"MEC Review Preview No. 5"

<p>Welcome to Review Preview No. 5. For this edition, we&rsquo;ve created a guide for&nbsp;implementing marketing brand initiatives in a digitally enabled world by identifying&nbsp;the key components of this evolution. As in previous editions, our thoughts represent&nbsp;the insights and experiences from a multitude of markets around the world.</p>
<p>The journey to marketing in today&rsquo;s digital era requires a change of culture,&nbsp;organizational structures, technology, measurement frameworks and operating&nbsp;models. Digital transformation is more than a one time, single program or activity, it&nbsp;is on-going. Digital has transformed the ways in which consumers explore, discover,&nbsp;buy, and engage with products and services as well as with each other, transcending&nbsp;traditional channel boundaries.</p>
<p>Digital experiences are supplementing brand impressions, and piecemeal strategies&nbsp;of deploying digital channels are no longer sufficient: technology powerfully changes&nbsp;how consumers experience brands. Rather than treating digital as a channel, focus on&nbsp;delivering brand experiences that add value in the context of the consumer&rsquo;s needs.</p>
<p>By 2017, in most major markets, digital touchpoints, such as mobile devices, will&nbsp;influence over 50% of retail sales. Over 10% of all sales will be online. Increasingly,&nbsp;sophisticated location and context aware apps and sensors are permeating the&nbsp;physical world.</p>
<p>You must think about your business as part of a digital ecosystem of value that&nbsp;connects resources, networks and platforms inside and outside the company. You&nbsp;must harness technology, both to deliver a superior customer experience and to drive&nbsp;agility for operational efficiency. The biggest challenge is staying ahead of technology&nbsp;and your consumers&rsquo; rapidly changing expectations. Open your services and data&nbsp;to reach consumers in new ways. Fund disruptive innovation and experimentation&nbsp;activities with consumers.</p>
<p>Based on the inevitable and breakthrough forces in today&rsquo;s marketing arena,&nbsp;we developed this guide of key marketing considerations. We hope that you will&nbsp;continuously refer to this guide to explore new opportunities, that it will inspire new&nbsp;thinking and, most of all boldness in your marketing efforts.</p>
<p>We would love to hear from you and provide on-going education, inspiration and support<br />throughout the year. Please join the conversation at www.mecglobal.com/blog/2014/12/rp5. />I&rsquo;m looking forward to working with you to bring great, inspiring brand ideas to life.</p>
<p>Carl Fremont<br />Chief Digital Officer, Global<span>&nbsp;</span></p>