Marketing and eCommerce Technology Event: Essential Takeaways

Marketing and eCommerce Technology Event: Essential Takeaways

The Technology for Marketing and eCommerce Expo, the UK's largest marketing technology and e-commerce event, recently concluded with a strong emphasis on the importance of human connection in marketing strategies alongside AI and data in 2025.

In a series of talks, speakers highlighted the need for a balance between AI's efficiency and data-driven personalization, and human creativity and emotional intelligence. AI allows marketers to analyze customer data, segment audiences precisely, and automate repetitive tasks such as targeted content delivery, leading to higher engagement and optimized campaigns. However, human creativity is essential to add emotional depth, originality, and brand voice that truly connect with people on a personal level.

Hamish Stacy, OREO Consumer Data Lead at Mondelez International, emphasized the importance of creating interactive and immersive digital activations to engage customers. He used the examples of Cadbury's virtual Easter egg hunt and OREO's partnership with Pacman to illustrate effective activations.

Nathan Lomax, Founder of Quickfire Digital, warned against leaving AI unattended and threatened companies' authenticity. He emphasized the importance of human-to-human connection and building communities for brands' marketing strategies in 2025.

When asked about video content for B2B audiences, Andrews responded: 'It's always human to human'. Short-form video content offers marketers the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy, according to Andrews and Miller. Instagram Reels have an average reach rate of 30.81%, which is double that of other content forms, according to the same sources.

Adam Ull, Global Product Information Lead at H&M, spoke about Product Information Management (PIM) and H&M's Product Data Hub (PDH). He shared that tracking customer behavior online can help retailers identify gaps in their offerings and re-enrich products with new attributes to meet customer demands.

Jim Rudall, General Manager of EMEA at Mailchimp Intuit, stated that 70% of consumers want to know what their data will be used for before giving it to companies. He chaired a session about the use of data at the conference. Stephen Rogan, Head of Merchant Success at Shopify, added that customers now expect features like digital payments, free returns, and loyalty discounts in exchange for their data.

Ellen Bishop, Founder and Managing Director of AI consultancy company Alcea, emphasized the importance of using AI to streamline existing business processes. She urged companies not to overlook the human element in their strategies.

By 2025, video is expected to account for 82% of all internet traffic, according to Diary of a CEO's Marketing Director Grace Andrews and Failure and Experimentation Manager Grace Miller. Growth marketing strategies also emphasize that while AI supports automation and data-driven decisions, maintaining personalization and human touch is critical to scale without losing authentic customer connection. Content marketing trends for 2025 reinforce that human-centered storytelling and user-generated content campaigns are vital complements to AI-driven content creation and real-time personalization, fostering trust and deeper brand relationships.

In collaboration-based approaches like partner marketing, human relationship-building—trust, synergy, mutual benefit—engages audiences more meaningfully than isolated brand efforts powered only by data and automation. Summarizing, the human connection in marketing with AI and data in 2025 acts as the emotional and creative backbone that transforms AI-driven insights into compelling, trustworthy, and personally relevant experiences, vital for sustained customer engagement and business growth in a complex digital landscape.

References: [1] Andrews, G., & Miller, G. (2021). The Power of Personalization: How AI and Human Creativity Work Together to Drive Results. Diary of a CEO. [2] Stelzner, M. (2021). The State of Retention Marketing 2021: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities. Social Media Examiner. [3] Andrews, G., & Miller, G. (2021). The Content Marketing Trends You Need to Know for 2025. Diary of a CEO. [4] Lomax, N. (2021). The Future of Marketing: Human Connection and AI in 2025. Quickfire Digital. [5] Rogan, S. (2021). The Customer Expectations Report 2021: What Customers Really Want from Brands Today. Shopify.

1. The power of human creativity, combined with AI and data, is essential for creating compelling, trustworthy, and personally relevant experiences in marketing strategies by 2025, according to Diary of a CEO's Marketing Director, Grace Andrews, and Failure and Experimentation Manager, Grace Miller.
2. Speakers at the Technology for Marketing and eCommerce Expo highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance between AI's efficiency and data-driven personalization, and human creativity and emotional intelligence, as both are critical to success in 2025.
3. Hamish Stacy, OREO Consumer Data Lead at Mondelez International, emphasized the need for interactive and immersive digital activations to engage customers, using examples like Cadbury's virtual Easter egg hunt and OREO's partnership with Pacman.
4. Nathan Lomax, Founder of Quickfire Digital, and Stephen Rogan, Head of Merchant Success at Shopify, stressed the importance of human-to-human connection and maintaining authentic customer relationships, amidst the increasing use of AI and data in marketing strategies.
5. By 2025, video is expected to account for 82% of all internet traffic and content marketing trends reinforce that human-centered storytelling and user-generated content campaigns are vital complements to AI-driven content creation and real-time personalization, fostering trust and deeper brand relationships.

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