All of this sounds good on paper, McNab said, but in reality it’s quite complicated. A typical marketing organization may have abundant data but can’t always make the most efficient and effective use of it due to various internal silos. “It takes so many steps to piece together technology, combined with the data, combined with the creative assets, combined with the legal approvals, to bring things to life,” he said. 

But success breeds success, he added. Start small, with modest test campaigns that can reach completion quickly and build processes and internal credibility with key stakeholders.  

“Keeping things focused on a couple of key attributes, with a couple of key tests, can help make your lives that much easier to justify a rollout or an additional investment, because it allows everybody inside the organization to see the impact,” McNab said. 

Even for larger campaigns, it’s good to adopt a “surgical” approach, McNab advised. “Don’t try to be all things to all people. Find the two or three attributes that are most important to you. That’s what will drive your success.” 

Yet, considering the plethora of stakeholders involved in any individual project, it’s not always easy to gain consensus, McNab acknowledged. 

One way to embrace the challenge: Think in terms of categories. McNab’s suggestion is to choose the “critical two” performance indicators. “I would simply look at one business-related item and one kind of campaign or marketing effort, and have those be the two things you consistently report back on, so that you can show the impact you’re making.” 

Consider the extent to which brands everywhere have been touting their “authenticity,” and it’s not hard to imagine marketers facing a collision course if they rush into deploying tools that are, by definition, faking it. As we note in our white paper, some brands are already restricting the use of AI in their visual marketing assets — and a growing number of brands are touting the absence of AI in their products and services as a selling point. 

As we outline in our white paper, various brands that have recently deployed AI-inflected campaigns and assets — including Under Armour and Google — have faced criticism for doing so.

“What’s happening in the marketing and creative communities is a real-time reconsideration of the notion of ‘authorship,’” says Erik Spooner, Marketing Creative Director at Quad. “There is going to be a continuing level of anxiety about the exact role of human creatives in the final product when generative AI is brought into the process. After all, flesh-and-blood creatives have egos, pride in their work, a sense of personal vision — and AI has none of those things.”

For some brands that are exploring the use of AI, a key goal is saving money — it is, after all, an automation tool. But that desired outcome must be balanced with an unwavering commitment to the core brand mission.

“Intentional control of the brand image is what great brands understand,” says Jimmy Richardson, Group VP, Studio & Creative at Quad. “It’s a crapshoot with generative AI — you’re looking for a reduction of costs by having a hit-or-miss scenario in place. What big brands and retailers want is consistency and brand control. Because that’s what they’re built on.”

Written policies surrounding the use of generative AI tools within your marketing operation should be reexamined and updated, as necessary, on a regular basis.

“In 2024, one thing creative organizations and marketing departments should be looking at closely is making sure an asset management process is in place that covers clearance and credits, and clearly documents the origin of visual assets that may factor into a generative AI activation now or in the future,” says Richardson.

Where should marketers go from here? In “Generative AI and CGI for brand imagery,” we also examine other CGI (computer-generated imagery) approaches — particularly next-generation 3D scanning — and explore how marketers can blend technologies in a brand-safe way as they produce visual content at scale.

The bottom line: Adopting a hybrid approach can help marketers mitigate risks while future-proofing their creative and production workflows.

Want to learn more? Download the 2024 edition of “Generative AI and CGI for brand imagery” — now including a section titled “6 things marketers need to know about using next-gen 3D scanning technology for brand imagery” — from Quad Insights today.

That’s the message at the core of “Home is where the data is,” a new (free, downloadable) guide from Quad Insights. Simply put, the household can become the new center of gravity for collecting, connecting and using behavioral and demographic data.

A consumer’s home address is what Quad calls the “resilient identifier” in omnichannel marketing. While digital identifiers change over time, home addresses can bring stability and consistency to your audience-targeting capabilities.

“Each consumer’s day starts and ends at the home,” says Joolee Bouton, VP of Product Marketing at Quad. “By starting with household-centric addressable data, we can reach audiences throughout their day and across different media channels, including in-store and online. We can understand their passions and continuously connect with them throughout their journey.”

By leveraging the household as a resilient identifier, data addressability can give marketers access to a new ecosystem of options for finding and engaging their target audience. The goal is to begin with information available at the household level and match it with additional consumer data points gleaned from other channels, including digital and social, as well as transactional activity. The sum is a more complete portrait of what consumers care about, how they act and where they can be reached.

To put that another way, the household serves as a core identifier where consumer passions and interests can be connected to an individual consumer. A key part of that key identifier: the types of physical mail consumers receive, which can inform a deeper understanding of them to guide more relevant marketing engagements.

“Household data is valuable because it’s built upon self-declared interests and passions,” says Joshua Lowcock, President of Quad Media. “If you pay money to subscribe to a running magazine, you’re interested in running. We start with a single source of truth, which is the home. Then we find the person and then we attach interests and passions back to the home.”

Another advantage of household-centric data: It covers the vast majority of U.S. consumers. The data in Quad’s data stack touches 89% of all U.S. households and 78% of the total U.S. population. (By comparison, 68% of U.S. adults say they use Facebook even occasionally, according to the Pew Research Center.) Across any given 18-month period, Quad’s data stack contains more than 3 billion validated/revalidated data points to anchor addressability for any marketer targeting any consumer segment.

For marketers whose data-marketing strategies may have been blown off course amidst the Great Data Upheaval, consumer data that’s anchored to a tangible reality — the household — changes everything.

Want to learn more about leveraging household addressability? Download “Home is where the data is” from Quad Insights today.

The most telling thing is that Apple’s creative always marketed privacy as a feature, which has implications for data. Over the past year, I’ve seen more companies adopt this position — from other large players to startups. The fact that some of the best creative I have seen plays to consumers’ concerns around data collection, use and privacy means marketers need to reflect on what this means for the way they go to market today — this is one of the reasons I put trust as a topic we need to discuss. 

The adoption of AI and the acceleration of automation means it’s easier than ever for marketers’ budgets to be incinerated without delivering the best outcome. The need for transparency is more important than ever because it’s the only way we can collectively, as an industry, put client interests first, address issues with misaligned incentives and ensure marketing budgets receive the proper stewardship they deserve.  

The conversation I hope to have is: What are we doing as an industry to get control over our destiny with a resilient data offering, and to not be subject to the whims of platforms that are motivated by their own self-interest, despite claims otherwise? 

The thing that gets me excited is when I see data inform creativity — being effective at getting the right message in front of the right people or audience is par for the course. What gets me excited is when I see great creative inspired and informed by data. 

Stay hydrated, walk everywhere and often, and don’t miss the opportunity to have impromptu conversations and meetings. That’s what sparks creativity.  

That marketers have a real choice if they want a smarter and more effective partner that operates with the transparency the industry needs. That choice is Quad. 

There are always the big parties with major celebrities or musical acts coming in to perform for the brands. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that getting to go to those is an amazing opportunity, but those tickets can be hard to come by.  I prefer events where I can work a room or, let’s be honest, get some water. It’s hot in Cannes! 

If I’m actively working a room, my go-to technique is to be the introducer. Chances are I’ll know probably three or four people there already, and my absolute favorite thing to do is to make sure those people get connected to each other. Last year, Quad’s Chief Revenue Officer Julie Currie wanted to meet New York University professor and podcaster Scott Galloway, who just happened to be at an event we walked into. I was lucky enough to be able to introduce them and say, “You two would love one another” and then walk away so I could go do that again for someone else.  

Even as a CMO, where meetings are often scheduled for me in advance, the first thing I do is make my own personal punch list of people I’d like to see. If I don’t happen to have their contact details, I’ll jump on LinkedIn to send a quick hello and ask if they’re able to squeeze in some face time. Sure, they may need to cancel given last-minute calendar chaos — something Cannes is infamous for — but you’re still developing and nurturing your network by reaching out and making that connection in the first place, which is invaluable.

If you’re new to Cannes, my best advice is to get good at connecting quickly — and in unexpected places. Scheduled meetings are what they are, but a key part of Cannes is also making room for chance run-ins. I might be hustling along the Croisette to get to my next event, but I’ll use that time to stop and say hello to as many people as possible. You never know who is hustling along right next to you.

It was my first or second year at Cannes, and I was the publisher of Ad Age at the time. I was on my way to a big MediaLink party, which involved a 30-minute bus ride. I sat down next to David Carey, who at that point was the President of Hearst Magazines. We talked a lot about how the world of publishing was evolving, how much data increasingly mattered and how much the media world had shifted in general. By the end of that half-hour conversation, I made a new friend.

David is someone I continue to communicate with to this day, and he’s become someone I bounce a wide range of things off of, because he’s so brilliant. The best part of that whole thing was that it was complete happenstance.

Well, as many people now know, I’m a crazy fan of a thank you note. So, I tend to send a thank you note to say: “Hey, great chatting with you,” followed by, “I wanted to ask you this next question.” If they reply, that exchange easily turns into a nice dialogue. I like to think of it as my own little nurture program.

To keep it going, you have to continue with the third step and then the fifth and then the ninth, because follow-through is what matters. I want people to know they can count on me.

I’m excited for Cannes attendees to walk away knowing all that Quad does. We’ve been a bit of a well-kept secret, largely because we were tucked away into the world of printing. But there are so many other things we do with our MX suite of solutions, from our best-in-class creative capabilities to our global production capacity to our data-driven media expertise — all of which are worthy to have a person walk away and say, “Wow, I didn’t know Quad did that.”

We’re at Cannes with a great story to tell — about how as a marketing experience (MX) company, we work with literally thousands of brands to make trusted consumer connections across household, in-store and online.

On the main drag, on the Croisette, there’s a great gelato place, Le Quirly, and each night when I’m walking back to whichever apartment I’ve rented, I always stop for ice cream. It allows me to recognize that the day is finally over and, also, I likely didn’t get a chance to eat dinner anyway… it’s still protein, right?

So, this year, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I’m going to buy everyone I’m with an ice cream. Pistachio is my go-to, by the way. They make it fresh and it’s so good. If you’re in Cannes, come by.

The 2024 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is June 17-21. For details on joining Josh for gelato or to attend a Quad-sponsored event, please check out the full Cannes schedule at Quad.com.

And while increased access to health information can lead people to improved diagnoses and getting the help they need, as in Adams’ case, the proliferation of social media influencers has its downsides.

During one 24-hour period, researchers from the University of Chicago analyzed the content on TikTok related to sinusitis. They found that 44% of the videos contained non-factual information. Among the videos with inaccurate content, nearly half came from “nonmedical influencers,” content creators with more than 10,000 followers who didn’t self-identify as medical professionals.

The need to bridge the gap between misinformation and education presents a key opportunity for health marketers. Not only do they have access to the evidence-based health information most beneficial to those seeking it, but they are also uniquely tasked as marketers to find novel ways to share it.

However, when it comes to social media, novelty and health marketing don’t often go hand in hand. Regulations can make it difficult for health marketers to embrace social media trends and produce the kind of engaging content that resonates with online audiences.

“Health marketers often feel stuck behind the red tape,” says Amanda Tanner, Senior Director of Account Management at Rise, a Quad agency. “But there are ways to follow the rules and innovate.”

On the TikTok app, users spend an average of nearly 24 hours each month watching, engaging with and posting videos. Content with health hashtags, such as #celiactok, #diabetestok and #sinustok, garners millions of views.

By following relevant condition-related hashtags, health marketers can spot trends ripe for their brand’s expertise, as those hashtags are likely to lead to highly circulated videos spreading misinformation about health conditions or their treatments. Brands can piggyback the right way by using their own channels to create and share branded videos that debunk myths or misleading content, using the same condition or symptom hashtags.

Tanner suggests that brands could even go one step further and engage with well-known health influencers to help create the branded videos. This builds authentic connections with the creator’s followers by leveraging an already-credible face.

Crowdsourcing a diagnosis is another social media phenomenon, which can be potentially dangerous. “Using crowdsourcing to diagnosis a health condition could have several consequences including misdiagnosis, unintentional spreading of misinformation and creating potentially unnecessary personal anxiety,” says Jennifer Schleman, the National Health Council’s Senior VP of Communications & Governance.

It’s another area where health marketers can help — by sharing signs and symptoms of conditions and reinforcing the importance of routine exams.

Not long ago, a pharmaceutical rep wouldn’t have been welcomed into a patient-led online community. Members would’ve assumed they were there just to push products and — a decade ago — they would have probably been right.

As Acorda Therapeutics CEO Ron Cohen told McKinsey & Company back in 2016, “When I grew up in the industry, things were pretty well set in terms of how pharmaceutical companies engaged with patients — which is to say that you didn’t engage all that much.” That has been changing, as people see that reps have information and access that can be useful to patients. For that to be true, reps and the companies they work for must show up in a way that adds value, not calls-to-action to buy.

When biopharmaceutical company Takeda wanted to help spread awareness about bleeding disorders, it turned to Reddit. Reddit helped the company reach patients in the bleeding disorder community where they were already having meaningful discussions about their experiences and treatment. Takeda created value-driven promoted content that focused on topics like spotting the early signs of a bleed or tips for choosing a job while living with a bleeding disorder. This content led back to a non-branded disease education website.

Using an engagement retargeting strategy, Takeda saw a 62% increase in click-through rate. “Being there in the right moment, mindset and context helped make the message resonate to a highly relevant audience,” says Janine Ward, Reddit Senior Sales Manager.

Common medical phrases cause measurable confusion among patients, even impacting their health outcomes, as a recent study in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) showed. That’s one of the reasons why younger generations turn to social media as an alternative resource for health information — it’s more accessible. To make health information more widely understood, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recommends writing it at a fifth- or sixth-grade level.

Additionally, watch your word count. Too much information, while it may be valuable, will lose your audience. “You need to be as concise as possible,” Schleman says. How can you engage readers and still share valuable evidence-based content? Keep the hook high-level and link back to longer-form content. “Use links to your website that contain the more detailed information that has already likely been through legal review,” Schleman adds.

To help navigate legal review, reference the social media hub from the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It covers topics such as how to present benefit and risk information of FDA-regulated medical products and how to respond to misinformation shared by third parties on social media. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also outlines rules for social media endorsements and disclosures for working with influencers.

At the end of the day, Tanner believes that the best social media guidance for health marketers boils down to the most fundamental rule of all: “It’s about listening to the community, empathizing with their needs and letting that inform your content.”

“Health marketers have to access data from multiple sources and must understand which data they can use,” says Todd McNab, VP of Client Strategy at Quad. “And they need to be sensitive to the fact that consumers have a choice and will exercise that choice, so delivering customer experience and targeted marketing that’s meaningful to them is critical. When it comes to executing campaigns, these struggles are real.”

Wherever you are in the development of your data-fueled marketing strategies, these three steps can help identify and optimize the right data to achieve and exceed your marketing campaign goals.

1. Build a data-fueled marketing campaign strategy

Put data at the beginning of the campaign-development process. Set objectives that align data use to outcomes, such as increasing the number of providers writing scrips for the new drug by year-end or improving the market share of targeted procedures that use your medical device. Now, data’s role becomes clear.

For instance, how can you segment and target provider specialties for either of these goals? Is your existing data complete, or do you need a trusted partner to provide additional first- or second-party data?

If your goal is to increase patient or member counts, you will likely need a second- or third-party data partner as well to augment existing contact information with additional data, such as age, location and gender. These data-sharing partners should provide transparent processes that comply with privacy regulations while providing optimal data designed specifically to target your marketing goals.

“Ask potential data partners: How often is their data refreshed? Where is it sourced from? Is it compiled data or individual responses? And what processes are in place to ensure compliance?” McNab says.

Conducting primary research to gain additional insights into your prospects’ interests and motivators is another option for adding layers of sophistication, knowledge and deeper segmentation of your audience.

2. Instill more discipline around your data inventory and accuracy

Understand the current data available to you, sources you’re using and types of data at your disposal. While health organizations may gather extensive amounts of zero- and first-party data, it’s not always easily accessible nor actionable for marketers. In addition, what trusted sources supply your second- and third-party data that help you target prospects? Map it out for a clear and complete picture that you can take action on.

“Take stock of the data you have access to today — what is the data layout, the data dictionary and where is it coming from?” McNab says. “What other information can be sourced from the consumer database? Things like historical contact information, requested services in the past and other engagement data that may not be readily available in every database. You need to make sure all the pipes are plugged in right.”

Ensure customer data is accurate and up-to-date so that your personalized, targeted outreach delivers the best customer experience. Once you’ve invested in getting existing data free of inconsistencies and errors, develop rigor around data input and management processes for future data collection and use.

While health customers offer an abundance of zero-party data over time, investigate varied strategies to fully optimize actionable first-party data collection for prospective patients or members. This could include site and app engagements, email interactions, on-site surveys, newsletter sign-ups, social media and educational content campaigns.

3. Super-charge your segmentation with attitudinal insights

When second- or third-party data sources cannot help refine the data to include customers who are most likely to be interested in your product or service’s strengths, consider layering attitudinal information on to your data with an algorithmic-based predictive model.

“Building a predictive model based on an attitudinal segmentation starts with primary research among your targeted customers. From that research, data scientists learn whether customers fall into attitudinal segments,” says Ellen Cox, Director of Health Vertical Marketing Strategy at Quad. “If so, they can take the analysis one step further to determine if they can build an algorithmic model that can predict customer attitudes based on readily available data, rather than survey questions. You can then predict what customer attitudes will be.”

Learn more about an algorithmic-based predictive model for health marketers here.

The segmentation on which the predictive model was built can also be used by your creative team to develop the most effective marketing messages to inspire prospects to engage. For example, if the creative team knows the list is segmented by people who value access to virtual office visits versus others who most value using an app, they can use messaging and imagery that speak to those preferences.

“Consumers are more than just their age or income,” McNab says. “This type of attitudinal segmentation provides insights that allow you to build marketing messaging that speaks meaningfully to those customers without relying on PHI [protected health information]. The beautiful thing is you can test various marketing tactics based on motivations and attitudes. This can help remove some of the paralysis in using data in a space like health, which is so regulated around PHI.”

A strong data partner can help you determine which data matters to your work, assess which data is available and what else you need — and, most critically, show you how to put that data into action. That end-to-end process should include determining data needed, filling in the data gaps, creating marketing messages and materials, executing digital campaigns, printing and mailing direct mail pieces and analyzing and adjusting campaign performance.

To discover how health marketers can put regulatory-compliant data into real-world action, read Quad Insights’ report, “Tapping the power of consumer attitudes.”