{"id":699449,"date":"2019-08-22T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/?post_type=articles&p=699449"},"modified":"2019-09-04T13:47:34","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T11:47:34","slug":"were-shifting-from-storytelling-to-story-living-a-conversation-with-penny-wilson-cmo-of-hootsuite","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/articles\/were-shifting-from-storytelling-to-story-living-a-conversation-with-penny-wilson-cmo-of-hootsuite\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe\u2019re shifting from storytelling to story-living\u201d: A Conversation with Penny Wilson, CMO of Hootsuite"},"featured_media":699922,"template":"","meta":{"_has_post_settings":[]},"schools":[29,33,35],"areas":[22,24,26],"subjects":[],"class_list":["post-699449","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schools-business-school","schools-human-sciences-and-technology","schools-university","areas-sales-marketing","areas-strategy","areas-technology"],"custom-fields":{"wpcf-article-leadin":["There is growing interest in new technologies and how to apply them effectively, especially in commerce, and as tools for increasing consumer loyalty. In this conversation with Mar\u00eda Eizaguirre, Academic Director of the IE Center for Consumer Driven Growth, Hootsuite CMO Penny Wilson discusses some of the current and future challenges in this new marketing world."],"wpcf-article-body":["Mar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> Personalization and content creation are hot topics right now. What happens when a customer is actually an artificial personality?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> In that case, we would know less about who the individual is, but more about how they behave, and this would drive our understanding of what they might be interested in. We may not know if it\u2019s a bot<\/a>, but we would be able to deliver what they\u2019re interested in, based on their digital behavior<\/a>. Privacy is increasingly significant and personalization is becoming more consent-based. If you consent to me knowing certain things about you, I\u2019ll be able to deliver to you what you are interested in. If you really like whoever made this sweater, you might consider allowing me to know what your size is and what colors you enjoy, so that I can personalize it for you. You may not want other organizations to know that much about you, but they can use your digital behavior to try to deliver things you\u2019re interested in.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> Given this trend, does Hootsuite already have customers who respond to this sort of privacy personalization?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> No, not yet. We empower our customers to ensure that they can offer the same transparency to their customers. If a customer wants to know what information you have on them, they can understand that and decide whether they want to change it. But right now, Hootsuite doesn\u2019t hold customer information directly.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> Is there something that you would like to anticipate about customers in order to have different behavioral<\/a> segments to work with?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> I think that\u2019s how you end up being able to personalize something, and you soon find out whether or not people are interested in what you\u2019re offering. This changes the way you create content. Today you might create a piece of content and post it on the Internet, but in tomorrow\u2019s world you\u2019ll have to componentize it all into smaller pieces that will be automatically assembled and delivered against whatever the individual is looking for.\r\n
You soon find out whether or not people are interested in what you\u2019re offering. This changes the way you create content.<\/blockquote>\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> Is the content itself different?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> We\u2019re shifting from storytelling to story-living. As marketers<\/a>, in particular, we will have to learn to be more comfortable with that. As people move to more messaging channels, more stories, we are going to have to embrace their spontaneity without feeling uncomfortable.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> Is the goal to be authentic?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> Yes. This is a world that people aren\u2019t all that comfortable with yet. You can have interesting conversations that aren\u2019t necessarily aligned to your story, so you have to find a way to be honest. Once you get caught not being honest, it\u2019s hard to recover. If you make a mistake, it\u2019s important to admit it as quickly as possible. Organizations still want to tell their own stories in their own way. Some stories are controversial. Nike\u2019s recent campaign is a good example. They took a lot of flak for it, but they stood up for what they believe in. I think you\u2019ll see this behavior<\/a> more and more often, and people sort of expect it. And it\u2019s not just brands\u2014it\u2019s also influencers. They have to be authentic, as well.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> What happens when companies work with influencers who don\u2019t use their brand or aren\u2019t even interested in it?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> I don\u2019t really have an opinion on that. I think that\u2019s up to the brand, but I wouldn\u2019t recommend it, frankly. In the case of an underage influencer working with an alcohol brand, for example, I would just be open about the fact that he\u2019s under 18 and influencing a community. But being called out for not being real, or for being paid to sell, is a problem. The biggest challenge is truly being an influencer versus being paid to influence.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> In the future, what do you think will be the main challenges in the online world?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> People need the right tools to do their jobs. Many people are still scared of social media and of making mistakes. You have to make sure people feel safe. The people in charge of social media, like those who work in the marketing<\/a> department, have an opportunity to be a center of excellence. They can provide the rest of the organization with the right tools and strategies<\/a>. I think their role is becoming more and more important in companies.\r\n
The biggest challenge is truly being an influencer versus being paid to influence.<\/blockquote>\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> To what extent do social networks form part of a company\u2019s reputation?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> I think marketers<\/a> are becoming more and more responsible for the consumer experience. Because they\u2019re comfortable in this digital world, it helps to change the perception of social media within the organization. The challenge is tying it to actual outcomes. It\u2019s important to define up front what you\u2019re trying to accomplish. You have to tie your activity on social media to the objectives you\u2019ve set for yourself. \u201cLikes\u201d and retweets are nice, but they don\u2019t show the real impact.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nMar\u00eda Eizaguirre:<\/strong> How do you think marketing<\/a> will evolve in the future? In particular, how do you think the Internet and social media will be used, especially in the business world?<\/span>\r\n\r\nPenny Wilson:<\/strong> Things change constantly. I see this all the time in business. Many millennials don\u2019t use their phones as phones; they just use them to access social media. And who knows what will happen with new generations as they join the business world. Young people don\u2019t even watch TV. They do pretty much everything on a mobile device. I couldn\u2019t even think about watching a movie on my phone. I want the big screen!\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u00a9 IE Insights."],"wpcf-article-extract-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-extract":["In this conversation, Mar\u00eda Eizaguirre<\/strong> talks with Penny Wilson<\/strong> about the challenges of today\u2019s new marketing world, where content, customer centricity, and technology all play essential roles."],"wpcf-article-summary-enable":["1"],"wpcf-article-summary":["For many organizations, and especially for marketing departments, new technologies have become an essential tool for achieving results. However, advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and robotization are presenting new challenges that must be addressed if these new technologies are to be applied efficiently. In this conversation, Mar\u00eda Eizaguirre, Academic Director of the IE Center for Consumer Driven Growth, talks with Hootsuite CMO Penny Wilson about the challenges of today\u2019s new marketing world, where content, customer centricity, and technology all play essential roles."]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/699449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"schools","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/schools?post=699449"},{"taxonomy":"areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/areas?post=699449"},{"taxonomy":"subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ie.edu\/insights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subjects?post=699449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}