Smart Marketing -
Article One

Businesses that are "there" for customers

The “Inside Marketing” NBR column of May 2nd introduced “Customer-Centric Intelligence”, a significant evolution in business practice which has become major news overseas.  Coincidentally, this was followed by the DMA’s annual marketing conference, in which almost all the speakers presented elements of the Customer-Centric Intelligence approach.  As a result of this and other local interest, this week’s “Smart Marketing” column is the first of a seven-part NBR series on the subject.

To recap, Customer-Centric Intelligence is a management approach in which all aspects of a business’s operations are analysed to obtain maximum efficiencies and profits. This may sound like any well-managed business, but one key difference of the Customer-Centric Intelligence approach is that consumer values and behaviour are integrated into the system to the same extent as stock and supply-chain management, brand management and marketing, storefront operations, HR and financial management.  In fact, the Customer-Centric Intelligence approach integrates detailed analysis of all aspects of customer behaviour, across all touchpoints, through in-depth data-mining as well as supplementary market research, the latter which also provides insights on competitors and potential customers.

Given this, the question often asked of Customer-Centric Intelligence is the need for quite such an in-depth understanding of consumers.  The need, however, is all around us.  Understanding how consumers and society are changing opens the doors for a brand or business which can change to suit.

These changes come under three categories.  First is social devolution – a term which reflects the fact that most foundations of modern western society are rapidly changing, e.g. the role and status of religion, education, national security, the family, sexual politics, career expectations, etc.  When these “dislocating” social changes are combined with people’s inherent desire to feel part of a like-mined group, it is clear that many consumers are left with unfulfilled individual and social needs, and/or un-tested alternatives. 

The second category of consumer change is the increase in the pace of life.   This is a well-known trend, but less well-known is why most people feel increasingly frustrated at the pace of their lives.  Researchers have determined that the main cause of perceived pace of life is the number of decisions people are asked to make.  People are stressed, busy - despite the abundance of labour-saving devices.  They are looking for anything that makes life easier.

The third consumer trend is the proliferation of technology.  Despite the advantages of this trend, the upshot for many is a clear sense of information overload.  As a result, consumers are taking more mental shortcuts and becoming increasingly critical as they are left wondering what to believe.

In this scenario, businesses generally only add to the clutter, the change, and the rush, and in doing so make the situation worse for themselves, the wider marketplace and of course the consumers themselves – who only really want to hear from advertisers when it suits them.  What the Customer-Centric Intelligence approach does, in consequence, is use all the insights and measures at its disposal to actually turn these problems to their advantage, becoming both a saviour and consumer-loved brand in the process.

Consider the consumer trends noted above, and what can be gained from a company …

• who embraces and represents the values which consumers increasingly yearn to see reinforced as the norms of old disintegrate (a familiar face amongst a sea of change);
• which is so in tune with consumers’ behaviour that consumer interactions and promotions are positioned, presented and placed in times and locations which genuinely help consumers get through their days (coping with the pace of life);
•  who fully integrates customer insights with all the channels available in order to foster a better one-to-one relationship with the consumer – one which actually adds quality and surety to consumers’ lives. 

A business or brand which is truly ‘there” for a consumer; which can become an integral, supportive and trusted friend within customers’ lives, is one that has taken knowledge, and transforming it into positive intelligence, reaping the benefits as a result. 

Next week: Who’s got Customer-Centric Intelligence and how are they getting their customer insights?