As brands continue to seek effective ways to engage consumers in an era of technological explosion, Kemi Longe, Portfolio Director, Southern West & Central Africa, Diageo, has urged marketers to see the human behind the data, stressing that understanding the consumer’s journey to purchase offers invaluable insights that can be leveraged to create personalized experiences, that ultimately drive engagement and impact.
Speaking at the recently concluded EXMAN’s Brand Experience Summit, themed “Personalization at Scale: From Insights to Impact in a Data-Driven Immersive World,” Longe delivered a compelling message on the urgent need for empathy-driven marketing. She warned that while data is critical, over-reliance on numbers risks stripping away the human essence that makes brands relatable.
“Personalize to the type of person they are. Consumers want to see themselves in your message. Sometimes, it is not about massive data; it’s about meaningful patterns that reflect humanity. One thing data often takes away is that we stop seeing human beings, we start seeing numbers,” she stated.
The summit, a flagship gathering for brand leaders, featured conversations on how data-driven insights can be balanced with creativity and emotional intelligence to create deeper consumer connections. Longe’s session stood out for its candid appeal to marketers: look beyond demographics, ask the right questions, observe both actions and inactions, and pay attention to the moments consumers disengage.
Longe challenged marketers to dig deeper by observing not only consumer actions but also inactions, moments when people disengage. She called for creativity anchored in listening, urging brands to maintain consistency across all touchpoints and to speak in the language their audience understands. “Repetition wins. Be personal across the consumer journey, before, during, and after purchase. Use data as a tool to understand, not as a barrier to empathy. Reflect their internal struggles,” she added.
The summit, a thought-leadership hub for brand experience experts, reinforced the importance of merging technology with human insight to deliver meaningful, personalized brand interactions in today’s dynamic marketplace.
