What kept you awake at night during 2017?
Technology, but not through taking my iPhone to bed. It has been the rollout of platforms enabling personalisation of content in what sometimes feels like an almost Quixotic pursuit of ‘segment of one’ connection with fund members and clients. Marketing tech and satisfying its unquenchable thirst for relevant and timely content has easily been a big preoccupation over 2017, but perhaps the biggest challenge has been leading the business on the journey. In a rapidly changing environment, securing and maintaining buy-in across the business is critical to achieving the behavioural change that is the real driver of returns from investment in technology platforms.
What have you achieved this year?
For Equipsuper, the biggest win was bringing about a merger with the Rio Tinto staff super fund on 1 July. From a Marcomms perspective, maintaining our position as an industry leader in psychographic segmentation and predictive modelling is now enabling much greater member engagement with the fund and improving retention of members transitioning into retirement. With more corporate funds joining Equip, this work is also enabling rapid mass assimilation of new members into the fund through deployment of well targeted communications.
What is your marketing prediction for 2018?
Data security and integrity in the use of personal information will take a much higher profile in marketing conversations. Our 2017 research has shown a big uptick in community awareness and concern about this. Personalisation demands intimate knowledge of and connection with customers, but messaging and creative will have to avoid looking spooky. There will be a big surge in voice tech integration into our toolkits, with Alexa and Google Assist becoming ubiquitous. Our obsession with artificial intelligence will become less so as we recognise that a blend of emotional intelligence with AI will result in augmented intelligence the more likely end state for filtering and managing a more complex world.
Geoff Brooks, Executive Officer, Strategic Marketing & Communications, Equipsuper
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