iO Table Talks: how do Dutch and Belgian brands tackle their digital challenges?

How do leading Dutch and Belgian companies navigate the current digital landscape? Over the last eighteen months, iO hosted around 20 Table Talks in the Netherlands and Belgium: exclusive dinners that brought together approximately 160 business leaders from a wide array of sectors and industries.

Complementing the Table Talks dinners were 31 podcast episodes titled 'Blending with Brian,' where similar themes were discussed further in one-on-one settings.

The guests for the Table Talks and the podcast included CEOs, CMOs, and CIOs from companies such as FrieslandCampina, ABN AMRO, Lidl, Eneco, Philips, Brussels Airport, and Renewi.

What are the key insights?

Insight 1 – Balancing digitalisation with authentic brand experience

As the pressure to digitalise intensifies, brands are searching for ways to remain authentic and connect personally with their target audiences. Authenticity stems from human connections and trust. How can this be reconciled with the digital tools and customer journeys that companies develop to serve their customers more efficiently at any time and place?

Authenticity lies in relevance

The Table Talks guests view this as a phased process where digital applications should have the most human-like appearance possible. Consider chatbots and robots becoming increasingly intelligent, capable of interacting with empathetic tones. Authenticity is not necessarily tied to human contact but rather relevance. A personal approach is required to be perceived as authentic, but it doesn't always mean that customers need to be assisted by a real person. Smart personalisation with first-party data can ensure authentic and relevant customer communication.

Elke De Vuyst, CMO of Lidl BeLux, explains: “Based on personal data and, for instance, transaction history, we can address a customer with personalised content and offers via the Lidl Plus app. Our team is daily engaged in using this Lidl Plus data more and more intelligently, so that in the future we can make our marketing even more personal and intelligent.”

Insight 2 – Data as a prerequisite for more personalised customer interactions

Notably, there was a consensus among the executives present that — paradoxically — automation and data are essential for providing a human, personalised approach at scale.

“You should view data as the bridge between your brand and the authentic value you offer to your audience,” said a CEO from the food sector.

To achieve this, brands need a robust dataset. The conversations revealed challenges for companies with little direct customer contact or infrequent purchases (low purchase frequency, such as every 2-4 years). For these organisations, it's vital to make the existing touchpoints as memorable as possible and have the customer journey well organised, so you can maximise the limited interaction. Thus, your approach can be human, personalised, and digital simultaneously.

And for those with disorganised data?

At the end of 2024, iO gathered all Table Talks guests for a special Club Edition, where Steven Van Belleghem (world-renowned customer experience expert and iO partner & strategic advisor) reflected on this theme among others. He said: “In 2025, we'll see which companies have managed to organise their customer service data in recent years. Those companies will make a mark in the market. Those who haven't will continue to struggle, and the gap will become evident. If you can do one thing in the first part of 2025, make sure you get your data in order. This will help improve customer orientation and strengthen your competitive position.”

Insight 3 – Strategic use of AI

The rapid development of AI technology forces companies into strategic choices, drastically changing the playing field and rules for brands and organisations. Many executives grapple with where and how AI can be most effectively deployed without compromising the company's core values and authenticity.

During the Table Talks, guests discussed how they implement Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) within their organisations. Nearly all companies present are experimenting, but the implementation phase varies greatly per organisation. For some, it is already an integral part of their business processes.

“By applying AI across various points in the value chain, we gain new insights and propositions that will fundamentally change our business in the coming years,” stated Martijn Ollefers, Head Of Operations at Allianz Netherlands.

The application areas also vary widely: from customer interactions via chatbots and virtual assistants to generating personalised content and automating internal processes. However, there remains a healthy dose of skepticism, with AI being seen as a tool, not a panacea.

Kevin Raaijmakers, Commercial Director at Signify, provides a concrete example: “Prototyping products developed in Eindhoven, Shanghai, or Los Angeles is already partly done using an AI engine. Still, photorealistic lighting remains a sticking point. We still need the expertise of our engineers for that.”

The main concern among participants remains authenticity. Transparency and low error margins are crucial, and many companies consider it essential to have human oversight to correct any mistakes.

Dorkas Koenen, CMO of Rabobank, commented: “AI will strengthen communication between the client and us as a bank. It creates not only more means and ways to communicate — AI can also help increase relevance. Under the watchful eye of the human observer, naturally.”

The brand experience of tomorrow

Will future successes be reserved only for companies that apply digitalisation to the extreme and embrace artificial intelligence as the holy grail? Not according to the Table Talks guests. They believe success is achieved by blending technology with humanity and combining personal with digital.

Brian Hirman, Group M&A Director at iO and host of iO Table Talks, stated: "Tomorrow's successful brand experience requires a certain balance between humans and technology. The solutions organisations need lie at the intersection of creation, marketing, and technology. Only through an integrated approach can companies create strong brand experiences while innovating their marketing strategies."

It's up to the business leaders to translate these approaches and insights into concrete actions within their own organisations. For those in C-level positions wishing to participate in the Table Talks discussions, the third season starts this month and runs throughout 2025. The dinners will explore how customer-centric the organisations at the table really are, how to handle the controversies surrounding major social platforms, what digital innovations like Generative AI and Agentic AI will mean, and how these developments will affect collaboration between clients and agencies. Contact us if you're interested.

iO TableTalks

The iO Table Talks offer a platform where business leaders can reflect and prepare for the future. During exclusive culinary evenings, diverse perspectives converge, allowing participants to exchange knowledge and experiences and inspire each other. All this occurs in a safe, informal, and relaxed setting, with ample room for laughter. In the accompanying podcast, ‘Blending with Brian,’ the same themes are discussed as in the physical Table Talks, featuring guests from organisations such as Rabobank (Dorkas Koenen), A.S. Watson (Brenda Smith), Univé (Johan Van den Neste), Primera (Hans Oberg), De Goudse (Bernardo Walda), and Bosch Siemens (Gertjan Sturm) on how their organisations deal with creation, marketing, data, and technology.