An Investigation of Advertising Agency Creative Managers' Perspectives on the Impact of Digital Threats and Opportunities

UK advertising agency managers' perspectives on the impact of digital media (threats and opportunities) on their roles and models of managing are explored in this chapter. In the context of digital creative strategy, and the advertising industry specifically, there is far less published work, much of which has been in the context of larger, often global agencies rather than on independent SMEs. This interpretive research reviews the literature then employs semi-structured in-depth interviews with creative managers within a range of UK SME advertising agencies to analyse their views and responses to digital media. The study finds four key themes which illustrate how managers in SME advertising agencies have responded: 1) digital media as a pre-test laboratory, 2) unclear boundaries among the actors within the nodes of the agency social network, 3) fewer financial resources but more dedication to creative concepts, and 4) reduction in customer information processing costs. Relationships with larger agencies are being redeveloped as opportunity, but SMEs also represent a threat to agencies through innovation.

IOTs

Information technology has advanced by delivering an exponential increase in computing power. Telecommunication technology has likewise advanced communicating capabilities. Convergence of these two technologies has become possible due to the rapid advancements made in the respective technology. This convergence is termed as information and communication technology as a discipline. Many concepts are emerging in this discipline. These concepts enable business, government, and human beings to reach new realities in their required activities. Some of these concepts have created various opportunities for designing and manufacturing electronic devices. When these devices are connected to other devices and systems over the internet, this is now known as internet of things (IoT). This chapter gives a brief overview of the concepts such as cloud computing and ubiquitous and pervasive computing in the context of internet of things. Further, this chapter discusses five case illustrations with the relevance of internet of things.

Phygital Customer Experience Mixed Approach of Augmented Reality and Customer Experience (DCX) in the Context of Heritage Tourism

What if customer experience was the primary driver of digital transformation? Indeed, new hybrid experiences have emerged thanks to daily-life technologies that fused both digital and physical worlds. This kind of experience uses applications and connected objects (IoT) to adapt and respond to consumer needs. Augmented reality and virtual reality are one of the most functionally and emotionally memorable phygital experiences that create value for customers. In this chapter, the authors chose heritage tourism as the study field for different reasons. While the adoption of augmented and virtual reality is gaining grownd, cultural heritage sites have started to consider the possibilities offered by these new and innovative technologies. This industry is starting to integrate AR and VR in several ways to attract more people. However, it is necessary to study how modern technology can be developed and implemented in a meaningful way to improve the tourist's experience. An AR- and VR-based mobile application has been developed and tested at Antonine's Baths in Carthage, Tunisia.

The Future Through QR Code

The choice of this work arises from the interest in the topics of innovation and technology transfer in the context of launching new services to target people. The authors sought to integrate a technology that could bring more interest to a product/service, namely with the modern growth of mobile activities and apps. Among some options considered, they chose the QR code technology. With the help of a strategic plan, they evaluate whether there is a market and propensity for its widespread use in Portugal. Then, an interactive prototype of the supporting platform is presented for its validation with users. Most participants know the QR code and consider the idea interesting and promising. They even suggested add-ons such as more video functions and a greater variety of events and resources for combining. Given the challenges of modern society, the authors recognize its eventual application to real-time requests for sharing specialized information or resources in critical activities of areas such as health and tourism. Features such as augmented reality, security, and privacy are future issues to address.

Generation Z's Media Use and Preferences as a Foundation for a Destination Media Planning Process

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the media use and preferences of Generation Z as a foundation for destination media planning. This chapter used a quantitative method with a questionnaire used as primary data source with a sample of 299 respondents. Data were analysed using descriptive statistic method. The results showed that the majority of Generation Z uses and prefers online media while at the same time offline media shouldn't be ignored. This chapter provides recommendations for the destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and media planners to better understand the media habits of Generation Z to use them as a valuable input for destination media planning.

The Digital Transformation of Companies

The emergence of social media has given birth to a new culture in the digital era of Web 2.0 and has new forms of communication through social interactions between actors in the economic scene. In this era of digitalization, great attention is paid to the online reputation of companies. Now, company success is often measured by their ability to use social media and their level of social interaction with customers. Thanks to the development of online collaborative platforms, the world of business has seen new forms of online consumer engagement with companies and active participation in their value chains. This dynamic framework demonstrates the importance of understanding relationship that are forged online between consumer and organization. The authors try to explain the opportunity to co-create value by focusing on the relationship that may exist between the online reputation of companies and the co-creation of value with the consumer.

Brand Humour Advertisements on a Social Network Platform and Their Impact on Online Consumer Engagement

Past studies on humour have predicted that the right humour technique can attract attention and lead to organic engagement from the viewer. However, limited research has been conducted concerning the use of humour by brands on social media. Based on Speck's taxonomy of humour, this research aims to clarify whether online brand humour advertisements have an impact on consumer engagement on a visual social media platform like Instagram. This chapter analyses the influence of comic wit and satire on product involvement, brand familiarity and gender, and their impact on online consumer engagement on the social network platform. A survey was developed and distributed online and a total of 216 participants from Qatar voluntarily filled out the questionnaire. Data was then analysed using SPSS and structural equation modelling. Results provide evidence that both humour techniques have a significant impact on consumer engagement when product involvement is mediating their relationship. Managerial implications of the results and future research prospects are also discussed.

Digital Transformation in the Energy Industry

In recent years, digital transformation has begun to significantly affect the business landscape, disrupting existing business models. In the midst of this revolution, oil and gas retail companies are experiencing a strong transformation of the whole industry, which is also driving the transformation of their processes, assets, and people. In this chapter, the authors explore how oil and gas retail companies are trying to redefine their business models by providing end-users with a wide range of smart and connected solutions. The main purpose of this work is to analyse, in the face of the digital transformation era, the potential that new technologies can unleash in mature and commoditized industries such as the one of oil and gas retail. In particular, the present work focuses on the digital transformation strategy of fuel retail companies based on the improvement of customer experience.

Digital Marketing and Digital Retail Strategies in the Luxury Sector

Contemporary marketing strategies have shifted from unidirectional to bidirectional logic, according to which the rise of digitization and of social networks are changing the concept of marketing itself. The most impactful digital technologies have been digital platforms and brand communities, which have exposed companies and consumers alike to new challenges, such as online purchasing experiences. As a result, luxury retailers, who have traditionally resisted rapid adoption of market trends, have begun embracing digitization as part of their marketing strategies. This chapter highlights how understanding this topic is crucial amid changing global economics that are reshaping how luxury consumers interact with retailers. Through a qualitative approach based on semi-structured one-to-one interviews with experts from a leading digital marketing company, this chapter intends to illustrate the critical factors (and related opportunities) that luxury brands will look to exploit in the near future. The results highlight the pervading separation between digital technology and luxury brands.

Critical View of Multiple Channels Retailing

The aim of this chapter is to better understand the gap that exists between the literature dealing with multiple channels shopping behavior and the actual shoppers' behavior. Adopting a critical analysis of a large literature of research articles dealing with consumer behavior and retailing in a multiple channel context, covering the period from 2002 to 2020, this chapter identifies an important gap in the literature: generally the authors define the different situations of multiple channels retailing (e.g., multichannel, crosschannel, and omni-channel) from the company point of view, and the main distribution channels presented in the literature review do not reproduce the richness of variety of channels available to the shoppers. Implications for future research related to multiple channel retailing and shopping behavior are discussed.