after we just hit the stores. [...] Even with millions spent, it can excite culture for one second. What [the next generation of hybrid community culture is] is the exact opposite of that: creating a lot of signals that synchronise and create something meaningful that can be heard. It’s the opposite of having one big moment when you spend a lot of money.”

“Today, virality and cut-through on the internet is achievable, but building community and lasting cultural moments that live on is more important,” said another attendee. “Content should capture the atmosphere of the event, the moment — whatever you’ve created — to involve a much greater audience. Give them something to connect with.”

Expanding the Dialogue

Major brands must now be present on a multitude of digital channels, which in turn has increased customer expectations around both the cadence of channel-specific content from brands and how authentic it is. “Because of the digital extensions brands can employ today, storytelling has to be the central focus,” said one participant. “It’s not about simply those 10 minutes of a show, or those three hours of a party. It’s about content and how that [endures]. What is the narrative? Why are we doing this?”

Other guests suggested that brand storytelling could be used as a tool to educate end-consumers. “We have a responsibility to send a message out to wider viewers that fashion weeks and, by extension, the fashion industry, isn’t simply about glamour, shows, influence and front row culture, but a complete, diverse set of aesthetic-based things and conversation-based things.”

The whole system has become super squeezed — timelines, materials and logistics are extremely compressed. It’s almost impossible to produce a collection, at scale, within a six-month time frame.

“Think about what Coco Chanel was doing in the 1920s. Yes, she had her show, but her customers were so aware of her craft. Her shows — which were, in effect, shopping events — had everything to do with the quality and craftsmanship of her work. The conversation was one. Why are we separating them today? It is a divide that will just continue to perpetuate a disconnect between craft and shows.”

“There is a lot that fashion could learn from materials-based artists. Take ceramics or furniture — the whole production process forms part of the brand storytelling. It’s not an additional layer of context that comes later, or an add-on to help market the product. It’s actually core to its identity and is often a real point of difference for consumers.”

Indeed, other attendees argued that the different mediums available today meant that storytelling had to become an enduring focus.

Rethinking Seasonality

Attendees stressed the importance of challenging the seasonal churn of product. Globally, fashion waste is estimated to be approximately 100 million tonnes annually, with the equivalent of a truck full of clothes ending up on landfill sites every second, according to the Ellen MacArthur foundation.

“The whole system has become super squeezed — timelines, materials and logistics are extremely compressed. It’s almost impossible to produce a collection, at scale, within a six-month time frame. I believe designers need a longer runway. It’s strange to have a show if the buyers sitting there can’t buy it. Designers may only have a two-month window — if they’re lucky — to get their products in-store at full price before it goes on sale.”

“Consider artists in other disciplines — they don’t have shows every six months. When something captivates them, when they feel as though they have something to say, only then will they put on an exhibition,” added one attendee.

“Perhaps, one season, designers could show, then the next they come back to host an important conversation or tell a story in a different way. We need to give designers a chance to break perpetual cycles. Missing a show should not signal to the industry and to consumers that their business is failing.”

Offering Greater Support to Emerging Talent

“The Fashion Week system should evolve further to create space for emerging talent, almost like a graduate programme. There should be a way for young designers to gain experience and build momentum without the pressures of churning out collections,” suggested one attendee. “We should be asking, ‘is there a way to walk them into the fashion system, rather than throw them in and hope it sticks?’”

“The current system is like musicians being told they have a good voice, then having to go and immediately perform at Wembley,” added another guest. “But I think young designers feel as though they have no choice but to show up, if they want to create long-lasting impact. Typically, there isn’t another obvious route to becoming a recognised designer.”

“A lot of young designers feel that’s the only way to do it, and it’s quite a toxic culture. You spend so much time just looking around at everybody else, ‘What’s that designer doing? What’s that designer doing?’ You’ve actually not spent any time focusing on what you do, what you believe, what’s authentic to you.”

Outside of shows, it’s important to consider how we keep the conversation going and hold people’s attention.

However, one attendee countered with the idea that designers were pressured into showing each season to drive impact. “I think we infantilise designers and make them the victim of someone else’s actions. It’s a privilege to start a brand, to connect with customers, to build a community. Fashion weeks, in their current format, launch careers and businesses. This platform shouldn’t be underestimated.”

Building Presence in ‘Off’ Weeks

The discussion turned to the role of fashion weeks outside of their bi-annual showcases.

“Fashion weeks have the potential to foster real communities around our industry, to have collaborative conversations and encourage showing brands, editors and even consumers to take action to foster positive change,” said one attendee. “Outside of shows, it’s important to consider how we keep the conversation going and hold people’s attention.”

“Instead of thinking about Fashion Week because of consumer-facing moments, how can we get together to talk about how we actually create [products] better? I was speaking to a brand just this week who said, ‘We keep it old school. We just ring up retailers and say, “Do you need more jeans?” We’ll ship them ten more pairs, if they are needed,’” added another attendee. “The independent brands are struggling, the independent retailers are struggling, so why don’t we use Fashion Week as a way of solving that?”

However, one guest countered that the cultural impact of fashion shows remained the most compelling draw of fashion week for both the showing brands and their audience. “Shows are the celebration of many months of hard work. It’s about celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, creating an arena for a brand’s vision to be brought to life.”

“Fashion Week — and the press — carry a year-round responsibility. Everyone who broadcasts, who reviews, who has that power and holds a degree of influence — how they behave and what they say — has impact.”

“It’s continuity that we should all be working towards, not just isolated events,” concluded another guest.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Copenhagen Fashion Week as part of a BoF partnership.

At VOICES 2023, BoF’s annual event where global changemakers gather to discuss the industry’s future and critical innovation, Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, CEO and co-founder of blockchain-based digital product passport infrastructure Arianee, spoke on the mainstage about the positive impacts of tighter supply chain regulation and digital product passports (DPPs).

Arianee launched in 2018 to enable direct and continuous relationships between brands and their end consumers, placing the ownership of data in the hands of consumers with a focus on openness and decentralisation. Arianee creates DPPs as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) backed by blockchain technology, which can be displayed on smartphones or web browsers, creating a digital link between object and user. Arianee works with over 40 brands, such as Richemont, Moncler, Mugler and YSL Beauty and has distributed more than 1.6 million digital product passports.

This is about “intelligence that is not artificial,” said Hurstel. “We have learnt about the damages of user personal data exploitation by big tech and social media. The incentive of social media is the race for engagement — but what about the business model? Selling user data to advertisers to sell more products? And even though we have learnt about the urgent need for circularity and the incredible potential of second hand, not much has changed.”

DPPs can more easily allow customers to authenticate products, transfer ownership and access services like resale and repair. As a result, the digital passport can unlock new means of income for brands, allowing them to explore user data in a safe and effective manner. This can enable lower client acquisition costs and higher customer engagement.

This gives rise to what Hurstel calls “ownership intelligence”, so that “when someone buys and owns the product, [they] collect this passport, collect a piece of data related to the product, that is controlled by the user.”

Understanding how to leverage the opportunities made available by DPPs is timely and soon, business critical, when product passports become a legal requirement on fashion products. In August 2023, the European Commission announced new regulations that will require fashion and other consumer goods to be fitted with unique DPPs as early as 2026.

Now, BoF shares insights from Hurstel’s talk on how brands can effectively leverage DPPs to build consumer trust and data compliance while reducing acquisition costs.

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Enable Direct Relationship While Cutting Acquisition Costs

Product passports can support circularity initiatives like resale and garment-to-garment recycling by providing detailed data on materials, facilitating easier collection and sorting of garments for recycling at scale.

“Many second-hand purchases are the first step into the brand for a user,” adds Hurstel, explaining how some consumers will indirectly buy a brand’s product through resale platforms. “So distributing pieces of data that people can circulate and transfer is a way to be connected to people that are part of the community, that are already consumers, even though they haven’t bought anything first-hand.”

Second-hand marketplace ThredUp estimates that resale will grow 11 times faster than the overall clothing retail sector over the next five years. As a result, connecting with those end-consumers who have bought into the brand universe through different channels, second-hand, can help better target brand marketing spend.

The value for brands over time will come with the possibility to deploy this new data structure and to create new revenue streams based on ownership.

“This will have an impact on the cost of acquisition and the money we spend paying socials and big tech to reach people and reach them again. Then, in a world where every product will come with a DPP, the possibility to one day add royalties on products, [...] would mean tomorrow, revenues coming from something other than selling something new — and something newly produced.”

DPPs can also help cut costs by streamlining the authentication process in resale. Historically a manual process for brands, the digitisation of this process can reduce reliance on authenticator specialists who have been in significant demand on industry jobs boards.

Meet Consumer Expectations on Data Autonomy

In Europe and the US, most websites now prompt users to allow tracking cookies to harvest their data. Yet, some 45 percent of consumers are uncomfortable with sharing their data to create personalised ads, according to a 2022 survey by Boston Consulting Group and Google. It also found that, in online and traditional retail, only a third of consumers reported trusting companies to protect their personal data and privacy online.

BCG and Google’s 2022 survey results revealed that “many consumers are willing to share their personal data with brands, but the majority want a clear incentive (or ‘value exchange’) to do so.” The data revealed about 30 percent of respondents said they are willing to share their email addresses with a given company for no incentive, while 90 percent were willing to share that data when presented with the right value exchange, like discounts and free samples or access to newsletters or communities.

“Collecting data is great, but any piece of data expensively collected is immediately obsolete — it is natively static, so [it is] hard to secure and protect against leaks,” said Hurstel. “People don’t care about sharing their lives on social media or with ChatGPT, but they are less willing to leave their data everywhere because it’s just inconvenient. So, the risk is to see first-party data disappear behind social logins and ‘hide my email,’ and other similar features that will reinforce the need for third-party data.”

“Third-party data is less and less efficient, it’s expensive and the regulator is going after it, and cookies are gone and the side effect of data centralisation by Big Tech has proven to be disastrous for the wider world, that brings me to the [next] challenge — compliance,” he added.

Indeed, since 2018, the European Union has passed data privacy regulations and, in the US, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) has given consumers more control over the personal information that businesses collect about them. While there is no federal digital privacy law in the United States, except to protect children, the Federal Trade Commission (FTA) is challenging the Big Tech land grab approach in buying up start-up competitors, as demonstrated by their efforts to block Meta’s bid for the virtual reality firm Within last year.

You can add the possibility of ownership intelligence by empowering users with the data they control about what they own.

Hurstel said that, when it comes to DPPs, “the value for brands over time will come with the possibility to deploy this new data structure and to create new revenue streams based on ownership. [...] You have the first-party data — the things you know and collect and that are non-dynamic — and then on top, you have user-owned data that you can read. [...] It’s new possibilities to understand new insights, but also new segmentation possibilities.”

“The client account for tomorrow is completely different,” Hurstel said. “Today, it’s all about purchase and returns. Tomorrow, it’s about what I own; [whether bought secondhand or] gifted; specific services that are allowing me to easily resell, repair, recycle, insure; to have specific recommendations, perhaps specific targeted communications around exactly what I own,” he added.

Prepare for Incoming Regulations While Offering Value

Hurstel explained that ecodesign DPP — a cornerstone of the European Commission’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) for a more environmentally sustainable and circular approach to products — is going to ensure brands attach this DPP system to every single object they sell in the EU. This is “with the goal to push users to choose better; to push brands to produce better; but also mainly to push to reuse and resell and recycle.”

In order to implement DPPs, Hurstel explained: “First of all, you need connected components on every single object that can be scannable — QR codes [or near-field communication] NFC chips. To add QR codes and NFC chips at every stage in the supply chain is not easy — it takes time. This QR code will have to be linked to a persistent interface showing data about the product that can last forever — or at least as long as the product lasts.”

While a time-intensive process, this will ensure that brands are able to cross-reference and check compliance quickly and easily as different geographies and jurisdictions evolve their stance on compliance and data protection. Indeed, while the EU will have one set of regulations, California and Japan, for example, might require different information.

“Then, there’s an opportunity to add on top a new kind of data — the customer-owned data, about ownership that is neither centralised by the brand nor by any kind of third-party that would want to make any business on top of it,” said Hurstel. “You can add the possibility of ownership intelligence by empowering users with the data they control about what they own. So, you go from collecting, to being compliant, to truly offering value.”

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Arianee as part of a BoF partnership.

Despite a period of heightened connectivity across a myriad of social channels, consumer experts and analysts have noted a “friendship recession”. In Sapien Labs’ Mental State of The World 2022 report, which surveyed more than 407,000 participants from 64 countries, it is reported that people’s “social self” has declined over the past 12 months, while a report by think tank Onward found 20 percent of 18 to 34-year olds report having one or no close friends.

These figures are perhaps unsurprising with the understanding that many of today’s social platforms continue to prioritise reach and virality over friendship and connection, resulting in a mindset of comparison and need for external validation over real relationships. In turn, there is a knock-on effect on brands and their ability to speak to consumer cohorts who seek authentic connection — further challenged when consumer trust is falling across several key areas, including privacy, safety and ad relevance, according to research from Insider Intelligence.

At VOICES 2023, BoF’s annual event where global thought leaders and experts gather to spark innovation with the future in mind, Snap Inc.’s global head of luxury, Geoffrey Perez, together with BoF’s head of content strategy, Robin Mellery-Pratt and Snap Inc.’s director of creative strategy, EMEA, Valentina Culatti, hosted an intimate salon to discuss the ways in which social media has changed. The conversation centred around how new spaces are building opportunities for close connection with family and friends — creating positive emotional states — and how brands could stand to benefit.

Moderated by BoF’s associate director of content strategy, Alice Gividen, the discussion was held under Chatham House Rule, which precludes the attribution of statements made by specific individuals, allowing attendees to share freely and openly with their peers. Among those attendees were leaders and executives from McKinsey & Co., Amazon, Refy, Boston Consulting Group, J. Crew Group, Marimekko and Dr. Martens.

Now, BoF shares condensed insights from the discussion.

The cultural usage of social media is shifting

Advertising is increasingly losing relevance but gaining more real estate across social channels — something that is having an impact on engagement on different social channels.

Indeed, BoF’s The State of Fashion 2024 consumer survey, produced in partnership with McKinsey & Co., found that 68 percent of respondents were unhappy about the high volume of sponsored content on social media platforms. Meanwhile, influencer marketing — an industry currently worth $21.1 billion, up from $16.4 billion in 2022 — is becoming increasingly complex. However, The State of Fashion 2024 survey also found that 65 percent of respondents were turning less to fashion influencers than a few years ago, as consumer trust begins to wane.

“Social began as a place for one-to-one connection, discussion and engagement. Today, they are deprioritising relationships and connection, and emphasising virality, likes and followers,” said Snap Inc.’s Geoffrey Perez in his opening remarks. “An antidote for social media is required, creating more positive spaces for staying connected online.”

“From a volume perspective, it’s interesting to see what is happening,” said one attendee. “What insulates brands from losing trust entirely is that social media is now an ultra-competitive market. In basic macroeconomics or competition, where there are low barriers-to-entry, it keeps everybody honest. If you are seeing too many sponsored ads in one place, it is very easy to unfollow and then go and follow somebody else.”

“I think the concept of what makes content ‘great’ content has evolved rapidly,” added another guest. “That sense of comfort and trustworthiness is important and hard to achieve across categories. I believe we are seeing a softening in the impact of both luxury and fast fashion, following the highs of 2022.”

“Considering social performance from a category perspective, it is interesting to see skincare and colour cosmetics skyrocket, while categories like travel and experiences are also performing well,” added another guest. “This sits in contrast to the softening of fashion and luxury. Of course, you still have your large-scale success stories, but this overarching trend is definitely taking place.”

As consumer mindsets are evolving, brand strategies should too

As businesses and end-consumers alike grapple with a changing social media landscape, online spaces that foster close connection with loved ones are standing out as platforms to help boost consumer mood.

“Positive emotions are driven by real connections in the digital space, with interactions between close friends and family seeming to be the most impactful,” said Snap Inc.’s Valentina Calutti. “Seventy-six percent of Snapchat users agree the app makes them feel connected with friends and family versus an average of 51 percent across other social apps.”

Indeed, 95 percent of Snapchatters are “happy” when using the app, showing high levels of immersion, said Calutti. “This is a neurological state based on a person’s relative level of attention and emotional connection. When people are highly immersed, they are paying attention, emotionally engaged and committing information to memory.”

For brands, gauging the right time to, and means of, moving into these spaces of personal, close connection is key and often begins with a mindset shift beyond the traditional purchase funnel.

“It’s not really about creating more products for people or consumers. Rather, it’s about leaving it up to customers to be themselves in our branded spaces online,” said one attendee. “Staying true to your principles as a company — staying true to your consumer — is key. We want to use our socials to be a source of expression and empowerment for our community.”

Brand entertainment value is key to success on social media over the medium term

Today, how individuals spend time and attention is evolving rapidly. Activate Consulting refers to a consumer group of “Super Users” — approximately 20 percent of the US population — whose multitasking across technology platforms leads to a nearly 32-hour-long day for the average American, with over 13 hours spent using technology and media, such as film, TV, reality TV and related media, gaming and social.

For brands, content that educates, entertains and has an immersive element for the consumer will help them to stand out across a myriad of channels and distractions.

These new technologies allow consumers to step fully into brand spaces in a very democratic way.

“When it comes to events like the Cannes Film Festival, for instance, the impact of collaborating or activating in that cultural setting carries much more weight than at the traditional fashion weeks,” said one guest.

“Fashion needs the weight of both celebrity and cultural change-makers and taste-makers. Cross-cultural collaboration and content is more important than ever if you want to stand out and truly engage your audience,” they added.

Technological tools are creating immersive environments to engage audiences in new ways

Today, the adage that gaming is a social network stands increasingly true. There are now 3.2 billion gamers worldwide and the category is set to lead growth in consumers’ daily time spent with technology and media over the next four years. Importantly, while playing, gamers are highly engaged, hyper focused and, as a result, hardly ever multi-tasking — presenting a rich opportunity for advertisers.

Extended reality (XR), encompassing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and the wearables that will further their advancement, continue to embed themselves into the mainstream and bring gamified moments to social, fostering more immersive environments.

“Snapchat has always had a strong foothold in the AR space, augmenting the human experience by adding a digital layer on top of the world around us,” said Snap Inc.’s Perez. “We believe the next wave of computing will be richer and more immersive. Each day, 250 million people engage with augmented reality on Snapchat. This is not an add-on to our business — it is core to the user experience on the app.”

“I believe that consumers deserve to have access to all of the creative elements of fashion — the aspects that, often, fashion professionals enjoy,” said a salon guest. “These new technologies allow consumers to step fully into brand spaces in a very democratic way.”

“I’m excited by the immersive participatory nature of gaming — and technology that allows for the gamification of social spaces,” added another guest. “It has the potential to carry the content experience beyond just being something that consumers react or respond to and into something that everyone can play with. This feels like a journey where the individual can really be at the heart of the experience.”

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Snapchat as part of a BoF partnership.