As James Hercher pointed out in his January 27, 2016 post on AdExchanger, new creative marketing concepts are cropping all over the place. Though, not exactly in the places everyone would think to look first. Traditional media agencies, while great at large, jazzy art pieces and high-production videos, have been slow to move to mobile and innovative marketing features. This void has been opportunistically filled by younger companies with a predilection toward disruption. Companies like Persado (a StarVest portfolio company, whoop whoop) and Celtra have entered the scene, offering cloud-based automation platforms to make ever more efficient the newest generation of marketing and advertising, particularly leveraging new tech like machine learning to boost efficacy and ROI on ad spend.
Similarly, another of our companies Ceros provides a flexible platform for interactive content design as it sees that interactive infographics and eBooks have contributed immensely to viewers’ time spent on sites. Catchy content is becoming a necessity for brands and agencies, and we’re seeing a visible power shift into the hands of creatives at these companies. Simon Berg, CEO of Ceros, fleshes out his view succinctly in the Huff Post article here.
While it’s little surprise to everyone that the line between tech and marketing is becoming increasingly blurred, we don’t think anyone is 100% sure they know the future of marketing and viewer engagement. We are putting our chips on machine learning and interactive content. However, we’re just as excited as everyone to see how the shake up in marketing and advertising pans out.