It has long been known that brands that cater to the emotional needs of the customers, tend to have a lasting impact. But new business research conducted by a team of professors from four universities including Wharton, states that the kind of feelings also matter now. This holds particularly true thanks to the younger generation’s needs to align brands of their choice with their personal values. TOMS and Warby Parker are examples of such conscientious brands. There has to be the right fitment between the brand and the cause. Marketers must remember that such positioning is not related to self- pride or satisfying personal needs. This is specifically true when it comes to luxury brands, as these brands are the exact opposite of the social needs being spoken of. A lot of this has been rested at the Wharton Behavioral Lab. Strong social benefits also evoke the sense of awe, which is the most powerful feeling when it comes to brand marketing.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/brands-emotional-connection/?utm_source=kw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-11-13

Uploaded Date:10 January 2019

Most marketers have long realized the importance of key touchpoints to woo customers. But this goes against the grain of the modern thinking that aims at securing the entire customer journey. The former approach is siloed, while the latter is holistic. It also includes the post- sales servicing. This aspect gets heightened importance in the present hyperconnected, multichannel market. The complexity in the digital marketing process increases with the higher number of touchpoints. For this to succeed, marketers need to understand how customers browse through and search information from across channels. The needs of the customer need to be predicted well in advance using real- time business intelligence, aided by analytics tools. The gaps in the process and further opportunities need to be clearly defined and addressed. Once the root- cause gets fixed, the customer journey may get redesigned. The customer satisfaction is then aligned with the consequent willingness to recommend.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/from-touchpoints-to-journeys-seeing-the-world-as-customers-do

Uploaded Date:10 January 2019

Some methods have been identified to help track the customer experience. To start with, an achievable first goal needs to be selected, so that the start is gone, leading to a general boost in efforts. A methodology needs to be devised which will draw the exact measurable metrics against which the performance will be evaluated. The entire system has to be built around this basis so that there is complete integration between the data points and the processes. Once the process of data warehousing is completed, it all needs to be analyzed using these measurable metrics. This performance measurement can be divided into three categories which are- indicators, outcomes and the performance.

Source:https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/12/26/how-to-start-measuring-your-customer-experience/#2b3062877db3

Uploaded Date:31st December 2018

To understand behavioral change, a very good starting point is to know the story behind the rise of Twitter. Today it is a highly influential platform, with a total user base exceeding three- hundred million worldwide. But it wasn’t always so. It took time to grow. Its gradual associations with the South by Southwest Interactive conference and with influencer Oprah Winfrey brought it recognition. It then grew on a geographic basis. It spread as a contagion among the people, whose behaviour were now compelled to be changed. It is around this time, that brands realized how placing themselves on Twitter can lead to substantial digital marketing gains. This has helped Twitter now become one of the world’s largest communication mediums.

Source:https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-truth-about-behavioral-change/

Uploaded Date:31st December 2018

Certain steps have been identified which will help organizations move towards increased real- time customer engagement, away from the present trend of merely marketing to the same. First of all, a real- time cross- functional data warehousing and governance team needs to be assembled. Secondly, real- time engagement pilots need to be stepped up, which will be lower in terms of risk. The real- time outbound and inbound engagement strategies need to be experimented with, to shape a holistic omnichannel customer journey. And finally, the real- time tactics need be expanded from the single- channel to multi- channel optimization techniques. All this will help hone a next- generation marketing team that will provide real- time customer experiences. It will be more empathetic to their preferences, devices of use, past behavioral trends, communication modes and the broader demographics.

Source:https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/12/03/four-steps-to-shift-from-real-time-marketing-to-real-time-customer-engagement/

Uploaded Date:29 December 2018

The Black Friday Shopping Report is one that is annually prepared by management consulting giant McKinsey to understand buyer behaviour on both sides of the Atlantic during the winter holiday season. Certain trends have emerged from this year’s report. Firstly, the inclination towards shopping on Black Friday 2018 is particularly high. More than seventy percent of those surveyed, expressed an interest in doing their bit towards this. The general perception towards buyers and sellers gets better during this period. Customers tend to expect discounts and promotional offers now. Due to the plethora of options, pre- purchase planning tends to be at its minimum during this stage, leading to more spontaneous buys. This presents a major opportunity to retailers. Most of this research by consumers takes place offline, though in- store browsing is also popular. US and Canadian shoppers are more likely to go with in- store browsing, while German and UK ones tend to bring greater expertise before visiting stores. A lot of the purchasing behaviours during this time gets directed by means of omnichannel and digital marketing. The European ones are more likely to wield the former option, the latter will be used by the others. These channel preferences though change with the product category. More than half those surveyed confirmed that they plan to increase their share of online buying this holiday season.

Source:https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/black-friday-2018-consumers-are-eager-more-digital-and-willing-to-spend

Uploaded Date:28 December 2018

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making a lot of progress in improving the age-old complex task of improving customer engagement and satisfaction. AI has now managed to tide over the years of disappointment post the hype. One of the greatest uses is the real-time data warehousing and its appropriate usage. This data capture and subsequent use of business analytics has allowed the right predictions to be made about customer needs. This way the right marketing strategy can be applied. The use of data however does not mean that all processes are automated. One can revert to being human whenever the need arises. So, while chatbots are making massive progress, human intervention can be utilized whenever the machine cannot solve a problem on its own.

Source:https://www.cioreview.com/news/how-is-ai-enhancing-customer-satisfaction-and-engagement-nid-27544-cid-175.html

Uploaded Date:26 November 2018

Digital tools are able to capture data at such a granular level, that the business intelligence captured can be used up to curate hyper-personalized customer experiences. The internet-of-things has added to the heady mix of data now available. Digital companies now have the power to predict the actions of humans at the granular level. Customers are now looking for a holistic connected journey in the buying process. That is why retailers in particular are opting for persona-based segmentation. Buyer personas are created as this also helps in identifying segments that stay loyal to any brand. This customer journey was a key driver in Amazon’s decision recently to acquire Whole Foods. Companies also need to develop their own data strategy.

Source:http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-digital-tools-support-hyper-personalized-customer-experiences/?utm_source=kw_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-10-11

Uploaded Date:15 November 2018

Venture Beat recently conducted the VB Summit 2018, which is an annual event. The main point of discussion was the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in transforming respective businesses. A key concern that emerged among all was the extreme difficulty in the talent recruitment of data scientists. At this point the best ones are commanding exorbitant fees, but this is reducing the supply even further. Post recruitment of these data scientists, organizations must attempt to cross-pollinate them and their ideas with other departments. Another theme that emerged was how the entire business model itself ought to transform and not just the data part. That way the machine learning experts will not be siloed, but be part of regular business.

Source:https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/26/ai-weekly-building-ai-first-companies-requires-more-than-hiring-data-scientists/

Uploaded Date:31st October 2018

Customer experience tools abound in the present business scenario. Yet, few of them are actually effective. So, it is better to bet big on those that have a proven track record, or have shown early signs of bang-per-buck rather than going after the whole range. Business research conducted by Bain and Company has clearly revealed that companies which proactively seek out a few tools are more likely to succeed than others with a wider approach. This study included seven-hundred companies that were included in the sample. This was true across parameters such as yield, adoption and satisfaction rates. Companies must also remain patient with the tools selected rather than bolting out quickly in search of the next latest tool.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/bet-big-on-just-a-few-customer-experience-tools-snap-chart/

Uploaded Date:13 September 2018

Bain and Company has conducted a survey for the customer experience tools to see which of these are most useful to organizations, or have a potential for the same in the future. The three kinds of tools most in demand are the ones working on business analytics, personalized experiences and sensors in products. Such tools are being used a fifth of companies only today in one-on-one marketing or sales, but the figure is expected to soar above the 60% mark over the next few years. The corresponding figure is 30 and 70 when it comes to personalized experiences. For automated decision engines, the rate of adoption is a mere 15% right now but is expected to reach 57% in a few years.

Source:https://www.bain.com/insights/customer-experience-tools-that-companies-love-snap-chart/

Uploaded Date:11 September 2018