CEO of Live Smart Ai, Kevin Kelly was invited to a dinner hosted by Campaign Mag where brilliant minds of the marketing world connected and debated industry problems and solutions. A select group of Industry professionals sat down to discuss the agency of the future, and Live Smart Ai had a seat at the table… literally. Cocktail hour conversation consisted of making data human, putting the customer first, counting every dollar, and creating a unique workforce.
Debates over food and wine revolved around accountability and transparency, the use of digital as a tool, and hiring employees that fit company culture. It was a popular opinion that accountability and transparency are major issues within the industry. Digital reach offers both the opportunity and challenge for agencies. While digital creates the opportunity to reach far and wide, the challenge is quantifying the meaningful results and getting it right. Another widely agreed upon opinion was that digital is a powerful and important platform, but it is only one tool within the marketing and advertising mix. Agencies need to be able to guide clients’ goals and objectives consistently. New digital features can potentially be distracting as “new and shiny” but agencies need to be able to say “no” sometimes to keep their client on track. The last topic the group covered was the ability to hire “unicorn” employees that have a unique skill set, ambition, persistence and an undeniable match to the agency culture. All of these factors contribute to the agency of the future and what’s next.
Check out the article and video Campaign Mag covered of the event.
Coming from the world of a creative agency, it can be hard to fully appreciate all of the digital advancements the industry has experienced in the last 5-10 years. While the technology for targeting, attribution and analytics have advanced at a blistering pace, advertising work has at the same time suffered from the problem of discrete information silos, each of which operates independently of one another.
Historically, creative has occupied one standalone department – the home of the “big idea,” the brilliant tagline and the 30-second TV commercial. Other departments have been responsible for disseminating that creative work across the web of channels representing social, display, video, etc. All of this was then optimized by an analytics team that operated downstream of existing outputs. The result is an inefficient system for planning and executing advertising campaigns. It’s certainly not agile enough to move at the speed of digital technology.
If agencies want to succeed going forward, they’re going to need to do better than check the requisite boxes — their digital, social, e-commerce, creative, and media teams will need to work as a cohesive unit. That’s easier said than done, though. Companies have talked about breaking down silos for years now, but implementing change is notoriously difficult.
One way agencies can grow organically and integrate operations is through acquisition. This may seem counterintuitive at first: When one agency acquires another the two organizations momentarily exist in two very distinct silos.
However, a thoughtful agency acquisition can holistically lead to a more integrated organization by freeing up the resources various team members need in order to take on other work. Oftentimes agency teams become so absorbed and stretched by existing work that they don’t have the available bandwidth to expand their skillsets.
However, a merger can free up vast resources if, for example, the larger organization can take over administrative tasks like HR that have otherwise occupied leadership. With the added capacity, leadership from the smaller agency can think about how to more holistically integrate operations and optimize the whole.
If executed correctly, brand marketing, performance advertising, and e-commerce can all inform each other, and such a seamless exchange of data and information will be critical for agencies’ future success.
A great agency should go beyond its usual task of executing ad campaigns and help its clients solve complex business problems. Many brands are beginning to bring some digital operations in-house, for example, and it’s important to remember that great agencies are built to complement and coexist with client insourcing.
Agencies should currently be advising their clients on how to maneuver a post-cookie digital advertising world. Brands in every sector are scrambling to find a viable alternative to cookies, and agencies can help ease the transition.
To do this effectively, though, an agency will need to call upon multiple different departments. They’ll need to engage the digital team to find novel ways to build and measure audiences. They’ll need the social and creative teams to align on messaging and forge closer relationships with consumers. And they’ll need the media and e-commerce teams to coordinate on media placement and ensure they’re converting consumers at the same rate.
By focusing on solutions, and not typical agency busywork, an agency naturally collaborates across departments. Then they’re able to drive real value and revenue for their clients.
With the advent of ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), the general population is realizing that AI can and will change people’s lives. The concept of AI as applied to business has been on large corporation’s radar for several years. As various AI services, such as chatbots, have been incorporated into the public customer service and communication systems, acceptance of AI by the public sector as a means to resolve customer issues, complaints, or answer customers’ questions is growing in popularity. In fact, recent studies have shown that 71% of people prefer a self-service method for resolving issues with providers.
All of this is great news for companies struggling to create competitive advantage through service in a very tough market place and an unprecedented labor shortage that is not likely to improve for many years. While this may seem like an easy solution for many companies, due diligence is necessary to ensure that the AI process lives up to users’ expectations. Customers’ expectations for personalized and exceptional service from their providers does not change, regardless if the service is provided by a Chatbot or a live person. Creating an inefficient AI service can be as catastrophic as hiring wrong-fit employees. Additional considerations must be given to ensure that the chosen AI methods are programmed and built with well thought-out structural and ethical guidelines or the end result will be customer defection rather than loyalty.
The concept of combining AI and pixie dust was one invented by myself and partner, Debbie Zmorenski. Debbie is a 35 year veteran of Disney and my co-host on the podcast The Disney Way For the Digital Age. On the podcast, we explore the intersection of digital innovation, combined with the cultural structure developed by Disney that pulled them out of the dark years prior to Michael Eisnors tenure as CEO. This structure is most well known as “The Disney Way” and is still taught today at the Disney institute where Debbie and I originally met.
In 2018 at the SXSW conference, Debbie and I were joined by Clara deSoto, currently part of the Google Digital Assistant team, on a panel exploring the ideas of combining a service culture framework with ethical AI design. This concept explored the idea of using AI to create happiness as a foundational goal through AI technology like Chatbots and Alexa voice experiences. This is still the foundation for Debbie’s and my work at Live Smart Ai where we design AI that provides exceptional service to hotel guests as well as an innovative system to assist seniors who are isolated in their homes.
At its simplest, the idea of “The Disney Way” is that everything you do tiers up to and supports your Purpose Statement, of which Disney’s is “We create happiness by providing the best in entertainment for people of all ages everywhere”. Or as all employees are required to remember, simply, “WE CREATE HAPPINESS”. But how do you do this consistently through a delivery method of 75,000 free-willed cast members at Walt Disney World? Enter their cultural structure, consisting of Purpose statements, Service Standards, and Standards of Behavior commonly referred to as the Service Framework.
The Purpose statement, that singular simple goal is supported by the Standards of Service. The Service standards are 3 – 5 words providing criteria for delivering Service Excellence. When prioritized and clearly defined, Standards of Service act as tools empowering employees to make appropriate and relevant decisions that deliver consistently on Service Excellence. Standards of Service must always support and deliver on the Statement of Purpose. But what does that look like and how do we train the team and keep them accountable? Those Service Standards are supported by The Standards of Behavior. Behaviors associated with Standards of Service that clearly describe the expected and non-negotiable behaviors to enable consistent delivery on a customer-centric culture, creating sustainable competitive advantage.
Clearly delineated behaviors associated with Standards of Service eliminate interpretation of service excellence actions, creating accountability that is observable and measurable. For example, see Disney’s purpose statement and service standards below:
We believe that this can be applied to the design and management of AI. We can apply this hierarchical structure when designing AI like Chatbots, or Voice Experiences, but we will need to create the bots unique purpose statement, service standards and standards of behavior, and apply that throughout the design process and like people, use it to keep it accountable and measure its success as it grows in scope of intelligence and autonomy.
Pixie dust is a term often associated with the Disney way of creating magic and wonder. It represents the belief that anything is possible and that dreams can come true through hard work, determination, and a little bit of magic. In the context of Disney, pixie dust refers to the unique combination of elements – such as storytelling, music, and technology – that come together to create memorable experiences for guests. The term pixie dust originates from the animated film Peter Pan.
Of course, it’s important to remember that AI is not a magic solution to all problems. While it has the potential to play an important role in creating happiness, it’s only one piece of the puzzle and we can never discount the need for human interaction.
AI is built on input and guidelines from humans, and we can employ foundational guidelines like the Disney Way Service Structure that allows providers to deliver consistent service excellence through their human employees. It begs the question, “Why can’t we use that foundational structure to make Chatbots, voice experiences and other AI interactions that will deliver happiness across a broad spectrum of human needs.” You can have a look at the SXSW panel discussion HERE.
AI has the potential to be a powerful tool in the quest for happiness. From virtual assistants and AI-powered mental health tools to virtual reality experiences and pixie dust, AI is providing us with new and innovative ways to manage our emotions, meet our needs, and improve our well-being. As we continue to explore the possibilities of AI, it will be exciting to see how it continues to impact our lives and help us create happiness.
You can share your thoughts in the comments below or reach out to Debbie, Kevin and Clara in case you wish to have a further conversation regarding the same.
Kevin Kelly is a 30-year veteran of the interactive marketing and creative advertising space, with expertise in customer experience design and interactive creative strategy. Passionate about AI and Machine Learning, Kevin serves as Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at Live Smart Ai where he designs innovative customer experiences through AI digital assistants as well as training for the human support team. He has spoken at CES on Ethics in AI and at SXSW on concepts combining AI and cultural frameworks.
His current work includes voice experience design with the Amazon Alexa team to bring extraordinary guest services to some of the world’s leading hotel brands, including Hard Rock International. He also heads up the Remote Senior Care a division of Live Smart, helping seniors stay safe and connected in their homes, while assisting their caretakers by leveraging bespoke suites of technology to ease the challenge of caring for elders while managing their own busy lives. Kevin co-hosts the popular podcast, The Disney Way for The Digital Age with former Disney executive and business partner Debbie Zmorenski, where they explore corporate culture, branding and service excellence, through storytelling, technical curiosity and friendly conversation.
Debbie Zmorenski is an accomplished Senior Executive with more than 40 years’ experience in Operational leadership, training and development, customer service, production manufacturing, and corporate cultural engineering. During her 34-year tenure with the Walt Disney World Company®, she held leadership positions in Restaurant Management, Human Resources, Training and Development, Customer Service, Production Manufacturing, Resort Operations, and Senior Program Facilitator for The Disney Institute. She has collaborated with Fortune 100 organizations as well as start-ups to assist them in creating long-term success. Her experience includes extensive work in large diverse industries such as healthcare (Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Meridian Healthcare Systems in New Jersey, and Arkansas Children’s Hospital), casinos, and grocery chains, as well as small, family-owned businesses and startup companies.
Specializing in customer service, Debbie developed a model that provides the foundation for designing and delivering on a customer-centric corporate culture. This model provides the tools for a customer service foundation that is unique to the needs of each client.
Live Smart Ai’s Kevin Kelly competed with Peter Shankman, author of “Faster Than Normal” at the Atlantic City Ironman 70.3 last month. The title of Shankman’s book, released this week, not only alludes to his outracing Kevin in the bike portion of the Ironman, but discusses the power of harnessing his ADHD to gain a competitive edge. In his book he accredits his tremendous success to mastering the secrets of the ADHD brain to increase focus, productivity, and success. Check out his book here.
When Peter Shankman first appeared on The Podcast over 5 years ago, and then again on The Council Panel in late 2014, they had no idea such a great friendship would emerge.
Years later Kevin and Peter are fast friends (literally) who share a handful of passions, including Ironman. While Peter has competed in several, he challenged Kevin to join him in the Atlantic City Ironman this year, to which Kevin agreed. After having completed the NYC Olympic Triathlon for the last two years, Kevin felt he was ready to tackle the Ironman 70.3. Both Peter and Kevin reached personal best records and are planning on meeting to do it all over again next year in both Maine and Atlantic City.
When asked why he does it, Kevin said, “I like to challenge the limits of what people think is possible, and show my family at home, and my family at Live Smart, that anything is possible if you just decide to do it and put in the work to make it happen.”
(Originally posted on Oct 05, 2017)
