Chicago Association of Direct Marketing: December 2009

The following "Ask The Experts" article appeared in the December/January 2009-10 issue of adMarks, CADM's member newsletter. To get on the newsletter distribution list, please join CADM -- click on link to the right!

By Susan K. Jones
Susan K. Jones & Associates
and Ferris State University

How to Personalize Customer Relationships in a Noisy World of Media

Q. The average consumer is exposed to thousands of marketing messages from hundreds of brands every day – so many that they must tune most of them out just to stay sane! In a world of so much media noise, how can we make sure our carefully honed, personalized messages get through to their targets?

A. Someone who has a great answer to this question, in my opinion, is Erick Brethenoux, VP of Corporate Development at SPSS. Erick offered the information I’m sharing here at last spring’s IMC Roundtable, presented by the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing Educational Foundation with sponsorship from SPSS.

Erick noted first that “digital noise equals semantic deafness” – in other words, all the words blur together for marketers and consumers alike. An even greater concern is that “vigilante consumers” often rise to the top of Google searches with their anti-corporate rants, making negative blogs and sites criticizing certain brands more prominent than the brand’s own information about itself.

If anything, things are getting worse in terms of brand and media noise, since as Erick reported, TNS Media Intelligence has 2,000,000 brands in its database, and that database is growing at a rate of 10% per year. What’s more, in the 1990s alone, the number of brands on grocery store shelves tripled from 15,000 to 45,000. In terms of media proliferation, there are:

17,300 magazine titles (8,400 in 1960)
13,000 radio stations (4,400 in 1960)
82.4 TV channels per home (5.7 in 1960)

So how do we ensure that our messages break through all the resulting clutter of brands and promotions? Erick has several suggestions.

1. Consumers Trust the Voice of Peers – Numerous studies show that consumers want to know what their friends (whether personal friends or online reviewers) have to say about products and services. These third-party endorsements break through the clutter to help consumers make decisions.

2. Moments of Truth – Erick says “At every customer interaction with a company there is at least one ‘moment of truth’ – an interaction that can disproportionately affect the customer experience, either positively or negatively. These points of experience should not be taken for granted – they should be prepared for with great care.

3. Emotional Decision-Making – Moments of truth are emotional for consumers. Marketers need to be able to identify emotional decisions versus rational decisions for their customers. For example, receiving financial advice at a bank is emotionally charged, whereas transacting for travelers checks is not. Engage deeply with consumers at the emotional touch points; less so at the workaday ones.

4. Customer Experience Management – The basic how-tos for managing customer experience include: transparency (to build trust); relevance in every communication; ease of interaction between buyer and seller; and ensuring that incentives are perceived as valuable by the consumers at which they are aimed.

5. Key Elements of CEM – For successful Customer Experience Management, a marketer needs to combine three elements.

a. The first is discipline – a set of ongoing activities such as a well established “voice of the customer” program.

b. The second is a methodology for increasing loyalty, leading to more profitable long-term behavior of customers.

c. The third is meeting customers’ needs and expectations on their own terms, rather than focusing on “technology deployments or internal milestones.”

6. Active Listening – From the top level down, active listening to the consumer is essential to make sure that communications with them are meaningful. According to Erick, smart CEOs are investing their time, energy, and money in active listening campaigns. Sources for such customer information include employee interactions with customers, blogs/wikis/social networking/chat rooms, e-mail, and call center transcripts.

7. Privacy vs. Convenience – Consumers are concerned about how their information is used by marketers, but they are not excited about spending time and effort to help marketers ensure that privacy. They expect marketers to ensure their privacy without impeding convenient shopping and paying.

8. Toward the End of the Averaged Customer – Erick says that the ownership of intellectual property is in the process of shifting from products to clients. This newfound customer control puts even more pressure on marketers to turn individual customer insights into profitable results. As he concludes, “Now, it’s personal.”

"Ask the DM Experts” is a monthly adMarks feature. Professor Susan K. Jones draws on the knowledge of CADM members and other authorities to answer your questions – so tell her what you want to ask the experts! Send your questions in care of George Buckley at CADM: E-mail: gbuckley@cadm.org; Fax: 312.849.CAFX (2239).