Why delivering a compelling and authentic voice is the key to engaging the new consumer…

Companies across a multitude of industries are experiencing a lessening in the impact and ROI of their traditional marketing and advertizing. The slower economy looks like the obvious culprit and is certainly somewhat to blame but that’s not the whole story.

Simply put, consumers have always been amused by clever marketing and ad slogans but do not actually put a great deal of faith on all those cleverly crafted brand promises. That was fine as long as it constituted a friendly wink and nudge between the business and the consumer. But now we have reached critical mass where misrepresentation by corporations has culminated. Consumers are not only out of patience with vagaries and hype, but they have become remarkably good at recognizing brand and marketing messages that are not consistent with the real value of the offering.

Business in general, and consumer products companies in particular, have to speak a new language to a very well informed and somewhat leery consumer. Companies must speak directly to customers using clear, authentic and compelling messaging and not hide behind the veil that much traditional branding represents.

Pulling back the curtains around your company might be challenging at the outset, but it will give you the credibility that you will need to engage and build relationships and loyalty with consumers in today’s changing economy.

Consumption today is all about significance and significance is everything that isn’t utility. Despite the current turmoil, we live in a culture of huge abundance and that means we have pretty much all of what we really need. People’s choices about what to buy are driven by the significance of the purchase, how it makes them feel. The more significant your product is, the better it will do.

So what is significance?

Well it’s made up of several components, and this isn’t written in stone, but the most important aspect is design. Design is the primary reason to choose one product over another. If you look at product superstars like iPhone or retail success stories like Target, you will see that they shifted the focus of their offering heavily onto design and differentiated themselves in that way. Good ideas like TableTopics are made great through inspired design. Bizarre ideas like bottled water that costs more than gasoline are made possible through inspired design. I am sure bad ideas have slipped under the net for the same reason.

Consumer products companies that develop great products and ignore design are missing a fundamental truth about today’s market and consumer. I call it the utility trap. Be the best by all means but be sure and be the best looking too.

Companies have, for years, been able to control the one way flow of information from their corporate brand strategy out to the customer via traditional media. Well guess what? Your brand just got hijacked!

Your customers are increasingly likely to go to the internet to find out about you and your products. When they type your name into google, it’s unlikely that they will return to your own web site with a neat representation of your brand identity and promise. They are more likely to find themselves in Wikipedia or some other site that offers them the latest interpretation of your brand by those who actually experienced it in a way that motivated them to comment. That gives you direct accountability for the experience of every one of your customers and if you’re not meeting your promise then you’re likely to hear about it and so is everybody else. WOW!

Realistically you’re going to have bad brand days just like bad hair days, but what a great opportunity to refocus on the customer, listen to their needs, respond to their feedback and create the dialogue on which long term relationships and true customer loyalty is built. Pay attention to consumer feedback! It is immediate and incredibly valuable.

Tell us, we’d like to know. $836 USD like the chart says?

How are you going to spend your holiday gifting dollars?

#1) Gift Cards. Did you know these are not reported in the holiday sales totals until the cards are spent? The holiday sales report season has been extended thru January.

#2) Books, CD’s, Video Games, and Videos

#3) Clothing and Accessories

80% of Business leader think they do a good job serving customers – 8% of customers agree

This is a pretty staggering statistic. What can you do about it?

1. Start with your product or service. This is the reality
of your customers experience with you. Where the rubber hits the road as it were. Know what your customers want and give it to them. Then provide great service to back it up.

2. Create a format for dialogue with your customer. Their feedback will help you get it right. Listening and responding to them will also build trust, loyalty and credibility around your brand.

3. Understand and capitalize on the technology that customers are choosing as a vehicle for interacting with the market place. Today, that means the internet, social networking, blogging and so on. Stay on top of what people are saying about you and be a part of the conversation.

4. Don’t abandon your customer after sale. Engage and educate them so they receive maximum value from their purchase and will look to you to meet future needs.

5. Speak the language. Understand the power of peering on the internet and the shift in the definition of our brand into the consumer controlled realm. Consumer behavior is being literally transformed right now and old methods for marketing, advertizing, sales and distribution are not enough. Be open minded and creative about your business. Be prepared to shift. Develop the mindset that allows you to evolve with the demands and expectations of your customers.

What do shoppers want from E-tailers:

The short answer is MORE! Customer expectations are growing at a rate that is equal to e-tailers abilities to meet them. That means that your standards are being set for you by companies who have hopped on the high speed technology train and are heading out of the station. Get on board!

1) Give your shoppers a hassle free return policy.

2) Encourage engagement and feedback from your customers and then respond. Implementing review capability has been shown to increase conversion rate by up to 49%

3) Create the right space. Ensure that your web site is an easy place for your customer to spend time. Beware of navigational roadblocks on one hand or being overly transactional on the other. Shoppers want to browse and be somewhat entertained on their way to a purchase.

4) Remember that engagement is a two way street. Your customers expect to hear back from you. This can mean a lot of things. Intelligent feedback on your site which interprets your customer’s preferences and feeds them information consistent with that. Recognition and special offers to existing customers, blogs, forums and many more.

What are you doing? We’d like to know.