Marketers need to prepare for the human technology merge
IN line with PHD Malaysia’s agenda to unravel the forces shaping the future of marketing, the agency launched its latest thought leadership publication and documentary Merge | The closing gap between technology and us at an event for its clients and partners.
Held recently in Kuala Lumpur, the conference drew an audience of 115 delegates from the marketing industry, all of whom received a copy of the publication as well as insights on how to better prepare their strategies for what’s to come.
The network’s thought leadership publication sets out how technology and human evolution has progressed since the 1950s and how technological advances over the next 25-35 years will reshape society and the marketing industry.
Drawing on insights and foresights of experts including world leading inventor, author and futurist (and writer of the foreword) Ray Kurzweil, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, futurologist Ian Pearson and Microsoft’s UK chief envisioning officer Dave Coplin, Merge discusses the five stages of the evolutionary road between 1950 and 2050, culminating in technology and humanity fusing together both symbolically and literally.
At the launch event, guests heard from the agency’s head of strategy and platforms Jessey Chew on the impact of Merge on the role of marketing and the opportunities that are emerging as a result, before watching the network’s Merge documentary.
Following the screening, Eileen Ooi, head of PHD Malaysia, moderated the forum, “We’re all cyborgs, and artificial intelligence (AI) assistants will make us more human” alongside Dr Rajbans Singh, president of Malaysia’s Wellness Association; Suhaimi Sulaiman, CEO of Astro Awani; and Torie Henderson, Omnicom Media Group’s CEO for South-East Asia and India.
The forum touched on whether AI can enhance human beings and provide a quasi sixth sense, how AI is reshaping the medical and news industries, as well as what AI and technology means for the practice of marketing.
Chew moderated the second panel, “How brand experiences will change in the face of digital technologies growing at exponential speed”, comprising Vic Sithasanan, CEO of Hyperlab; Mellissa Lee, head of GetResponse Malaysia; and Srikanth Ramachandran, CEO of Moving Walls.
The panel discussed how business operations are changing as a result of the Merge, new applications of technology as well as why email marketing still matters in 2018.
On the year ahead, Ooi says: “This year will bring about a host of new technologies that will challenge the industry as well as present new opportunities for those willing to invest in innovation and take a bold first step.
“At PHD Malaysia, we believe in finding a better way for everything we do and that’s exactly our approach for the year ahead as we guide our clients on their growth journeys, helping them to navigate this exciting Merge.”
Merge | The closing gap between technology and us is available for purchase on Amazon and via the PHD Media app.