For those who still believe that developing brands is thinking about cross-channel, Multi-Channel, or Omnichannel, you had better stop, and you had better stop now. Why? 

Because we are in the 4th Brand Era, the I Era, where everything changes at such a speed, we will be permanently living in Beta.

Consumers do not think about brands in terms of channels, and they expect the same involvement of the service, offer, and experience at each stage of contact, regardless of how they interact with the brand. Those who do this well can work on the established engagement and gain access to the far more precious asset of this new Era: the data of human beings. In 3 years, the Big Data market will be worth close to 57.3 billion dollars, and this figure may almost double by 2026.

The world population is estimated to reach 7.2 billion in 2020, which means 50 billion pieces of connected equipment, amounting to an average of 6.8 equipment pieces per user.

Now the consumers are the ones to call the shots. They seek personalized interactions and dialogues with brands. Understanding their needs, knowing how to develop them strategically and creatively, and implementing them from an omnichannel stance will make the consumers feel involved in the various platforms they access. It is, therefore, imperative that a coherent and consistent experience is ensured whenever there is contact with the brand.

The help of communication specialists is fundamental at this level. The online and offline creative agencies will very quickly lose traction. Above a re-adaptation of structures, a change in mentality is sorely needed, especially in the way strategic and creative teams need to reflect on brand communication, otherwise they will not be in a position to help their clients navigate through this new market.

The breaking down of communication prejudices and traditional marketing campaigns are challenging for some organizations. This type of change calls for a buy-in of the whole organization and a change in the culture of companies, clients, and creative agencies.

Helping the clients to think ‘Why’ instead of ‘What’, and aiding them in the transition from business-centered to client-centered practices, are some of the responsibilities companies have to assume towards their clients. The most agile creative agencies amidst this change will be those that incorporate a DNA grounded in multidisciplinarity, with the ability to create new creative work models.

Inside the agencies themselves, all this boils down to new structures, new people, and new work processes, as traditionally they are organized based on competencies and channels. The strategic team is frequently separated from the operations team, and areas such as digital marketing are limited to just the online channel.

This challenge requires a structure with intelligently articulated multifunctional teams. We need to hire people with experience in shop design, merchandising and distribution. It is urgent to place them close to project managers, developers, and creative teams.

Time is running out for the agencies that continue to work as they did in the past. Consumers will rapidly leave the brands that are not with them wherever they are, just as the clients and brands will do to the agencies.

Written by Rita Baltazar, Partner at WYcreative.