Dated: November 27, 2024
Welcome to The Dirty Martini Digest, Issue #12. This newsletter is built for our technology friends to keep you informed of the latest industry data and enable you to do your job more effectively. APOLOGIES, we had a little break in the newsletter action. We’ve had a very busy few months with our incredible clients, of which we’re very grateful. We have a TON of insights to share with you. Too much, in fact, to share in one newsletter. We’ll save some for next month.
The holidays are here, and with them are holiday cocktails. Whether it’s an Apple Cider Manhattan, an Egg Nog or a Winter Beer, mix it up as NRF Big Show is around the corner, and we’ll all be burning the midnight oil in December!
Enjoy this issue of the Dirty Martini Digest, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.
The Dirty Details
As we race towards a new year, with it brings a refreshed sense of purpose and positivity around all the things that are possible. New possibilities can be equated to Innovation - a term that many retailers and brands say they want to do more of, but many times the reality of running a low-margin business gets in the way. But it doesn’t have to be that way…
Incisiv and our great partner AWS went Global for the study titled Bridging The Innovation Gap: State of Transformation in Retail and CPG. With close to 1600 respondents across 12 countries, we took a deep dive into the enterprise-wide challenges retailers and brands face when trying to innovate, as well as the opportunities that are being created with innovative technologies such as GenAI.
Some of the key findings from the Report include:
- We know that customer expectations move fast. Retailers and brands seem to know this too. While 66% of retailers believe their customer-facing technologies can meet their customer's digital experience expectations today, that percentage drops to only 17% in the next 24 months. For Brands, it’s far worse, with 32% meeting current expectations and only 9% in the next 24 months. This proves innovation is a requirement going forward.
- Are innovation initiatives focused in the wrong areas? While innovation is often equated with driving growth, the most prioritized innovation initiatives are those that aim to deliver greater efficiency to the organization (83%). In addition, 77% of retailers and brands stated that innovation budgets get cut due to re-prioritization of budgets.
- Retailer and Brand operating models are the biggest drag on innovation. Outside of the standard ‘budget’ answer, retailers and brands cite ‘culture/organization structure’(41%), ‘poor IT-business alignment’ (33%), and ‘changes in senior management objectives’ (32%) as the major impediments to innovation.
- We know that it is universally accepted that GenAI will be transformative across many aspects of an enterprise. However, it is still early days, with only 17% of retailers and brands conducting POCs and 4% deploying/scaling AI initiatives.
Dive deeper into our cross-industry research and content:
- The State of Digital Grocery: In-Store Media Monetization: Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are all the buzz in the grocery industry. A source of revenue for the retailers and a targeted channel for the brands, what’s not to like? This report, released in conjunction with nCountR/RRD details the investment and execution plans retailers are putting into place for 2025 and beyond.
- 2024 Retail Customer Experience Benchmark Index: This report, published in partnership with Talkdesk, is part of our Digital Maturity Benchmark Series. This report assessed over 130 retailers across 100+ attributes (there were only nine leaders!). We assessed three categories: engagement methods, personalized experiences, and resolution mechanisms.
- Strategic Choices: Driving B2B Success with the Right Commerce Architecture: This Strategic B2B Commerce Framework, produced in partnership with HCL Software, guides you through these choices, aligning your technology with key business imperatives. Furthermore, this playbook delves into the eight critical areas that form the foundation of a successful commerce strategy, providing actionable insights to help B2B businesses make informed decisions across architectural options. With the right architecture, businesses can lead in a dynamic, competitive market and seize new opportunities for growth and innovation.
Straight from the Shaker
Get practical insights and best practices straight from our industry experts as we shake up and serve up our knowledge to help you improve your go-to-market strategies. We share tips each month to help you stay ahead of the game.
This month we released a comprehensive study titled ‘From Content to Experience: How AI is Shaping the Future of Marketing’, with partners Avanade, Microsoft, and Sitecore.
While the study’s respondents were primarily companies with $1B+ revenue, there are many trends and insights worth exploring for any sized company. The expectations around AI's value in the marketing function are sky-high. Three in four (74%) marketers use AI in some way in their job. However, there is minimal integration and standardization amongst AI toolsets, and only 12% of them are prepared for a full-scale rollout.
The report is chock full of interesting data points, but below we’ve detailed key priorities marketers should consider with their AI strategies.
- Start with clear governance frameworks that address both marketing needs and technology requirements. When CMOs and CIOs align on data security, brand safety, and integration protocols early, implementation accelerates. This collaborative approach turns potential friction points into opportunities for creating robust, scalable AI systems.
- Build from focused use cases that deliver measurable impact. Begin with areas showing high AI maturity, such as website personalization or campaign optimization. Use these successes to develop repeatable processes before expanding to more complex applications like autonomous content creation.
- Balance automation with human oversight. The most successful organizations maintain clear boundaries: AI excels at scaling personalization and optimizing performance, while human teams focus on strategy, creativity, and brand storytelling.
On the House
Sip on our team's latest research, speaking sessions, and industry news with a quick scan of our recently published and upcoming work and key takeaways.
- Immersion Workshop: From Complexity to Clarity: Synchronizing Supply Chain Execution - Incisiv and Blue Yonder will be hosting a unique closed-door deep dive discussion exploring how manufacturers can deliver reliability and drive value across every link in the chain by orchestrating, coordinating, and synchronizing action across logistics processes.
- The BIG 10th Anniversary Speakeasy: Incisiv is just over seven years old so how is it that we are celebrating our 10th Speakeasy @ NRF? Well, the gang worked together before Incisiv, and we began the tradition back then. We’re super proud that we’ve been one of the first gathering points of NRF for Retail Executives every year.
- NRF Session: Mastering digital personalization: Unleashing AI and data for unforgettable customer experiences: Our own Giri Agarwal will be again moderating a dynamic panel of retailers as they dive into how personalization efforts are being augmented and enhanced by better data and the latest AI. The panel includes a diverse group of executives from Domino’s Pizza, Hermes, and Sam’s Club.
The Incisiv Bar Crawl….
Community is everything. Sure, work from home has its advantages, but there’s nothing better than spending time with people from our industry sharing ideas and a cocktail or two. That’s why Incisiv is making a commitment to visit 15+ cities in 2025 and, with it, host our new Dirty Martini Exchanges. These will be local happy hours hosted by Incisiv to relish the best that our industry has to offer - community.
Second Round
With NRF Big show around the corner, ROI is always top of mind. We tapped long time industry friend and leader Jeff Ketner of Ketner Group to provide his thoughts on what will help make a successful NRF.
1. Include PR in your planning
The checklist for NRF is a long one, from booth planning to event logistics, products, sales meetings, marketing support, customer dinners, after-hours events, and much more. Don’t treat PR as an afterthought!
Start planning your NRF PR messaging and strategy now, including overarching themes, analysts to brief, potential customer announcements, new products, press announcement schedule, spokespersons (including training, if needed), media and analyst meetings during the show, on-site PR support and more.
2. Brief analysts now
Industry analysts are in high-demand during NRF. Their schedules are incredibly packed, and their paying clients are understandably first priority for in-person briefings.
Because of this, we advise clients to begin briefing key analysts and other influencers in the months leading up to NRF. Schedules are more open in the fall, and it’s an excellent time to update analysts on your company’s product roadmap, customer success and other developments. During these briefings, you can also lay the groundwork for a short meeting or product demo at NRF.
Looking for best practices? Our blog on analyst relations provides valuable insights.
3. Map out your press release strategy
Don’t save all your announcements for the show! Most vendors spend months planning their NRF announcements — why pack all your news into a three-day period? You’ll see more success by making announcements before, during and after the show.
Your company can help build momentum prior to NRF by announcing significant customer wins and other news, helping you get the attention of prospects and media prior to the show. But hold some announcements in reserve. Newsworthy announcements during NRF can create buzz, help drive booth traffic, and land your company on the post-show “best of NRF” lists.
Don’t forget to have hard copies of news releases available to share with media. Some editors receive hundreds of PR emails daily at NRF, so it’s easy for your news to get lost. After the show is a good time for announcements, too; editors’ inboxes are less crowded, your competitors won’t be making so many announcements and your news will have room to breathe.
What if you don’t have announcements? You can still highlight recent data reports, predictions and industry trends that you’re seeing. Your company’s perspectives may shed light on some of the big issues in retail and technology. Don’t hesitate to share them, and be sure to make ongoing PR a key part of your marketing strategy throughout 2024.
4. Plan your media and analyst outreach
Timeframes for media, analyst and influencer outreach can vary widely. In general, start your analyst outreach early, as some analysts will book their NRF calendars several months in advance. Keep in mind, too, that these will be relatively short meetings, which is why it’s important to do in-depth briefings in the fall.
We typically start media outreach for our clients when the first NRF media list is available, usually mid-to-late November. Keep in mind, editors, analysts and other influencers will be attending NRF keynotes and other general sessions, so their availability to meet with vendors may be limited.
5. Show kindness and respect
A mentor of mine once said to treat editors like your best customers. And if there’s one time each year when editors and analysts especially deserve extra consideration, it’s during NRF.
Offer them a comfortable place to sit (their feet will be aching!), bottled water or other refreshments, and realize they may be exhausted from packed schedules and talking to dozens of vendors. Find out in advance what they’d like to focus on during the meeting and be sure to address their expectations. If an editor is accompanied by a sales rep, be sure to give them equal time, too. Be concise, realizing that you may only have 20 minutes before they head to the next meeting.
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