Protecting workers’ rights

It was refreshing to see a balanced view of zero-hour contracts (Making flexible staff work for your brand). These contracts are so often vilified in the media yet are crucial not only to experiential agencies but also the staff who work with them. 

From students working their way through university, jobbing actors and dancers to the professional ‘promo’ people, they all benefit from the flexibility that field work on zero-hour contracts offers.  

However, as an industry, we need to acknowledge that these contracts are open to abuse, and that we, as employers, need to look after and protect the rights of the people who work for us.

Rob Quinn, managing director of brand experience agency at Purity

Don’t fear technology 

The social shopper phenomenon driven by the technological explosion is only set to become more sophisticated, so retailers have no option but to embrace it (Firing up Technology).

The merging of on- and offline channels must be viewed with excitement, not fear. A joined-up strategy shows recognition of evolving customer needs, enhances the overall experience and will pave the way for deeper relationships.

Mobile is central to consumers’ shopping habits, so retailers should make the most of it.

Andrea Burrows, managing director at Lick Creative

Get creative with data

While your programmatic buying essential guide highlighted some confusion among marketers, brands are getting better at media planning with programmatic as they adopt more strategic and data-driven strategies. Our recent Intelligence Index (AII) found that programmatic advertising is gaining traction on new channels such as mobile and social but as programmatic heats up across all audience channels, marketers face a challenge cutting through the noise.

While big data presents modern-day marketers with the opportunity to showcase return on investment in new ways, without the right integration and analysis tools this information is not actionable. Effective advertising campaigns will utilise anonymised customer information for creative campaigns that are engaging and relevant.

Pierre Naggar, managing director EMEA at Turn