Xavier de Lecaros-Aquise

Amidst the seismic shift in digital commerce, the very best companies are prioritising their time and resources on 3-5 Year investments vs.1 Year investments vs. foundational core, immediate activities. Have your most pressing questions answered by our expert panelists:

• Which projects and technologies are front of mind/immediate in 2015? And which are on the back-burner but still of importance?
• How can the customer be brought into the planning process for new products?
• What is the role of innovation labs/centers of excellence and how can they help companies focus on bigger ticket items 3-5 years down the road?
• Which teams are involved in putting together the product roadmap and who sees it and uses it once it is completed?

Research and opinions in favour of digital marketing are pretty clear: Invest marketing and advertising budgets in web and mobile or face the consequences of failure. That’s a bold statement, but is it really true? Our experts explain how budgets can be split in proportion with ROI in the short term and long term- marketing that is immediately sales driven as well as considerate of customer lifetime value across each channel over time. With a diverse background in fashion, media, food and travel, our panelists each have a unique way of justifying their marketing allocation- here they find common ground and offer their best practical advice for 2016 and beyond:

• Answer on a case by case basis rather than the blanket statement of ‘go more digital’
• Take a data driven approach to budget vs. a cost cutting approach
• Integrate online/offline with peronalisation techniques and measure the outcome