Tech talks summer soiree: The future of digital products, Manchester

Meeting your customer at the right time and place 

With an array of exciting new tech on the table, it can be easy for businesses to lose sight of where and when your customer actually wants to engage with you in the digital world. Being able to recognise this when planning for digital experiences now and in the future is key.

Kellanova’s (formerly known as Kellogg’s) Senior IT Director Rich Bradley shared some of the latest initiatives being used to engage Pringles lovers, focusing on finding the right time and place

In the crowded FMCG market place, the ask was to create a platform which can be tailored to different markets, updated quickly to reflect multiple campaigns and cutdown on expensive re-designs of packaging. Cue Poptopia - a mobile optimised web-based platform reached via mobile scans on tubes of Pringles (or Pringoals as it's the Euros).

“Timing is everything," explained Rich. "We have to ask how do we meet our customers at the right moment? While they’re enjoying our products - that’s where we want to meet them, not via a dormant piece of technology on their phone.”

Kellanova needed to build a connected experience. Pringles is a massive brand worth more than a billion dollars in Europe alone. But the issue is, seasonal marketing campaigns such as ‘Pringoooals’ can quickly fall short, particularly if the England team gets knocked out early.

Kellanova is confident Poptopia's focus on mobile-optimised quizzes, games and prizes is the best way of engaging customers in the moment.

“We can build off this platform and replicate this with other brands," said Rich. "We can begin to understand and build up a clearer view of people who are engaging with our products and snacks.

“It’s personalised, it’s always on, it’s contextual, it’s frictionless and it’s relevant - this is the future for us, and where it goes from here who knows? But it’s going at the speed of the customer's desire, not ours. We’ll meet our customers where they are.”

Understand how AI can help users - but don’t make it the product

With 80% of online sales now coming through its app, built in collaboration with Apadmi, Domino’s has optimised, embraced and leveraged the mobile channel fully. Apadmi’s Keeley Lee and Adam Fleming took to the stage to share the journey of Domino’s so far, and what the future might look like for the business with the help of AI.

“The current app is a convenient, easy to use product that sits in customer pockets, users love it, and Domino’s see that the value and frequency of app customers is huge, and greater than non-app customers,” explained Apadmi Client Services Director Keeley Lee. 

But with the need to continue to future-proof to retain its #1 position in the App Store, Apadmi’s innovation teams have recently begun experimenting with AI to see how these new tools could further improve customer experience. 

Apadmi’s Chief Innovation Officer Adam Fleming took the audience through a live demo of an experimental demo feature for Domino’s using a Large Language Model. 

The ‘Dombot 3000’ is a simple agentic chatbot built upon a simulated pizza delivery store code - Adam and his innovation team gave the agent tools to allow orders, find things out about the store (such as stock levels, delivery/collection times).

The team also developed a basic, but functional front-end that could handle many requests from hungry customers. Users can input their needs - how many people they need to feed, their likes or dislikes, what time they need to eat, and any dietary requirements, and the chatbot suggests a number of appropriate options, with stock levels and availability in mind.

“The chatbot can handle requests both expected, and unexpected. It’s based off of ChatGPT 4.0, so it’s pretty capable.”

During the live demonstration, Adam input “what would Luke Skywalker order,” prompting the witty response - “Luke Skywalker would probably go for something light and balanced, reflecting his Jedi discipline.” Alongside a recommendation of “lighter” options for the customer. All pretty nifty!

“The amount of effort that’s gone into creating this demo is fairly minimal," Adam continued. "And the fact that we’re able to go completely off script demonstrates the power of what can be done. This can be developed even further in the near future, so it’s an exciting piece to work on.”

The panel further explored the topic of AI. 

Adam explained: “You want to stay abreast with the latest and greatest technology - we want to figure out where we can apply these technologies and unlock value for customers and businesses.” 

However, he also shared a word of warning: “These things can appear quickly and then drop off just as suddenly. And sometimes they come back around in cycles - so it’s important not to make AI the product, but rather use this technology to enhance your core customer experience.” 

This was a sentiment echoed by all of our panel, including AutoTrader’s Richard Davis. He agreed that for their business, AI is playing an important role and has been for some time. But he also issued a word of caution in that product teams need to be fully involved in the development and implementation of these technologies, to allow them to lead on how they can best be integrated with features and functionalities. 

Knowing when to adopt, and when to avoid new technology can be make or break for both established and budding organisations - our experts agreed this isn’t something to rush into without insight, research and purpose. 

The need for data science and user research is growing

Another topic that came up for our panellists was the growing need and want for data science and user research to be embedded in businesses more than ever. 

Rich Bradley explained what this has looked at Kellanova: “We brought data science in around five years ago - the challenge I put to the team was how do we get our trucks fuller, but reduce CO2, let’s start with a big goal.”

“We wanted to understand how we can take trucks off the road, but still maintain product availability on the shelves at our retailers. This is where we began to use data to cluster stores - the truck is full for us but it’s going to several retailers at once, reducing the need for multiple half-empty trucks.”

Rich also shared his ambitions for the future, “Poptopia is in its infancy, we’re still at that initial phase of capturing data and engaging with customers. But what we’d like to explore further is the idea of clean rooms and sharing data that way to avoid everyone storing data separately - the only person that wins there is the cloud storage guys.”

AutoTrader’s Richard Davis also emphasised the importance of having Data science teams who genuinely care about the data, and how it can facilitate change are central to AutoTrader, enabling the business to cement its position as the leading online automotive marketplace. 

Understanding how new technology impacts user experience, customer wants, and future expectations is also key to feeding any organisation’s innovation strategy. 

“User research is something that we see a growing demand for from our clients," said Keeley. "They want to deeply understand their customer and their wants and needs. Without that insight decisions on future functionality can quickly lose their way."

Richard Bradley also recognised the importance of research: “Consumers are far more intelligent and informed than they’ve ever been because of mobile technology. We changed not only our advertising strategies, but our ingredients because of this. We used market research to find out how we can adapt to changing consumer needs, Special K is a great example of this.

“You’ve got to listen to your customer, but you also need to decipher what they actually want versus what they say they want. That's where user research can slot in to bridge the gap."

Customer trust enables innovation

A message which came though loud and clear is the importance of brand trust. It is vital to establish and nurture trust before rushing in with experimental technology. One mis-step could lose you both customers and revenue. 

This is something that Kellanova takes pride in. “Anyone can chase the shiny things, but Kellogg’s is the number one trusted food brand in the UK,” explained Rich, “We put a huge amount of effort and work into that, so when we do release something new, you trust what we’re serving you, whether that be the food or the digital experience.” 

“If you don’t have that established brand trust, you have one shot to get it right, and that’s where you have the potential to fail.”

The message is clear. The temptation to move at pace can be strong, particularly with shiny new technology. But smart businesses are taking the time to explore, experiment, and implement innovations in the right places, at the right time. 

Trust, user research, and timing are all key considerations as we move forward with digital products. If you need help implementing new tech and innovation within your business, reach out to our mobile experts to find out how we could help.