SANTA MONICA — If you hope to win a customer, you had better make a lasting first impression.

That much has always been true. But, in the heady days of growing competition, making a good digital first impression is critical.

In this video interview with Beet.TV, Denise Colella, VP, Head Digital Strategy, Media & Financial Services, Adobe, explains why.

Personalization at scale

Colella says people have been talking about “personalization at scale” since the nineties, when she was at DoubleClick.

But nowadays it has become an expectation from consumers.

“It’s become ‘do or die’ for publishers, for brands, for broadcasters,” says Colella. “Not only do our customers have to focus on having a CDP (customer data platform), they also have to understand how to action it and orchestrate the journey that comes out of knowing that consumer…

“Understanding how you receive the information about the consumer, what they’re looking for, how to action it, and then to actively guide them through the consumer journey to what they’re looking for is so much more important.”

Digital-first imperative

For its part, Adobe has its own “real-time” CDP, aiming to offer a single customer view across data collected from multiple channels.

For Colella, COVID-19 was a key factor.

Before the pandemic, she says businesses were already cottoning-on to the importance of an omni-channel service offering.

“But, more and more, digital’s really becoming the front door to a brand,” she says.

“The experience is becoming so much more important because … consumers are still expecting that love from the brand, that full experience, like if they were going in person.

“So understanding how you receive the information about the consumer, what they’re looking for, how to action it, and then to actively guide them through the consumer journey to what they’re looking for, is so much more important.”

Colella says the current environment of proliferating choice in the streaming media market, for example, makes it imperative that video providers offer an engaging experience.

You are watching coverage of Beet Retreat Santa Monica 2022, presented by Ampersand, MiQ, Nielsen, PubMatic, T-Mobile Advertising Solutions and The Trade Desk. For more videos from the Beet Retreat, please visit this page