In an exclusive interview with Capital Business, Natasha Hritzuk, Global Senior Insights Director, Microsoft Advertising talks about digital trends and new technologies as well as the opportunities these industries offer for advertisers and marketers in the Middle East.

How do you manage to frequently come up with creative solutions?

At Microsoft we listen very carefully to our consumers. We recognize that the balance of power between consumers and brands has shifted, and the rules of engagement are currently being reimagined. Thus, we seek to enable brands to adapt and live up to these expectations. Our technological innovations are offering advertisers new ways to connect with consumers on their terms in ways that are engaging, relevant and valuable. We are putting the consumer first.

Could you please tell us about the first announcement of Microsoft Digital Trends: Value Me and Enhancing the Real?

The ‘Value Me’ Trend found that consumers are becoming increasingly aware that their personal data is a valuable commodity, online and offline, and are showing more interest in services that allow them to exchange their data for something of value – be it better service, a special offer, a tailored loyalty program or even hard cash.

Already, 48% of global online consumers are aware that their data is valuable to marketers and service providers. The figure is larger for younger demographics, who have been immersed in digital for longer, suggesting that awareness is highest amongst those with more experience with technology. With 30% of global online consumers reporting that they know how to exchange data for rewards today, we see that engagement with the idea is already high.

Many new web-based services are emerging, that enable consumers to bring together their individual data streams from across the web, manage it in one place, share it on their own terms – and get value out of the exchange.

This trend is happening because data is the new currency of online life, but hyper-connectivity and blurring of the on- and offline worlds means that data is everywhere. We are putting more and more of ourselves online, filling out more forms, sharing more data and allowing ourselves to be tracked from site to site. Increasingly effective online targeting isn’t going unnoticed by consumers, and revelations around privacy and the misuse of personal data by internet giants means managing your data online is a growing topic of conversation.

Value Me represents a significant shift in online norms. Soon, we will see more mainstream internet users take control of their data, seek more reciprocal relationships with brands and demand transparency. Online identities will evolve from being a collection of behaviours and expressions to being marketing profiles too - profiles that can be continuously crafted and built upon to gain maximum rewards. When considering what we share and when, we'll have the marketer in mind.

The Value Me trend reveals a good opportunity for brands to engage consumers in more rewarding relationships, with clear, tangible benefits for both parties. For brands, it is no longer enough to ‘engage’ consumers through targeting and re-targeting: consumers will increasingly expect open exchanges, transparency and an active role in decision-making when it comes to their data. The audience is no longer simply the ‘product’ sold to advertisers – they’re an equal party.

Furthermore, according to the “Enhancing the Real” Trend, with more of our waking hours spent indoors in front of flat, lifeless computer screens, the past decade’s technology has numbed our senses. But what technology previously took away, it is now bringing back: new digital technologies are engaging more of our senses, ever more intensely, and bringing digital worlds to life. Enhancing the Real describes our increasing desire for technology that takes us beyond the flat surface of a touchscreen or two-dimensional television and immerses us in enhanced, multi-sensory experiences – thanks to a combination of high-definition graphics, sound, scent and touch technologies.

Digital technology is enhancing the real: technologies allow us to touch, smell and taste what we could only previously see and hear; at the same time, the digital world is transforming the physical world. Already, 36% of global online consumers say that digital devices and services enhance their experience in the real world because they engage all their senses.

Enhancing the Real describes the weaving together of the physical and digital worlds – which consumers are increasingly demanding. At present, marketers and technologists treat the two worlds as separate which introduces friction and barriers as consumers try to move seamlessly and fluidly between the digital and physical. Consumers’ relationship with digital is also maturing. Increasingly, dulled by digital and dazed by screens, we are moving away from ubiquitous connectivity, pushing against the constant noise of push-notifications, emails and advertising, and developing more human relationships with technology. We want our technological tools to be friendly and natural – to engage the human senses.

In the past five years, touchscreens and natural user-interfaces, popularized by Apple’s multi-touch devices and others, have become commonplace in consumer technology, replacing keyboards and mice. We expect all our content to be swiped, pinched and tapped. Products like Microsoft’s Surface tablet are championing intuitive interactions. Interfaces powered by technology like PrimeSense, behind Microsoft’s Kinect and other systems like it, have pushed natural interactions even further: introducing us to gesture-based control, where we use our hands and arms to manipulate devices.

These seamless and immersive interactions will create more real-life natural experiences for consumers and add an additional layer to their digital interactions that has yet to exist. In the future, consumers will no longer speak of going ‘online’: the digital space will converge with the physical world, and technology will bring to life once-intangible objects or experiences. These new technologies will be able to bring products to life in whole new ways, and offer an enormous opportunity for brands – not just in try-before-you-buy online retail, but creating worlds around your brand that engage consumers in much deeper, more profound ways. To which extent consumers are accepting new technologies and understanding their importance to the brands?

As the rules of engagement between customers and brands shift, Microsoft seeks to enable brands to adapt and live up to the consumers’ expectations. These digital trends create both challenges and opportunities for brands and advertisers to look beyond delivering a single message to creating more involved campaigns that are engaging, relevant and valuable to consumers.

With the crowded marketplace of devices, platforms and apps, consumers now face increasing information overload and expect brands to use available technology to connect with them at the right time. Recognizing these digital trends is vital for brands to effectively reach out to their customers across a wide range of demographics, geographies and cultures.

The Digital Trends show that there remains a “cut off” between what technology can do and what consumers need from technology. The opportunity for brands and advertisers here is significant-- it’s time for change. Technology may be innovating at an increasingly fast pace, but it still relies on people to do too much of the work – carrying multiple devices and extra weight, synchronizing accounts, setting defaults, backing up and switching off.

According to you, how can these trends affect consumer’s behavior and needs?

Digital Trends introduces a new view on the Digital World: Internet is not a novelty anymore and the consumer is the first priority. Understanding consumers – their behavior, expectations, needs and motivations – is at the heart of effective digital marketing. The Digital Trends research demonstrates how consumers’ relationship with technology is changing. Marketers need to be where consumers are at the right time and with the right content to build their brand’s story and truly engage with their audience. Across the complete set of Microsoft devices and services we connect with 59% of internet users across the globe, so we are well equipped with the insights necessary to help marketers run successful campaigns.

The Digital Trends research gives voice to consumers around the world and reveals that people are increasingly aware that technology is capable of making their lives more seamless and friction free. Because of this, they have increased their expectations of the role brands can play.

How is the usage of devices, platforms, apps and brands moving nowadays?
 

Content must also be contextual and tap into the relationship consumers have with each device. For example, the mobile is a highly personal device, so we need to deliver content that is relevant, meaningful and not obtrusive or disruptive. We also need to drive experiences across devices that are seamless and integrated - the consumer must be able to connect and follow your brand across different devices in a way that feels natural and experiential.

Our objective should be to create multi-screen experiences that are useful and relevant. In the future there will be over a billion devices. This provides the scale to build advertisements that will reach many people. But we should never be device led – we will only move forward as an industry by putting the consumer first. To drive relevant, additive cross screen experiences for consumers, we need to take the time to understand their needs and motivations, not just what they do.

What does the digital sector hold for brands and marketers in the Middle East?

In the Middle East and Africa, the most trusted forms of online advertising are branded websites (71% trust this form), ads on social networks (49%) ads served in search engine results (46%), online video ads and display ads on mobile devices (44%), and online banner ads (42%).

The percentage of web users in the Middle East and Africa has risen by double digits since 2011, and is estimated to continue to do so annually through 2014. The region will surpass the worldwide average growth rate by several percentage points between now and 2016.

Digital ad spending is expected to grow by 47.4% this year, 38.5% next year, and another 26.5% by 2016.

In your opinion, why should advertisers always re?think the way they communicate with consumers?

While the Web has rapidly evolved since its creation more than 20 years ago, the evolution of global online advertising has been remarkably slower, weighed down by the baggage of highly profitable traditional advertising models that over-shadow the introduction of new ideas.

This stagnation has put the industry at risk and as a result, advertisers have failed on their promise to deliver experiences to emerging consumers that make sense in their unique digital world. The industry is at a crossroads: Continue with the status quo or set out on a new path of advertising that is bold, additive to consumers and innovative. Advertising that enhances the online experience and facilitates decision-making. Advertising that disrupts the current model.

How do you see the future of digital advertising evolving in the region?

My answer is unequivocal: mobile marketing. Last year we saw the first breakthrough campaigns in this space and this year we will see mobile marketing really take its place as a substantial communication channel for marketers. With Skype, we have a mobile advertising platform that is growing year on year. Moreover, we will be adding iPad soon to the devices where our consumers can be stimulated with creative, engaging advertising – one brand at a time. We are also encouraging our partners to invest in rich media on mobile – the lift on interaction is tremendous compared to simple banners. The additional investment in time and resources required is more than compensated for by the impact the ads will have. So watch out for mobile in 2014! Online in general is still developing with double digits across most of the Middle-East region. This represents a tremendous opportunity for Microsoft and our local Sales House partner ConnectAds to offer a unique proposition to top advertisers interested in both reach as well as a wide range of creative and innovative advertising possibilities.

About Natasha Hritzuk:
 

Natasha Hritzuk is Global Senior Insights Director at Microsoft Advertising. Her team is responsible for delivering Thought Leadership, customer partnership research, campaign insights and product development/insights. She currently sits on the ARF Board and recently joined the I-Com Board. Prior to joining Microsoft, Natasha worked for General Mills UK & Ireland where she was Head of Category and Consumer Insights. Also, she worked for Wirthlin Worldwide, a communications and branding research agency, in both the London and New York Offices. Natasha has a Ph.D. in Political Behavior and Psychology from Columbia University.

*Interview conducted by Jenny Kassis