Reflections on Digital Marketing to Maximise Retail Profit: Early Bird #8
On Friday 28 February, our 8th Early Bird event saw a talk on Digital Marketing to Maximise Retail Profit from Kettering-based agency SilverDisc.
Following the event, digital marketing apprentice Andrew Thake spoke to event attendees Dr Amie Weedon, user researcher at market consultancy Snap Out, and Ken Punter, director of digital communications and marketing consultancy Oppidium.
What did you think of the event with SilverDisc?
Amie: It was really interesting. This was actually my first Early Bird event. I don't normally work on Fridays so I only do things I'm really interested in! Especially so early in the morning! It was really informative.
Ken: I liked hearing about SilverDisc's background, going back to the early days working closely with Google in the 1990s. It seems like ancient history now! Then the presentation went right up to current topics like machine learning and artificial intelligence. I know digital marketing reasonably well but it was good to get some additional insights, especially from a local company.
What experience do you have in digital marketing and what’s your specific area of interest?
Amie: I did my Masters on digital society and wearable technology which touched on digital marketing. I carried on that on into my PhD and I'm heavily involved in it in my current role as a user researcher. I do usability testing and there's a close connection with Google Analytics data and how the two can inform each other.
Ken: I've got a Masters in digital marketing and communications, so I have a background in digital going back to the early 1990s and now I run a consultancy. I have a strong interest in the ethics of AI and data for use in digital marketing and there are massive ethical issues emerging in this area because of the amount of data being captured.
How relevant did you find the event in your current role and what thoughts did you have as a result?
Amie: It was definitely relevant to me as a user researcher. What we test is brand perception of users, so we can back up the numbers from Google Analytics and that kind of big data with insights from real people. Research can show why there might be growth or change in the use of different channels and help to inform digital marketing decisions.
Ken: SilverDisc's knowledge was really impressive and it makes you think about the other areas that fit into digital marketing and whether we can use the growing digital ecosystem here to give a wider perspective, looking at the bigger picture from experts in other areas. That's what Merged Futures is all about and there's potential to spin off further events in different areas.
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