tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67112761144994478172024-03-13T23:28:59.259-04:00Ernan's Insights On Marketing Best PracticesInducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame due to results clients achieve with our VoC research driven strategies.
<a href="http://www.erdm.com">ERDM</a> conducts specialized VoC research to identify high impact Customer Experience strategies.Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comBlogger268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-49499379218173253512018-02-19T12:59:00.000-05:002018-02-19T12:59:13.854-05:004 Actions For Pharma to Remove Damaging Barriers with Customers<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px;" width="110"><a href="https://www.pharma-iq.com/market-access/articles/4-actions-for-pharma-to-remove-damaging-barriers"><img border="0" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9580205_pharmaiq.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
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Featured on <a href="https://www.pharma-iq.com/market-access/articles/4-actions-for-pharma-to-remove-damaging-barriers">Pharma-IQ.com</a></td>
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<strong>Ernan Roman explores recent research showing that pharma and biotech companies make expensive mistakes by neglecting the power and necessity of customer experience strategies.</strong></div>
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“A bad customer feeling is like a hole in an airplane. That one small hole can suck out the pressure and down the plane. One can’t underestimate the power of bad feelings in the tight knit world of a lab or campus.” </div>
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Those are the words of Mike Lucero, Product Fellow, 10x Genomics, regarding the fact that many <a href="https://www.pharma-iq.com/business-development/patient-centricity-why-customer-experience">life science companies do not apply the same rigor to developing their Customer Experience (CX) strategies</a> that they apply to developing new products.</div>
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Findings from thousands of hours of in-depth interviews conducted by our research firm, <a href="http://erdm.com/">ERDM Corp.,</a> for clients such as 10X Genomics, IBM, Microsoft, and HP, indicate that poor customer experiences hurt customers in terms of their <em>professional and personal political capital and thus impact their willingness to advocate a company’s products</em>.</div>
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<strong>Aligning with customer expectations and removing barriers</strong></div>
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By prioritizing product development over CX strategies, life science companies are <em>focusing on their internal needs</em>. As a result, they invariably create barriers with their customers because they are prioritizing their own needs regarding manufacturing, distribution, sales quotas, etc.</div>
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This applies to all customers, i.e. those who are <a href="https://www.pharma-iq.com/regulatorylegal/articles/5-thoughts-for-physicians-switching-patients-to">PI’s</a>, researchers and <a href="https://www.pharma-iq.com/market-access/articles/customising-patient-education-to-improve-outcomes">patients</a>.</div>
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<strong>The result; “breaking glass” with customers and their colleagues!</strong></div>
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Paul Conley, Managing Director, Paladin Capital Group, provides this important insight, “Companies spend lots of money on technology and products, but they overlook the ‘soft elements’, such as customer experience and instilling empathy for the customer and their environment.</div>
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<strong>“This results in mistakes which are very expensive to fix.</strong> </div>
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“Too many companies focus on building products. They should be focusing on <em>building a culture which focuses on what it takes to make their customers successful</em>.”</div>
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This sentiment is echoed in our Voice of Customer (VoC) research interviews with life science professionals and researchers. They expressed frustration with companies who do not see things from the customers’ perspective.</div>
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Some of the comments we heard:</div>
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<li><em>“I think the issue at hand is what I call political capital, and how I choose to use it. So, when we find ourselves unfamiliar with the technology, it becomes really hard and quite a risk for us to expend our political capital to advocate for the purchase of a product. A company has to do everything they can to reduce the personal and professional risk we face in advocating for them.”</em></li>
<li><em>“Personalized engagement forges strong ties with your company that serve as a ‘<strong>grace account</strong>’ upon which to draw when there is the inevitable problem or outreach from competition.”</em></li>
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<strong>Actions:</strong></div>
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1. In this hyper-competitive environment, it is critical for life science companies to prioritize development of <em>competitively differentiating CX strategies</em>.</div>
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2. If, in the past 12 months, you have not done deep research to understand your customers’ rapidly changing needs, <em>you risk being dangerously out of sync with your customers.</em></div>
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<strong>Engage with customers post-sale and understand the ongoing and evolving needs of researchers</strong></div>
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In the <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/01/prweb15075487.htm">West Monroe Partners Survey</a> it was noted, “Companies that quickly evolve their capabilities to drive new value to customers can create an ‘adaptive advantage’. To do so, they need <em>deep understanding of the issues customers are trying to solve or, better yet, the ability to foresee future issues and help customers in the areas they don’t even know they need help.</em>”</div>
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Certainly, in the pharma and biotech arena there’s pressure to generate sales and make the numbers. But, to <em>get those repeat orders, it requires taking care of customers post-sale</em>.</div>
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Per Mike Lucero, “Customers feel that they are being loyal to a company by buying their products and recommending them. They feel betrayed when a company <em>does not reciprocate by listening to their evolving needs and personalizing recommendations</em> based on the specific type of research they are doing.”</div>
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<strong>Representative statements from our VoC</strong> </div>
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<li><em>“Some life science companies do not have a reputation for engaging customers post-sale. So, their advocates feel abandoned"</em></li>
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<li><em>“Personalized follow-up and communications are proof points that the company cares about me after they made the sale."</em></li>
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<li><em>“They should be checking in with me about any concerns or needs and to see what’s new. Then they’d show that they were still thinking of us after we bought the technology. Otherwise, we feel forgotten and completely off their radar.”</em></li>
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<strong>Actions:</strong></div>
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3. Companies must align with the needs of customers versus just selling products. They need to <em>feel the heartbeat</em> of customers’ labs and their needs.</div>
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4. This level of customer focus cannot happen at only one level. The entire company needs to be on board. Critical for sustaining the growth of a company is <em>alignment throughout the company</em>. This requires; visible and engaged executive leadership, widely shared and transparent goals and metrics, and frequent interactions between executive leadership and all levels of employees to ensure alignment regarding this vision.<br />
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<strong>In Summary</strong></div>
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Final observations from two thought leaders;</div>
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Per Paul Conley, “Too many companies focus on building products. They should be focusing on <em>building a culture which focuses on what it takes to make their customers successful…</em> Customer commitment has to come from the top. The CEO has to live it and demonstrate it daily in their people and business decisions.”</div>
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Mike Lucero sums it up well, “Trust your customer. Customers invariably tell the truth. Also, perception is reality. If they feel that they are not appreciated, understood or kept up to date, that is their reality and impacts their customer satisfaction and willingness to advocate and recommend.<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-81705553130973663272018-02-12T09:48:00.001-05:002018-02-12T09:52:45.592-05:00Stop the Condescending Second Guessing. Trust that Customers Know What They Want.<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
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<td width="110" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 0px;"><a href="https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/special-reports/2018-outlook-guide-retail-industry-adapts-to-rapid-change"><img style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9552387_retailtouchpoints.png" border="0" height="28" width="110"></a></td>
<td valign="middle" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 10px;text-align:left;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10px; font-weight:normal; color:#000000;line-height:130%;">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/special-reports/2018-outlook-guide-retail-industry-adapts-to-rapid-change">RetailTouchPoints.com</a></td>
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According to the IBM <a href="https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=GBE03798USEN&">2017 Customer Experience Index (CEI) Study</a>, “Only 19% of brands offer more than a basic level of personalization of the online experience.” This doesn’t come close to meeting consumers’ demands for more <em>personalized and human needs-based communications and experiences</em>.<br><br>
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So how do marketers step up and deliver? For 2018 they <em>need to trust that customers know what they want. Marketers must end the condescending view that customers don’t know what they want or don’t tell the truth.</em><br><br>
In our ERDM <a href="http://erdm.com/index.php#.Wja0AxMrJoQ">VoC research</a>, consumers told us time and time again that marketers still don’t get it! They still aren’t providing personalization that is meaningful or relevant:<br>
<ul><li>“What we receive is <em>not smart personalization</em>.”</li>
<li>"They aren't personalizing the things that <em>matter to me!</em>"</li>
<li>"What they consider personalization is so old-fashioned."</li>
<li>"I want more than just simplistic buying history-based emails."</li>
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To provide “smart” personalization, marketers must engage customers to learn how <em>they define their individual, personal, human needs.</em> Then, meaningful communications and interactions must be created, which are <em>not generic, inferential or transaction-based and are more helpful and tailored to selfprofiled preferences.</em><br><br>
So, <b>Step 1</b> in re-creating your marketing plan is to <b>go beyond</b> simplistic algorithms and buying histories and understand how, why and how often your customers want to be communicated with. This necessitates that you engage, ask, <em>LISTEN, provide the ability to set preferences, and then respect these preference requests once submitted.</em><br><br>
<b>Step 2</b> is to <b>end generic “spray and pray” marketing blasts</b> and develop true, human-based omnichannel personalization driven by consumer preferences. <em>This means trusting that customers know what they want.</em><br><br>
Additionally, key consumer journey life stage points need to be identified, and corresponding engagement actions put in place.<br><br>
Engagement strategies that offer help, advice and valueadded dialog are required at these key lifecycle points:<br>
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<li>Acquisition</li>
<li>Onboarding</li>
<li>Anticipatory responses to decreasing engagement (visits, responses, purchases)</li>
<li>Immediate resolution of negative experiences</li>
<li>Surprise and delight and thank you marketing</li>
<li>Value added cross-selling and upselling</li>
<li>Repeat sales and renewals.</li>
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Takeaways:<br>
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<li>Engage customers by providing easy avenues of communication at all touch points. Whether it’s an online preference center or opportunity for contact updates during checkout, chat or phone conversations, give consumers the power to drive their relationship with your company.</li>
<li>Create the means to fully understand the intricacies of an individualized shopping journey. Engage shoppers to customize their experience — based on a compelling value proposition.</li>
<li>Identify key consumer life stages and put in place specific actions to acknowledge or respond to situations in a seamless manner, which demonstrates a desire to earn long-term loyalty rather than to expect it.</li>
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And, <em>trust that customers know what they want. End the condescending view that customers don’t know what they want or don’t tell the truth.</em>Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-83580898112127352332018-01-29T10:08:00.001-05:002018-01-29T10:08:33.939-05:00Amazon & Kohl's; Walmart & Google — Blurring the Lines Between Online and In-Store Shopping<title>Amazon & Kohl's; Walmart & Google — Blurring the Lines Between Online and In-Store Shopping
Article by Ernan Roman
Featured on CustomerThink.com</title>
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/amazon-walmart-google-blurring-the-lines-between-online-and-in-store-shopping/"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6551528_customerthinklogo.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
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Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/amazon-walmart-google-blurring-the-lines-between-online-and-in-store-shopping/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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You know the saying, "two heads are better than one"? For many companies, this phrase is playing out in new marketing partnerships which allow for better consumer experiences than either company could provide on their own.</div>
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<strong>Amazon and Kohl's Bridging Clicks with Bricks</strong></div>
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Recently Kohl's announced that it will begin accepting Amazon.com returns at certain U.S. locations, where they will pack and ship eligible items — back to an Amazon fulfillment center — for free.</div>
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"This is a great example of how Kohl's and Amazon are leveraging each other's strengths – the power of Kohl's store portfolio and omnichannel capabilities combined with the power of Amazon's reach and loyal customer base," said <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/19/kohls-opens-its-doors-to-amazons-returns-at-82-stores.html">Richard Schepp, Kohl's chief administrative officer.</a></div>
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Additionally, specific Kohl's stores will feature an Amazon Smart Home Experience which will provide a hands-on, interactive experience for consumers to try out a variety of Amazon devices.</div>
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"Kohl's and Amazon share a customer obsession and we've joined together to leverage each other's strengths and deliver a great experience ... said <a href="https://corporate.kohls.com/content/dam/kohlscorp/2017/Smart%20Home%20Experience%20at%20Kohl%27s%20FINAL.pdf">future CEO, now chief merchandising and customer officer Michelle Gass.</a></div>
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<em>"The whole retail industry is going through a massive transformation," <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/2017/10/18/kohls-hopes-new-venture-amazon-bring-more-customers-its-stores/773729001/">said Gass</a>. "Those who ultimately are going to survive and thrive through this period are going to think differently...In terms of us staying relevant and interesting, surprising, engaging, it's doing things like this, so that in the end we can take market share and win over (the) long term...[It's] a bit of a laboratory to understand how customers engage with this kind of experience inside of Kohl's."</em></div>
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<a href="https://corporate.kohls.com/content/dam/kohlscorp/2017/Smart%20Home%20Experience%20at%20Kohl%27s%20FINAL.pdf">Dave Zimmer, vice president, sales and marketing, Amazon Devices</a> commented. "Teaming up with Kohl's provides an incredible opportunity to pair world-class customer and shopping experiences."</div>
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<strong>Wal-Mart & Google Joining Up to Offer Voice-Enabled Shopping</strong></div>
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In September, Wal-Mart shoppers could start linking their Wal-Mart accounts to Google Express to rapidly order via voice on Google Home or by shopping on Google Express. And while other retailers do offer items on Google Express, Wal-Mart's partnership is the only one that allows consumers to link their user account with Google Express, enabling Google to use consumers' past Wal-Mart order history to learn shopping patterns and recommend suitable products.</div>
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The integration will allow consumers to use a voice-device to state that they want to order a specific product. The platform will note their past purchase and ask if they'd like to re-order the same product again. If so, the order is seamlessly placed. Wal-Mart will be the first with this capability.</div>
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"We're thrilled to partner with one of the most popular stores in America to help make your shopping faster and easier," said <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/wal-mart-partners-with-google-to-offer-voice-shopping-via-google-home.html">Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google's senior vice president of ads and commerce.</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/22/wal-mart-partners-with-google-to-offer-voice-shopping-via-google-home.html">Wal-Mart's head of e-commerce, Marc Lore</a> noted on the partnership, "It makes sense for us to team up with Google... We know this means being compared side-by-side with other retailers, and we think that's the way it should be...An open and transparent shopping universe is good for customers..."</div>
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<strong>TakeAways:</strong></div>
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<strong>1. Consumers are blurring the lines between online and instore shopping with web-rooming and show-rooming.</strong><br />
Now retailers are following suit to provide the same. Marketers need to take heed of this trend to provide seamless Ecommerce and physical avenues to shoppers who may want to surf and shop in store or touch ‘n feel and order online.</div>
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<strong>2. Today's shopper is looking for advanced technology to simplify their busy lives.</strong><br />
Marketers need to begin utilizing the home-based cell, web and interactive devices that consumers now commonly own to provide enhanced shopping experiences with greater accessibility.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-91882569048108485242018-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:002018-01-08T12:20:42.288-05:00'Personalization Is The New Loyalty,' Says Neiman Marcus VP<img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9445023_jeffrosenfeld.jpg" style="display:none" />
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/interviews/articles/2017/12/12/personalization-is-the-new-loyalty-says-neiman-marcus-vp-jeff-rosenfeld.html"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/interviews/articles/2017/12/12/personalization-is-the-new-loyalty-says-neiman-marcus-vp-jeff-rosenfeld.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<img align="right" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9445023_jeffrosenfeld.jpg" style="margin: 10px;" width="150" />Jeff Rosenfeld is the vice president of customer insight and analytics for The Neiman Marcus Group, where he is responsible for leveraging analytics to drive revenue. His team focuses on personalization, web analytics, media-mix attribution, product and customer insight, and business intelligence.<br />
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While not at work, Rosenfeld serves as a board member for charity and academic institutions, is an instructor for the SMU CAPE Digital Analytics and Insights Certificate Program, and enjoys traveling with his family.<br />
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Rosenfeld recently participated in our “<a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" target="_blank">4 Questions for Marketing Innovators</a>” series. As you’re about to read, his topic of choice was very timely.<br />
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<b>1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
Personalization is a hot topic these days, but in a recent RIS News study on who does it best, “no one” was a top-ranking answer. This pains me to see as I know at Neiman Marcus we’ve done a lot of great work in this space and driven substantial incremental revenue as a result. That said, when we put ourselves in the customer’s shoes, most of what the entire industry is doing today doesn’t feel that personalized yet. On the bright side, this means there is substantial opportunity here to improve the customer experience.<br />
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<b>2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
Traditional loyalty programs have gotten a bit stale. Personalization is the new loyalty. Ironically, it was probably also the first form of loyalty between shop owners and their customers even thousands of years ago. As the world has gotten more digital, the personalization from a top sales associate has gotten harder to replicate.<br />
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Neiman Marcus is a 110-year-old brand with a legacy of great service and personalization. For most of that time, personalization has been primarily driven by our world-class sales associates. Our best sales associates do three things: They observe what customers say and do, they act on that information, and they remember those observations over time.<br />
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In the digital world, observing and remembering is easy. This is data collection. Acting on that data is the hard part. This is where the algorithms come in. The first step in acting on the data is having solid identity information. You can’t personalize if you don’t have a complete picture of how each customer interacts with your brand. Identity information generally comes in two flavors: people we probably know (probabilistic) and people we definitely know (deterministic).<br />
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Most of today’s personalization for the entire industry is in the probabilistic bucket. At Neiman Marcus this includes machine-learning-driven actions, like product recommendations, private personalized offers, and working with partners like Coherent Path to help determine which of millions of possible combinations of email content will be most appealing to each customer. While these are critical to improving the customer experience and driving revenue, the average customer doesn’t realize the extensive curation the algorithms do on their behalf. As a result, most people don’t “feel” the degree to which their experience is personalized.<br />
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This is where the deterministic bucket comes in. Only when we can confidently link specific behaviors to unique individuals can we execute personalization that customers clearly realize is truly just for them. Beyond the basics, like cart-reminder emails and display remarketing, Neiman Marcus is doing things like remembering customers’ filter preferences across sessions and our “quick links” predictive site navigation from email.<br />
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<b>3. How will this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
Personalization improves the experience by making the entire journey, from initial exploration through post purchase, much easier. We like to call it “friction reduction.”<br />
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Quick links is actually a good example of initial progress on this front. It was born from the insight that most customers open email on their phones, which make it difficult to navigate and quickly get deep in the site. My team built a machine-learning algorithm to recommend three unique links for each customer to help them quickly navigate to where they are most likely to visit but also be so clearly personalized that customers would have no doubt it was custom for them. This is only the beginning, and I truly believe that the largest benefits to both us and the customer will come from further expanding this “explicit” personalization track.<br />
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<b>4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Marketing effectiveness is essentially a ROI calculation. It can be improved by increasing revenue relative to the associated costs. Great personalization helps drives a virtuous cycle of loyalty in which the customer is engaged, provides data that improves the personalization further, which increases customer engagement, and so on. As loyalty improves, revenue goes up. Generally speaking, marketing to loyal customers is more profitable than spending elsewhere.<br />
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<b>Bonus: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
<br />
Several years ago, my dad and I took a week-long marble-carving course in the Colorado Mountains. I really loved it and ever since have been taking the occasional weekend to carve marble and alabaster abstract sculptures in my backyard. It’s a bit loud, but fortunately none of the neighbors have complained yet.Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-74762460997315559092017-12-11T11:53:00.002-05:002018-01-08T12:15:24.560-05:00'Tech Has To Adapt To People,' Says Lowe's Innovation Labs Leader<img style="display:none" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9398478_amandamanna.jpg" />
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<td width="140"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/11/15/tech-has-to-adapt-to-people-says-lowes-amanda-manna.html"><img border="0" height="64" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6078680_cmo139px.png" style="display: block;" width="139" /></a>
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<td style="padding-left: 10px;">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/11/15/tech-has-to-adapt-to-people-says-lowes-amanda-manna.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<img align="right" border="0" hspace="15" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9398478_amandamanna.jpg" />
Amanda Manna is a true innovation leader. As head of narrative and partnerships of <a href="http://www.lowesinnovationlabs.com/">Lowe’s Innovation Labs</a>, she oversees the team responsible for innovation strategy, an extensive applied neuroscience research program, partnerships, and marketing and communications.</div>
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<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandamanna/">In her own words:</a> “I direct the framework we are using to drive disruptive change within Lowe’s.”</div>
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The Innovation Lab has established a global reputation for breakthroughs, including the first AR/VR home design tools, in-store autonomous robotics, exoskeletons for store employees, and the first store in space—a 3D printer aboard the International Space Station.</div>
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With that as a backdrop, Manna provides an interesting, perhaps even surprising, take on technology in this edition of “4 Questions for Digital Innovators.”</div>
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<b>1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator? </b><br />
There is a lot of excitement about the potential for new technologies like augmented and virtual reality, robotics, and artificial intelligence to transform customer experiences. Too often, this leads marketers and innovators to throw technology at the wall to see what sticks.</div>
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The problem with this approach is that people aren’t changing nearly as fast as technology, so what the world needs is more intuitive tools—made possible by technology—that can change human behavior.</div>
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Ask yourself, “What are the ‘common cold’ problems facing your business?” You know, the longstanding, stubborn problems that just continue to persist despite every effort. For Lowe’s, one of those problems is how to visualize the end result of a home improvement project. It’s estimated that $70 billion in projects every year never even get started because of how hard it is to envision the end result or share your vision with someone else. </div>
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After you’ve identified the problem, then consider how technology might be applied to help solve it. For my team, we knew we could use visualization technology like augmented and virtual reality to solve this human need and overcome fear and apathy. That insight led us on a journey that has helped Lowe’s lead the adoption of augmented and virtual reality tools for home improvement. </div>
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<b>2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
Technology has to adapt to people, rather than the other way around. It’s important as marketers that we are intentional about being imaginative, to ensure we build solutions that help people solve common problems or take advantage of new opportunities. </div>
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Too often, it feels like we throw new technology at problems we failed to solve with the previous generation of technology. And usually, these are marketers’ problems: How do I capture and keep attention, shift perceptions, or drive a purchase behavior? Until we actually solve the human problems that our customers care about, none of this innovation will drive the results marketers need.</div>
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At Lowe’s, we view our stores as a competitive advantage because they become living labs that allow us to get feedback from actual customers and employees. This is the best way we know to create not just solutions that work, but solutions that work for our customers.</div>
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<b>3. How will this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
It’s clear that by solving real problems first, marketers will deliver a helpful, supportive, and differentiated customer experience.</div>
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For example, we’ve learned that customers are intuitively turning to AR via a smartphone for collaborative design, which enables them to visualize changes within their existing space. As a result, our first global product launch was Lowe’s Vision, an AR design application for Google’s Tango platform.</div>
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What you learn along the way will likely surprise you, and if you’re paying attention to the right clues, they can lead to new opportunities. While we started off using VR for design, what we saw was that by putting people in a fully immersive environment, they were engaged, focused, and ready to learn. These insights led us to create <a href="http://www.lowesinnovationlabs.com/holoroomhowto/">Holoroom How To</a>, a virtual DIY skills clinic that customers and employees can use to learn how to tile a shower. </div>
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<b>4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing? </b><br />
Today, with the launch of Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, augmented and virtual reality technology is now in the hands of millions of people around the world. Artificial intelligence is driving the functionality of devices, tools, and experiences that are available today, such as smart home devices, and those that will transform tomorrow, such as self-driving cars. Technologies that may still feel far-future today are actually at our doorstep.</div>
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We all have the opportunity to shape the future as a result of the actions we take in the present. Start today by putting new technologies to work in service of old problems, and you can gain a head start on rising customer expectations by building tools that exceed what they need and want today. For Lowe’s, this head start has driven near-term value, in addition to the long-term benefit that comes by boosting our reputation as an innovative retailer. </div>
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The point I want to leave you with is that it is important to build solutions that don’t just work, but that work for real people. When you focus on building something that is helpful, useful, and exciting, it will sell itself.</div>
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<b>Bonus: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
I love to spend my time outside of work relaxing with my husband and daughter. A perfect weekend will find us enjoying the outdoors and listening to music on our screened porch.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-49773390080132392572017-11-27T14:38:00.000-05:002018-01-08T12:17:04.186-05:00How Innovators are Breaking Silos and Creating Cross-Functional Alignment<img style="display:none" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Xe1I7Hh_H28/WhxpYIeBq0I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/M7wcxHYFhxg2IJNS_9K6Pf-jFBINvBtpACLcBGAs/s320/AdobeStock_86809846.jpeg" />
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<td width="110" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 0px;"><a href="http://customerthink.com/how-innovators-are-breaking-silos-and-creating-cross-functional-alignment/"><img style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" border="0" height="47" width="110"></a></td>
<td valign="middle" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 10px;text-align:left;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10px; font-weight:normal; color:#000000;line-height:130%;">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/how-innovators-are-breaking-silos-and-creating-cross-functional-alignment/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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<b>Summary: When silos rule, internal communications break down and it’s difficult to present a united vision, brand and compelling message to consumers. However, some innovators are redefining cross-functional integration and alignment. </b><br />
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<b>How GE is Redefining “Communications”</b><br />
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GE Vice President and Chief Communications Officer <a href="http://erdm-mail.com/t/10O1-5BF6K-4ZFN5E-2WKES1-1/c.aspx">Deirdre Latour</a>, noted in regards to the company’s restructuring, that there is “<i>no longer a divide between internal and external communications.</i>”<br />
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<a href="http://erdm-mail.com/t/10O1-5BF6K-4ZFN5E-2WKES2-1/c.aspx">Latour commented</a> how the company has fused its total communications, “We view communications as completely boundary less. There are no internal communications and external communications.” The company uses a system they call “go direct” to, as Latour notes, “build a direct communications program using data, that allows us to speak directly to [all] people and …communicate with those who care most about GE.”<br />
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<b>How Cross-Functional Alignment Is Growing Tumi </b><br />
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Luggage company, Tumi, has learned that “Cross-functional alignment to help the brand grow “beyond incrementality” helped boost effective customer engagement and drive growth. Following are cross-functional insights from <a href="http://erdm-mail.com/t/10O1-5BF6K-4ZFN5E-2WKES3-1/c.aspx">Charlie Cole, Chief Digital Officer at Tumi</a>,<br />
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<li>“…it’s imperative that we put all our own needs aside and focus on working together to deliver on that expectation.”</li>
<li>“All four of us [digital, creative, merchandising and brand] work together against the same goals, and we have a mutual respect for each other’s expertise, making us effective and efficient.”</li>
<li>“It’s marketing/brand’s job to best understand and engage the customer from an emotional perspective. It’s digital’s job to continuously test and measure the impact of our engagement efforts…. I focus on how to provide the most immediate feedback on what’s working and what’s not so we can maximize our tactics.”</li>
<li>“We are also able to achieve new heights due to our strong collaboration…”</li>
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<b>Research Shows Cross Functionality Fuels Superior CX</b></div>
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<a href="http://erdm-mail.com/t/10O1-5BF6K-4ZFN5E-2WKES4-1/c.aspx">McKinsey & Co.</a> noted that in <i>order to build better consumer communication brands need to fix their internal communication.</i></div>
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Their insights indicate that brands need to “better organize and mobilize employees around consumer needs.” Additionally, they note that “designing the customer experience entails…reorienting company cultures.”</div>
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And that, “rewiring a company to provide leading customer experience is a journey in itself…. requiring high engagement from company leaders and frontline workers alike…it takes patience and guts to train an organization to see the world through the customer’s eyes and to redesign functions to create value in a customer-centric way.” But here is their caution, “too many companies focus on individual interaction touchpoints…”</div>
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The company noted that there is a distinct difference between a single touchpoint and a total journey, noting that “<i>…customer satisfaction … is 73 percent more likely when journeys work well than when only touchpoints do.</i>” And that building this journey “ “…must be made clear to every employee through a simple, crisp statement of intent: a shared vision and aspiration that’s authentic and consistent…” And, that journeys should be, “the framework that allows a company to organize itself and mobilize employees to deliver value…”</div>
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Takeaways</div>
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<li>Communication with consumers begins with communication across departments at all levels. If there is no clear vision shared across all functional areas, then brand messaging, goals, and strategies become jumbled with no clear objectives.</li>
<li>When companies unite teams to work together for common goals, the collaborative results produce far stronger marketing that drives growth.</li>
<li>Companies need to put ego aside to continually re-evaluate and fix what is not working and adopt new interdisciplinary actions.</li>
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<a href="http://erdm-mail.com/t/10O1-5BF6K-4ZFN5E-2WKES5-1/c.aspx">Pontish Yeramyan</a>, founder and CEO of performance consulting firm Gap International, noted on the breakdown of interdepartmental communication,” When.. department or function becomes the most important thing, they lose perspective of the bigger outcome.” Brands need to break the cycle of tunnel vision to embrace wide-scoping, all-encompassing thinking in order to provide the type of consistent, well-rounded consumer experiences that builds relationships and thereby sales and loyalty.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-21945024174092793452017-11-13T08:50:00.000-05:002018-01-08T12:17:50.752-05:00GM's Global Director Of CX Answers 4 Questions For Digital Innovators<img alt="David Mingle" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9294722_davidmingle.jpg" style="display: none;" />
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<td width="110" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 0px;"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/9/14/gms-global-director-of-cx-answers-4-questions-for-digital-innovators.html#gs.0xnWGbU"><img style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" border="0" height="46" width="110"></a></td>
<td valign="middle" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 15px;text-align:left;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10px; font-weight:normal; color:#000000;line-height:130%;">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/9/14/gms-global-director-of-cx-answers-4-questions-for-digital-innovators.html#gs.0xnWGbU">CMO.com</a></td>
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<img align="right" alt="David Mingle" border="0" height="195" hspace="10" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9294722_davidmingle.jpg" style="display: block;" vspace="10" width="150" /><strong>As global director of CX strategy and enterprise experiences at General Motors, David Mingle has spent the past four years laser-focused on transforming the customer experience.</strong></div>
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“There is a lot of friction in today’s car buying process that we need to address,” said Mingle, who has held various management positions at Nissan North America, Chrome Systems, and Ford Motor. “At the same time, customers increasingly tell us that technology is a top purchase consideration, and they want their vehicles to seamlessly integrate with the rest of their digital lives.”</div>
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Read on for what followed.</div>
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<b>1. What did you do with that feedback?</b><br />
This insight fueled GM’s decision to make connectivity a strategic priority. We now have more 12 million connected vehicles on the road, and we have nearly 4 million customers using our mobile app. Both are incredible opportunities to introduce new and innovative experiences to our customers.</div>
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<b>2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
Research shows that engaged customers are more loyal, less price-sensitive, and more willing to talk favorably of the brands they love. We see digital, especially mobile, and vehicle connectivity as huge opportunities to move from customer interactions centered around maintenance and repurchase cycles to providing engaging content and value-added services at every key turn. It’s a game-changer for our industry.</div>
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<b>3. What does that look like at GM, specifically? How will this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
CX is still an emerging discipline for most of us. There isn’t a playbook that can tell you how to successfully innovate your customer journey. You just need to start with the basics and mature your approach over time. Develop a clear articulation of your customers’ needs and expectations. Leverage your existing surveys, social media insights, and internal or third-party studies. Don’t be surprised if you identify gaps and additional research is required.</div>
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At GM, we receive nearly half a million survey responses every month. We built a tool that flags surveys for follow-up when it identifies a low score or certain issues in the customer comments. We see meaningful uplifts in NPS and retention when successful recontact is made by our dealers or contact center advisers. This gave us a valuable early “quick win” that we could leverage in justifying further investment in our CX roadmap. And we now have a database of millions of customer surveys, giving us limitless opportunity to drive customer understanding across our organization.</div>
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We use this data and other research to map the customer journey. These maps help us identify the moments that matter most to our customers that also have high levels of customer effort or pain. These become priorities in our CX roadmaps.</div>
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As your customer understanding and journey maps mature, they will enable you to change how your company plans and solves problems. Our CEO calls it “Think Customer” and has declared it a key leadership behavior central to our ongoing success. This customer-centric mindset is driving unprecedented levels of collaboration across the many departments responsible for delivering each segment of the customer journey.</div>
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An example is our mobile app for owners. It includes features from sales, marketing, service, care, and Onstar packaged as one integrated experience, which is far easier for our customers than each business unit having their own app. That would not have happened without a common, customer-centric vision for our customers’ mobile experience. </div>
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<b>4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Customers today expect you to know their journey, act on their feedback, and be available 24/7 on the channel of their choice. Brands that effectively leverage their customer understanding to continually simplify and personalize the customer experience will drive higher levels of loyalty, lower customer acquisition costs, and streamlined customer support. </div>
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I would say we are still in the early innings of GM’s CX transformation, but we are already seeing demonstrable results that suggest the strategy is working.</div>
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<b>Bonus: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
My wife and I have been blessed with three incredible and differently abled children. Our oldest has autism. We spend a lot of our free time advocating for adults with disabilities. [They are active board members at Dutton Farm, a program that provides vocational and life skills training for adults with autism and other disabilities.] It’s been very rewarding to get to know and support the caregivers, teachers, and others who give so much for those in need.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-73269585953137107072017-10-23T09:49:00.000-04:002018-01-08T12:18:38.281-05:00Learn from Innovators Transforming Companies to Align with Customers<img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9241116_oct26blogger.jpg" style="display: none;" />
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/learn-from-innovators-transforming-companies-to-align-with-customer/"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/learn-from-innovators-transforming-companies-to-align-with-customer/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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<strong>Summary</strong>: For years brands told consumers “YOU play by OUR rules.” Now, innovative companies are transforming themselves and developing new products/services built specifically to deliver on the changing needs of customers.</div>
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<em>Consumers are increasingly disconnecting from brands that do not go the extra mile to understand their needs</em> and are flocking to brands that do take the time to understand them.</div>
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VoC research we have conducted indicates that consumers feel that actions which demonstrate a commitment to personalization and value, build strong ties and reinforce loyalty. Conversely, when consumers feel that brands do not understand them, or fail to meet their needs, then the brand relationship is weakened and often, irreversibly damaged.</div>
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To connect with consumers, the following innovators are developing game changing methods of meeting consumer’s needs.</div>
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<strong>1. Test. Evaluate. Expand.</strong></div>
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Nordstrom did a test run of their <strong><a href="http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/shipping-methods-charges#anchor-link-reserve-try-in-store" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Reserve Online & Try In Store</a></strong> as a pilot and it was so successful that 80 percent of shoppers who tried it continued to use the service multiple times. So now the company is expanding the program. Consumers can select the service from the website’s product detail page. They then receive both a text notification when their items are ready to try on at their nearest location as well as an in-store notification to locate their dedicated dressing room.</div>
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Per <strong><a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nordstrom-expands-reserve-online--try-in-store-service-to-about-40-stores-300509247.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Shea Jensen, senior vice president of customer experience at Nordstrom</a></strong>, “Many of our customers like to feel and try on clothes and shoes before they purchase them and we’re excited to offer them a more convenient way to do so.”</div>
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Nordstrom’s innovative use of multi-channel engagement with consumers is just one of the reasons the company has seen <strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nordstrom-expands-order-online-try-on-in-store-program-2017-8" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">45% year-over-year</a></strong> growth for its in-store pickup options in 2016 as well as being one of the only department stores to see positive results in its latest quarter.</div>
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<strong>2. Anticipate What Consumers Want, and then Deliver.</strong></div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/09/instacart-ceo-shares-lessons-learned-from-jeff-bezos-and-steve-jobs.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Apoorva Mehta</a></strong> founded the same-day grocery delivery start-up <strong><a href="https://www.instacart.com/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Instacart</a></strong> <strong><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-himi-apoorva-mehta-20170105-story.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">to meet an unmet need</a></strong>. “It was 2012, people were ordering everything online, meeting people online, watching movies online, yet the one thing everyone has to do every single week — buying groceries — we still do in an archaic way,” he said. So, he came up with the idea for an on-demand grocery delivery platform. The strategy behind Instacart has been to, “… innovative and respond to challenges creatively.”</div>
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Mehta noted that, “if you use new technologies or <em>look at the problem in a different way, you can come up with a solution that’s much, much better</em> … I liked putting myself in a position where I had to learn about an industry and try to solve problem.”</div>
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<b>3. Don’t Compromise Brand Standards</b></div>
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On Amazon’s first day as owner of Whole Foods they spent their efforts <strong><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-28/amazon-cuts-prices-at-whole-foods-as-much-as-50-on-first-day" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">cutting prices as much as 43%</a></strong>. This move is a direct action to demonstrate that they are serious in their promise to change the way customers shop for groceries. Amazon also understands that <em>they can make changes, but they need to maintain the Whole Foods reputation</em>.</div>
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“Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality – we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market’s long-held commitment to the highest standards,” said Jeff Wilke, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer.</div>
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The company has also rolled out new services specifically for its Amazon Prime members such as its selection of 17 new <strong><a href="http://mashable.com/2017/07/20/amazon-fresh-meal-kits/#iUZZAvqteaqn" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Amazon Fresh meal kits</a></strong>, <strong><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/story/14285932/1/here-are-the-benefits-amazon-prime-members-will-get-at-whole-foods.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">access to exclusive deals</a></strong> and benefits. 365 Everyday Value, Whole Paws, and Whole Catch, can be purchased via Amazon’s Prime Pantry and Prime Now food delivery programs and Prime members will be able to order food items online and pick up at an Amazon Lockers at their nearest Whole Foods.</div>
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In summary, the new bottom line is <em>knowing customer’s needs so completely that you can transform your business</em> to innovate and create new services that break unchartered ground in customer experience engagement and value.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-46749410281555810452017-10-05T09:43:00.002-04:002018-01-08T12:19:26.362-05:00Tumi's CDO Answers 4 Questions For Digital Innovators<img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9188081_tumi.jpg" style="display: none;" />
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/8/14/tumis-cdo-answers-4-questions-for-digital-innovators.html"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
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Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/8/14/tumis-cdo-answers-4-questions-for-digital-innovators.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<img align="right" border="0" height="183" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9188081_tumi.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 5px 0px 0px 5px;" width="140" /><strong>Charlie Cole, chief digital officer of <a href="https://www.tumi.com/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Tumi</a>, has been overseeing and developing the luggage and travel accessory brand's global e-commerce and digital platforms since 2015. When Samsonite acquired Tumi last year, he also took on the official role of global chief e-commerce officer, which includes oversight of global strategy for brands such as Samsonite, American Tourister, Hartmann, Gregory, and High Sierra.</strong></div>
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Prior to Tumi, Cole held various leadership positions, including CEO of The Line and head of e-commerce for Lucky Brand and Schiff Nutrition.</div>
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Cole recently participated in our "<strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">4 Questions for Digital Innovators</a></strong>" series.</div>
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<b>1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
The balance of art and science in marketing is the single most important topic to make sure I am open to being self-critical and constantly evolving my thinking. When I was younger, I believed that nothing was more sacrosanct than listening to the numbers, and if you did that, you'd be fine. However, I've realized that at a premium brand, in particular, everything starts with creative and merchandising–and your job as a marketer is to support that, not overrule that.</div>
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This requires reciprocation. Merchandisers and creative directors need to be open to analytical feedback and evolve as well. I have framed this to other people as: Creative and merchandising set the guardrails, and it is my job to widen those guardrails as much as possible through education provided by the digital marketing sphere.</div>
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This is a big ask for a lot of marketers: You're not the center of the universe, and you are, in fact, a service department. It's very normal for marketers to be fairly exalted in business because we get to do a lot of sexy stuff. But, in reality, we are a support industry, not the driving function.</div>
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<b>2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
You can't be binary. You are seeing the ultimate personification of this taking place in the e-commerce ecosystem today. Amazon–arguably the greatest analytically driven company in history–is struggling to penetrate the luxury market. Brands rightfully fear Amazon's completely democratic approach to brand protection. While this may be a bit unpopular to say, great brands still drive the conversation. Yes, social listening and feedback is important, but the fact of the matter is people still wait for truly special brand newness. </div>
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If you are not self-aware and don't evolve, you will lose. The scariest thing? We're not talking about losing your job. We're talking about losing your career. If all you are is a brand marketer who can't listen to numbers or just a brilliant analytical marketer with no respect for the brand you're supporting, you're a dinosaur and more likely already dead.</div>
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<b>3. How can this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
The customer is the big winner. You get creativity, inspiration, and aspiration, and then it's mixed with evolution and personalization as you engage with the brand further. My mom bought me a pair of Air Jordans when I was 9 years old, and now I'm 34 and can design my own Nikes! Talk about a win for me.</div>
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<b>4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Customers will get what they didn't expect, what they didn't know they needed, and then practically give you the playbook on how to continue to market to them. For companies, you have to let your artists take the first guess; that's their job. Raw, pure creation. From there you can invest in iteration–which means investing in analytics plus science. If you balance those two things, you are letting people do what they do best. The biggest challenge for a larger company culture is to instill the trust throughout the organization to drive a collaborative environment between two types of people who think completely differently. </div>
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<b>Bonus Question: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
Well, it's 70 degrees and sunny outside, so that may be influencing this answer a little bit, but I would say my absolute favorite thing to do is to sit on my back porch with my wife, throw the stick for our lab Tucker, and watch him romp around while sipping on a nice, dry rosé. Yup, that's the ticket.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">For additional Digital Innovator stories, <a href="http://erdm.com/blog.php#.Vlm0CcZViko" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">click here</a>.</b> </div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-46789453278941564192017-09-25T13:42:00.000-04:002018-01-08T12:20:00.700-05:00All These Mergers... Consumers Are Asking: Will Their Brand Connection Still Be There?<img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9155298_sept28uber.png" style="display:none" />
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/all-these-mergers-consumers-are-asking-will-their-brand-connection-still-be-there/"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
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Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/all-these-mergers-consumers-are-asking-will-their-brand-connection-still-be-there/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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“By combining companies, we believe will be able to…enhance the customer experience, increase customer value and put ourselves in an even stronger position to help shape and lead the next generation of shopping,” So said <strong><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/qvc-buys-hsn-to-battle-amazon/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Mike George</a></strong>, QVC’s president and CEO.</div>
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But will they?</div>
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<em>When brands merge are they diluting the brand message and connection with consumers?</em> With so many mergers and acquisitions recently, you have to wonder what it means for brands and their connection with consumers.</div>
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L’Oréal which owns 34 brands has a unique perspective—let the brand be itself and be what consumers want. Jean-Paul Agon, L'Oréal CEO, <strong><a href="http://fortune.com/2017/03/15/loreal-ceo-jean-paul-agon/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">noted</a></strong>, “Brands have to be authentic, but for [consumers], it means the <em>brand is transparent and there is sincerity in what they express…</em> We have to adapt permanently, or even anticipate permanently, the consumer’s demands…”</div>
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The lesson for brand managers going though mergers it that it’s essential to both respect and reassure consumers who have made a financial and time investment in selecting and patronizing <em>“their brand.”</em> When things “change” due to merger, an emotional connection could be at jeopardy if doubt sets in that that their original decision to become a customer is no longer valid.</div>
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The Harvard Business Review noted that an emotional connection between a brand and its consumers is a significant differentiator. “On a lifetime value basis, emotionally connected customers are <em>more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers.</em>”</div>
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Here’s a bit of insight they share that brand managers should take note of:</div>
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<li>“Most companies lack a strategic objective that spans the customer journey.”</li>
<li>“Our research across hundreds of brands in dozens of categories shows that the most effective way to maximize customer value is to move beyond mere customer satisfaction and connect with customers at an emotional level – tapping into their fundamental motivations.”</li>
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The advice In our ERDM learnings from 15,000+ hours of <strong><a href="http://erdm.com/index.php#.WWaGpRPytoQ" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">VoC research</a></strong> interviews, consumers told us that <em>understanding them and developing relationships is a competitive differentiator</em> for maintaining a strong brand connection:</div>
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<li>“Your generic communication make it obvious that you don’t understand me. You are trying distill my complex needs into simple generalities to make it easier for you … and useless to me!”</li>
<li>“You marketers don’t understand that personalization is valuable … it forges strong ties when there is the almost-certain outreach from competition.”</li>
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One of the issues in meeting consumer connection needs according to Adobe Digital Insights (ADI), is that brands think that they are delivering this experience but according to consumers—<em>they are not.</em></div>
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<strong><a href="http://www.cmo.com/adobe-digital-insights/articles/2017/3/9/adi-summit17-advertising-report.html#gs.EPSjOCA" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst at ADI</a></strong>, explains why value is always the key to connections.</div>
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“[Brands] have to demonstrate value to the consumer. Companies are still not built to be able to do that…. At a time when marketers are competing for time and attention…Organizations, themselves, are fragmented, and, on top of that, their technology is fragmented, making it difficult to make progress…We’re in a really high-pressure environment where marketers need to not only protect their loyal base, but also efficiently steal from the competition… The winners are going to be the companies that have the technology and chops to serve relevant, personalized communications to consumers, consistently…”</div>
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<strong>TakeAways:</strong></div>
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1. <strong>Consumers want meaningful relationships with brands.</strong> When doubt creeps into a consumer’s mind they lose the original motivation that sparked their connection in the first place. Brands need to be sincere and clear in all touch points so that the value “reason” is continually reinforced and present.</div>
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2. <strong>An emotional consumer connection with your company is a primary driver of engagement.</strong> Actively involved consumers are far more likely to be not only be top purchasers but also vocal and authentic brand ambassadors. But this takes a continual commitment to demonstrate understanding and develop highly personalized experiences.</div>
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3. <strong>To grow, companies need to protect the investment they have in their already loyal consumers while simultaneously reaching out to new prospects.</strong> And, finding ways to be relevant to both.</div>
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With so much merging and blending, the question is; will these combined companies thrive or not? However, one thing is for sure; consumers will want proof that any new union deserves their patronage. In an interview, <strong><a href="https://www.loyalty360.org/content-gallery/daily-news/merger-of-qvc-and-home-shopping-network-brings-a-w?gs_ref=74OQeloHdB-Email" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Doug Rose, SVP of programming and marketing for QVC</a></strong>, said, “Amid the rapid transformation of our business, our recipe for cultivating loyalty has not changed: To deliver a shopping experience that fosters <em>enduring relationships, rooted in trust.</em>”<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-8017933685878652152017-09-11T12:27:00.003-04:002017-09-11T12:31:40.367-04:004 Requirements for Linking CX to ROI<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="https://www.crmirewards.com/article/4-requirements-for-linking-cx-to-roi"><img border="0" height="28" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9113454_crmilogosmall110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
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Featured on <a href="https://www.crmirewards.com/article/4-requirements-for-linking-cx-to-roi">crmirewards.com</a></td>
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Eighty-one percent of consumers are willing to pay for a better experience, according to the Capgemini’s study <strong>“<a href="https://www.capgemini.com/digital-customer-experience/the-disconnected-customer" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">The Disconnected Customer</a>.”</strong> Yet, customers don’t feel that companies are delivering high quality customer experience (CX), and one in five consumers stopped purchasing from a company after a poor experience, Capgemini’s research found.</div>
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In our own ERDM learnings from more than 16,000 hours of <strong><a href="http://erdm.com/solutions.php#.WVaO_RPytoQ" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">VoC research</a></strong> interviews, consumers were emphatic that short-term sales-focused tactics were irritating, brand damaging, and undermined loyalty. As empowered consumers, they <em>expected engagement oriented communications and experiences.</em></div>
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Here is a representative quote from the research: <em>“You marketers don’t understand that personalized engagement post-sale is valuable for the customer and... forges strong ties with your company that serve as a ‘grace account’ upon which to draw when there is the almost-certain problem or outreach from competition.”</em></div>
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Chris Hull, Chief Merchandising Officer at the iconic American luxury lifestyle brand Shinola, puts it this way, “Consumers are looking for <em>meaningful experiences that differentiate one brand from another.</em> One way we do this is by designing our stores to engage the five senses:</div>
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<li>Sight – see team members build bicycles or do personalized embossing;</li>
<li>Sound – a warm welcome and vinyl playing on our Runwell Turntable;</li>
<li>Touch – well-crafted products, such as watches and leather bags;</li>
<li>Taste – a complimentary bottle of Shinola Cola;</li>
<li>Smell – the smell from our Shinola candles lit throughout the store.</li>
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This is all part of conveying our distinctive handcrafted products and has resulted in higher engagement, satisfaction, and conversion rates.”</div>
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With this in mind, here are four factors that will help you link CX to improved ROI:</div>
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<strong>1. CX strategies must align with consumer demands</strong></div>
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Too often sales strategies are spray painted to look like CX strategies. However, customers are smart and know the difference between sales pitches posing as engagement and true CX. They resent when marketers think that customers are too naïve to know the difference.</div>
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According to <strong><a href="http://fortune.com/2017/03/21/nike-ceo-retail-landscape-unsteady/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Nike Chief Executive Mark Parke</a></strong> in comments about CX strategy development, “The important thing to point out is that <em>changes are being driven by the consumer</em>…. They want it fast, easy, and [they want] personal service.” Nike has implemented measures to drive personalization and has seen sales improvements in a landscape where so many other retailers and brands are failing.</div>
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<strong>2. Accurate data is essential for driving CX initiatives</strong></div>
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As <strong><a href="https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/12/01/poor-data-costing-brands/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Jim Conning, managing director at Royal Mail Data Services</a></strong> so aptly puts it, data accuracy is non-negotiable for ROI: “CMOs and marketing directors all understand the importance of accurate customer data, but I’m not sure that more inexperienced members of the team understand the <em>increased ROI of more accurate data.</em>” The company’s research indicated that 3<em>4% of marketers fail to fully understand the financial impact of poor quality data;</em> 70% of the 300 companies surveyed admit to having incomplete or out-of-date customer data; and 6% of annual revenue is being lost through poor quality data.</div>
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<strong>3. ROI also requires CX-focused content</strong></div>
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Irrelevant content hurts your brand, so stop sending spray-and-pray blasts!</div>
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This quote from our VoC research is a blunt reminder. <em>“When I receive generic emails, it’s obvious that you do not care enough to understand my individual needs. Instead, you are trying distill my complex needs into simple generalities to make your email blast easier for you...and useless to me!”</em></div>
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Consider this from a <strong><a href="http://go.salsify.com/rs/790-IHZ-702/images/Cracking%20Consumer%20Code%20eBook.pdf" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Salsify Study</a></strong>: “If you provide superior content, and a competitive price, you have the opportunity to both close the sale and build long-term consumer loyalty.” The study found that…</div>
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<li>88% of consumers say that product content is extremely or very important to their purchase decision</li>
<li>Price matters, but it’s product content that gets consumers to buy</li>
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<strong>4. Establish CX-oriented metrics and compensate accordingly</strong></div>
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New and additional metrics are required to track and compensate for CX-oriented behaviors. Too many companies fail to change metrics to reflect their CX strategies and still compensate based on legacy “sell ‘em and forget ‘em” models.</div>
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In this <strong><a href="https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/customer-experience/not-2008-anymore-meet-customers-2017-cx-standards/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">blog post</a></strong>, Michael Klein, director of industry strategy for the Adobe Marketing Cloud, presents some effective soltuions that brands can implement to select the optimal CX metrics. One, from Epsilon’s Rob Cantave, especially stood out: “CRM data helps us understand what current customers are interested in seeing. Combining that with our third-party data lets us better understand what clusters of customers have in common. We present that information to the automated models and have them test and ultimately identify the product, categories, or content most likely to be of interest to returning customers and brand new unknown users who’ve been seen elsewhere in our network.”</div>
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Linking CX to ROI is a complex, multiphased, and corporate-wide pursuit. Remember:</div>
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<li>CX requires company-wide consistency and communication so employees understand and are trained on the goals and behaviors they need to demonstrate every single day.</li>
<li>It also requires an omnichannel, data-driven strategy that’s based on meeting the requirements consumers indicate are important—<em>to them</em>. CX is useless without a consumer-focused approach because it will be observed as sales-y and meaningless.</li>
<li>Similarly, irrelevant content is perceived as demonstrating that a brand does not care about developing long-term customer relationships.</li>
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To achieve maximum ROI, companies need to rethink how they view CX and build impactful and sustainable strategies to satisfy customer needs over the customer lifecycle.<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-68691413682746715812017-08-21T09:58:00.002-04:002017-08-21T09:58:41.049-04:00Moosejaw CMO Answers 4 Questions For Digital Innovators<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/9054069_danpingree.jpg" width="150" height="198" border="0" style="display:block; margin:5px 0px 0px 5px" align="right" /><strong>Dan Pingree is the chief marketing officer of <a href="https://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/shop/home____" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">Moosejaw Mountaineering</a>, where he oversees the outdoor retailer’s marketing initiatives, including search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email, photo, video, graphic design, content production and publishing, social media, brick and mortar marketing, catalogs, direct mail, A/B testing, and data analytics.</strong></div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Moosejaw combines his love of e-commerce with a passion for the outdoors, and admits to owning doubles and triples of basically every piece of climbing equipment. He has held previous digital marketing and e-commerce leadership roles at Drugstore.com (Walgreen’s), Housevalues, and Microsoft and holds a Master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. When not at work, he enjoys climbing, skiing, and trips with his family, the most recent of which was a trip to Cuba.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Pingree recently participated in our "<strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">4 Questions for Marketing Innovators</a></strong>" series. His topic is very timely: experiential marketing.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
In today’s retail environment where fierce competition abounds and continued retail bankruptcies dominate the business headlines, creating a notable, unique experience through various marketing activities has never been more important in defending against the assortment, convenience, and pricing pressures of Amazon. This is our focus every single day at Moosejaw. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">We define “experiential marketing” as a series of marketing events or interactions that are unique and memorable to the customer and help him or her feel understood. This includes all touch points that a customer can have with Moosejaw, from initial introduction, site experience, emails, product recommendations, customer support, and even order packagin</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">One of the key attributes of surviving and thriving retailers over the next five to 10 years will be their ability to effectively and consistently deliver those unique and memorable interactions to customers. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
Consolidation within retail is happening at a rapid rate. Amazon continues to put smaller pure plays out of business and is no doubt directly responsible for mall closures and big-box retailer downsizing. Amazon’s strength is within the transaction—that is, their assortment, aggressive pricing, and world-class logistics and delivery capabilities. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Retailers would do well not to attempt to “out-Amazon” Amazon but rather seek to build unique, notable experiences for their customers—experiences which help customers feel understood and valued at every touch point. Experiences that are consistent and unique, which other retailers—including Amazon—are not offering.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">At Moosejaw, we sell outdoor clothing and gear, most of which is available at other retailers. Because of this, we have to constantly ask ourselves, “Why would somebody buy from Moosejaw?” The answer, of course, is because of the unique and notable experience Moosejaw offers its customers. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">As we are successful with our experiential marketing efforts, I have no doubt that Moosejaw will be a strong, healthy retailer in the years to come, Amazon’s meteoric rise notwithstanding.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">3. How can this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
Experiential marketing enhances the customer experience because you’re creating interactions where you are demonstrating a clear understanding of who the customer is and what she wants. If it is known, based on your previous and current site browsing and past purchase history, that you like the Canada Goose brand, it doesn’t make any sense to show you promotions related to backpacks and climbing ropes. If you do, you may lose this customer forever because they feel misunderstood.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Every customer is an individual with unique tastes and preferences, and our marketing efforts must treat you as such. On the other hand, if the site experience involves changing the home page, search slots, navigation, and product detail pages by exposing the kinds of brands, categories, and offers that we know you like based on the data we’ve collected about you, we can create an experience that is welcoming, engaging, and worthy of your time. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Doing this well creates a differentiated experience versus every other retailer since nobody has truly cracked the code—yet. For all retailers big and small, there is a huge opportunity to win in this area. The slog is hard, long, and expensive, but ultimately those who figure it out will have a defensible position against the retail headwinds caused by Amazon.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Dollars spent on experiential marketing simply perform better than generic marketing. We’ve seen it repeatedly in our results in areas such as time spent on site, add-to-cart rates, conversion rates, open rates, click-through rates, and many others. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">The challenge is that the upfront investment costs in technology and people—not to mention the time required to test and learn which experiences are most meaningful—are huge barriers to most companies. But those who stay committed to experiential marketing will find the reward to be well worth the investment. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">Bonus Question: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
One of my favorite activities is alpine mountaineering. I love being outside, on high mountains, in beautiful and remote locations. I’ve been working on climbing the highest mountains of the seven continents, of which I’ve managed to climb three so far. I hope to complete them all before too long, including Mount Everest.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">For additional Marketing Innovator stories, <a href="http://erdm.com/blog.php#.Vlm0CcZViko" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">click here</a>.</b> </div>Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-14133059998583927132017-08-07T19:26:00.000-04:002017-08-07T19:26:18.315-04:00Companies That Thrive During Tough Times Share These Traits<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/6/20/companies-that-thrive-in-todays-tough-times-share-3-traits.html"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/6/20/companies-that-thrive-in-todays-tough-times-share-3-traits.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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In the same economy and same consumer market in which thousands of retailers and brands are struggling, others are thriving and growing. Why? What drives the outcome of "something went wrong" versus "things are going great"?</div>
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Their "secrets" become apparent by understanding who they are, who they serve, and how they connect with customers in a value-driven, sustainable way. It all starts at the very top.</div>
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"CEOs must create a culture where the key measure of success is the success of your customers," said Serge Saxonov, CEO of biotechnology company 10x Genomics. "To achieve that, the company must constantly seek unbiased, unadulterated, and blunt feedback from customers and prospects. That will keep the company from creating its own version of ‘marketplace reality.'"</div>
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Employees also factor into the equation. "CEOs must ensure that every employee cares passionately about the success of customers and make decisions based on ensuring that customers succeed," Saxonov told me. "This will drive the sustainable success and growth of the company."</div>
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Here's a look at three success traits traits driving success at a trio of top brands.</div>
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<strong>Success Factor #1: Meet A Clearly Defined Need</strong><br />
According to the <strong><a href="https://www.accenture.com/t20170321T032507__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/Accenture/next-gen-4/tech-vision-2017/pdf/Accenture-TV17-Full.pdf?la=en" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Accenture study "Technology Trends 2017"</a></strong> (PDF), relationships are no longer about keeping customers happy as the company guides them toward a goal. Relationships will be about walking with people on a path they define.</div>
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In the very competitive fitness sector, <strong><a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/profiles-strategies/2017/02/orangetheory-fitness-founder-talks-franchising.html?page=all" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Orangetheory Fitness has received the workout world's attention</a></strong> with 600 studios across the country and $450 million in revenue. To differentiate itself from competitors, Orangetheory Fitness aimed to satisfy the needs of high-tech, fitness-oriented consumers with a technology-driven solution that participants monitor to pinpoint the effectiveness of each workout.</div>
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<strong><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/06/how-a-studio-called-orangetheory-is-the-new-green-in-high-tech-fitness.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">"Technology enables the consumer to ... work out better.</a></strong> ... I think the lack of technology made it very hard for people to hit their fitness goals," said CEO David Long.</div>
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Findings from 16,000-plus hours of <strong><a href="http://erdm.com/solutions.php#.WUCjphPytoQ" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">VoC research</a></strong> interviews conducted by our firm, ERDM, make it evident that success depends, in large measure, on understanding what it takes to earn the customer relationship. Consider these representative quotes from the research:</div>
<ul>
<li>
"It's not just what we buy from you; it is the total experience that determines whether we buy from you again ... or go to the many other choices in your category."</li>
<li>"If you want to keep me as a customer, I expect what you market to me to reflect my individual interests and preferences."</li>
</ul>
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<strong>Success Factor #2: Abandon The Ego Of ‘That's How We Do It'</strong><br />
According to John Rand, senior vice president of retail insights for Kantar Retail, "As a <strong><a href="https://nrf.com/resources/annual-retailer-lists/hot-100-retailers" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">response to the many obvious challenges</a></strong> to the traditional business ... seek to differentiate, adopt new practices, and reconsider the brand and shopper focus."</div>
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A few years ago, Lego's CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp told colleagues, "<strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/04/how-lego-clicked-the-super-brand-that-reinvented-itself" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">We are on a burning platform</a></strong> ... [and] likely won't survive." Recently, however, the company announced the highest revenues in its 85-year history. What made the difference? Perhaps Julia Goldin, Lego's chief marketing officer, has the answer: "Every year [we] recruit every child again and <strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/04/how-lego-clicked-the-super-brand-that-reinvented-itself" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">make the brand exciting for them</a></strong>."</div>
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Two key strategies that keep Lego ahead of the game are:</div>
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<li>
It cut its losses and outsourced ventures that were outside of its core expertise: According to Simon Cotterrell of analytics firm Interbrand, what has made Lego successful comes from knowing what it is good at. "<strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/04/how-lego-clicked-the-super-brand-that-reinvented-itself" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">That's a very brave thing to do</a></strong>, and it's where a lot of companies go wrong," he said. "They don't understand that sometimes it's better to let go than to hang on."</li>
<li>The company found new ways to listen to its customers: Anne Flemmert Jensen, senior director of Lego's Global Insights group, noted, "My team spends all our time travelling around the world, talking to kids and their families, and participating in their daily lives." The company also rolled out <strong><a href="https://www.lego.com/en-us/life" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Lego Life</a></strong>, a social network for kids.</li>
</ul>
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<strong>Success Factor #3: Don't Just Market--Understand And Communicate</strong> <br />
Urban Outfitters has experienced an 146% increase in revenue and 75% gain in conversions through the use of new, personalized marketing opportunities and innovative use of tools, such as very targeted location data.</div>
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"<strong><a href="http://www.marketingdive.com/news/how-urban-outfitters-leveraged-location-marketing-for-a-75-conversion-gain/436943/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Our goal is to provide better experiences</a></strong> for our audience in this competitive landscape," said Andrew Rauch, senior director of global digital marketing at Urban Outfitters. Additionally, Trish Donnelly, CEO of Urban Outfitters Group, commented on the brand's use of social to connect: "This channel has given us yet another relevant way to connect with our customers and engage in two-way conversations."</div>
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In summary, a combination of clarity of vision and focus, agility, and strategies that stress connections and relationships that evolve over time with customers is what separates companies that still thrive in a landscape of tough times versus those that don't. This final quote from the VoC research says it all: "The brands that earn my loyalty are those that make the effort to understand me and help me over time. The brands that sell and disappear haven't done anything to earn my loyalty and dollars."<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-8864547994125680902017-07-24T14:08:00.000-04:002017-07-24T14:08:02.341-04:00Does Your Brand Experience Align with Customers’ Voices? Elizabeth Arden Shows How<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/does-your-brand-experience-align-with-customers-voices-elizabeth-arden-shows-how/"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
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Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/does-your-brand-experience-align-with-customers-voices-elizabeth-arden-shows-how/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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“Our leaders quickly realized that before we could use digital to transform our customers and the world, we needed to transform ourselves.” This according to General Electric Co. CMO, Linda Boff, “Over the last few years the company changed its way of doing business at every level. And, per Boff, “When we apply these technologies in our teams and facilities, our customers and markets can reach their potential.”</div>
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“Listening” has been the industry buzz word for years and is key to building relationships for both BtoB and BtoC businesses. And although many companies have put in place extensive systems for “listening” <em>very few are responding to what they are “hearing.”</em></div>
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<center><img align="center" border="0" height="233" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8976045_july27email.jpg" style="margin: 5px 0px 0px 5px;" width="376"></center></div>
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So, the action companies must take is to share customer listening insights across all departments involved in product development and marketing. They must ensure that the <em>actual brand experience and products align with BtoB and BtoC customer’s voices.</em></div>
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<strong>Elizabeth Arden Goes Inside to Get Insights</strong></div>
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Going beyond traditional focus groups has been a strategy for beauty company, Elizabeth Arden who looks to their “Arden Insiders,” insight community of more than 4,000 women, to inform the direction of innovation and critical product and design decisions. Utilizing consumer opinions and feedback, the company can make educated decisions to stay aligned with consumer sentiment.</div>
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<strong><a href="https://www.visioncritical.com/elizabeth-arden-customer-intelligence-smarter-product-innovation/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Celia Tombalakian</a></strong>, the senior director of global insights and product development commented on their new customer-insight driven marketing, “…[The] Customer intelligence platform allows us not only to identify our customer’s likes and dislikes…but to stay current on who she is and where she is going from a beauty point of view—typical focus groups or questionnaires just can’t capture this.”</div>
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The company uses this insight group to test copy, print ad concepts, promotional offerings, product claims, model photography, and branding and new product ideas. The feedback drives decisions on all aspects of creative and design. Per Tombalakian, “We launched our community as a one-year pilot and within the six months we were discussing plans for geographic expansion. The ROI was very apparent to all stakeholders.”</div>
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The company uses real time feedback on initiatives they are working on through their Arden Insiders insight community customer intelligence platform. Noted Tombalakian, “Arden Insiders transformed how we are making many decisions…this is critical because they can weave [the customer] point of view through all stages of product or program development rather than just key junctions.”</div>
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The company also implemented a dedicated market research and customer insight department to assure that their customers’ voice is incorporated in all decisions. Tombalakian summed up the investment payoff, “We launched our community as a one-year pilot and within the six months we were discussing …expansion. The ROI was very apparent to all stakeholders.”</div>
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<strong>Use Insights to Connect</strong></div>
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Findings from 15,000+ hours of <strong><a href="http://erdm.com/solutions.php#.WMTprpMrKLI" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">VoC research</a></strong> interviews indicate that customers want deeper engagement<em> throughout their brand lifecycle</em>. This means that marketers should utilize Voice of Customer (VoC) insights from your customers and prospects to improve their experience during all these key points: acquisition, activation, loyalty—and critically, deepening the relationship.</div>
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Here are a few quotes from recent VoC research to consider as you develop your strategies:</div>
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<em>“When a supplier proactively works to understand my needs, we can develop a personal connection. That forms the basis of a long-term relationship that will remain when we are approached by their competitors or have the occasional problem with their solution.”</em></div>
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<em>“I appreciate you asking for feedback and clearly listening and taking action based on what we are saying. Very few companies ask for our opinions regarding how they can get better and what I would like to see them do. That’s cool. It means you are trying to get bigger and better.”</em></div>
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It’s not just BtoC companies that are seeing results from customer listening, BtoB brands such as GE have devised campaigns to target niche audiences to gain insights on sentiment. <strong><a href="https://www.talkwalker.com/blog/6-social-media-campaigns-shape-your-2017-marketing-strategy" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">GE’s #CC9900 GEEKS GO campaign</a></strong> connected with coders in a challenge environment on social media that used a game-style conversation to spark interactions.</div>
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<strong>Make Listening an Everyday Marketing Practice</strong></div>
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In a research report by Wharton, <em>Listening to the Online ‘Voice of the Customer’</em>, the following points were cited:</div>
<ul>
<li>Large online customer discussions boards carry the potential to revolutionize the world of market research, offering businesses a massive and free data base of what customers think about their products.</li>
<li>Traditional surveys and focus groups are flawed because the process of identifying the specific product attributes in a customer survey [are] typically guided by company marketing managers, [and] often ignore issues being raised by customers. In addition, focus groups might not always reach the most passionate and engaged customers who are voluntarily discussing products and brands on the Internet.</li>
<li>[There are] “unseen attributes of a product” – that is, issues that buyers are discussing which executives back at the headquarters are not even aware of.</li>
</ul>
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The takeaway for brands is that actual customer sentiment needs to be a prime focus and that <em>listening (rather than assuming or modeling)</em> must become a regular part of everyday marketing practices.<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-77314262314904555702017-07-10T09:28:00.000-04:002017-07-10T09:28:02.377-04:00Head Of Neiman Marcus' iLab Answers 4 Questions For Marketing Innovators<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/5/26/head-of-the-neiman-marcus-innovation-lab-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html#gs.0VDYXWw"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 15px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/5/26/head-of-the-neiman-marcus-innovation-lab-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html#gs.0VDYXWw">CMO.com</a></td></tr>
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<img align="right" border="0" height="190" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8931560_scottemmons1.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 5px 0px 0px 5px;" width="140" /><strong>Scott Emmons is focused on innovation for the Neiman Marcus Group (NMG), where he is responsible for evaluating, designing, testing, and piloting cutting-edge technologies and applications for luxury retail. Emmons founded and built the Neiman Marcus Innovation Lab (iLab) in 2012, which has grown to become the company’s hub for innovation projects and has earned a world-class reputation for retail innovation. Recent innovation projects include Memory Makeover, connected fitting room technology, intelligent mobile phone charging stations, and voice-controlled sales associate communicators. </strong></div>
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Emmons recently participated in our "<strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">4 Questions for Marketing Innovators</a></strong>" series.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
I would start by saying I am not a marketer. However, after being given the opportunity to help create the Neiman Marcus Innovation Lab, it didn’t take long to figure out that marketing was going to be one of the most important partners when it came time to introduce new technology into the retail customer experience. One of the biggest contributions that the Innovation Lab has made is that it has helped open doors between IT, marketing, and other areas of the business. It has also allowed for a much more collaborative relationship to evolve. The most important topic has been solving problems for the customers. It is a topic that is always top-of-mind throughout the retail organization.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
For one thing, it has allowed me to focus on the fact that we are in the luxury retail business. The most important thing everyone does at Neiman Marcus is contribute to our customer’s experience, making sure it is the best one possible. I am a retailer first and a technologist second. In IT, we have to be great at delivering information services to our business partners, but our customer is first and foremost. It is possible to lose track of that in the day-to-day activities of keeping everything humming along.</div>
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“Customer first” is not just a checkmark on a review form; it is what has driven the Neiman Marcus brand for 110 years and is what will take us through the next 100 years. I believe the iLab has played a role in helping us maintain that customer focus in this time of constant change. By making experimentation with new customer-facing technology available and applying it in ways that make the customer experience better, I believe our innovation program has helped the IT organization evolve from order takers to business partners that are part of the ideation and innovation process. That, in turns, means we can better position resources to support initiatives and to be able to say yes a lot more often when asked to support new capabilities. The innovation program is allowing Neiman Marcus to be first to leverage the latest and greatest technology and help drive our reputation as an innovative retail technology leader. </div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">3. How can this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
This translates into a more agile organization that can build and deliver new capabilities for our customers at a much faster pace. Given the ever-increasing speed that change and new technology is being introduced, it is only natural that the business has had to adapt to meet this challenge. Removing the internal silos allows us to be better and faster at delivering a cohesive and compelling experience to our customers. It allows us to bring the right resources to the never-ending circle of evaluating, experimenting, learning, and refining how we deliver value to our customers. The iLab can quickly deliver technology that enables new surprise-and-delight moments to the customer. This same technology has brought new capabilities for collecting data that delivers new insights for the marketing team.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Essentially, I have been talking about blurring the lines between the technology team and marketing, as this translates into combining skill sets. Bringing marketers together with technologists and combining people that know how to communicate and resonate with the customer can effectively identify, integrate, and implement cutting-edge technology to support the efforts. It is a powerful combination.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">Bonus Question: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
I love to travel abroad with my wife and daughter. It is important to see and experience different cultures and perspectives. This also comes in pretty handy for my innovation work!</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">For additional Marketing Innovator stories, <a href="http://erdm.com/blog.php#.Vlm0CcZViko" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">click here</a>.</b> </div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-37653636595293518812017-06-12T10:37:00.003-04:002017-06-12T10:37:41.943-04:00How You Should Engage at These 7 Points in the Customer Lifecycle<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/how-you-should-engage-at-these-7-points-in-the-customer-lifecycle/"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/how-you-should-engage-at-these-7-points-in-the-customer-lifecycle/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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Here’s how <strong><a href="http://wwd.com/business-news/retail/abercrombie-fitch-ceo-giving-consumers-what-they-want-q4-fran-horowitz-bonadies-social-media-hollister-instagram-10829331/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Fran Horowitz-Bonadies</a></strong>, chief executive officer, Abercrombie brand/Hollister & Co. describes consumer communication in 2017: </div>
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<strong>"For the past year, we spoke to one-and-a-half million consumers on what they are looking for in their shopping experience… There’s been almost a 180-degree turn on making sure we keep the customer at the center of everything we do. It’s been [our] most important singular focus…"</strong></div>
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<img align="center" border="0" height="233" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8849482_june15email.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 5px 0px 0px 5px;" width="376" /></div>
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But, it’s not only about keeping customers at the center of your communication and engagement strategies. Research findings from thousands of hours of VoC research conducted by our firm, <strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/solutions.php" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">ERDM</a></strong>, indicate that customers want unprecedented levels of personalization at <em>7 very specific points in their lifecycle with a brand</em>. Think about how savvy customers are to identify the following points where they want brands to engage;</div>
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• Purchase<br />
• Onboarding<br />
• Reach out when you see Decreasing Engagement<br />
• A Poor Experience<br />
• Surprise & Delight / Thank You<br />
• <em>Value Added</em> Cross Selling<br />
• <em>Value Added</em> Repeat Sales. </div>
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However, to deepen relationships at these key points, brands must shift to truly relevant and value-driven communications. Per the research, traditional <em>transaction / persona</em> / implicit data based communications are not viewed as relevant.</div>
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Using the 7 VoC research-based lifecycle points, here are ways that marketers can add value to communications.</div>
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<strong>New Purchases and Onboarding—You Need to Become Part of the Consumers’ Lifestyle</strong></div>
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Bacardi Limited Chief Marketing Officer <strong><a href="http://www.campaignlive.com/article/cmo-mauricio-vergara-making-bacardi-relevant-even-ball-drops/1420106" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Mauricio Vergara</a></strong> recently noted:</div>
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"We need to get our brands back into culture, so we’re moving away from a traditional marketing model of talking to consumers to really being part of their lifestyle…If we are true to that philosophy of being part of their lifestyle, a brand that they actually relate to in their day-to-day life, we cannot just be present in the high-selling moments… It’s been a learning process…but we’re definitely seeing the payback." </div>
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<strong>When You See Decreasing Engagement/Poor Experiences – You Need to Understand How to Win Back Trust</strong></div>
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V. Kumar, a marketing professor at Georgia State University outlined in a <strong><a href="https://hbr.org/2016/03/winning-back-lost-customers" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Harvard Business Review</a></strong> article, the key factors marketers need to keep in mind when attempting to win back lost consumers, "Too many companies go after whoever they’ve lost, throwing all these offers at them, hoping something will work," Instead what he recommends is fully understanding which group of lost consumers will yield the best bet to come back and not depart again, then crafting an offer or message that is compelling to that segment. </div>
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Here is what the study advises: "firms will be more efficient if they focus on people whose prior behavior suggests a predisposition to return. The researchers found that customers who have referred others, who have never complained, or who have had complaints that were satisfactorily resolved are the best bets. Reasons for leaving are also predictive: Customers who canceled because of price are more likely to come back than those who left because of poor service, and people who cited both reasons for quitting are the least likely of all to return."</div>
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<strong>For Cross Selling/Thank You/Repeat Sales – Use Value Added and Emotional Engagement to Strengthen Connections</strong> </div>
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Recently, Yeti — a manufacturer of coolers used primarily for outdoor and camping pursuits — decided to open their first retail location. But, rather than building a transaction based store, the brand decided they wanted an experiential, emotional, connection-building brand immersion. <strong><a href="https://www.fastcocreate.com/3068308/instead-of-a-retail-flagship-store-yeti-decided-to-build-a-brand-museum-heres-why" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">The brand noted</a></strong>, the goal was less to "find a way to sell a lot of coolers to people who come inside and more to create a permanent brand activation that allows people to interact with Yeti in ways that they’ll hopefully take with them in the future."</div>
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Corey Maynard, Yeti’s Vice President of Marketing explains "It’s meant to be much more of an immersive Yeti experience…than it is to be a transactional space… Yes, we’re selling coolers…but it was much more important to us that people could have fun with the Yeti brand and see it brought to life …than just be a place that’s driven by transaction." <strong><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yeti-partners-mood-media-shape-140000632.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Tony Kaplan</a></strong>, YETI Director of Consumer Experience "YETI’s flagship is not a typical retail store… [it is an] authentic experience that allows our customers to interact with the YETI brand in a whole new way." </div>
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In summary, think about the 7 stages in the lifecycle which emerged from the research and see how many opportunities exist for you to deepen your relationships with customers!<br />
<br /></div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-13606669892249580492017-05-30T12:50:00.000-04:002017-06-01T13:52:24.393-04:00Don’t Be Shy: Opt-in Customer Data is Essential for CX Success<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/5/10/dont-be-shy-explicit-customer-data-essential-for-cx-success.html"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/5/10/dont-be-shy-explicit-customer-data-essential-for-cx-success.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<strong>A full 96% of digital marketers say </strong><a href="http://www.evergage.com/resources/ebooks/trends-in-personalization-survey-report/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">personalization advances customer relationships</a><strong>, according to a new study from Evergage and Researchscape International. Yet more than 55% say the industry isn’t getting personalization right. And nearly 50% give their company’s personalization efforts a “C” grade or below.</strong></div>
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<img align="center" border="0" height="300" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8808468_jun01uber.png" style="display: block; margin: 0px;" width="500" /></div>
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So how do CMOs raise the bar?</div>
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To develop an effective personalization strategy, CMOs need to start with a solid foundation of traditional customer data. But that is not enough. The essential next step is building deeper levels of human data gained via preferences and attitudes. </div>
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Some brands already understand that.</div>
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“To achieve truly meaningful personalization and CX, we needed more than traditional purchase history and overlays of behavioral/inferred data. We needed to get customers to opt-in and tell us their individual preferences,” said Scott Emmons, head of the Neiman Marcus Innovation Lab. “But to earn that deeper level of information, we had to offer something meaningful. Our <strong><a href="https://www.innovativeretailtechnologies.com/doc/neiman-marcus-introduces-memory-mirrors-at-cosmetics-counters-0001" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Memory Makeover smart mirrors</a></strong> are a high-value way for customers to share their individual preferences regarding cosmetic products. We make it clear that this information will be used to serve them in the stores and as part of ongoing email communications to reorder products or learn about new products that are uniquely relevant to them.”</div>
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<strong>Why Traditional Data Approaches No Longer Work</strong><br />
Findings from over 16,000 hours of Voice of Customer research conducted by our firm indicate that traditional customer experience, personalization, and <strong><a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/1/16/why-personas-dont-work-and-what-innovators-are-doing-differently.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">personas are no longer effective</a></strong>. That’s because the B2B and B2C decision-making journey is neither linear nor simplistic, and customers are complex humans, not cohorts.</div>
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However, marketers must realize that they are not entitled to deep customer information. They have to earn it. A reciprocity of value is required, where customers opt in to provide deep preference data in exchange for smart, useful personalization.</div>
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But here’s the caveat: This data must be explicit data, meaning it is self-profiled preference information delivered via a site’s preference center or through dialogue boxes. Explicit data indicates deeper or longer-term preferences versus traditional implicit data, such as data-mined information or short-term consumer interests or needs.</div>
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“Too often, personalization relies on statistical inferences from a customer’s purchase and browsing history. This will likely be subject to error and spurious correlations, one reason why many customers are unimpressed with today’s attempts at personalization,” said Wayne Duan, director of merchandising and merchandising operations at Walgreens Digital Commerce. “The retailers who will win are those that successfully collect explicit customer input and harness those direct and intentional actions to improve the customer experience.”</div>
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Duan cited as an example <strong><a href="https://www.walgreens.com/balancerewards/beauty.jsp" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Walgreens’ Beauty Enthusiast program</a></strong>, which asks customers their preferences, such as makeup style and skin needs. “We use this clearly expressed data to personalize the customer offering and experience within our beauty category,” he said.</div>
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Kevin Lindsay, director of product marketing at Adobe, built onto that with a point about context. “Historical customer data, such as purchases, is important but not predictive,” he said. “It must be enriched with contextual information to drive truly relevant personalization and CX. Contextual information provides the uniquely rich opportunity to understand the human dimension and situation of customers.”</div>
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Betabrand, a crowdsourced apparel company, is another brand that understands the fundamental shift in personalization. “Betabrand has a unique ability to measure and react to every click, vote, comment, purchase, etc., on our site,” said CMO Aaron Magness. “We use this rich data to provide a personalized shopping experience that goes way beyond the old-school segmentation mindset and truly serves you what’s relevant, not what’s relevant to people like you. Having data is one thing; understanding how to act on the important data is what matters.”</div>
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And while having the technology to analyze the data is important, equally important is not solely relying on it. “Companies tend to be lazy and arrogant by trying to mass-produce marketing or solve the problems by buying the latest martech tools,” said Silver Star Brands CMO Kathy Hecht. “One cannot achieve true personalization without deep human data from your customers.”<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-72490323350806533492017-05-15T10:31:00.000-04:002017-05-15T10:31:31.500-04:00Webrooming vs. Showrooming: Are You Engaging Both Types of Shoppers?<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 400px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/webrooming-vs-showrooming-are-you-engaging-both-types-of-shoppers/"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 15px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/webrooming-vs-showrooming-are-you-engaging-both-types-of-shoppers/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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According to Forrester, “webrooming consumers will bring in $1.8 Trillion in sales in 2017.”</div>
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<img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8761088_may18blog.jpg" /></div>
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Marketers need to understand this new type of shopper. If you are not adjusting your strategies to keep pace with this new reality, you could be setting your brand up for missed opportunities. </div>
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Here’s a <strong><a href="https://www.shopify.com/retail/why-retailers-should-embrace-webrooming" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">quick overview:</a></strong> </div>
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<li>Webrooming Consumers: research products online before buying them in a physical store. (78% of consumers say they have webroomed in the past 12 months.) </li>
<li>Showrooming Consumers: visit store(s) to examine a product before buying it online. (72% of consumers say they have showroomed in the past 12 months.) </li>
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Understanding why consumers engage in these practices is critical for strategy development. Per the Forrester study, </div>
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Webroomers don’t want to pay for delivery and want instant gratification. Showroomers want to touch and feel a product prior to purchasing. </div>
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<strong>What can marketers do to engage this new shopper?</strong></div>
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In a <strong><a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/5-ways-consumers-connect-stores-mobile-shopping.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Think with Google</a></strong> report it was noted that 82% of shoppers say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store. </div>
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Beauty retailer <strong><a href="https://www.mobilestrategies360.com/2016/06/07/sephora-takes-home-m-commerce-award-irce" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Sephora</a></strong> has embraced the showrooming and webrooming concept. Mark Alexander, director of mobile product management at Sephora USA Inc. commented, “Mobile continues to be our fastest growing channel,” Alexander says. “We’re really excited about what mobile can do for online and in-store sales.” </div>
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Sephora’s mobile app offers an “in-store” mode which consumers can use while they browse to scan in a product to read online ratings and reviews and access the loyalty program to check reward points. The store can also send personalized messages and alerts to consumers with the app via Bluetooth beacon technology.</div>
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Recently, Walmart also embraced the Webrooming/Showrooming trend and responded with some innovative offerings. Understanding that <em>two of the big “asks” of today’s consumer are immediacy and free shipping</em>, the company has adjusted its online shipping policies to make it easier, cheaper and faster for consumers to get their selected merchandise. Walmart’s new <strong><a href="http://help.walmart.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1544/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNDg2MzA3MzgyL3NpZC9UR0JlMXVhbg%3D%3D" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">2-Day Shipping</a></strong> is available on popular products and applies to orders over $35. The company also offers free shop on line/pickup in store as well as free grocery shop online/pickup in store.</div>
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<strong><a href="http://news.walmart.com/2017/01/31/walmart-launches-free-two-day-shipping-on-more-than-two-million-items-no-membership-required" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Marc Lore</a></strong>, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce noted that “Two-day free shipping is the first of many moves we will be making to enhance the customer experience and accelerate growth… In today’s world of e-commerce, two-day free shipping is table stakes. It no longer makes sense to charge for it…”</div>
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And, taking things one step further, <strong><a href="http://www.homedepot.com/c/Delivery_Services" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Home Depot</a></strong> not only offers order online and pickup in store, but the company also offers to “do the heavy lifting” by letting customers order online and have it delivered from the store at their chosen delivery time and date that can be selected from a scheduling calendar.</div>
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<strong>Take the time to listen to the Voice of your Customer</strong></div>
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More so than ever before it is no longer about how brands want to sell, rather it is all about how today’s omnichannel consumer wants to shop and buy. Marketers need to meticulously watch, learn, and re-evaluate shopper behaviors so new practices and technologies can be developed in response to demands.</div>
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Understanding the ever-changing purchase journey is the first step in meeting a new type of shopping expectation. Not embracing Webrooming or Showrooming actions could jeopardize current and future relationships as consumers gravitate to brands that step up to deliver innovative purchase options.<br />
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Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-30829013316358478282017-04-24T10:59:00.000-04:002017-04-24T10:59:02.281-04:00Dia&Co Chief Answers 4 Questions For Marketing Innovators<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/3/29/diaco-chief-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/3/29/diaco-chief-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<img align="right" border="0" height="153" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8691803_nadiaboujarwah.jpeg" style="display: block; margin: 5px 0px 0px 5px;" width="140" /><strong>Nadia Boujarwah is the co-founder and CEO of Dia&Co, an in-home shopping experience for women who wear sizes 14 and up. A lifelong fashionista, Boujarwah founded the company on the belief that style can act as a catalyst for self-love. Prior, she worked as an investment banker at Perella Weinberg Partners, and most recently served as COO and CFO of New York-based jewelry brand Frieda and Nellie.</strong></div>
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Also of note, Boujarwah was the first Kuwaiti woman to graduate from Harvard Business School; she also holds a BSc in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.</div>
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Boujarwah recently participated in our "<strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">4 Questions for Marketing Innovators</a></strong>" series.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
I’m obsessed with the importance of a strong brand promise. Before setting any marketing strategy, you must have a crystal-clear articulation of your commitment to the customer—and I highly recommend putting it in writing. At Dia&Co, ours is: “We promise to understand her better than anyone else will. We put her first, always.”</div>
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By codifying your commitment, you not only clarify the most foundational elements of your strategy for yourself, you also clarify it for your team. Put your brand promise at the end of every internal email. Put it on a sticky note on your laptop. Put it on your office walls. At the end of the day, upholding the brand promise is each employee’s most important job responsibility, and teams become much more aligned when that’s made explicitly clear. </div>
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Moreover, in my experience, teams also become more invested when they know that they’re part of a collective promise to the customer. It creates a powerful bond and a true sense of accountability. It becomes a part of the culture. “Earn the trust you are given” is one of our core values at Dia&Co—and it’s one that was suggested by our employees.</div>
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This core value has also become an intrinsic part of our hiring process. The one non-negotiable trait that all prospective employees must have is a commitment to our customer. We screen for that qualification explicitly; it’s built into our interview rubrics. Protecting and nurturing that internal culture is an imperative.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
Our goal is to be the beloved brand in the lives of our customers. In a world with more and more options, only a singular focus on her makes this possible.</div>
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You earn loyalty from a customer the same way you earn loyalty from a friend: by building trust. To build trust with your customer, you must understand her better than anyone else will, you must clearly communicate the value that you will bring to her, and you must consistently exceed her expectations. </div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">3. How can this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
The process of defining your brand promise requires you to go beyond the data and to connect with your customer on a human level. I believe it’s critical for any B2C business to stay focused on the human need they serve. What sometimes gets lost in personalization is the person. It’s important to remember your customers are humans, driven by deep needs and desires, as we all are. To create successful personas, you need more than observations of behaviors. Your personas should be supported in data, yes, but more importantly, they should be rooted in the psychographics of your customer and the emotional benefit you are providing.</div>
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It may sound obvious, but it’s worth stating: To connect with your customers on a human level, you have to actually meet them. One way our team committed to this was by embarking on a six-city listening tour, where we traveled around the country to meet our customers and hear what they wanted from us, what was providing value, and where they thought we could improve. Listening is at the core of our business and the secret to providing unparalleled service. When a brand takes the time to understand you and treat you like a cherished friend, it creates a meaningful and positive connection.</div>
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This approach acknowledges that the most powerful customer experiences are rarely functional. The products we love most are products that have a real emotional benefit that we come to depend on.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Focus begets success. Ultimately, the power of knowing your customer deeply and putting a fine point on the value you are committed to delivering is twofold: It allows you to make better decisions, and it allows you to move more quickly. </div>
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We all make dozens of judgment calls a day. Take some of the guesswork out of success by doing the most valuable work with your customer up front.</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">Bonus Question: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
In my free time, I love catching a spin class and cooking. My current dish of choice is a cauliflower rice risotto. It’s so delicious you won’t miss the real stuff!</div>
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<b style="color: #004890;">For additional Marketing Innovator stories, <a href="http://erdm.com/blog.php#.Vlm0CcZViko" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">click here</a>.</b> </div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-57926076879103901112017-04-03T08:56:00.000-04:002017-04-03T08:56:00.924-04:00Stop (ONLY) Marketing To Millennials<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/stop-only-marketing-to-millennials/"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/stop-only-marketing-to-millennials/">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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<strong>“There’s both ageism in our culture and ageism in our profession of marketing. But some of it’s not even malicious ageism. Some of it is just, ‘I want my brand to feel young and modern and youthful, and the only way to do that is to be targeting it to the young and modern and youthful.’ But that’s simplistic thinking.” This according to <a href="https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/baby-boomer-women-remain-invisible-to-marketers.aspx" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Denise Fedewa</a>, Executive Vice President/Strategy Director, Leo Burnett.”</strong></div>
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Many marketers have invested significant portions of their budget chasing the millennial consumer. But, here’s a fact that might make some rethink that strategy. According to <strong><a href="http://www.datamentors.com/blog/insurance-generations-marketing-boomers-and-millennials" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">DataMentors</a></strong>, while Millennials do make up the largest generation today (86 Million), Baby Boomers still take second place (77 Million.)</div>
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If marketers are putting all their chips on Millennials, they could be in for a surprising loss when they realize just how much they are leaving on the table by excluding other demographic groups in their marketing mix and messaging.</div>
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But marketers are just not marketing to this lucrative “older” consumer: “[Baby Boomers] can sustain and be a strong driver of the consumer economy over the next five to ten years especially the upper-income households. They have the money to spend. It’s a different mindset …now saying, I’ve got to spend it while I’m here,” says <strong><a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/09/13/where-baby-boomers-spend-their-money-and-how-to-profit-from-it.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Doug Hermanson</a></strong>, principal economist at Kantar Retail.</div>
<ul>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21696539-older-consumers-will-reshape-business-landscape-grey-market" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">The Boston Consulting Group</a></strong> (BCG) calculates that less than 15% of firms have developed a business strategy focused on the elderly.</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21696539-older-consumers-will-reshape-business-landscape-grey-market" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">The Economist Intelligence Unit</a></strong> found that only 31% of firms took increased longevity into account when making plans for sales and marketing.</li>
<li>A report by the <strong><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21696539-older-consumers-will-reshape-business-landscape-grey-market" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">McKinsey Global Institute</a></strong> points out that older consumers are one of the few engines of growth in an otherwise sluggish global economy.</li>
<li>According to <strong><a href="https://www.dmn3.com/dmn3-blog/should-you-market-to-baby-boomers-on-social-media" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">DMN3</a></strong>, online research shows an overwhelming 82.3% of Boomers belong to at least once social networking site and over half of Boomers who use social networking sites will visit a company website or continue their search on a search engine as a result of seeing something on social media</li>
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According to <strong><a href="http://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/millennial-boomer-spending" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Morgan Stanley</a></strong>, “As consumers age, their spending increases, with the U.S. consumer’s peak earnings, spending, and investing years between ages 35 and 55. Boomer generation will still maintain enormous spending muscle. In the next two decades, spending by Americans over 50 is projected to increase by 58%, whereas spending by Americans 25-50 will grow by 24%…”</div>
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In learnings from 15,000+ hours of <strong><a href="http://erdm.com/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">VoC research</a></strong> interviews, consumers have told us again and again that they want needs-based personalization that connects with them at a human and genuine level. To develop relationships with all consumers, marketers need to devise personalization that drives engagement by increasing conversion rates and return visits because the consumer feels that the brand understands them. But unfortunately for many age brackets, this is not the case.</div>
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“Most of the female baby boomers feel as if marketers don’t really understand them, and they’re not making a really strong, concerted effort to speak to them as an individual,” says <strong><a href="https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/baby-boomer-women-remain-invisible-to-marketers.aspx" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Dave Austin</a></strong>, managing director of marketing agency Influent50 “There’s this misnomer that boomers are not… digital-savvy, which is just not true. They’re one of the first generations to use technology in every portion of their life.”</div>
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However, a savvy few companies have tapped into the digital-loving Baby Boomer market, such as <strong><a href="https://www.stitch.net/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Stitch</a></strong>, an online dating, activity and travel community for those over 50. According to founder, <strong><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/11/more-start-ups-are-targeting-baby-boomers.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Marcie Rogo</a></strong>, “[Boomers are] brand loyal. This is what I love about them. They like the real talk. If they trust you as a brand, they will stay with you. They’re not going to hop around like millennials.”</div>
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L’Oreal has recently announced that it has added 69 year old actress, <strong><a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/01/09/loreal-adds-over-65-spokesmodel-roster-susan-sarandon-appointment" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Susan Sarandon</a></strong>, to its roster of over 50 brand ambassadors for its beauty product line, which has made a choice to have a representative from each generation to portray their message that beauty ‘transcends age’. In their “<strong><a href="http://www.loreal-finance.com/_docs/rapport/2006/us/Markets_trends.pdf" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">senior marketing</a></strong>” the company notes that their new brand ambassadors, “embody the new kind of radiant 60-something women.”</div>
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TakeAways:</div>
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1. Millennials represent significant buying power, but they are not the only ones. When marketers put most of their marketing eggs in one demographic basket they are missing opportunities and revenue from other segments that feel the brand does not want their business.</div>
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2. Marketers must make the effort to understand the needs, actions, and buying patterns of every demographic group. </div>
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3. Marketing needs to “speak” to consumers in a voice that is both authentic and genuine. If the message is stereotypical, consumers have no reason to identify with a brand they feel does not accurately understand their needs or lifestyle.</div>
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One of the key lines from Madonna’s Billboard “Woman of the Year” acceptance speech was, “The most controversial thing I’ve done is stick around.” Marketers have fallen in love with the pursuit of a digital demographic at the exclusion of other demographic age groups. Now, the key is for marketers to see past the obvious to gain a deeper understanding that all age groups are digital—and have big buying power.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-25066195926505912762017-03-02T16:01:00.002-05:002017-03-02T16:03:33.681-05:00Your Data Is Your Strategic Firewall Against Competition<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/2/19/your-data-is-your-strategic-firewall-against-competition.html"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2017/2/19/your-data-is-your-strategic-firewall-against-competition.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<strong>“Rivals cannot unlock or simulate your data. Data is the defensible barrier—not algorithms.” These are the words of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/08/technology/data-regulators-google-facebook-monopoly.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Andrew Ng</a> of Chinese search giant Baidu in a recent New York Times article.</strong></div>
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<strong>The article also stated: “For decades, dominance in the technology industry was based on software or hardware. Now it is increasingly based on who owns the best data.”</strong></div>
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<strong>Data Is A Competitive Advantage—If Used To Improve Customer Experience</strong><br />
Data is the competitive differentiator in terms of preference-driven customer experience and personalization. It is also a strategic firewall against competition.</div>
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Your competition cannot duplicate or simulate your data. But data sitting idly in your servers or used only for sales messaging will not catapult your company to the next level. It is the customer insights in your data that are your competitive uniqueness. Success will be based not only on the quality of data, but its creative utilization.</div>
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In an <a href="http://www.the-digital-insurer.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/396-transforming-big-data-analytics.pdf" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Infosys whitepaper</a>, “Transforming Big Data Analytics into a Competitive Advantage for Insurers,” it was noted: “Having access to rich sources of data and using that data to enable effective decision-making are two separate aspects.”</div>
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Per <a href="http://erdm.com/solutions.php#.WIUufJMrJWM" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">VoC research</a> conducted by our firm, today’s personalization is broken. It relies on implicit data, i.e., web browsing behavior, data mined from social media, data modeling, and purchase-based behaviors. These are not providing the necessary depth of information to drive relevant communications and offers. As a result, most attempts at personalization simply do not drive the expected increases in response. </div>
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Marketers must now make a profound shift and move to human data, which is based on explicit, self-profiled, opt-in preference data. Human data personalization is unique in that it lends itself to segmentation based on self-described personality types, attitudes, and life stages. Human data-based personalization is consistently driving double-digit response rates.</div>
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<strong>New Data Collaboration Partnerships Are Essential</strong><br />
The acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft was an innovative strategic data-based move. With the acquisition, Microsoft can now leverage the approximately 467 million names in LinkedIn’s database to market its products, such as Office 365. According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/08/technology/data-regulators-google-facebook-monopoly.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Bill Phillips</a>, vice president business applications at Microsoft, the LinkedIn database along with other sources “will power a set of insights that we think is unprecedented.”</div>
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Realizing the importance of the data it has mined, Progressive Insurance joined forces with European insurance company The Generali Group to enter into a research and development collaboration to improve their individual data analytics capabilities.</div>
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“Collaborating internationally with Generali allows us to further expand and deepen our customer insights,“ said <a href="http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/09/07/425641.htm" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Pat Callahan</a>, personal lines president of Progressive Insurance. And Valter Trevisani, chief insurance officer of Generali, said: “The collaboration with Progressive allows Generali to accelerate the execution of the strategy in regards to connected insurance and advanced analytics.”</div>
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<strong>Advanced Human Data: The Ultimate Tool For Preference And Customization</strong><br />
In a <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/making-data-analytics-work-for-you-instead-of-the-other-way-around" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">McKinsey & Company</a> report, the following points were noted:</div>
<ul>
<li>“Advanced data analytics is a means to an end. It’s a discriminating tool to identify, and then implement, a value-driving answer. And you’re much likelier to land on a meaningful [answer] if you’re clear on the purpose of your data.”</li>
<li>“The impact of big data analytics is often manifested by ... incrementally small improvements. If an organization can atomize a single process into its smallest parts and implement advances where possible, the payoffs can be profound.”</li>
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There is a consumer expectation gap between what consumers want delivered and what is actually being presented to them. In findings from our own VoC research, we have identified the following requirements:</div>
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<li>Marketers must rethink data strategies to provide “smart” personalization that goes past short-term implicit data to long-term, relationship-building human data.</li>
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Every department and channel must respect customer preferences.</li>
<li>B2B and B2C customers are willing to provide trusted brands with deep business and personal information in exchange for more personalized offers and communications.</li>
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Sportswear manufacturer <a href="http://www.incite-group.com/data-and-insights/adidass-strategy-2020-personalization-relationships-and-restructured-data" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Adidas</a> has committed to improving customer relationships by merging previously siloed data to enable the company to move away from atomistic bits of data to an interconnected 360-degree approach. Per senior project manager Sokratis Kartelias, the data overhaul uses “shared metadata service to deliver the most compelling, relevant, and relatable content to the right consumers. The company plans to do this by processing their consumers’ responses database to continually update personalization to be as relevant as possible.”</div>
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For years, data was something collected and used primarily for outbound sales. Recently, marketers are expanding the vast possibilities that human data provides for customer insights, product development, new channels of engagement, deep-level personalization, and so much more. This high-value data will help propel your business to the next level and serve as a formidable firewall against competition.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-25880457540427010992017-02-20T06:00:00.000-05:002017-02-20T06:00:19.612-05:00TIAA CMO Connie Weaver Answers 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8460423_feb23weaver.jpg" width="140" height="179" border="0" style="display:block; margin:5px 0px 0px 5px" align="right" /><strong>Connie Weaver is an expert in brand transformation, customer analytics, and digital strategy. Her approach combines the “art and science” of branding by establishing data and measurement as a key complement to on-going innovation. Currently the Chief Marketing Officer for investment giant TIAA, she has led marketing efforts for a range of Fortune 100 companies, start-ups, and non-profit organizations.</strong></div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Connie recently participated in our "<strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">4 Questions for Marketing Innovators</a></strong>" series.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
Breaking down the barriers to innovation, no question. It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it’s too difficult to innovate in a complex environment. This is the kind of shackled thinking that drives innovators crazy! Not only is this constrained confidence bad for you as a leader, it’s terrible for your organization. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Look at TIAA. Look at financial services. We are a nearly 100-year-old company in an industry loaded with many more guardrails than you’ll find elsewhere. FINRA, banking regulations, insurance compliance standards – the list goes on. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Yet we were able to innovate beyond even our own expectations throughout all phases of our transformation. We placed the customer at the center of every decision and asked, “How does our brand make the customer feel? How can we enhance that emotional connection?” We dramatically streamlined our website and online experience. Our marketing function collaborated with our legal and compliance groups to make sure our new “radically simple” language still fit within industry regulations. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">And yes, there were barriers along every step. One of the keys to overcoming the pain points is to remember that you can innovate anywhere, anytime. <em>If you make the customer a priority and passionately stand behind your mission, there is always a path.</em> Sure, you may need to test and learn, walk before you run. We all do. But stay resolute in your efforts to be innovative and you will move the needle. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
The results that you can drive through innovation make all of the effort worth it. Since rebranding TIAA, we have seen major improvements not only in awareness of our brand, but deeper understanding of what our brand stands for and how it can support the customer’s needs. We’ve also seen <em>great leaps in online traffic and doubled the time visitors spend on our site.</em></div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">These are major wins. And they have all occurred because of our commitment to <em>innovate with the customer in mind.</em> We continue to meet customers where they are in their financial journeys and provide them with the tools they need to reach major milestones. If we hadn’t decided to set off on this quest for innovation and transformation, we could possibly be falling behind our customers and what they need from us. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">3. How can this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
The experiences we are fostering for our customers are always top of mind for us. And that comes out of trust, loyalty and total transparency. We sat in the living rooms of customers to talk about their financial fears and trepidations. We took our focus way “off Broadway” and traveled to cities across the country to uncover major insights.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><em>If customers feel front and center – and that you’re willing to innovate to help them and not just yourselves – then they are more likely to engage with your brand. And,</em> we can achieve our goal of making our customers feel more confident in their financial futures.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
If there is true buy-in, innovation can galvanize an organization. This TIAA transformation was not about one single person being an innovator or one single idea being innovative. This has been about driving change for our customers and getting a lot of people to help us along the way. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">From the beginning, we thought outside of the financial services box and stoked up partnerships internally. We worked hand-in-hand with sales, legal and compliance, finance, and strategic agencies. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">And this all-in engagement is what has made me the most proud. I have led many successful brand transformations in all sorts of crisis and change, but never before have I seen this type of impact in such a short period of time. Our entire organization has rallied behind our customers. <em>Ninety-six percent of our employees now understand the TIAA brand and what it represents.</em> And we are excited to continue delivering innovation for 100 more years. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">Bonus Question: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
I love working with nonprofit organizations to help them rebrand and become more customer-relevant. Making a difference matters to me and I’m lucky enough to serve on the boards of the national Make-A-Wish Foundation, Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, and the University of Connecticut Foundation. Let’s not forget roller coasters, skiing and hiking – as if my professional life isn’t exciting enough!</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">For additional Marketing Innovator stories, <a href="http://erdm.com/blog.php#.Vlm0CcZViko" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">click here</a>.</b> </div>Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-42679198053844414342017-02-06T09:00:00.000-05:002017-02-06T09:00:20.397-05:00Don't Take It Personally, But Innovators Are Done With Personas<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/1/16/why-personas-dont-work-and-what-innovators-are-doing-differently.html"><img border="0" height="46" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/1/16/why-personas-dont-work-and-what-innovators-are-doing-differently.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<strong>“The reason personas failed to achieve true personalization is that they were too simplistic to reflect the unique attributes that differentiate individual customers and prospects from the mass of other similar customers and prospects. And that is the essence of true personalization.”</strong></div>
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These sentiments belong to TIAA CMO Connie Weaver. Indeed, over the past 12 months, we’ve seen a surge in the number of companies disappointed by the lack of a significant increase in response and engagement from their traditional persona-based segmentation. Whereas personas were once a good starting point to identify “buckets” of customers, the limitations of persona-based marketing have become apparent as the consumer decision-making journey veered from its predictable linear path and increased in complexity.</div>
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“Customer expectations for personalization have changed with astonishing velocity in the past year and will continue to transform rapidly,” said Paul Andrukonis, director of channel engagement and personalization at Citi Global Cards. “To keep pace in today’s highly personalized marketplace, it’s essential to empower customers with the ability to shape their individual marketing and service experience with your brand.”</div>
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<strong>Persona Research Findings</strong><br />
A consistent finding has emerged from thousands of hours of B2B and B2C <strong><a href="http://erdm.com/index.php" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Voice of Customer</a></strong> (VoC) research our firm has conducted for brands such as Microsoft, MassMutual, Gilt, and QVC: “It is essential for marketers to establish ‘human partnerships and relationships’ post-sale. Consumer relationships require authentic and relevant communications and interactions.”</div>
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Additional thoughts from our research regarding the impact of personas gone wrong include:</div>
<ul>
<li>“When I receive generic emails, it is obvious that you do not care enough to understand my individual needs. Instead, you are trying distill my complex needs into simple generalities to make your email blast easier for you ... and useless to me!”</li>
<li>“You marketers don’t seem to understand that personalized engagement post-sale is valuable for the customer and ... it forges strong ties with your company that serve as a ‘grace account’ upon which to draw when there is the almost-certain problem or outreach from competition.”</li>
</ul>
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A Fortune CMO summed up the damage caused by traditional personas this way: “We are using new CRM technology to automate old bad behaviors ... not guided by how customers define improved CX and personalization ... so the result is irritating and brand-damaging spray and pray.” </div>
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<strong>Going Forward: Human Data-Driven Personalization</strong><br />
Traditional personas based on implicit data (web browsing behavior, data mined from social media, and purchased-based behaviors) do not provide the necessary depth of information to drive relevant communications and offers. As a result, today’s personas are not generating the expected increases in response. Marketers must now make a profound shift toward “human data,” which is based on explicit, self-profiled, opt-in preference data. Human data personalization is unique in that it lends itself to segmentation based on self-described personality types, attitudes, and life stages.</div>
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“We are shifting focus from products we want to sell to truly understanding the financial needs and uncertainties of our individual customers and how they ‘feel’ about these complex issues,” TIAA’s Weaver said. “This is a profound shift and will impact every aspect of our personalization, CX, and problem-solving for each individual customer.”</div>
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Added Citi’s Andrukonis: “You will not transform your key metrics, such as conversion rates, engagement, ROI, or anything else, until your customers see their voice reflected in where, when, and how you sell your products. Moreover, by letting customers make you smarter about how, and how frequently, you market your products, you create more opportunities to heighten engagement with your brand.”</div>
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Another brand leader, GameStop, is initiating <strong><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2016/10/12/gamestops-darin-smith-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">new strategies to gain deeper insights about who its customers are</a></strong> in order to develop more authentic and effective human data-based personalization and CX strategies.</div>
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“We recently analyzed the personas we had been using and found that the customer had changed dramatically,” said Darin Smith, senior director of PowerUp Rewards at GameStop. “We are now rethinking the real-world, human differences, versus just transactional differences, among our individual customers and formulating a plan to engage with them as individual gamers versus superficial aggregates of different gamer personas.”</div>
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Another exciting innovator is luxury design brand Shinola. “Traditional personas tell you very little because they are based on simplistic models and transactions,” said <strong><a href="http://www.cmo.com/interviews/articles/2015/7/2/the-cmocom-interview-bridget-russo-cmo-shinola.html" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">CMO Bridget Russo</a></strong>. “They cannot help understand why customers bought, what motivated them to buy, etc. Cookie-cutter persona-based marketing will not work for today’s savvy buyers.”</div>
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Dennis Kopitz, Shinola’s director of ecommerce, added: “To achieve and scale true personalization, we need to obtain deep human insights regarding who buys which category of our products, why they buy, what their needs and expectations are, and what they want next from us. This will take us to a far deeper level of understanding than traditional personas.”</div>
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<strong>Persona Takeaways</strong><br />
How can you evolve to the next level of personalization and achieve “human data-based partnerships and relationships” with customers? Here are three considerations:</div>
<ul>
<li>Traditional segmentation based on modeled “generic” personas does not differentiate individual consumer interests, lifestyles, and connection with the brand/product. Rather, it limits the ability to demonstrate why a consumer should purchase from it versus competitors.</li>
<li>Human data, based on explicit, self-profiled, opt-in preference information, drives deeper levels of understanding and is therefore the key to developing more significant relationships. </li>
<li>Poorly executed personalization is viewed as irritating by consumers and not only wastes of marketer’s time and resources, it damages brands. </li>
</ul>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-14607191091251260922017-01-23T09:00:00.000-05:002017-01-25T15:25:15.712-05:00Think Experiences — Not Channels — to Connect with Customers<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;">
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<td style="padding: 0px 0px 15px 0px;" width="110"><a href="http://customerthink.com/think-experiences-not-channels-to-connect-with-customers"><img border="0" height="47" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6663790_customerthink110.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="110" /></a></td>
<td style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 130%; padding: 0px 0px 15px 10px; text-align: left;" valign="middle">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://customerthink.com/think-experiences-not-channels-to-connect-with-customers">CustomerThink.com</a></td>
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<strong>“You can’t have your channels competing against one another … The goal is to get your organization <em>as a whole</em> to work toward overall revenue optimization, regardless of channel,” <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/omnichannel-2-0-delivering-tailored-experience-customers/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">says John Romney</a>, global practice lead of Omnichannel at NTT DATA. </strong></div>
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Marketers are talking “omnichannel” but are still stuck in fragmented silos with competing goals, metrics and compensation. Meanwhile, customers have increased their expectations of a buying journey with one integrated, cross-channel experience. <em>For 2017, it will be life threatening if marketers do not embrace and deliver simultaneous all-channel customer engagement.</em></div>
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According to the “<a href="https://www.synchronyfinancial.com/Driving%20Shopper%20Engagement%20Through%20Digital%20Technology.pdf" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Driving Shopper Engagement through Digital Technology</a>” study by Synchrony Financial, “Over half the population has researched a product, checked in at a retailer, tracked rewards points, or checked out while using a smartphone in the last three months alone.” Other key points of this study; </div>
<ul>
<li>Shoppers expect the digital experience to not only be present, but also <em>proactive and seamless</em>.</li>
<li>No longer just a tool for younger generations, the growth in smartphones has extended to everyone…. [There is] a dramatic rise in digital shopping, with almost 70% of the U.S. taking part in this now mainstream activity.</li>
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Additionally, in the <a href="https://bostonretailpartners.com/2016-pos-survey/" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">2016 POS/Customer Engagement Survey</a>, it was noted, “85% of respondents indicated that unified commerce is their top priority.” The report goes on to state, “As retailers navigate among this ‘new’ retail environment, they realize the need to not only allow, but also encourage, the transcending of channels and personalization of the customer’s shopping experience…”</div>
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Apparel brand <a href="https://nrf.com/news/the-perry-ellis-paradigm" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Perry Ellis</a> put information from this POS/Customer Engagement study into action via a cloud-based technology solution, to create a “connected store” that uses digital tools within what it calls “a retail hub.” “Our goal was to create a highly designed shop with functionality and a focus on technology incorporation,” says <a href="https://nrf.com/news/the-perry-ellis-paradigm" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Jennifer Stone Williams</a>, vice president of retail services for Perry Ellis. The high tech retail space enables shoppers to discover the brand, have a personal moment, and engage with interactive, floating mirrors embedded with proximity sensors that offer product recommendations and styling suggestions. </div>
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Additionally, the company utilized iPads to free up sales associates to engage with consumers. “These mobile devices allowed the store associate to engage the customer anywhere in the store and throughout the transaction… [It} empower[s] the store associate to provide a much higher level of service to the customer and a more consultative sale,” says <a href="http://www.starmount.com/news/perry-ellis-puts-a-360-degree-spin-on-the-customer-experience" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Mark Colbert</a>, director of retail systems at Perry Ellis International. Via the iPad, sales associates can help shoppers access product and price information, ratings and reviews, check inventory and fulfill out-of-stock orders by accessing cross-store and cross-channel data to locate and ship an item to the customer’s door or sent as a gift. </div>
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<strong>Takeaways:</strong></div>
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1. Shoppers <em>do not segment their journey into separate channels</em>, they look at their experience as a united all-inclusive venture. Therefore, marketers need to realign procedures to deliver a new type of engagement that delivers <em>simultaneous all channel integration</em>. </div>
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2. Rather than fighting the concept of “showrooming” (in which shoppers use mobile devices in store to gain product details and competitive information,) marketers need to embrace this shopper practice and develop sales associate training and procedures that provide opportunities for actionable shopper help. </div>
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3. Use of mobile technology is no longer a Millennial pursuit. Shoppers of all ages are now heavily engaged with mobile. In the “<a href="https://www.synchronyfinancial.com/Driving%20Shopper%20Engagement%20Through%20Digital%20Technology.pdf" style="color: #da4b04; text-decoration: underline;">Driving Shopper Engagement through Digital Technology</a>” study by Synchrony Financial it was noted, “The data shows that all retailers, no matter which generation they are targeting, need to embrace the growth of digital technology and its role in shoppers’ everyday lives.” </div>
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Providing a simultaneous all channel shopping experience is now mandatory to remain competitive and relevant. Marketers must keep developing new ways to innovate and deliver simultaneous all-channel customer engagement.</div>
Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6711276114499447817.post-60398853460244336142017-01-02T09:31:00.000-05:002017-01-05T10:22:38.894-05:00DMA CEO Tom Benton Answers 4 Questions For Marketing Innovators<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0">
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<td width="110" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 0px;"><a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2016/12/13/dma-ceo-tom-benton-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html"><img style="display: block; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/6638647_cmo100space110px.png" border="0" height="46" width="110"></a></td>
<td valign="middle" style="padding:0px 0px 15px 0px;text-align:left;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10px; font-weight:normal; color:#000000;line-height:130%;">Article by Ernan Roman<br />
Featured on <a href="http://www.cmo.com/opinion/articles/2016/12/13/dma-ceo-tom-benton-answers-4-questions-for-marketing-innovators.html">CMO.com</a></td>
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<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><img src="https://i.emlfiles.com/cmpimg/1/2/5/7/4/files/8318372_tombenton.jpg" width="140" height="186" border="0" style="display:block; margin:5px 0px 0px 5px" align="right" /><strong>Tom Benton is CEO of the <a href="https://thedma.org/" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">Data & Marketing Association</a> (DMA). Since becoming CEO in 2014, Benton has led a three-year transformation and rebranding of the organization (formerly the Direct Marketing Association), with an organizational and resource alignment focused on advocacy, innovation, education, and connections.</strong></div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">The rebranding comes on the eve of DMA’s 100th anniversary.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">With an extensive career across a variety of data-driven marketing environments, including time as SVP of marketing analysis for AOL, Benton is steeped in industry knowledge. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">He recently participated in our "<strong><a href="http://www.erdm.com/blog.php" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">4 Questions for Marketing Innovators</a></strong>" series.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?</b><br />
Two things: one, the rapidly increasing rate at which data isbeing generated, and, two, the rate at which disruptive technological capabilities are being developed that enable marketers to transform data into actionable insight.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">With those capabilities come tremendous responsibility that all DMA marketers take very seriously. Marketing, like most things in life, is all about relationships—relationships with a purpose beyond profit. A responsible and successful marketer believes that what he or she brings to market fundamentally improves lives.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">This fundamental marketing principle of relationships is not always understood or appreciated by all legislators and regulators—that marketers’ actions are guided by that commitment to a mutually beneficial relationship over time. Many legislators and regulators feel that the use of data and data technology is invasive and should be significantly constrained.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Yet without data-driven insight, value to consumers is diminished. And without data science, innovation is suppressed. I continue to be surprised that many executives, even rising young executives in our industry, either are unaware of or choose to ignore the importance of strong data and marketing advocacy and government relations. Without those relationships, our ability to transform data into actionable customer insight and nurture lasting relationships with our customers is at high risk.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">Several DMA members, many from major brands, are working with DMA’s attorneys on <strong><a href="https://thedma.org/accountability/ethics-and-compliance/data-standards-2-0/" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">Data Standards 2.0</a></strong>, an industrywide initiative to develop the standards that will govern the marketing industry’s accountability in this new era of data-driven marketing. Despite our community’s vigilant self-regulation efforts, our responsible use of data and innovative data technology is at risk. At any moment, with the stroke of a pen, a single state or a federal agency could suppress innovation and eliminate marketers’ ability to responsibly access, exchange, and use data and data technology. DMA is the association that stands between marketers and that real risk. </div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px">The role of data in marketing has always been present, but it is more pronounced today. Data and data technology are the strategic center of marketing—identifying needs, informing design, creativity, channels, messaging, and more. These are just a few of the reasons that DMA rebranded.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">2. Why is this so important?</b><br />
Foremost, the data and marketing community’s access to data and innovative data technology increases value to consumers. It makes consumers’ lives more efficient and more convenient. Additionally, the data and marketing community drives our economy by increasing efficiency and adding hundreds of thousands of jobs, as reported in DMA’s <strong><a href="https://thedma.org/advocacy/data-driven-marketing-institute/value-of-data/" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">"Value of Data 2015" report</a></strong>. The data that fuels marketing enables a free internet with all its resources available to consumers.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">3. How can this improve the customer experience?</b><br />
The responsible use of data enables marketers to deliver higher value and more timely and relevant information to their customers, more seamlessly across their customers’ devices. This empowers their customers to more efficiently and conveniently fulfill their needs and interests.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?</b><br />
Today’s successful data-driven marketing and technology not only benefits consumers, it funds more innovation, which, in turn, will benefit consumers in new ways. It’s a virtuous, upward spiral all based on the fact that data-driven marketers continually strive to maximize efficiency and value for their customers and prospects. To fuel this upward spiral, DMA recently launched its <strong><a href="https://thedma.org/structured-innovation/" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">Structured Innovation Program</a></strong>, where we bring together the entire marketing ecosystem of marketers, agencies, technology innovators, and data scientists to remove the barriers to innovation.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">Bonus Question: What is your favorite activity outside of work?</b><br />
It should be no surprise that, for me, it’s all about relationships. Making memories by spending quality time with my wife and two daughters, my friends, and my extended family is what I treasure most.</div>
<div style="margin:15px 5px 0px 0px"><b style="color:#004890;">For additional Marketing Innovator stories, <a href="http://erdm.com/blog.php#.Vlm0CcZViko" style="color: rgb(218, 75, 4); text-decoration: underline;">click here</a>.</b></div>Ernan Roman Direct Marketinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14313108705180159838noreply@blogger.com