HackerAgency CEO Answers 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators

Thanks for all the positive feedback regarding our recently launched 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators. Each blog features one marketing innovator who addresses 4 questions;

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
2. Why is this so important?
3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?
4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?

Please send your feedback and ideas for people you would us to interview to ernan@erdm.com

Spyro Kourtis is President/CEO of HackerAgency, a global digital/direct marketing agency with expertise across all media channels and a focus on the metrics that matter. Clients include Coca-Cola, Volkswagen, One Medical Group, Essence Healthcare, Hyatt and Microsoft. Spyro spearheaded the movement that brought the agency to the point where it synergistically uses and optimizes all digital and traditional media to achieve superior ROI for its clients. When not at work, Spyro is involved with the local community, including Family Law CASA and Gilda's Club.

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
I want to achieve a more holistic understanding of how marketing communications drive ROI.

2. Why is this so important?
Many marketers are still looking at ROI in linear terms: send mail, respond by phone, measure sales, etc.. But with the technologies at our – and consumers – disposal, that linear model fails to account for the impact of other touch points.

Until recently, many interactions were not visible to the marketer, they were conversations between two people with no opportunity to track, guide, inform or influence. Now, that reality has changed significantly. With the growth of social and explosion of mobile, many of these interactions are now visible to marketers, so it is easier to guide and help the consumer.

Is this immersive path more effective? Yes. But it's also, admittedly, more challenging to measure.

3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?

They'll receive more timely and relevant communications, more one-to-one conversations with a broader audience. We can better inform them based on their specific needs and situation – it becomes as much helping as it is selling. A great example of this power is how we can politely present the Volkswagen consumer in China a 4-door vehicle option when they select that they have a baby. It's done in an informative way, offering relevant, tailored options that will improve the customer's experience with the brand.

I think of personalized offers as relevant offers - maybe best restated as an intuitive use of facts that enables the offering to match the customer's needs versus what may be on the company's "hot list" at large. Some people (I'm one of them) have an adverse reaction to retargeting online. After I've shopped for something, it can be a little spooky to see that same item repeatedly served up to me seemingly all over the place. That "big brother effect" doesn't apply here, since we're applying information in an intuitive way that can enhance their relationship with the brand.

4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?
Here's the great thing: More customer-centric marketing communications mean greater ROI for the marketer, a more valuable experience for the consumer, and a more fulfilled agency staff because they see their work perform better. Now that's a win-win-win!

It's a cycle, more loyalty means more business, more business means more innovation to better service our customer. 

What is your favorite activity outside of work?
I spend my free time with family. Travel, food and tennis are my vices.

Neiman Marcus CMO Answers 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators

Thanks for all the positive feedback regarding our recently launched 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators. Each blog features one marketing innovator who addresses 4 questions;

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
2. Why is this so important?
3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?
4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?

Please send your feedback and ideas for people you would us to interview to ernan@erdm.com

Wanda Gierhart is the SVP and CMO for Neiman Marcus, the premier omni-channel retailer of luxury and fashion merchandise in the US. Since its founding in 1907, the company has been known for its commitment to merchandising excellence and customer service. Wanda joined Neiman Marcus in 2009. Previously, she was President and CEO, Travel Smith Outfitters; EVP Merchandising and Marketing, Design within Reach; and EVP and CMO at Limited Brands.

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
There are numerous fronts in which we are innovating but the most important is personalization.

2. Why is this so important?
At the core of our business, Neiman Marcus is about delivering an incredible luxury service experience. We've been doing this in-store for over 100 years and with the increasing use of the internet, mobile devices, social, and other channels, maintaining that high touch service is more important than ever.

3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?

We believe that excellent personalization helps bridge the gap between the store and digital or e-commerce experience and improves service regardless of how the customer shops with us. While we've all heard success stories in personalization online, and we have many of our own, there is plenty of room for improvement.

Just like a great sales associate knows the tastes, preferences, and important details about a customer's life and uses that to deliver world class service, exceptional personalization online though a mix of innovation, people, and technology is working toward doing the same.

Some examples of our innovation include the introduction of Snap.Find.Shop. and MyNM.

MyNM is a new section on NeimanMarcus.com that is about all things personalized and trending.

Right now customers can find product recommendations, items that are new since they've last visited the site, top trending items in their local area, most popular products from their favorite vendors, events in their local store, and other popular content. Keep an eye out over the next several months for additional features making the experience even more personalized.

Just like a customer can bring in a photo or magazine and show something they saw to a sales associate and say "I want something like this" we wanted a way for customers to do this at the moment of inspiration, wherever they were.

As a result, we are the first luxury retailer to offer our customers a visual search technology solution that allows them to use their smart phone to photograph any shoe or handbag they see, literally anywhere, and find a similar item for immediate purchase. Snap.Find.Shop. is a feature on Neiman Marcus’ Shopping App, available for download here.

4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?
As our personalized e-commerce service moves closer and closer to an in-store experience, we develop a deeper relationship and further trust with our clients. Relationships and trust result in customer loyalty. And loyalty means business.

It's a cycle, more loyalty means more business, more business means more innovation to better service our customer.

What is your favorite activity outside of work?
Wanda's favorite out of office activities include watching her daughter dance and supporting the arts through her involvement with organizations like TACA.

Pitney Bowes SVP Marketing Answers 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators

We recently launched a new feature of our widely read blog Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices.

It is called: 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators The goal is to provide a quick read filled with meaningful insights from marketing thought leaders.
Each column will feature one innovator who will address 4 questions;

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
2. Why is this so important?
3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?
4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?

Please send your feedback and ideas for people you would us to interview to ernan@erdm.com

Bill Borrelle is the SVP and leader of Integrated Marketing Communications at Pitney Bowes, a global technology company offering products and services that enable commerce. From data-driven marketing services to shipping and mailing products, the company is a leading provider of location data and provides the data that enables billions of social media check-ins every day. A Board Member of the DMA, Bill’s roots are in direct and data-driven marketing, leading client relationships at Wunderman and Digitas. Before joining Pitney Bowes, Borrelle was Chief Executive Officer of mcgarrybowen New York.

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
Location data. Unlocking the potential of using location data in marketing to engage with consumers with greater relevance and impact.

2. Why is this so important?
Since the beginning of time for Marketers, it is "context” that makes our messages relevant and actionable. I believe that “Context is King”, and have believed that since we began to use the term "Contextual Marketing". Contextual Marketing is a form of targeted messaging where the content of the message is directly relevant to the channel; perhaps the topic of a print publication, or relevant to the editorial content adjacent to the ad on a website, or relevant to a social media conversation, or even relevant to your customer’s online behavior. It’s fundamental.

So now, with 2/3 of Americans with smart phones and 74% of consumers who have smart phones saying 'YES’ to location-based services, we have a new form of contextual marketing that uses the real-time location of your customer to deliver a relevant, impactful message. So imagine intercepting your customer, through your company’s app, at the moment that they are near to your location with a real-time offer? Or perhaps, in the financial services category, knowing that your customer is in a real estate office, suggesting a home loan offer opportunity? It is mind-boggling if you let go and imagine all the new opportunities that we have as marketers with location data.

3. How will the customer experience be improved by this?
There are two scenarios where location data improves the customer experience. In a 'pull’ scenario, the customer is reaching out to you, through your app, to get information.

Where is the nearest branch? Can you direct me there? What retailers near where I am right now will let me use my rewards points to redeem? What movie theatres near me are playing a particular movie I want to see? We all know these examples well, because we live them, and it has become second nature. More and more, through the apps of banks, airlines, retailers, communications companies, opportunities to simplify life or save time or improve an experience are all being introduced using location data as the foundation of that improved experience.

For Marketers, it is the "push” scenario where there is untapped potential to improve a customer experience. Location data and automated real-time push messaging is often not built into existing CRM systems, so we are seeing our clients who use Pitney Bowes location data beginning to be very creative in not only the data that they use but also how they apply this data to deliver an unexpected, spontaneous message of relevance that engages and drives behavior. When we give our customers, with full transparency, the option to choose to share their location information in exchange for better service or a price advantage, the majority will say "YES".

4. How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing?
One notable advance that location data uniquely provides is driving action in the physical world using digital technology. There is no other method to immediately intercept a customer in real time, via a 1:1 customer tailored message, to drive an immediate physical in-store purchase. It's a great example of this new phenomenon, sometimes referred to as “phygical” marketing, where you use digital technology and data to drive a purchase in a physical environment, such as a retail store or a restaurant. Note, of those who are loyal to many apps on many mobile devices i.e. the “truly mobile engaged consumer”, the vast majority have their phones engaged while they shop, or eat out, or travel. We have a captive audience, and the only hurdle is our ability to meaningfully drive the right high-value message. In a nutshell, location data delivers relevance, and relevance drives revenue and results and relationships.

When used for research purposes, location data can help you better understand your target by analyzing the patterns of their movement on the planet. For example, do they commute to work every day? Do they travel internationally? Do they frequent a competitor's retail store more than yours? This is another great way to make your marketing programs more effective.

Remember that there’s location and then there’s location intelligence. It’s not sufficient to know the geographic coordinates of your customer on a map, you need to know what's around them. And that is where the layers of location data come in for Marketers to create impact in ways never before possible. This is a great opportunity for data-driven marketers.

What is your favorite activity outside of work?
I like to run. Power up the pop music, and escape on the West Side Highway in New York City overlooking the Hudson River. Nothing like it.

Gilt's Founder Answers 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators

We are launching a new feature of our widely read blog Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices. It is called: 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators. The goal is to provide a quick read filled with meaningful insights from marketing thought leaders. Each column will feature one innovator who will address 4 questions;

1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?
2. Why is this so important?
3. How will concentrating on this help improve the customer experience?
4. How will concentrating on this help improve the overall effectiveness of marketing?

The 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators feature will be a periodic blog. Please send your feedback and ideas for people you would us to interview to ernan@erdm.com This inaugural blog will focus on Alexis Maybank, Founder and Strategic Advisor of Gilt.

In 2007, Alexis and a founding team conceived of and built Gilt, and in doing so, revolutionized the landscape of luxury ecommerce and the way millions of people shop online. Alexis also serves as Director for National Audubon Society and for Girls Who Code. Alexis, together with Gilt co-founder Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, is the author of The New York Times bestseller book, By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop. Gilt is an innovative online shopping destination offering its more than 9 million members access to top designer labels, at significant discounts and exclusive local services and experiences.

We caught up with Alexis at the recent DMA Annual Conference, where she was inducted into the DMA Hall of Fame. Here are her marketing insights;

  1. What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator?

Adding a "face" in the faceless world of the Internet.

2. Why is this so important?

Online we think about how we create a differentiated look or fulfill a unique promise to a customer.

However, it’s equally as important to consider how we make our business relatable and identifiable to the consumer.

Technology can be intimidating, sites with a blur of offerings and pages upon pages of content can be overwhelming.

Customer loyalty is generated not just through an excellently executed customer experience, but also through a deeper connection to what the customer feels personally for your business.

At Gilt, here’s how we approached it. As we set out to build this deeper personal relationship with our customers, my cofounder Alexandra Wilson and I put ourselves out there and made sure we interacted directly with our base on many fronts.

Firstly, each city we visited for personal or business travel we'd meet our 10-20 top customers. We heard first hand what they loved about Gilt, what they would like to improve.

The conversations soon turned to recommendations on travel destinations, favorite restaurants and even to our families or common passions. We realized that by having the two of us engage directly and frequently with our members, we started building a recurring dialogue with our customers, or in other words that “Face" we needed to emerge from that anonymous world of the internet.

We began to foster that dialogue in both small ways and in large ways. Smaller ways included series of local events in key cities where we could speak to hundreds at a time; we inserted personally signed thank you notes in all outbound boxes; and we made sure we too answered customer support calls and emails regularly.

At scale, we kept the conversation consistent across our social footprint, speaking to followers and friends alike about the same topics our customers enjoyed discussing in person. And importantly our customer support voice and tone also had the same cadence. We established a consistent voice and put in place key policies that sustained these practices, like having no time limits on customer calls or giving advice on any topic our customer wanted, regardless if it entailed an imminent site purchase or a hotel recommendation in a new city.

Our customer accommodation practices were geared to this same empathic, friendly relationship. These and many other examples of the touch points with the customer were carefully thought out and consistent with who we were as a founders. We built a relatable "face" to the business, one that the customers could relate to, define and ultimately root for due to their deeper sense of connection to our brand.

3. How will concentrating on this help improve the customer experience?

By creating that recognized, trusted brand, the customer feels they have someone in their corner.

The right policies, advice and friendly person on the other side of an email and phone call builds confidence in the service and offerings the customer can expect.

Now it’s not always possible to have a couple of senior members of the team that can be out there and really embodying and shaping your company's brand.

If that’s not feasible, I have given the following advice;

1) Have you taken the time to solidify your company’s values, or even it’s mission and vision? What drives the operating principles of your organization? Having these understood, documented and shared broadly help unify an employee base and lead to greater consistency in how your clients and customers interact with you, the company.

2) Secondly, if you think of your brand, what type of person would s/he be? How would s/he present herself, what characteristics would she have, and what would she care about? To me, these, and others, are useful exercises that inform many of your key practices and policies that are critical to bringing your brand to life in trusted, animated and consistent manner. They can help create a relatable face.

4. How will concentrating on this help improve the overall effectiveness of marketing?

It's difficult to engender loyalty and a personal connection from customers in a strictly online world, however it's critically important to try. With all the noise and distractions online, and without the benefit of that personal handshake or eye contact, it's harder to create a relatable, lasting bond with a person. If you can achieve it, you can establish a truly original brand, a sense of personal connection. Through the relationship we at Gilt established with our customers, we could confidently, empathetically and personally open a window to the fantastic for our customers each and every day.

5 Tips for Using Customer Data to Deliver High Value

Customers have learned that in order to have a more customized experience they need to provide the data to drive those high-value communications and experiences. However, the burden is on marketers to become better in delivering on that expectation in order to give customers a reason to supply the necessary data.

In a recent study by Consulting firm Emnos, it was noted that shoppers want relevant solutions – tips and advice that will simplify their lives, save on time, and deliver information. However, 83% feel that retailers are not providing sufficient information and resources.

This should be a wakeup call to marketers to do more than just collect data. They should use customer information to provide a clear and obvious improvement in the customer experience.

This fact is reinforced by a recent survey from data insight company ClickFox, which stated that about 32% of consumers said they're most willing to share personal data if they feel loyal to a brand.

Data influences every decision that Avis Budget makes, from product, to distribution, to communication.

With records from 40 million customers, finding data to analyze wasn’t an issue, it was how to structure the use of data that was the challenge. Understanding the value of the “total” customer through data helped the company to determine communication strategies and helped to differentiate customer service solutions.

Jeannine Haas, CMO, Avis Budget Group stated, “...we look for ways to infuse the customer experience with data… It helps us organize our contact strategy..., which in turn increases [its] effectiveness ... The most critical achievement of the project may be the “single view” of the customers...Information is consolidated into a web-based dashboard that the front-line customer-facing employees can access.”

The company used data technology to get a single 360-degree view of its customer by applying a segmentation strategy called 'customer lifetime value.' They looked for ways to infuse the customer experience with intelligence Tim Doolittle, vice president of CRM, Avis Budget noted that “Differentiation today is based on customer service and customer experience... We lacked an organized process and analytics infrastructure to leverage our data assets, to improve marketing ROI and the customer experience and to drive long-term customer value...”

“...We've added win-back and peer prospecting for a total of six segments, and that's how we organize our contact strategy group. That approach has increased the effectiveness of our contact strategy, in many cases above 30% over control.”

5 Takeaways for Using Customer Information to Drive High Value Customer Experiences

1. Use Data to Provide Useful Information - Make it easy for shoppers to understand that you’re collecting data in order to give them a better experience.

2. Use Data to Solve Problems - Identify issues and solve problems based on customer input and customer communications.

3. Positive Experiences Drive Customers to Share Data - Marketers need to continuously provide excellent customer experiences because this is what proves knowledge of customers as more than a transaction--but as a person.

4. Use Data to Actionably Improve Customer Communication - Due to lack of customer insights companies are often only able to provide generic responses, leaving the customer feeling more frustrated. Personalize communication, responses, and experiences.

5. Don’t Just Collect Data ... Use it as a Tool - Look beyond the last click, or the most recent search, to provide an experience that covers a consumer's entire purchasing journey.

Oreo; Twitter Based Custom Cookies and CX Innovation

Challenge: Consumers have more avenues and channels to connect with brands than ever before. Therefore marketers need to embrace new ways to influence customer opinion and improve engagement across channels.

Influence marketing in social media has taken on a vital role in customer engagement strategies. In order to be one step ahead in terms of presenting a positive opinion and generating buzz marketers need to be in a position to influence conversations and experiences at every turn.

Influence marketing is important because it can:
* Mobilize opinion and create reactions.
* Increase exposure to a very large audience.
* Generate broad based conversations on a given subject.

A company that can teach us a lot about customer engagement, social media marketing and consumer opinion marketing is Oreo. They understand how to connect with customers through innovative engagement strategies.

As an international brand, Oreo enabled fans to send greetings to friends and family during the holidays via a single click and application. The program strengthened the emotional bond between customers and the Oreo brand. There have been more than 1 million impressions for the viral video and 31 million Facebook impressions. A total of 40,000 people used the application and of those, more than 40% shared their Oreo moment.

They have engaged with fans through emotional ads that let existing customers remember why they love the brand and influence new customers through viral ads that are viewed and shared tens of thousands of times through social media. As a result, Oreo has an enormous following on Social Media;

• Facebook – 35 Million+ fans

• Twitter – 301K+ followers

• YouTube – 20 Million+ views

• Instagram – 95K+ followers

• Pinterest – 3K+ followers.

Additionally, in a recent social media promotion at the SXSW Interactive Festival, Oreo custom-made vending machines enabled attendees to create and eat 3D-printed custom Oreo cookies based on trending Twitter conversations.

Users accessed the machines, located in an Oreo Trending Vending Lounge, to browse a selection of trending flavors displayed on a large touchscreen panel on the front of the machine. They choose from flavors and colors of creme that were trending. They then watched as their cookies were custom built, in under two minutes. Consumers everywhere were able to follow the conversation using the Twitter hashtag #eatthetweet

5 Key Takeaways to Improve Engagement

1. Develop innovative means of keeping both new and existing customers engaged with your brand. Give customers a reason to be involved and a reason to purchase your product. Per Oreo, think way out of the box!

2. Stay engaged at all times and on all channels with customers in order to influence opinions associated with your brand. Monitor conversations and interact in order to keep customers actively involved.

3. Develop promotions and new avenues that expand the audience exposed to your brand message across multiple channels.

4. Engage in active listening in order to understand what customers want and how they want to be engaged. In this way you can develop influence and engagement strategies that are relevant and impactful.

5. Don’t be afraid of customer input and customer opinion. Create response tactics that enable customers to feel a part of the brand and a member of a customer community.

Is Your Preference Center Hurting Your Customer Experience?

Feature story from CMO.com

“I’m in a cold sweat.” So began the call from the CMO of a prominent Fortune 100 company. “We’ve invested millions in new customer engagement technology and just realized that we never actually asked our customers how they define more relevant communications and experiences.”

Perhaps you, too, have had the awakening that the yield you’ll receive from the millions invested in new technology rests on your ability to deliver a personalized, preference-based customer experience. Research conducted by our firm, ERDM, for clients such as IBM, MassMutual, QVC, and Norton AntiVirus indicates that for many consumers--B2B and B2C--preference centers presumably designed to engage them are, in fact, alienating them.

This article, the first installment of a two-part series, provides insights regarding the special role preference centers play in enabling companies to capture the deep preference information necessary to drive truly personalized communications. Unfortunately, many brands are falling short. While conducting our ERDM VoC research, customers told us they are not receiving the expected value from preference centers. Among their statements:

» “Misleading--they are focused on the company’s sales goals, not on learning the customer’s preferences.”

» “They’re not focused on my preferences. The focus is on the stuff they want to sell my company.”

A summary of findings indicates that many preference centers don’t provide a resource that is:

» customer-focused

» comprehensive across different product lines and channels

» easy to find, use, and update as customers’ needs change

Insights such as these are helping CMOs and CIOs realize they need a far deeper understanding of how customers define preference-driven engagement. This includes understanding how customers define a value-based relationship with their brands, personalization, and appropriate questions to ask regarding their preferences.

The Only Votes That Count Come From Your Customers And Prospects

For today's empowered consumers, personalization is a basic expectation. To achieve this heightened level of personalization, more accurate customer data is required.

“For customers, the preference center is the mechanism to voice how they wish to interact with a brand. For marketers, it allows them to develop a deeper understanding of their customers,” Jennifer Downes, Lenovo NA’s director of direct response marketing, told me. “That said, the reality is that marketers as business people have metrics to meet, which may be at odds with providing the best customer experience. The key to success is for the marketer to find creative ways to meet these metrics without creating a conflict with the customer's desire for relevant engagement.”

Added Diangelo Tyler, director of online marketing at Thomson Reuters: “Keep in mind that the preference center is for the customer, and they hold the power of voice. The criteria for a truly customer-centric preference center is simplicity. As marketers we must honor the choices of our customers if we want to keep them engaged from that point forward.”

Satisfaction A Given--Engagement Now The Critical Differentiator

Our VoC research also indicated that relevance and personalization is viewed as a service and benefit, not just a sales tool.

“As marketers, more relevant, preference-driven communication ensures greater audience engagement and maximizes marketing efficiency,” Denice Hasty, SVP of consumer marketing at Comcast, told me. “I think governance and vetting the strategy and tactical plan across multiple business functions is key. Strong execution requires maximum coordination. One misstep can cause a really bad experience.”

B2B and B2C consumers understand that in order to receive more relevant information, they need to share personal information. Among ERDM clients, we have witnessed preference-based engagement drives consistent double-digit increases in response, revenue, and customer lifetime value.

Takeaways From Execs Who Have Been Through The Preference Center Experience

In summary, customer-focused preference centers are essential for encouraging customers and prospects to opt in and provide deep preference information. This also provides marketers with unprecedented amounts of rich and accurate customer data, which will drive dramatic increases in response, revenue and customer engagement.

Here’s what we’ve been told:

• Lenovo’s Downes: “It’s critical that we enter into the process with an open mind, accepting that we don’t have all the answers. We must be diligent in asking questions in an unobtrusive way and be willing to let the customer guide us in formulating a customer-centric preference center.”

• Thomson Reuters’ Tyler: “We did some market research ahead of deploying our new email preference center. Our objective was to determine what was most important to the customer. Simplicity was the conclusion. It was critical that we make it as quick and simple as possible for our customers to manage their preferences and marketers to get access to their permissions.”

• Comcast’s Hasty, SVP: “We are just scratching the surface of what we can do in this space. As our markets become increasingly fragmented on interests and needs, delivering the right message at the right time in the right way will be impossible without a solid preference management practice. Online, we believe in a value exchange–the best offers online to our most engaged online audiences, which also provide the best progressive profiling data to act upon in future interactions.”

In my next article, I’ll focus on specific tips and recommendations from CMOs and senior execs regarding preference center functions and experiences that are critical whether you are about to build a new center or make improvements to an existing preference center.

Delta; Preference-based Offers for Friendlier Flying

The Challenge: The airline industry has been fighting passenger negativity regarding a barrage of fees for services that were once free and taken for granted. Now airlines are following the path of retailers and using consumer preference data to create brand new personalized (fee-based) upgrades.

Airlines are learning what Voice of Customer research has shown time and time again—traditional transaction-based data is not sufficient to drive the level of truly personalized, preference-based, experiences and offers that consumers (BtoB and BtoC) now view as valuable and competitively differentiating.

Listening based on customer signals is key. Companies need to utilize information from analytics, customer-volunteered preferences, behavioral-inferred preferences, and triggers in order to develop personalized product/service offerings.

ERDM research indicates in order to offer consumers a valuable preference-based experience companies need to fully understand:

» Customer’s preferences
» BtoB and BtoC customer usage of products and services
» Customer purchase intent and decision behaviors

» Where a customer is in their BtoB or BtoC lifecycle relative to the product/service
» Appropriateness and acceptability of upsells/cross sells.

Delta Airlines has made a big push toward preference-based services. Delta CEO Richard Anderson noted that they have massive amounts of data, "We know who you are. We know what your history has been on the airline. We can customize our offerings."

Flight attendants will use on-board mobile devices to improve the customer experience:

» Offers per customer's preferences.
» Near real-time credit card processing for on-board purchases, including upgrades.
» Convenient eReceipts that can be emailed to customers.
» Customer's use of pre-paid credit cards for on-board purchases.
» Quicker transaction processing times.
» In the near future, the ability to read coupons displayed on a customer's mobile device.

Three Takeaways

1. Who are your customers? Categorize customers by groups based on when, why, and how they interact with your company and use your products. Understand unique group preferences and develop customer service, product suggestions, and communications based on their buying habits, perceived acceptable price points, and desired product upgrades/suggestions.

2. What kind of relationship do your customers want? Develop personalization data capture techniques via surveys, order-taker questions, and customer service calls in order to define customer preferences. Code the collected data by group segment so you have the actual answers needed to develop relationships, product offerings, and sales strategies based on customer requirements.

3. What is the actual customer experience your customers have now--and are they happy with it? If you do not have a real life view of what it is truly like to do business with your company from the customer perspective you will never know what to improve—or, how much more effectively you could be meeting their needs. Customers want be heard— so listen to their requests, suggestions, and comments. Monitor patterns in purchasing. Know what your “push back” points are from customers and know what they are willing to accept for a perceived value or benefit.

Preference-Driven Personalization; What Men’s Wearhouse Can Teach Us

The Challenge: Many companies are still not using preference based personalization. This compromises relevance and sacrifices engagement and potential sales.

40% of consumers say they prefer buying from retailers that cater to their preferences. According to research firm The E-tailing Group, respondents said they:

» Find it valuable if the retailer offers product recommendations tailored to their personal tastes and shopping histories.
» Purchase more often when retailers send e-mails that are personalized based on a shopper's past interactions.

One retailer who has embraced preference based personalization is Men's Wearhouse. With more than 1,100 stores nationwide, Men’s Wearhouse prides itself on providing personalized service to all of its customers. “Customer satisfaction is our highest priority, across all of our channels,” said Susan Neal, EVP, E-Business, Marketing and Digital Technology. “Just as our in-store tailors alter garments to perfectly fit each customer, we plan to deliver personalized emails individually tailored to each recipient."

• Men’s Wearhouse captures data from every customer touch point, mines behavioral signals using advanced predictive algorithms and overlays deep retail domain knowledge.

• They are extending their personalized experience to email as well.

• The company has in-store wardrobe consultants to help its customers. This service continues the online experience which offers a website for its full offerings as well as a separate website just for tuxedos by type of occasion. The Tux Sites features a dedicated Wedding Planner that can be contacted online or via an iPhone app.

• Overall Men’s Wearhouse is an example of a forward-looking retailer that understands the importance of delivering clients a consistent, personalized experience.

According to our firm’s VoC research on the Preference driven Reciprocity of Value Equation, consumers are willing to share personal preference information with trusted brands in exchange for “reciprocity of value” — in other words, receiving highly targeted and relevant offers and communications based on their individual preferences. This represents a powerful opportunity for marketers to transform how they engage with customers and prospects.

3 Research-based Takeaways

1. 59% of shoppers said that it is easier to find what they’re looking for when retailers personalize the shopping experience. So make it easy for your customers to find and buy what you have to sell.

2. 40% of consumers said they buy more from retailers that personalize shopping across all channels. So make sure your personalization experience extends to every aspect of your customer experience and interactions.

3. Retailers that remember the shopping behavior of individual consumers and use it to personalize future experiences are being rewarded — consumers are more engaged and purchase more. So be sure you have in place accurate and easily updated CRM practices and technology.

Pseudo-Customization Is Annoying; True Personalization is Valued

The Challenge: A recent article in The New York Times highlighted the fact that customers find poor etailer customization "creepy”. It appears that businesses are still not providing customers with true personalization.

Today's sophisticated customers expect personalization across all points of contact. And, they expect these communications to be relevant and based on their stated preferences. A common sentiment expressed during recent Voice of Customer (VoC) research we conducted sums it up this way, "I expect more than just ‘we’ve looked at everything you’ve bought over the last X years and this is what we think you’ll like’. With today’s technology, I expect much more than that!"

Speaking with The New York Times, Patagonia's vice president of global e-commerce described the consequences of getting personalization wrong: "We saw customer frustration at being targeted outweigh any benefit. If you got it wrong once, it outweighed getting it right 10 times."

Many marketers are liable to draw the wrong conclusion, and do away with customization altogether. But abandoning multichannel customization is not an option.

Customers today view true personalization as a requirement for their preferred shopping venues, rather than as simply a perk. They're sophisticated enough to expect marketers to provide true preference-driven personalization, not just simplistic purchase based pseudo-customization.

And, per results of our Voice of Customer research efforts, today’s consumers will opt-in to share increasingly detailed personal preference information in exchange for marketer’s promise to deliver relevant information and offers.

This is not to say that traditional targeting methods are no longer relevant. Demographic and transactional data remain useful data points. But, in order to achieve necessary levels of accuracy, they must be enhanced by opt-in preferences provided by consumers.

In the Times article cited above, Mahender Nathan, Godiva's vice president for e-commerce and digital marketing, made the point well, "In conversation, if you think it’s odd that you know something about someone that they didn’t share with you, don’t use it."

The inverse holds as well: when someone “opts” to share something with you, they expect you to remember it in conversation―just as customers expect marketers to add value using the preferences they've shared.

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKETERS

» Replace Pseudo-Customization with Preference-Driven Personalization
You can only personalize a customer experience based on customer preferences if customers opt-in to share their preferences. To make sure they do so, offer a compelling value proposition.

» Supplement Transactional Data with Self-profiled Preferences
Transactional data is an extremely valuable indicator of historical customer preferences, but it's not enough. Use it, but only in tandem with self-profiled preferences.

» Understand the Reciprocity of Value Equation
Consumers will opt-in and share increasingly detailed personal preference information in exchange for marketer’s promise to deliver personalized and relevant offers, and communications across the multichannel mix.

Pinterest: 3 Takeaways About Personalizing the Customer Experience

THE CHALLENGE: Customer-driven personalization is a powerful competitive differentiator, and marketers should take note of how Pinterest provides this.

True personalization is complex to achieve and requires a deep database of individual’s opt-in preferences. However, the results are powerful.

Personalization is an Expectation:
Online shoppers view personalization as a requirement for their preferred shopping venues, rather than as simply a perk. Per our Voice of Customer research:

» Many BtoB decision makers use Amazon as their point of reference regarding expectations for BtoB personalization.

» Both BtoB and BtoC marketers have to at least match the Amazon level of personalization!

Pinterest Approach to Personalization:
Pinterest has a fascinating approach to personalization: Pinterest doesn’t take on the hard work of personalizing the experience, it enables the consumer to personalize their experience.

Per a recent article in TechCrunch by Nir Eyal, “Pinterest is becoming the web’s personalized mail-order catalog. Each user is presented with a one-of-a-kind visual interface based on their tastes. They are presented with any product, from any retailer, anywhere in the world. The items they see are curated through people and topics they’ve identified as interesting and what is shown to them improves the more they interact with it. Every time they pin, re-pin, like, or comment on an object, the relevancy of the products displayed on their magic catalog improves.”

Pinterest lets the consumer do the work by allowing them to decide whose tastes they would like to follow. It is curated by the consumer so the consumer likes what they see. And if they like the products, they will buy them.

Per a recent article from Fortune, “In March the site registered 17.8 million users, according to Comscore, a 52% jump in just one month…Brands--from large companies like Gap and West Elm--are tripping over themselves to establish a presence on it, and some are starting to reap the rewards of being "pinned," a referral that prompts followers to click on product pictures to learn more. In February, Pinterest drove more traffic to websites than Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined.”

We will keep an eye on this company and track how they evolve to the next level of personalization.

3 Key Takeaways for Marketers:

1. Determine the type of personalization experience you want to/are able to, offer: Deep preference-driven personalization, like the Microsoft example above, or, like Pinterest, avoid some of the hard work of personalization and enable the consumer to personalize their experience.

2. Make your value proposition so appealing that consumers will come to your site, (repeatedly) and engage with others in the community by posting and consuming appealing content.

3. If you are offering a service based on personalized engagement, don’t restrict how people can engage with you. I could not sign up for Pinterest without connecting via Facebook or Twitter. They would not let me sign up via email. It is inconsistent with a positive customer experience to block enrollment via email.

Also, need to respond to questions in a timely manner. I, along with a colleague, sent questions to their support email address requesting to join via email. One week later, we still await a response.