What a day! Thank you to everyone for tuning in to the first afternoon of PI LIVE Global which saw over 2,000 delegates from around the world engage virtually, networking and attending sessions across the board. With so much to digest, here are some of the key highlights from today.
Bringing the community together
PerformanceIN founder Matthew Wood opened PI LIVE Global in great fashion as he welcomed all delegates and thanked the sponsors for participating in this first virtual event. Referencing the PerformanceIN 50 which was released last week, Matthew highlighted the importance of the next generation of performance marketers as we look ahead to 2021 and bringing the community “more tightly together” in this new digital transformation.
Soon after, the Impact content partner track commenced with an array of engaging sessions and panel discussions. Impact kicked things off into the world of partnership automation with both CEO David A. Yovanno and marketing director, EMEA, Owen Hancock in their respective sessions highlighting some of the brands today growing from using partnerships, why technology and automation are crucial and how to get your company from low maturity to a high maturity phase of growth. In addition, Impact Director, Sales & Solution Architects Alex Springer led an insightful panel talk with representatives from HelloFresh, TUI and Dyson as they share their success stories on programme migration which touched on resources, customisation, incrementality and more.
Digital transformation and rise of e-commerce
On the main track, Sean Sewell co-founder & VP of revenue at Partnerize revealed partner category trends that highlighted the shifting affiliate landscape from a “last click closing channel” to a top of the funnel, acquisition channel, in addition to the big opportunities to optimise content partners such as finding and activating new partners, optimising commission structures and leveraging attribution to reward top of funnel partners.
Digital transformation was a big theme today and All Inclusive Marketing’s CEO Sarah Bundy led the panel session with Rakuten Advertising, Silverbean and Groupon which discussed the competitive advantage of pivoting your business digitally as we look ahead into 2021. Meanwhile, CJ Affiliate’s Jules Bazley and Linda O’Connell delved into consumer behaviour changes, the evolving digital landscape and how all these developments are set to impact peak shopping season and beyond.
Cassie Stevens from Publicis Commerce discussed how retailer brands can succeed in e-commerce, focusing on reshaping internal structures, route to sale, the consumers experience and focusing both short-term and long term. Then in the last panel session of afternoon, representatives from Channel 4, Lily’s Kitchen, Progressive Content and NMPi by Incubeta all weighed in on the cross-channel mix and how vital it is to align both your data and partnerships to your overall programme and marketing strategy.
Lastly, closing things off on Day 1, founder of Digital Voice Julia Smith commenced with the inaugural Late Show which covered all the key takeaways from the afternoon as well as some fun polls, magic tricks and surprised guests tuning in. Meanwhile, Impact closed their content track with the journey of partnerships going into 2021 and the Quarantini Bar which saw an exciting cocktail-making masterclass for delegates to unwind and digest from all of the day’s activities.