Page 77 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

execution skill. Great brand stories come to life only when they can be delivered
through everything the consumer experiences. The cost of all of this complexity can
rise rapidly once it gets out of control. Perhaps the big ideas of 2013 are old ones:
efficiency, scale, and execution.

Next outlook for 2013: How to win in 2013? Customer experience

How to win in 2013? Customer experience
January 2013

We're living in the digital equivalent of the Big Bang. Consumer technologies and
behaviors – from in-store price checks on smart phones to social searching for
products — are making digital the primary way customers interact with brands. Third-
party gateways such as social media platforms, search or price comparison sites
have separated brands from their customers. Even worse, the rise in price checking
behavior has created the risk that brands become less relevant as products become
commoditized.

In 2013, successful brands will put real resources into digital to deliver a great
customer experience. The best already are active developers of their digital
channels, from social media, to search, and online ads, but also have developed very
strong web destination sites, and experiment in digital co-creation with customers.
These are brands that build trust with their customers (by not spamming them, for
example, and providing content or offers that are relevant), deliver a unique brand
experience, embrace transparency with their customers (by being open to both
positive and negative feedback), and are responsive (by responding immediately
over social media rather than sending canned email responses). These companies
are actually converting sales at a much higher rate, between 50-150% better than
their peers.

In 2013, companies will build customer experience teams to have the authority to
design and shape interactions across all touchpoints, not just those that a given BU
has responsibility for. These teams will have to have cross-functional capabilities with
a deep understanding of interaction habits and behaviors at each touchpoint with
customers. And these teams will need to have the talent to not only design but also
guide implementation of experiences.

"Operations" becomes a key word in marketers vocabulary

January 2013