In a hyperconnected, ‘always online’ world brands have more competition and customers have more choice, resulting in decreased brand loyalty.
How do brands ensure their customers remain engaged?
We recently attended the Mumbrella Retail Marketing Summit and found every speaker had something to say on the topic of engagement. From Sainsbury’s to Unilever, businesses are shaping their marketing strategies to revolve around engagement through an unwavering focus on customer experience.
If marketers drive the customer experience agenda from the top down consumers will engage online, through social and instore and they will become promotors of your brand.
At the conference Clare Muscat, Head of Customer Experience at Sainsbury’s, described their success formula:
“Great Value = Prices, Quality, Experience + Warmth”.
Clare spoke through the recent transformation of Sainsbury’s where she embedded customer experience at the core of all business operations. Her goal was to ensure the business was both physically and mentally available to consumers at all times. Since the transformation, the business has engaged through digital (Sainsbury’s digital platforms now read emojis!), activated sampling, new store layouts and a focus on fresh convenience. Sales have increased dramatically and engagement is at a new high. Take a look at the #fooddancingmoments campaign.
Woolworths is another example of how customer experience is driving engagement with consumers. Woolies are working with Quantium to create one-to-one relationships with loyalty rewards members by offering the right product at the right price and at the right time.
Ingrid Maes, Director of Loyalty and Data at Woolworths spoke recently about creating a culture where the members are at the centre of everything they do. This involves banning demographic targeting from their loyalty program and treating personal information as a gift so that members receive better offers and a personalised experience, leading to greater engagement.
The impending arrival of Amazon in Australia, will create a frictionless, non-contact, customer experience. In a growing global e-commerce market, getting it right for online consumers is critically important for Australian companies. This will involve engaging consumers through more than a simple ‘like’ on a Facebook page. The focus will shift to delivering automated, real-time services.
Amazon will inevitably raise the bar when it arrives but there are companies here already doing some great work in this space – Iconic, JBHiFi, Kogan and Dan Murphy’s to name a few.
Creating a seamless experience for customers, regardless of the time, space or location is where we will see many brands rise or fall.