Archive for category: Strategic Marketing

You are here: / / Strategic Marketing

The Insights of Customer Data

By John Kananghinis, Director

One of the most regular B2C refrains is “how do I get to more customers?” Take that back a step and the question turns into  “where are my potential customers?”

Quality data analysis combined with consumer insights will provide the answers to both of the above questions and, very often, the competitive advantage that will drive success.

The critical first step for any established B2C enterprise is to maintain customer data integrity. If that has not been done then you must clean the customer data to create the sound foundation for further analysis.

Following that, there are numerous research and social demographic tools that can profile the existing customer base and draw conclusions as to where more customers can be found.  It is also possible to establish competitive market penetration and therefore target areas rich in prospects but low in market share.

However the raw information alone is often not enough to fully understand consumer behaviour. Specific experience in your industry and/or market sector may be necessary to add the overlay of customer and prospect purchase behaviour, product and service expectations, purchase cycles and social and business interactions.

What makes this a truly three-dimensional chessboard is the overlay of market segment expansion in terms of product or service offered and social mobility over the short to mid-term.

The propensity for niche exploitation in B2C will drive marketers to look for consumer profiles outside their existing customer base. Combine that with the social mobility of targeted customers and there may be implications for both product offering and physical retail location.

Depending on the product or service offered, further complexity can be added by the opportunity and cost of locating in the midst of a high value target area or choosing to position on identified customer transit routes.

ICG regularly assist clients with this task. Such work has resulted in greater ROI for the marketing and communication dollar and, most importantly, more customers for our customers.

Sourcing the information and demographic analysis is not especially difficult. Careful selection of a suitable supplier is, of course, essential. Similar care is required for the preparatory step of cleaning and analysing current customer data. What is then required is to draw on market and customer insights to ask the right questions in order to get the correct answers. 

JK

 

Customer Experience

What did your customer experience?

 

In any type of retail outside of commodity the customer experience must be king.

In today’s world, if you had any doubt then take a quick look at the vacant shops in your local high street.

The retail world is morphing into three basic models. The first model is the commoditised transactional retail: supermarkets, big-box category killers (think Bunnings or Officeworks), and value driven discount and bulk stores with the proposition “we have it all and it’s cheap".

The second model is the on-line retailer: Amazon, iTunes and any number of segment-specific sites with the proposition being “we can get almost anything to you quickly and at the best price and you don’t need to leave your desk".

And then there is the third model – the experiential retail outlet. This sector covers where you want to go to physically experience the service or product i.e. restaurants, vanity services (hairdresser, spa, beautician) and entertainment (cinema, live music). Increasingly, luxury brands are creating icon stores with the intention of immersing the customer in the brand values (think Apple, Bose, B&O, Montblanc, Bally, Louis Vuitton).

The inevitable impact of the shift to three dominant retail models is squeezing the margins of businesses occupying the middle ground of general retailing.

The impact of this trend is being felt in the far broader retail space as well.

Even in areas such as automotive retail (where traditionally physical attendance and interaction with sales and service staff is necessary), greater customer use of on-line research means minimising the physical interaction.

If retail outlets allow their customers to become increasingly distant they will eventually be unable to keep them.

For any premium product retailer the answer has to be a total customer experience that provides a compelling case for customer loyalty.

Recently the Cadillac dealers in the USA were sent to a three-day Disney “boot-camp” where they learned from Disney about the effort Disney employees invest to ensure that the Disney experience is one that gets customers coming back time and again.

One of the simplest techniques is to advertise a theme park opening time of 9.00am yet to open their doors, every day, at least 5 minutes early. Disney says “this is a nice surprise for customers who have arrived early and are waiting at the doors. We want to get them off to a good start.”

What a remarkably simple customer-centric action. This is both easy to achieve and sets up a positive initial impression. Take this philosophy to every aspect of the customer interaction and watch the loyalty and recommendations grow.

In a world of instant internet access, the “show” is the one experience you can’t deliver on-line.

JK