As part of our year-end coverage, AdExchanger is publishing a variety of perspectives on a single question:
“What will happen next year in marketing and advertising that hasn’t happened before?”
The below response is from Michael Lazerow, Chief Marketing Officer of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and CEO of Buddy Media. Buddy Media’s sale to Salesforce.com in June was among the largest digital marketing acquisitions of 2012 and a validating moment for the New York startup scene.
“One of the main ideas that will shape our industry in 2013 is that we’re all marketers. Employees have voices, all divisions of a company have voices, and every company is a tech company. Really valuable data and insight will be pushed through to the furthest edges of the organization and as close to the customer as possible. Say someone walks into a Burberry store* — the associates will know who they are based on data they have on their handhelds. Information such as a picture of that customer, his/her purchase history, and preferences enable the associate to engage with the customer so that it feels like a family store, like the corner bakery. Stores and businesses will have the ability to know who you are as a consumer and serve you better.
Location aware applications are an extension of this, and will explode in 2013. For example, when you walk into the airport, airlines will be able to check you in and show you where your gate is right away. It will come down to, “how does the tech make your life better?” Mobile is no longer a vertical, but it’s everything.”
*Salesforce Marketing Cloud customer
