"The first one makes the deal - the second one is spam!"

Werbewoche: With all the numerous innovations: Which ones are so important that every company should definitely keep an eye on them?

Dietmar Dahmen: The best way to assess the importance of innovations is with my "Bamm" compass (see picture). It shows four core values that every successful innovation must fulfill. First: The innovation must make processes simpler than they were before. The same idea only more complicated than before, never works. The same idea simpler, almost always. Second, successful innovation gets results faster. The same slower is, if at all, only a small niche market. Third, connectivity matters. Success depends less on how smart or good you are, and much more on how connected you are. In the past, people connected mainly in cities. That's why Alexandria, Rome and Beijing were centers of innovation and success. Today, people do the same thing online. A siloed solution is almost always inferior to a connected solution. Fourth, the solution must address a basic need, such as individuality, trust, respect. As you notice, points like "cheaper" or "higher quality" are missing. Price and quality are important, but the other four points are much more essential. Example: You can buy a drill with 4.5 stars now or one with 5 stars, which is even 20 percent cheaper, in 8 weeks. Which one do you buy? Most say 4.5 stars, fits. Save 20 percent, also good. Wait 8 weeks: No way! So if we apply the "Bamm" compass to the latest developments, many current trends and innovations are relatively easy to evaluate.

Do you have a few examples?

Clearly. Blockchain: Processes become easier, faster, more connected for the user in the blockchain, and the blockchain fulfills the basic need "trust" (the blockchain is secure, after all. Perceived trust becomes informed proof: yes, the diamond, the artwork, the mileage in the car, this ownership deed is real). Blockchain meets all four "bam" compass points, making it a real game-changer. Artificial intelligence: again, all in the green. Robots, autonomous transport, likewise. All points super fulfilled. All three trends will completely change the world as we know it.

Where does it get difficult?

Virtual/augmented reality, for example. They are connected, fast, and fulfill the basic need for "experience. But at the moment - at least in the current version of the glasses - it is not yet easy enough for most people to use. Professionally, VR and AR is being used more and more, but for most home users it is still too complicated. However, the current move to bring augmented reality to cell phones is fully in the right direction and makes the technology easy. It will take some time, not much longer, and then alternative and individual realities will also become the norm.

Or with 3-D printing. Connected, simple, and the basic need for "individualization" is fully met. But 3-D is not yet fast enough at the moment. Again, in professional use, 3-D printing is already quite well established today - from spare parts printing on the high seas to medical applications. But in the private sphere, 3-D printing is still far below its potential. Nevertheless: Three out of four points are super fulfilled, and 3-D printing will also become faster over time. So slowly but surely, get ready for hyper-individualized 3-D printed products.

Or even individualized medicine. "Speed", "simplicity" and "connectivity", fulfilled. With CRIPR, I can conveniently manipulate DNA on the computer. What is a bit tricky is the basic need for "ethics": Are we allowed to shape life? Optimize babies? Bring back extinct animals? Until these questions are resolved, we won't see individualized medicine on a broad scale. But: The ethics sound barrier could also be broken faster than you might think.

And what is the overtrend that will determine the near future in the long term and across all topics?

Almost all technologies today are somehow digital and somehow data-based. Digitality and data are - technically speaking - the overriding trend, and I would also like to include quantum computers here. Why is this becoming more and more prevalent, even in the long term? Because it meets the "Bamm" compass! It meets all four requirements. Digital is easier, faster, better connected, and meets a lot of basic needs.

What are the basic needs that will increasingly be met by intelligent machines in the future?

There are a few!

Laziness: Progress is almost always about saving energy. A modern mountain boot weighs less than an old one. That saves energy. 3-D printers create a component with less energy input than an old manufacture. An autonomously driving tractor requires far less energy than plowing the field yourself or having a horse or ox pull the plow. A WhatsApp message sent by cell phone requires less energy than a letter. Laziness drives innovation. That's why digital personal assistants will prevail: If "Alexa" orders me a pizza via Foodora or Uber Eats, that takes less energy than if I get the pizza myself.

Individualization: One huge advantage of digitization is individualization. Data "knows" what I, as an individual, think is good. People know that too, but the number of customers I can serve individually is severely limited. Machines have no limit. Everyone can be addressed individually. And even situationally.

Simple example: When I get an offer for golf balls on my cell phone at the golf course, it's perfect for me situationally: Sure, makes sense: golf ball advertising at the golf course, great! I click on "YES" and order. The same offer for sailing? Hmmm, why golf balls? I'm sailing right now! I don't need golf balls right now: so I don't buy them.

Customization is super successful in the marketplace, but it's a thankless challenge for advertisers. Advertisers were used to always thinking from the perspective of the brand. Advertisers think in terms of the USP, the unique selling proposition. Which, from the brand's point of view, was indeed "unique." But from the consumer's point of view, the USP is more of a "Uniform Selling Proposition." Everyone should buy the brand positioned the same for everyone for the same reason. Now we have to learn to think in terms of the ISP, "Individual Selling Proposition" - or even better in terms of the SSP: the "Situational Selling Proposition". Situational, individual appeal, that's the future.

This slowly caught on, with emphasis on slowly. There are still companies that send out a single newsletter to customers, even though they know who is interested in which topics. Individualization is a must today and in the future. The challenge: only machines can hyperindividualize. No "human" media planner can book, play out and monitor situational messages on the respective individual device. The modern marketing workplace is a combination of man and machine. The machine is no longer just an assistant. In some cases, it also takes on management tasks. For many, this is hard to swallow. But, as McKinsey wrote in December 2017, "The partial automation of work is hitting nearly everyone ... including marketing!"

Experience. The bar for "awesome experience" is constantly being raised. In terms of technology, virtual and mixed reality are currently way up there. Both deliver "experience on demand", a hammer advantage for almost any kind of experience: from simple things like "what would the sofa in my living room look like" to "a short vacation with the hobbits in Middle Earth". So the technology is there. The question is: How do we add emotion to it? How do we make the experience "cool"? Here, the individual wins again. Experiences are feelings that everyone has individually. A target group does not have an experience - people have them! Whoever masters the emotional fine tuning of the experience will dominate the marketing of the future.

Which questions can help companies on their way to digital transformation?

The event "Marketing Bamm" is also about the "Hero's Journey". It's about goals, passion, courage, low points. And about the strength that we can draw from the low points. Our true character is revealed in the low point: Are we fighters - or quitters? Are we imaginative or lazy? Are we active? Or static, passive, resistant to change? Some companies are at a standstill on their hero's journey. Some haven't even started the journey yet. They don't know where they want to go (i.e. where they want to be in five or ten years). Or they lack the courage to get going, to pursue the goal, even if it becomes unpleasant. If you don't have a goal, if you don't set out, if you don't have passion, if you don't have courage, if you don't experience low points, you will never become a hero.

Which questions are more likely to harm companies?

The worst question companies can ask themselves is "Why?". And it's in the sense of, "Why us? Why now? Why transformation?" The question "Why?" means work, and we are lazy (see above). So those who are always asking "Why?" are, in doubt, not even going. And those who don't get going never get where they want to go. Small example: my wife says, "Come on, we're going to Paris." I ask, "Why?" Immediately, the flow is killed. Mood in the barrel. We stay at home. Much better is the question, "Hey, why not?" "Hey, why not?" is more playful, more rebellious. "Hey, why not?" stimulates flow. It drives, blasts the existing, and is an attack on the status quo. We get going, we may have low points, but we keep going, and in the end - as in any hero movie - there's a happy ending!

In your book "TRANSFORMATION!BAMM" you write about "volcano economics", what exactly do you mean by that?

One of the things is that most companies are founded by people who are on fire for their idea. The first employees are also go-getters. They come to the company because they have a shared vision and want to change the world. As the company gets bigger, a different kind of people are attracted. These people come because the company is big and promises security. The Vulkan company thus loses fire in the long run. In the worst case, even the flame goes out. The task of the company's management is to keep rekindling the fire in the company.

And how is that supposed to work?

As with a real fire, you first look for the small branches, i.e. small independent departments, individual enthusiastic employees who rekindle the fire and thus help the company to become a powerful, hot-burning volcano again. Every company burned once. And every company can burn again. The idea is to start small fires first and then let that grow consistently.

What should companies keep in mind when communicating?

Communication - like almost everything in this day and age - has to be individual. For that to happen, I have to adjust to the recipient. Individual learning is so that I adjust to the student. Individual products are such that I adjust to the user. Individual communication works in such a way that I adjust to the recipient. In other words, listening becomes more important. What can the student do? What can't he do? What does the recipient need? What does he not need? Those who listen carefully can adjust better to the user. And those who can adapt better win. The consequence: Instead of a Chief Communication Officer, we need a Chief Listening Officer. Listening is the first step. The second step is individualization. Preferably "redictive", i.e. already knowing what our customer will need in the future. This is important because the first one makes the deal. If I'm offered golf balls before I run out: good information. I'll take it! If I get offered them after I've just bought new ones: What's up with that? Spam. Get rid of it. The first one makes the deal - the second one is spam!

What are the worst mistakes being made in marketing today?

Fear of novelty is the worst. Static and immobility. That's why the "Marketing-Bamm!" event is so important. Here, the audience not only learns intellectually what they need to do to be fit for the future, they also experience it emotionally. Clearly, "knowing" something and "doing" something are two different things. Sure, I know that ten beers a night are bad ... but hey: I drink them anyway.

Keyword "error culture": How important is this for digital transformation?

In the current Business Punk magazine, I have just published an "office slogan" on the subject of error culture. We can't learn without mistakes, that's clear. I always say, "He who does nothing wrong, does something wrong! He's not pushing the envelope, not daring to try something new." In Business Punk, however, I go even further. I advocate daring to make big mistakes. Small mistakes are acceptable - like the small tattoo on the ankle. There's hardly a congress where someone doesn't admit to having made small mistakes. Big mistakes - the shrill face tattoo - are a completely different matter. This is something that urgently needs to be talked about, because great daring can also bring big mistakes. Those who only make small mistakes don't dare enough. Those who make only small mistakes can also make only small corrections. In marketing, there are huge upheavals. Small corrections don't help. Big changes have to be made. And that brings big mistakes, big corrections and in the end big renewal. If you really want to make a difference, you have to be prepared to make big mistakes!

Interview: Nora Dämpfle

Dietmar Dahmen has been in advertising for over 20 years - from Hamburg to Los Angeles, Munich and New York to Vienna. His network career began as a strategic planner (Lintas) and led him via the position of Creative Director (DDB-Heye) and Executive Creative Director (Ogilvy) to the role of Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director (BBDO). He is a member of the Creative Club Austria and the Art Directors Club Germany, President of the Board of Advisors at Mediahead in Zurich and a member of the Board of Advisors Summit NYC in New York. For the European Association of Communication Agencies Dietmar Dahmen fulfills the position of expert and trainer for change, trends, forward-looking marketing and innovation. Today Dietmar Dahmen works as a freelance creative consultant for (mostly) international companies, is co-founder of the eco-platform Earthback, holds the position of Chief Innovation Officer at ecx.io since 2011 and is an internationally sought-after speaker. Right now he is on the road with his stage show "Marketing Bamm!". On February 19, he made a stop in Zurich.

This interview was already published in Werbewoche 3/2018 on February 9, 2018.