Decoding the Consumer
In the 1950’s, on the children’s live-action adventure Captain Midnight, the Secret Squadron was chartered to combat evil. Squadron members used special decoder rings to decipher messages that no one else could understand. The secret decoding power provided a competitive advantage that allowed the Secret Squadron to triumph over their opponents. Wouldn’t it be great if you could slip on a special marketing decoder ring to decipher your prospects? Alignment with the Consumer Buying Process The customer experience is influenced by all touch points people encounter from moments before they are aware of a need until they have fulfilled that need. 1. 2. 3. 4. Decoding the Future … Search – Social - Mobile As consumers attitudes and expectations change towards the companies they do business with, linkage between the customer experience and the consumer buying process becomes more crucial.
Angry Customers Are Gifts
Moments of Truth “I’ve been with the Bank X for 12 years, but they made a mistake a while ago. When I called their 800 number, the customer service rep was unhelpful and blamed the problem on me. When I complained to a supervisor, she just said ‘That’s the way the system works.’ I told them I would be closing my account and posting my complaint anywhere I could …and they still don’t care!” Hey, we all make mistakes. Handle these sticky situations well and you can turn a disgruntled person into someone who runs around singing your praises as a customer for life. As noted in The Profitable Art of Service Recovery, “Even the best service companies can’t prevent the occasional late flight, burned steak, or missed delivery. “Banks must reexamine their service recovery processes if they are to address the lapses that turn disgruntled customers into former ones.” — Marukel Nunez, McKinsey Quarterly Being a Hero Instead of The Villain So what can you do when you make a mistake? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Your Competitive Advantage Is Your Customers Buying Experience | The Customer Collective
We have all been through a “buying experience” that was anything but pleasant. For some it was purchasing a car from a stereotypical “used car salesman” or an over-the-top pushy life insurance salesperson. For most of us it was not the features or the uniqueness of the product service that lead to purchasing, as it was the experience of going through the buying process. It is a well known fact that companies who create a superior buying experience are able to truly differentiate themselves in the marketplace. 70% of customer’s buying experiences are completed before the first contact with a salesman is made (Sirius Decisions). A great example of this is Disney. Now, consider the experience your prospects receive when they looking to buy the product or service you sell. When done correctly, creating an elite buying experience for your customer base will be difficult for your competitors to imitate. Connect: Authored by: Andrew Hunt See complete profile
HOW TO: Avoid a Social Media Disaster
Clay McDaniel is the principal and co-founder of social media marketing agency Spring Creek Group. Find him via @springcreekgrp on Twitter. If there’s one thing that keeps social media marketers up at night, it’s the ever-present threat of a PR disaster. By now, every marketer is well-aware of how quickly dissatisfied consumers can turn to the social airwaves to vent about a brand. Nestle, BP, Domino’s, Southwest Airlines, and many other brands have witnessed the unbridled power of social media as a platform for disgruntled consumers to rally around an anti-brand cause. You can never fully “control” what your customers say about your brand on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and forums — nor would you want to. Here are five tips to give your brand the best possible chance at avoiding a social media PR debacle, and strategies for quickly handling problems if they arise. 1. What’s not tolerated in conversations about your brand. 2. 3. 4. 5. Learn from Great Examples
Toyota Owners To Get a Private Social Network
Toyota has teamed up with Salesforce.com to create Toyota Friend, a private social network for owners of Toyota cars. The network will be accessible through PCs, tablets and smartphones, giving Toyota customers the ability to connect with their dealerships, cars and Toyota itself. For example, your car could send you an alert when its battery needs recharging, and you would be able to connect to your dealership to get maintenance tips and service information.
Mix modelling muddles marketers
I think econometric modelling is over used in marketing. And routinely produces misleading results. Let me explain... Warning: people who make their living from such modelling will not like what I have to say. Astrology, like econometric marketing modelling, has many fans, many of whom are very intelligent capable people. I think econometric style modelling is over used in marketing. How your marketing mix affects sales is an important question, so I don't blame marketers trying something that offers a solution. Here are some of the problems with econometric marketing mix modelling: Firstly, such statistical modelling works on variation in the dependent variable (eg sales or share) and the independent variables (advertising spend or SoV or exposures, pricing, media strategy, timing, point of sale, sales team emphasis etc). And some important sales drivers, like distribution, change very occasionally (new stores/channel) and often in different ways every time.
Competitive advantage and UBER culture
Culture is often seen as the soft, 'touchy-feely' side of business. My experience suggests it's actually one of the hardest things to deal with. Why? In fact, in reality, culture is very tangible. My very simple definition of 'culture' in a business is 'the way we do things around here' and an UBER customer-focussed culture is one that creates real competitive advantage by focussing everyone on delivering great customer experiences. My research suggests that the key ingredients of an UBER culture are: Everyone Understands what's expected of them and behaves accordingly and consistently as a result Systems and processes are Built to create consistently great customer experiences and reinforce that culture People are Engaged, Empowered and Encouraged to deliver them People are Rewarded and Recognised for doing it! 'Encouragement and empowerment' are part of an UBER culture and here's a great example that hopefully illustrates the point. "I'm not really sure" came the reply.
Advertising Principles News
Navigation Improved23 Aug 2013 - Scott Armstrong “Navigation of site improved. All sub headings within a section can now be accessed directly from the main navigation on the left, by clicking on the new sub navigation." Read More Commercial Illustrating a Principle Principle - 61.1. Each commercial was selected to illustrate a single principle.
Big data's impact on retail customer loyalty
By Rob Bauder, dunnhumbyUSA For decades, business growth within the retail industry has traditionally focused on the acquisition of new customers with customer loyalty as its trusted promotional sidekick to increase store traffic and brand sales with one fell swoop. Before shopper loyalty card data, focusing on customer acquisition was not necessarily a poor strategy. In fact, with performance measured almost exclusively based on sales data, the resources and insights available were often not granular enough to identify specific household behavior over time in a statistically large enough sample size. Thus, business growth was virtually synonymous with customer acquisition. However, as the data resources available to a business continue to evolve, the approach to customer loyalty has not. Measuring overall success against customer acquisition is a difficult habit to break. Story continues below... Replacing a loyal customer is expensive. Customers are not exclusive. Relevance works.
