AdWeek Europe: Last Mile Touch Points Offer Disruptive Opportunities

Businesses need to shift their mindset, disrupt their legacy industry structures, and create brand experiences around the last mile if they want to remain relevant in today’s fast-changing world.

Those were the key messages from panellists at an Advertising Week session called “The Last Mile Reimagined.” The pressing need for companies to transform and break free of their legacy structures is driven by the acceleration of change.

“The pace of change in the next 10 years will surpass anything we’ve seen in the past 50 years,” said Matt Gee, head of digital transformation, Isobar U.K. “Fifty years ago the average life space of a Fortune-500 company was 75 years, today it’s 15.”

Considering ways companies could ensure they become successful disruptors, rather than the failed disrupted, the panel focused on the last mile. Recognising that consumers are now on non-sequential user journeys, Tia Castagno, global head of innovation, Vizeum, said: “The last mile used to be the last step in a linear process, but in a world of hyper-connectivity it is an opportunity for storytelling, transaction, and building relationships at every touch point.”

Gee cited luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter as a company that has successfully built its brand story around service and delivery, creating a new brand narrative in the process.

He also highlighted on-demand innovations such as Amazon’s Dash Button and Starbucks Mobile Order & Pay app for creating new customer experience opportunities around transactions.

Castagno described camera maker GoPro’s disruptive efforts to combine storytelling, transaction, and relationship-building with its customers.

“The electronics sector has killed everyone’s imagination with endless how-to content. But GoPro has put customers at the centre and elevated collaborative storytelling to a new level,” she said.

“They’ve ticked all three boxes: became part of culture and cultural content, reimagined the tool of selling by using user-generated content for its brand advertising, and with every opportunity for storytelling comes another to buy not far behind.”