We Took Our Own Medicine: Adobe Boss

Adobe’s president and chief executive officer, Shantanu Narayen, told the 7000 strong audience at its marketing cloud summit that it has experienced the pain of reinvention by applying its Marketing Cloud solutions to its Creative Cloud business.
“We are realising at Adobe that we have to apply that same thinking to how we deliver the Creative Cloud and how we communicate with our customers, by expanding the definition of what we call product,” he said.
“In the past we used to think of the desktop and mobile apps as separate from Adobe.com, but now we recognise that they’re all unified and their in turn exactly the same as other cloud services. So we are working ourselves towards integrating all of these into a unified end experience.”
Narayen said that from product discovery, to purchase, to download support as well as ongoing usage, all of the experiences had to be consistent and continuous.
For example the new Hello app within the Creative Cloud, personalises tutorials and tips for brand new users and allows Adobe to recommend new services from right inside the product.
“Turning your product into marketing puts marketing at the very centre of every single business. We understand that reinvention as a company is easier said than done. Some of you are further down the path than others, but we live it every day as customer zero for all of our solutions.”
In a wide ranging address as part of the opening session of the week long love-in for everyone with the word digital in their title, Narayen also said that Adobe had thought that marketing as a function was actually underrepresented and underserved by technology companies. That’s why it acquired the Salt Lake City based Omniture just over five years ago and embarked on creating the $US1.25 billion monster we have today.
“We realised that marketers not only wanted to create content, but they wanted to manage that content, and monitor it and optimise it.”
He also said that marketing in its entirety is on a reinvention journey. “How do you take advantage of all of the amazing technology that is available?” He argued that the pace of change is not just being measured in years anymore, but in months as well as weeks.
“However some fundamental principles of marketing don’t change,” he said. “Great creative is still the bedrock of marketing. To stand out whether it’s through humour or emotional connections through a story, the art of marketing creative is and always will be a constant.”
Narayen briefly charted the history of digital marketing saying the first phase of digital marketing, focused on the delivery of great creative digitally as companies stood up their websites. “Digital marketing took a huge step forward when businesses starting moving and targeting online. Art and science came together.
“Data and insights, visitor behaviour all of a sudden became available and at our finger tips. We could finally see where visitors were coming from and what they were doing on our websites. We could AB test content and we could personalize the messages that we had to drive conversion.
“And of course CMOs could finally start to answer the question of what 50% of my marketing budget was effective.”
Today, Narayen said, the Internet of Things was making the task of marketing even more challenging. “We are swimming with devices and data and more people who are connecting to the Internet through something other than a computer.
“As a community we need to stretch our focus on the customer experience. I would like to think that we are in this era now where your product is marketing.
“Traditionally as a marketer, your company gave you a product and your job was to market it. The questions you got to ask were things like, how do I position my brand, what’s the messaging, how do I allocate my media spend?
“But the new questions to ask are: Are we thinking broadly enough about what the product is? How can I bring together this power of digital marketing to dramatically improve the product experience?”
Narayen said that companies all around the world in every vertical are going through this change. Retail, travel, services, some of these companies have known that their product is marketing for a long time, because the service they deliver is synonymous with the brand. “It’s how they sell, not what they sell, that makes them stand out from the competition.”
The Summit also saw a slew of product announcements made on the first day.
A new solution called Audience Manager that offers new capabilities to gain greater insight into customer journeys, including a new Audience Marketplace to buy and sell anonymous audience data, and cross-device identification that lets marketers take advantage of user authentications to target individuals in a household that share a single device.
An all-in-one mobile app framework that dramatically simplifies the mobile app lifecycle – from app development and user acquisition to app analytics and user engagement.
A solution combining advances to Audience Core Services and a new algorithmic engine to unify audience targeting, buying, data and billing in one platform. Having a one-stop shop for all your targeting, data and billing needs is a big step forward in addressing the current challenges in programmatic ad buying and content delivery.
David Hovenden is currently in Salt Lake City for Adobe’s annual summit.
Latest News

Entries now open for Snapchat Young Lions Australia
The annual search for the very best of Australia’s young media, creative, and marketing professionals has begun, with Cannes Lions Festival representative The Misfits announcing entries are now officially open for the 2021 Snapchat Young Lions Competition. The Young Lions Competition, which is proudly supported by Snapchat and The Trade Disk, gives blossoming media talent […]

Pureprofile Snares Former Kantar Director Of Data Solutions & Sourcing Young Ham
Global data and insights business Pureprofile Limited has today announced three new appointments to the Australian team to support its renewed growth strategy. Young Ham [pictured] joins the team in a global role as head of data, innovation and product, Kate Richards will hold the role of interim head of sales, data & insights ANZ […]

PHD Snares Former Hello Social Strategy Director Joshua Tan As Part Of Content Team Expansion
PHD unveils new-look content team which includes (judging by accompanying press photo) an astonishing beard & man bun.

Coca-Cola Loses Logo In ‘Open To Better’ Campaign
Here's some fun new work from Coke. Sure, it still rots your teeth and makes you fat, but fun nonetheless.

“You Can’t Nazi It!”: Amazon Called Out For Fatal Design Flaw In New Logo
New Amazon logo apparently resembles Hilter's moustache. Particularly after Adolf ate one too many blueberry muffins.

Mitsubishi Motors Australia Produces New Creative For International Markets Via Richards Rose
Mitsubishi Australia unveils latest work and wisely decided not to reinstate the truly awful "It's a Mitsi" tagline.

Taboola Lays Out Plans To Go Public
Taboola lays out plans to go public. And by that it apparently means the stock market, not the local park's lavatories.

Selena Gomez Fronts Latest PUMA Campaign
B&T has no idea what Selena Gomez actually does, however, it appears to have made her incredibly rich doing it.

Australian Open Tops YouGov Sport’s UK Australia 2021 Rankings
A list of Australia's most popluar sports are in and once again it's little joy for hotdog eating or the manure toss.

TV Interview Goes Awry After Viewers Spot Menacing Dildo
In this woman's defence, it may just be a scented candle. Admittedly one that bares remarkable similarities to a dildo.

The Three Must-Haves For Your Data Strategy
Here are the three must-haves for your data strategy. A fourth could possibly include the value of legumes in your diet.

Third-Party Data Sales Spike 109% For Lotame In APAC
Lotame has today announced 109 per cent growth in third-party data sales in the APAC region from Q2 2020 to Q3 2020. Across the APAC region, India saw 555 per cent growth, followed by Malaysia at 190 per cent and Taiwan at 178 per cent growth. Subsequently, Australia saw 43 per cent growth and New Zealand […]

28% Of Display Advertising Spend Goes To Ad Tech Services: ACCC Inquiry
Some 28% of display ad spend goes to the ad tech giants. Which explains the excellent sandwiches at their conferences.

Nielsen: Top 10 Media Owners Reach Over Half Of The Australian Population Each Month
Study finds top 10 media owners reach over 50% of the Aussie population. Other 50% looking for car spot at Westfields.

Dr Elaine Stead Wins $280k Damages In Defamation Suit Against The AFR’s Joe Aston
Long-running defamation case comes to an end. Barristers just happy to take those silly wigs off in this stifling heat.

Tim Robards Stars As Tim Tam Genie In New Arnott’s Campaign Via The Neighbourhood
The Tim Tam is undoubtedly Australia's culinary gift to the world alongside the pavlova & the throwdown beer receptacle.

McCann Sydney Snares Lucy Gavan For Senior Strategist Role
McCann Sydney inter-office UNO tournament takes sinister new twist with arrivel of new senior strategist.

VCCP Sydney Adds Tilly Treloar, Nathan Pashley & Heath Sims
B&T's editor does not like press photos of people not wearing socks. He's a stickler for neutralising foot odours.

Dentsu’s Ad Spend Report Forecasts 5.9% Growth In Australia In 2021
2021's starting to look good for ad spends. It's not looking good for overseas travel or people with a fear of needles.

David Pullinger, Former JC Decaux Sales Director, Appointed QMS Media GM
JC Decaux's David Pullinger jumps to rival QMS amid apparent awkward silences at the staff leaving party.

Stan Officially Announces Pricing For Stan Sport
Stan Sport will cost you $10 a month. Which is the same price as three avocados sans the monounsaturated fatty acids.

Facebook Introduces New Measures To Stop The Spread Of Holocaust Misinformation
Facebook looking to block Holocaust deniers. Still seems open to Flat Earthers and Elvis spotting, however.

Busting Six Of The Biggest Ad Tech Myths
Here, six of ad tech's biggest myths get expertly busted. There was a seventh, but it turned out to possibly be true.

Droga5 London Rolls Out New International Visual Identity For CUPRA
Droga5 London is arguably the hottest agency in the world right now. Not that anyone's booking Cannes tickets just yet.

Shutterstock Acquires 3D Marketplace TurboSquid
Shutterstock has acquired 3D marketplace TurboSquid. Read all the news here, admittedly in boring old 2D.

Are Media Appoints Melissa Mason As Digital Editor For ELLE & Marie Claire
Melissa Mason seriously considering putting an accent over the á following Elle & marie claire appointment.

M&C Saatchi’s Timothy Ng: “To Those Who’ve Thought About It”
M&C Saatchi's Timothy Ng muses on his career in advertising. It's a bit Nietschke, with a spot of Goethe thrown in.

WPP Named In Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index For Third Year In A Row
WPP named in gender-equality index for third year running as internal fight erupts over where to hang the certificate.

Australian Road Safety Foundation Utilises Geo-Targeting Technology To Protect Kids In School
The Australian Road Safety Foundation (ARSF) has teamed up with Spotify and some of Queensland’s leading musicians in a national first that will geotarget drivers within school zones. The Slow Down Songs campaign, which is being piloted in Queensland, will work to keep kids safe within school zones by dramatically slowing down songs and serving […]

Florida Financial Officer ‘Offers’ To Host Olympics With “Bonkers” Pitch
Florida says if Tokyo don't want the Games, they'll take it. Hopefully our own Dubbo might make similar overtures.