Dublin Tech Summit: A Look Back

Dublin Tech Summit reached out to me last year and asked if I wanted to join as a speaker. As this was the first conference of its kind, and I had a great talk with the organizers, I thought it would be a good opportunity to spread the word about us to a broader audience. Here’s my take on the two day event.

The talk that inspired me the most

I really enjoyed Gina London from CNN interviewing Huffington Post CEO Jared Grusd about his perspective on today’s publishing landscape. Two of the best quotes: “Your brand is what you stand for and who that resonates with,” and “Articles are the new front door to brands.” More than ever, brands are about a clear attitude and being a trusted source.

On a completely different topic, I learned a lot from the talk by Dion Magee from Facebook Fashion and Lifestyle UK. Brands now rely on videos to catch the attention of their audience on social media, but what are the dos and don’ts for creating shareable video content for mobile? Three rules stuck with me:

1. Heartbeat attention. Brands have approximately 1.5 seconds to catch their audience’s attention—about the rate of a heartbeat. Studies show you need some kind of visual gratification every 6th heartbeat to keep people watching.

2. Text overlay. Most videos are consumed without sound, so text makes sure your message doesn’t get lost.

3. What’s your message? When we consume mobile branded video content we expect a take-away message—more than a call-to-purchase. Make sure your message is clearly articulated and resonates with your audience.

The three stand-out trends

Firstly, the move from mobile to IOT, wearables and the use of artificial (or alternative) intelligence in everyday life. It brings new opportunities and challenges; as screens diminish, what does this mean for brand interactions? And how do we move from building trust in brands to building trust in people?

As a result of disappearing screens, tone-of-voice and language will become more important for brands: how we address our audience, how we build bonds, and how we manage dialogues. Marketeers need to rethink how brands interact in this space.

Secondly, in the areas of Fintech and Medical, we’ll have to be much more aware of our personal data—and how we store and share it with important services. We’ll become the owners of our personal data with services offered to administer and store it.

Finally, Chris Jones from Google talked about how best to monetize content, keep audiences happy across devices, and stay relevant within the ever-changing tech landscape. His advice in one sentence: “Choose your tools carefully, use them consequently, and concentrate on the top 5% insights and indicators.”

The three key points I took away from the event

It was interesting to hear how applied business psychology is starting to play a role, especially within social media. Engaging people to interact with your content is becoming crucial for the survival of many organizations, and understanding more about audiences and their motivations, drivers, fears, and needs is becoming more important for marketeers.

Technology will change the fashion industry in the coming years, probably more than other industries. The integration of instant commerce within the retail customer journey will be crucial for fashion brands’ survival. But the use of customer intelligence through the entire customer journey will be one of the hardest challenges for fashion retailers; most user scenarios rely on personal data, but how can this data be acquired, stored, and shared?

With content available across trillions of platforms, the fight for attention is getting harder. Attractive content, intelligent use of tools, in-depth knowledge about your audience, and a clear brand profile are crucial for surviving in tomorrow’s marketplace.

My one sentence summary:

Inspiring and enjoyable—lots of new insights, plus positive responses to my talk.