Campaign Crash Course: How to use blockchain in marketing

Welcome to Campaign Asia-Pacific's Crash Course learning series, in which you will learn valuable lessons and practical business tips on trending and essential topics from industry experts in just five minutes. Think of it as a mini mini MBA, if you will.

Lessons will cover the breadth of the marcomms industry, including technology, creative, media, strategy, leadership, diversity and inclusion and more. We'll start off by introducing you to topics and delve deeper into specific elements in the future. This series is designed to be useful to C-suite executives as well as those just starting out in their careers.

The lesson

We kick off the series with a topic many people claim to understand, but very few do: blockchain. It's a technology that has endless applications from payment transfers, data storage, smart contracts, fraud mitigation and more.

There have been several tests to implement blockchain technology within the advertising media supply chain to deliver cost-efficiencies and aggregate data, such as this pilot in March by Foodpanda—but practical applications remain limited and the technology is yet to be widely adopted.

In this lesson you will learn:

• What is blockchain?
• Core issues in digital marketing
• Benefits of blockchain in advertising and marketing
• Applications of blockchain in advertising and marketing
• When is the time to use blockchain in marketing

Your teacher

To explain what blockchain is and how it can provide a solution to many of marketing's core issues, today's lesson is brought to you by Gowthaman Ragothaman, the CEO of blockchain solutions provider Aqilliz, known affectionately in the industry as 'G'man'.

Ragothaman is former global client lead at WPP where he worked for 20 years, mostly with Mindshare. Ragothaman was, in addition to WPP global client lead, also global blockchain solutions lead at GroupM. In that role he partnered with Zilliqa and then launched a blockchain pilot project with MediaMath, Integral Ad Science and Rubicon Project, which later claimed to reduce cost per viewable impression for PepsiCo by 28%. In 2019 he launched Aqilliz, a blockchain solutions provider focused on building more trust and transparency in digital marketing. 

The quiz

After completing your lesson, test your knowledge with this quiz:

More learning 

If you are interested in learning more about blockchain, check out Campaign's coverage of blockchain uses in advertising, media and beyond, a feature examining whether blockchain is a legitimate weapon to fight ad fraud, and a feature delving into Facebook's proposed Libra cryptocurrency.

Campaign Crash Course is an ongoing series with new courses to be released on Fridays. We are always looking for feedback and ideas. Have a suggestion or want to take part? Complete our feedback form or email our editors.