5 Things I'm Looking Forward to at VivaTech 2018

The third edition of Viva Technology kicks off this Thursday here in Paris. Having attended the inaugural session back in '16 and walked away impressed, I've been looking forward to this session for quite awhile.

This year's impressive roster of speakers and programs lines up to exceed those already high expectations. Given all the hot button issues in the tech (and media) space these days, there are plenty of topics to explore, from a business as well as an overall societal impact.

Here are the five topics on my mind:

Rebuilding consumer trust: we often hear about consumers' demand for personalized products and services; what's not discussed is how that desire for personalization is balanced with the growing need for privacy, as it becomes a paramount concern in the data-driven digital era. We want personalization, but at what cost?

These two macro forces (personalization/customization and privacy) are diametrically opposed, as companies decide where they fall on that spectrum, and how they rebuild trust with their consumers to deliver that service.

Transparency is critical — shoppers want to know what data is being collected about them and how companies plan to use it. With GDPR, consent is no longer assumed — it must be earned and agreed to, via an email or landing page consent form thus far often written in enough 'legal-ese' for the common user to give it less than a second's notice before clicking 'Agree' or 'Continue.'

Sessions to check out:

1. Building Security & Trust in a Tech-Driven World
2. Data Deluge: Is My Startup Prepared?
3. Data Disrupted or Data Disruption?
4. Fireside Chat with Mark Zuckerberg

It's a mad, mad world: I remember walking out of Marc Pritchard’s session at dmexco last year thinking that we’d reached a watershed moment for the advertising industry, as brands and retailers held themselves and their partners to a higher standard for what and how they communicate with their consumers.

Recent events involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica (whom I coincidentally first encountered sharing a ride with two of their associates on a train to dmexco last fall) have only added fuel to that fire.

Marketers today are challenged to rethink the tools and tactics they use to engage with their customers, as traditional mass marketing tactics have become obsolete with the advent of new digital elements (IoT, machine learning, algorithms) capable of achieving a greater level of customer intimacy, driven by significantly higher volume of data available. The challenge is no longer where or how to find the data, but instead, what do I do now that I have it?

Marketing has always been a fluid blend of art and science. How will we as marketers adapt our practices, combining new sources of data to deliver relevant, targeted messaging that delights and inspires customers?

Sessions to check out:

1. Does Marketing Still Matter for Your Brand?
2. All Eyes on Algorithms: Delivering Content or Creating It?
3. Augmenting Human Capability

Tech for good: But it's not just about data for better business. Visionary business leaders like Bill McDermott at SAP challenge their organizations to lead with purpose:

“Having a higher purpose has to touch both the customer and your people because you are playing for stakes beyond money."

Technology and data continue to transform how companies across countries and verticals do business — what's more important is how we as a society will harness that power to better our world, across socio-economic classes and generations.

Sessions to check out:

1. Welcome to the Bionic Age
2. Innovating for the Planet
3. Smarter Together for Feel-Good Cities

Reinventing the customer experience with technology: with the advent of digital, consumers continue to raise the bar on what's required to delight and inspire them to buy. They want what they want, when they want it, how they want it, irregardless of what technologies companies use or which channels their order is initiated and ultimately fulfilled.

Leveraging these new technologies (e.g., voice-activation, IoT), both customer-facing and back-end, how can companies rethink their marketing and commercial practices to deliver truly inspiring shopping experiences?

adidas uses in-store tech in its stadium-inspired outlet in London’s Westfield Shopping Centre

Sessions to check out:

1. Enjoy Shopping Again
2. Voice and Conversational Experiences: How to Re-Engage with Your Customers?
3. Digital Innovation to Create the Future of Beauty

Diversity as the new normal: I've referenced before how senior management increasingly recognize the proven, bottom-line benefits from having women’s viewpoints heard & integrated into their company strategy.​ The fact, however, is that 30% of women leave their jobs in STEM (science, technology, math, science) fields in their 30s and 40s, often opting to pursue other opportunities for lack of support/mentoring.

In a sea of constant change, how do leaders ensure that that women, as well as other under-represented cohorts (culture, generation, ethnicity), are mentored and supported to advance their careers?

Sessions to check out:

1. Addressing the Diversity Gap (full disclosure: my better half, Tina Rosario, VP of Data Management at SAP, will lead this discussion)
2. Bridging the Gap for Women's Leadership in a Disrupted World
3. The Gender Diversity Playbook

Going to VivaTech? Send me a note at erosario2002@kellogg.northwestern.edu and let's meet up there!