The rise of “Total Marketing”: 10 examples of tech-augmented marketing

No, le tecnologie esponenziali, come l’AI o la blockchain, non sconvolgeranno il business della carta igienica. Almeno, non così velocemente e profondamente come faranno con le industrie strategiche della nostra economia, come la sanità o l’energia, o l’istruzione. Alcune cose evolveranno più rapidamente di altre. È la vita. Se stai vendendo generi alimentari, dovresti dormire meglio di qualcuno che sta vendendo servizi. Il tuo business è, comunque, pronto per essere preso. Allacciati le cinture!

Between 2016-20 the Department of Cardiac Surgery at the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland (called USZ,) registered a sudden increase in death cases. Nobody noticed, not even the C-Room, until a local media publication raised suspicions against the head of the department. The accusations pointed at the use of heart implants, which were developed by a company co-owned by the surgeon. The testing protocols of the devices were embellished to accelerate the approval for experimentation on humans. In 2024 the management of the hospital called for a thorough investigation on the matter, as the defective devices might have an impact over time, also on patients who did not suffer lethal complications, therefore potentially causing a long tail of deaths and the risk of class action suits against the institution. Everyone loses. The CEO of USZ said that “we cannot let the past rest,” meaning that there is an ethical obligation to own the truth. To own the truth, we should have data. If we only knew, if we had the data, you may say.

Exponential technologies, as defined by Gartner’s Hype Cycle, will tweak the famous Marketing 4 P-s, which will look like this: augmented product; dynamic pricing; shared distribution; collaborative communication. There is a trend towards higher velocity, cooperation and exchange, where all stakeholders play a pivotal role in enhancing and unlocking value for all. There is, above all, a trend towards a world where everything gets measured and tracked, while respecting everyone’s privacy. We can own the truth, if we want to. Do we have the courage to handle the truth?

The new mantra of Gartner’s model is called ‘Total Experience’, namely a model where consumers, employees and all stakeholders in a company’s network benefit and contribute, thanks to an infrastructure of multi-modal touchpoints, powered by the likes of Gen AI, digital twins, spatial computing and independent digital agents. Total Marketing is, indeed, the effort to integrate and serve fans, employees, suppliers and all players, by measuring and monetizing new profits pools based on data. Reasoned data is the basis of a new capitalism, which has zero asymmetry of information.

Let’s see ten examples of this new approach. We are not there yet, but these show how we are moving towards a more inclusive marketing, which will taste like technology and sustainability. This will make sense, because we are finally able to create an economy out of new use cases, while penalizing, at the same time, malicious actors and fraudsters. These solutions show how all stakeholders see the value of their assets and actions appreciate, thanks to new economic incentives and new markets, run by intelligent machines.  

The era of a talking product (meta-product):

1. Aura is a consortium and a blockchain, and they are building digital passports (DPP) for luxury products, certifying their authenticity and sharing experiences and unique perks to brands’ VIP-s. Secondary market exchange and fair compensation for ambassadors are in their roadmap. The product evolves into a meta-product, with residual value guaranteed by all hands taking care of it. No more lemons, to use Stiglitz’s famous paper.
2. The town of Sorrento, in the South of Italy, powered their website with an AI Agent called Nina, who can help you, 24/7 and in any natural language, to organize your wedding or your trip, or help you sort through all businesses of the area. The whole town is being served and booked by your desires. You can even NFT your promise of love, right there (Tokenance can do that). Even if you are not George and Amal Clooney, who celebrated their wedding in the Amalfi Coast, you can have the trip of your dreams, organized by the smartest concierge of all, who knows everything. Sorrento can finally play the World League.    

All agents are talking:

3. Pro Civis is a Swiss start-up, now acquired by Orell Fussli, a paper and retail company, created a blockchain powered identification app, which allows users to vote, ask for certifications and documents, sign contracts (for ex. with the number one mobile operator,) pay and receive payments, and so forth. You can see how exponential technologies can create efficiencies in the public and private sector, while monitoring and monetizing the interaction brand – fans, or institutions – citizens.
4. A next step is to implant a chip in our bodies, which is something that companies like Neuralink are initiating. Invasiveness, which is the same principle of any wearable device, allows to collect tons of data, and the watch-out remains the same, namely the temptation for data owners to misuse the information, or for malicious actors to hack the systems. The potential is, however, immense, from the public to the private sector. The next step of Open AI (and the others) is to create intelligent and autonomous AI agents. While their identity needs to be claimed and verified, their actions can be certified by blockchain, so that truth in the process and outcome of their actions is registered on a public registry, with no option to massage data ex-post. There is blockchain for that, for example the new Circular Protocol.    

Gli agenti ottengono sempre un giorno di paga:

5. I pagamenti devono essere più liquidi, più veloci, con meno filtri e barriere. La stablecoin più utilizzata al mondo è USDT, alimentata da Tether. I pagamenti sono ora fattibili al di fuori del sistema bancario tradizionale. Dovremmo essere in grado di premiare il micro, e farlo a potenzialmente zero commissioni. Le stablecoin sono anche immuni alle speculazioni e all’euforia dei prezzi, come per Bitcoin. In definitiva, i nuovi metodi di pagamento saranno accrescitivi di valore per l’intera rete di attori intorno a aziende e governi.
6. Starbucks has the world’s largest loyalty program in the world, with over 30 million users. Sweat is a blockchain powered app, which rewards people for walking. Yes, you heard it right. Their mission is to create a ‘movement’ (no pun intended) for global health. How? You pay users to act. Sweat has already reached over 200 million people, generating an ecosystem with like-minded fans, partners and suppliers, with over 700 partners offering rewards and incentives. Everyone there wants to boost the value of network and token.
7. Softcare Studios is an Italian start-up, which sells software solutions to immerse patients into digital worlds while receiving a surgery. The personalized entertainment delivery system allows hospitals to provide the needed sedation, ad hoc, which is lower than the average dose, resulting in lower post-surgery recovery time and huge efficiencies in providing medical care. The roadmap contemplates full ownership of own data, plus rewards for data sharing.

It’s a talking world:

8. Deltia.ai is a German start-up, which uses AI to make production lines efficient, with continuous feedback on the line’s components and workers. ABB has already reached 15% efficiencies in producing turbines, thanks to the use of Deltia’s software. Sensors will be placed also on products per se, feeding back vital data for future innovation and the dialogue with the hundreds of suppliers of ABB. Data monetization will unlock tremendous value for all. Consolidated data, fully anonymized, can be sold back to competitors, industry lobbies, public institutions, and so forth.
9. Medtronic’s Pillcam è un altro esempio di sistemi virtuosi basati sui dati. Per l’endoscopia media, hanno migliorato il rilevamento delle condizioni favorevoli al cancro del 14% e ridotto il tasso di mancata individuazione del 50%. Hanno anche condiviso alcuni di quei dati, con il consenso appropriato, in modo che altre istituzioni potessero beneficiarne e avere lo stesso impatto, se non di più, per i propri esami. C’è un mercato per i dati, ma, più di questo, c’è una chiara vittoria nella condivisione delle informazioni e nella costruzione di reti, dove la tecnologia e la cooperazione esplodono e distorcono l’interesse comune del pubblico, dei professionisti e di tutti gli stakeholder.

Total marketing is everyone’s business:

10. Nestlé and Emmi, two competitors, together with the Swiss authorities have started a program for farmers, where quality of milk is not compromised, but rewards are there for farmers executing sustainable practices with their cows and land. Monitoring is in place to reduce GHG emissions in line with the requirements of international agreements. Farmers get a kick-back, while sharing the extra revenues of future data sale to private and public institutions. Everyone wins, including the planet. GHG emissions will be cut by 20% by 2030. The hardware, software and protocols could be sold to competitors, other industries, cooperatives, etc…, together with land and cattle information. Land, which is well maintained, will appreciate. It’s a profit pool, which continues expanding. It’s a virtuous cycle. Everyone complies and everyone gets paid. Our land is everyone’s business.

Total Marketing is created by an ever-changing layer of exponential technologies, among which AI, of course, and blockchains, and by the need of a culture change across the whole web of consumers, employees and suppliers. Truth is we are all linked, and our goal should be to increase social capital for everyone and reach service excellence, with minimum impact on the outer community, and zero noise, asymmetries and negative externalities.

Total Marketing significa che il nostro input, chiunque siamo nella catena alimentare, viene catturato tramite una rete ibrida di interfacce e dispositivi phygital, e processato istantaneamente e intelligentemente, con l’output finale che è il risultato della perfetta allocazione e utilizzo delle risorse disponibili, servito a chiunque in modo equo e ultra-personalizzato, misurato esattamente rispetto ai loro bisogni e desideri, presenti e futuri. Non ci sarà altro modo di fare business in futuro. Tutti gli stakeholder avranno, grazie alla tecnologia, gli incentivi e gli strumenti per co-creare un futuro condiviso. Questa visione è tecnologicamente fattibile. Sta a noi decidere quanto desideriamo un’economia trasparente, efficiente ed efficace, dove tutti vincono. Sta a noi modellare nuovi standard e valori affinché il Total Marketing porti i suoi benefici all’intera rete di fan, proprietari di brand e fornitori.      

The good news is that we are finally able to measure the world and estimate our social worth, besides the mere exercise of pleasing our personal spending instincts. We can calculate the social impact of our being here. Traditional Marketing was about ‘me,’ my personal utility as a fan and its value for my favorite brand or service provider (the so-called Customer Lifetime Value, or CLV.) Total Marketing is the measure of the interaction of the broader us. We did not have the data, and even if we had the data, we were not able to make sense of it. Until today. We are all connected, and, to paraphrase the new head surgeon at USZ, in Zurich, we cannot let the future rest. Now we know, and we can. Do we want to?     

Frank Pagano