At a stage when technology is revolutionizing all walks of life, advertising is not left out of the need for change. Advertisers of the digital age have a challenge: to develop an effective communication strategy in a dynamic and changing environment, which includes more and more channels of communication and in which consumers have unprecedented power. In this context, advertising must find new ways to achieve its objectives, because both the exchange platforms and the way users behave have changed radically. Thus, technology is the new great ally of creativity, but not everyone knows how to tap into that potential.

What characterizes this new stage of advertising?

We are in what in Google we have baptized like the era of the agile creativity. This means that advertising, today, has to find a new dynamic to meet the same goals it had 60 years ago, that is, build a good corporate image, build trust, create attractive and novel content, cause surprise, attract and driving positive behaviors. The radical change that is produced by the hand of the digital revolution is in the tools that today should be used by advertisers to do their work. New channels of communication are constantly emerging, old media converge, and innovation is not an option but a necessity. Advertising must adapt to the agility of today’s market, and in that it must learn from the technological field.

What can the publicists and communicators of technology companies learn?

There are certain rules of technology companies that are part of the principles of Silicon Valley, and that are perfectly applicable to advertising. These guidelines have to do with the need to achieve speed and agility in the beginning of projects, and with the imperatives of listening, learning and working collaboratively. One of the secrets is to understand that it is necessary to quickly discard what does not work. That is why we say that this is the era of agility: there is not too much time to think long term, but it is necessary to keep pace with the market.

What is the transfer to this new form of work?

In the technological market, an old model was abandoned that was sustained in launching the products to the market in full operation and backed by an extensive work of market research. Today, a more dynamic working environment is being developed, in which products can change on the fly, based on the users’ response. Advertising should prepare for the same thing. The new market, with a dynamic consumer and technology lover, demands greater openness and flexibility in communication strategies. Advertising executives should consider, for example, that it is possible to conduct experimental campaigns and then launch a larger project. At Google, for example, we ran a small YouTube campaign called “Search On” that helped us evaluate, based on audience response,

How do the new technological tools allow the change in the advertising model?

One of the keys are the new online statistics tools. Internet has knocked over the mirror of the focus group. Today there are ways to get consumer behavior and sentiment data almost in real time, something that with traditional consumer testing methodologies was not feasible. This enables rapid testing, both in terms of a product and a communication strategy, to detect the public’s response and make decisions on the go. The old methods such as focus groups and large – scale studies are valuable, but they are new tools like Radian 6, EvoApp Google Insights for Search or YouTube Trends Dashboard, which makes it possible to obtain a quantity of data on consumption immediately, and only in this way is it possible to use that information in time.

What do you need to be aware of in the audience’s responses?

The main thing is to ask who is really listening: today the audience is flexible and although the publicist imagines a target as a recipient of their messages, it is possible to take the surprise that the receiver is not what is expected. It is necessary to evaluate whether the perceptions and assumptions coincided with what finally happened, and finally to act on what worked. The key is to respond by taking advantage of strengths, and eliminate what did not turn out as expected. The result will always be a better product, which has evolved from the initial idea. A campaign can feed back from its own results, and the end product will be much more fruitful.

Are there risks or disadvantages in experimenting with new techniques and tools?

The experimentation must be carried out with caution, it is fundamental to choose the team correctly and that the tasks are carried out in collaboration and with commitment to be able to react with the speed that this type of campaign requires. But the benefits are more than the risks, as it currently has the tools to work efficiently and agile at the same time. On the other hand, it is very important to establish firm values ​​and to have very clear the key ideas, so as not to lose the central axis of the messages. Working in this way should not be more risky.

7 Tips for Speeding Up Work

• Bring teams together. Put the work teams together, either in a physical place, or in a virtual room, to encourage communication and collaboration between team members.
• Incorporate technology experts into the creative group. It is always advisable to expand the equipment and expand its reach. A good idea is to incorporate specialists according to the particular needs of each project.
• Discover talents. Some employees are experts in one area, and from there they can contribute to the creative process. Others are more adaptable and interested in other fields. It is good to distinguish them to get the best of each.
• Work with statistics in real time. For this you can use tools like Google Real-Time Insights Finder, Google Brand Impressions tool Google+ Hangouts.
• Perform Hackathons, or activities to generate ideas. Hackatons are days where you work in unusual ways to create new ideas and test them in real time.
• Test with the audience. Launching beta products to be tested by users is one of the best ways to get a first-rate quality assessment.
• Work with advertisers on pilot projects. Once you work with advertisers, you can review projects more dynamically, including new ideas and making team contributions.