Measuring your way to customer insight
To build closer connections to customers, start by developing analytical prowess.
As marketers move to a more varied, shifting mix of advertising and promotion, they are coming face to face with the lack of insight they have historically had about which media choices work well, why customers buy, and what returns will be generated by their spending. This lack of insight did not matter very much when marketers had no choice but to depend on television, radio, and print — the traditional mass-market media. Television’s gross ratings points (GRPs), which measure the percentage of a target audience reached by a particular advertisement, didn’t explain why particular ads or placements led to increased sales and others didn’t, but that combination of mass media and metrics was the only game in town.
Now, however, there has been an explosion of media vehicles, and data is much more complete, granular, and evocative of consumer attitudes and willingness to purchase products. It is possible to accurately quantify the return on marketing spend. All that’s lacking is the sophistication needed to gain insight from analytics, and the will to use that insight — not just in the marketing function, but in the company as a whole.
The need for marketers to develop analytical prowess — the ability to use data and analytical approaches to optimize the return on marketing spending — is already well established. An ongoing study by Booz & Company reveals that ROI analytics and consumer insights (many of which are derived from analytics) are the two capabilities that marketers identify as the most important to develop.
read more >>
As marketers move to a more varied, shifting mix of advertising and promotion, they are coming face to face with the lack of insight they have historically had about which media choices work well, why customers buy, and what returns will be generated by their spending. This lack of insight did not matter very much when marketers had no choice but to depend on television, radio, and print — the traditional mass-market media. Television’s gross ratings points (GRPs), which measure the percentage of a target audience reached by a particular advertisement, didn’t explain why particular ads or placements led to increased sales and others didn’t, but that combination of mass media and metrics was the only game in town.
Now, however, there has been an explosion of media vehicles, and data is much more complete, granular, and evocative of consumer attitudes and willingness to purchase products. It is possible to accurately quantify the return on marketing spend. All that’s lacking is the sophistication needed to gain insight from analytics, and the will to use that insight — not just in the marketing function, but in the company as a whole.
The need for marketers to develop analytical prowess — the ability to use data and analytical approaches to optimize the return on marketing spending — is already well established. An ongoing study by Booz & Company reveals that ROI analytics and consumer insights (many of which are derived from analytics) are the two capabilities that marketers identify as the most important to develop.
read more >>
Marketing in an era of post-consumerism
Get it and get it now before your neighbor does. It's a myth that's stood the test of time and fueled a global economy because it could. But what happens when people don’t want to buy like they used to ?
According to research from The Economist: “Sociologists detect a distinct change in people’s behaviour. Many people no longer seem consumed by the desire to consume; instead, they are planning to live within their means, and there has been a backlash against bling." If the "backlash against bling" is real, then what is marketing going to look like to millions of people who don't want to buy like they used to—who are marketing weary? What's the effect on companies who make their profits by continually producing new products?
On the business side, corporations are going to have to figure out how to incorporate more services as part of their core offerings. On the marketing front, there needs to be some recalibration. The holy grail of measuring a marketing initiative is being able to prove that more products have sold. But what if no one's buying? What if no one's listening for that matter?
Do you stop marketing? Of course not. Marketing just needs to be more meaningful and relevant to a "consumer" who is looking for more relevance and meaning in their lives. They'll repay you with loyalty and positive word of mouth if you can offer them this—but here lies the rub. Marketing was invented to take, not give. It's meant to generate awareness and sell products not provide value. There's nothing wrong with selling products and the best marketing does this well. But if the sociologists mentioned in The Economist are correct, than marketing may have to change it's stripes in order to be relevant to a consumer who is highly empowered, connected and asking themselves "do I really need more"?
read more >>
According to research from The Economist: “Sociologists detect a distinct change in people’s behaviour. Many people no longer seem consumed by the desire to consume; instead, they are planning to live within their means, and there has been a backlash against bling." If the "backlash against bling" is real, then what is marketing going to look like to millions of people who don't want to buy like they used to—who are marketing weary? What's the effect on companies who make their profits by continually producing new products?
On the business side, corporations are going to have to figure out how to incorporate more services as part of their core offerings. On the marketing front, there needs to be some recalibration. The holy grail of measuring a marketing initiative is being able to prove that more products have sold. But what if no one's buying? What if no one's listening for that matter?
Do you stop marketing? Of course not. Marketing just needs to be more meaningful and relevant to a "consumer" who is looking for more relevance and meaning in their lives. They'll repay you with loyalty and positive word of mouth if you can offer them this—but here lies the rub. Marketing was invented to take, not give. It's meant to generate awareness and sell products not provide value. There's nothing wrong with selling products and the best marketing does this well. But if the sociologists mentioned in The Economist are correct, than marketing may have to change it's stripes in order to be relevant to a consumer who is highly empowered, connected and asking themselves "do I really need more"?
read more >>
Major media in the shopping isle
No single TV show, newspaper, or Web site offers widespread access to consumers today. The last bastion of prime-time mass marketing may well be the retail shopping environment, an advertising vehicle that many people would not even consider a communication medium.
During the last few years, marketers, retailers, and media companies have intensified efforts to increase the impact of in-store advertising and make it a bigger part of the marketing mix. They are moving beyond traditional vehicles such as cardboard displays, printed ads, coupons at checkout, and video screens that run the same ad throughout the store. Video ads in stores are more targeted than they have ever been. They are powered by networks that offer programming aimed at particular shoppers, on the basis of where they are standing in the store, the promotions on nearby displays, and the time of day. Consumers in some stores can find shopping carts that help them navigate the aisles; if they pick up a bag of charcoal, the cart suggests barbecue recipes and guides them to the ingredients — mentioning, perhaps, which brands are on sale.
If consumers swipe the charcoal with a handheld scanner, the scanner generates a coupon for it and for complementary barbecue items such as chips or soda.
The next generation of in-store advertising, in the not-too-distant future, will transform the retail environment. It will allow shoppers to request information via their mobile phones or kiosks that provide product advice, help consumers make choices, and make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for.
It will also transform the advertising industry, reconfiguring marketers’ advertising budgets, their overall approach, and some of their strategic assumptions about reaching consumers.
read more >>
During the last few years, marketers, retailers, and media companies have intensified efforts to increase the impact of in-store advertising and make it a bigger part of the marketing mix. They are moving beyond traditional vehicles such as cardboard displays, printed ads, coupons at checkout, and video screens that run the same ad throughout the store. Video ads in stores are more targeted than they have ever been. They are powered by networks that offer programming aimed at particular shoppers, on the basis of where they are standing in the store, the promotions on nearby displays, and the time of day. Consumers in some stores can find shopping carts that help them navigate the aisles; if they pick up a bag of charcoal, the cart suggests barbecue recipes and guides them to the ingredients — mentioning, perhaps, which brands are on sale.
If consumers swipe the charcoal with a handheld scanner, the scanner generates a coupon for it and for complementary barbecue items such as chips or soda.
The next generation of in-store advertising, in the not-too-distant future, will transform the retail environment. It will allow shoppers to request information via their mobile phones or kiosks that provide product advice, help consumers make choices, and make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for.
It will also transform the advertising industry, reconfiguring marketers’ advertising budgets, their overall approach, and some of their strategic assumptions about reaching consumers.
read more >>
Tracing the premium customers
The most loyal customers are those who do their shopping both in stores and on the Internet. These customers also spend more money.
The Institute for Innovation and Economic organisation at the BI Norwegian School of Management has headed a research project which looks at how companies are handling multiple sales channels (The Multi-channel Project). The multi-channel customers, i.e. those who shops both in stores and on the Internet, are not quite like other customers. They shop more than other customer groups (i.e. those who shop either in stores or on the Internet). Multi-channel customers are also more loyal than other customer groups.
This makes multi-channel customers the most valuable customers a company can have - and the companies may not even be aware of it. In spite of the fact that most customers use several channels, both stores and the Internet, the companies consider them either store customers or Internet customers. Apparently, the companies have yet to discover these profitable and loyal multi-channel customers, and have only to a limited degree developed strategies for their new premium customers.
read more >>
The Institute for Innovation and Economic organisation at the BI Norwegian School of Management has headed a research project which looks at how companies are handling multiple sales channels (The Multi-channel Project). The multi-channel customers, i.e. those who shops both in stores and on the Internet, are not quite like other customers. They shop more than other customer groups (i.e. those who shop either in stores or on the Internet). Multi-channel customers are also more loyal than other customer groups.
This makes multi-channel customers the most valuable customers a company can have - and the companies may not even be aware of it. In spite of the fact that most customers use several channels, both stores and the Internet, the companies consider them either store customers or Internet customers. Apparently, the companies have yet to discover these profitable and loyal multi-channel customers, and have only to a limited degree developed strategies for their new premium customers.
read more >>
