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Article 1 – Nissan: On building physical and digital bridges and creating an ideal customer experience

(Adapted from Marketing Tech News, Published on November 19, 2020) 

It has always been vital to build the right customer experience and the continuing uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic has made it even more important and have shone a light on organisations’ robustness – with the reasons to take into account like changing consumer sentiment and habits. 

A recent research from McKinsey witnessed a new shopping behaviours across overwhelming number of citizens; since the pandemic began! Emerging economies such as Brazil (84%) and India (96%) saw the highest numbers, while for most of Europe, such as Italy (69%), Spain (66%) and the UK (63%), the figure hovered around two-thirds.

The automotive industry keeping up with the same trend, from Capgemini study found that before Covid-19, just under half (44%) of car buyers did all their research online. Today, this has risen to more than 52%.

The automobile giant, Nissan has observed these trends and Gareth Dunsmore, region vice president, brand and customer experience, is keeping up the pace with the changing trends

He shares that from a consumer perspective, automotive interest collapsed as a mirror image to Covid growing in February, March and April and when it came back, the percentage of electric vehicles was significantly higher. One of the biggest trends, he notes, is mobile-first engagement. In India – where 96% of McKinsey respondents had altered their buying behaviour – it is ‘almost all mobile-based’. The overall figure is nearer 70%. While this was a pre-Covid trend, there is more to add. He adds that customers aren’t starting and finishing their journey and people will engage with the [Nissan] site in the evening or morning on mobile. During the day they’ll shift to laptops and desktops, perhaps as they’re working, and then they’re back to their phone, and perhaps also palming that off to a partner or friend. He shares that ability to bounce between devices is absolutely key, and its seen more so during Covid.

For dealerships, where according to Autotrader among others, around three quarters of car sales in the UK are made, it’s slightly different. The partnership between manufacturer and dealer is key, with helping the customer along their journey at the right time. Earlier this month, Nissan Saudi Arabia launched a WhatsApp account for customer service, as well as to help understand when customers are ready to speak to a third-party.

Nissan has another ace up its sleeve in this regard. Shop At Home, launched in July, is a one-size-fits-all arena for new and used cars, buying options, and accurate information.

He narrates that some of the biggest pain points customers have in the industry is the lack of transparency; making it hard to find what was looked for previously, or understanding the best deal without having to hunt around, or ask three different people within the same chain and getting three different answers.

Nissan estimates more than 4  in 10 customers still want to go into the dealership to have that final, face-to-face discussion. Shop At Home is therefore not a question of competing with dealerships, and it's more about giving the customer the power to do things in the way the company wants to do it. The key is to make things simple and easy.

 “With all the effort and investment in digital, never forget the first job for any brand is to try and get people to turn their towards you and think ‘what does this brand stand for?’ Why is it there, and if it wasn’t there, would I miss it?” says Dunsmore. “I think there’s an element of that you can do with digital, but for me the best way is a combination of a really amazing, rich, immersive physical experience with digital amplifying it. “Once you’re engaging with them, really try and think on their terms,” he adds. “We shouldn’t be arrogant enough to presume that we know exactly what every single individual customer wants to do.

“In many environments, there isn’t either the luxury of completing the purchase fully online, or the customers want more than just an online experience. How you create that bridge is absolutely vital, as well as investing in that, both in terms of data transfer and making sure you’re creating a digital to physical bridge in a way that adds value to the customer.

“I think there will be many, many years yet where that physical engagement is just as key at the end, but it can be enhanced with creating the right digital bridges.

Read more at - https://marketingtechnews.net/news/2020/nov/19/gareth-dunsmore-nissan-on-building-physical-and-digital-bridges-and-creating-an-ideal-customer-experience/

Article 2 – Gillette, Unilever, TOMS Footwear: Three strong examples of purpose-led marketing

 (Adapted from Marketing Tech News, Published on April 07, 2020) 

Any brand’s secret to success is rooted in their go-to-market strategy, which is based on embracing values shared by their consumer base. These shared values in turn fuel purpose; publicly standing for something emasses legions of fierce brand loyalists who share the same beliefs. These consumers, many of whom are the all-desirable younger generations, act as a catalyst for growth through vigorous advocacy, which in turn erodes market share away from large incumbents. This phenomenon has sparked the rise of purpose-led marketing.

As per the research, millennials are the most environmentally conscious generation, and more than 80% favor sustainable products. A Cone Communications report found that “more than 9 in 10 millennials would switch brands to one associated with a cause.” And a recent Accenture Report on purpose-led marketing notes that “53% of consumers who are disappointed with a brand’s words or actions on a social issue complain about it.”

No doubt purpose-led marketing is a hot topic, getting a lot of attention in the press these days. Is it for all brands? What are the risks and benefits? How can companies ensure they do it right? To help answer these questions, let’s look at three high-profile purpose-led marketing initiatives.

TOMS was founded as a purpose-driven company. CEO and founder Blake Mycoskie said he started the company after visiting South America and seeing a lot of kids without shoes. He decided that for every pair sold, the company would donate a pair to kids in need. Since 2006 the company has donated 88 million pairs of shoes to kids.

On November 7 2018, Blake’s world changed. That’s the day when a mass shooting left a dozen people dead on Thousand Oaks, California. Less than two weeks later he announced that Toms would donate $5 million to organisations that seek to curb gun violence — the largest corporate gift of its kind. He also created a website tool to make easy for constituents to petition their members of Congress for change. According to the website, some 700,000 postcards have been sent.

How has the anti-gun initiative worked out for TOMS? In 4 months, the new platform has generated 59 billion media impressions. New account openings have increased 20 percent, compared with this time last year. TOM’s purpose-led marketing is successful in part because it has always been a core part of the company’s DNA. According to Footwear News, TOMS looked to social media to measure sentiment, and found that 75% of people were extremely positive about the company’s gun-control initiatives.

Shortly after TOMS launched its anti-gun initiative Gillette rolled out an ad campaign designed to combat toxic masculinity. The campaigns stated goal was to make men the best they can be by eliminating sexist and violent behaviour. The reaction on social media was instant and hostile (though plenty of people praised the brand for their ads). In truth, not everyone hated the campaign. Political Editor Jennifer Wright noted the hypocrisy of men taking offence at a brand telling them how to behave given that brands have dictated how women should look, behave and think since the dawn of advertising. So why did Gillette embark on the campaign? According to CEO and president Gary Coombe, it was a tactic to increase relevance among millennials and to turn around falling market share, and any flak the brand received was “price worth paying.” Did it work? According to Coombe, “The worst thing through that period was, we also lost connection with the millennial generation. Gillette quickly became the brand of the millennial generation’s dads.” In other words, for all the attention the campaign received, the messaging was fatally botched.

Younger audiences value sustainability and brands that don’t match the commitments to eco-friendly products will fail to Millennial and Gen Z consumers. Unilever is no exception, which is why the company has made sustainability a core driver of growth and differentiation. Nearly half of its top 40 brands focus on sustainability. Is that focus delivering results? According to Accenture, those brands are growing 50% faster and are responsible for more than 60% of the company’s growth

Read more at - https://marketingtechnews.net/news/2020/apr/07/gillette-unilever-toms-footwear-three-strong-examples-of-purpose-led-marketing/