PRECISION MARKETING

Precision Marketing with the name itself suggests accuracy and focus. The businesses must position themselves as necessary in the mind of the existing customers. As per the study, it is shown that Indian consumer shows fickle behavior when it comes to brand loyalty.

As per the reports by Inc. magazine gathering new customers is 5-10% more difficult than selling to the existing one. Also, major global consumer product companies that expend heavy amounts on mass-marketing have seen diminishing returns. As if the customers are familiar with the brand and the product it offers advertising costs get reduce. Also, the existing customer will spend up to 67% more than the new customer. But the existing customers also expect more from a company to be a loyal one. So, their needs and desire become high. Companies should take great efforts to fulfill the needs and desires of their existing customers as they are important for them and also to prevent the loss of their customers from emerging competitors.

Companies initially evolving databases of customers, along with the cutting-edge data warehousing and mining tools which increased the spending heavily to understand consumer behavior. But now they started to focus on identifying the micro-segment of customers. And then they use the most appropriate marketing communication channel to reach out to the target customers which is our micro-segment customers. So, segmenting of the market is dependent on harvesting data about customer behavior. Precision marketing will become successful with careful and comprehension plans.

In precision selling, a systematic process for segmenting customers and prospects is carried for developing segment-specific account coverage strategies. It is a marketing technique to retain, cross-sell, and upsell existing customers. The key role of precision marketing is customer retention and revitalization. Customer demand and expectation along with fierce competition are its driving factor.

Effective data which we can get from tools like Data management platforms(DMPs) and the advent of marketing clouds which helps the marketer to know where the consumers are spending their time and whether they are engaging with the brand's message or not.

There is a famous line by David Ogily "I know for a fact that half my advertising money is wasted. What I don't know which half." The first part of the statement is true but the second one is seldom true. Because it is important to know which part it is even before looking at the quality and nature of the efforts.

How HUL uses precision marketing by using Artificial intelligence to predict grocery needs?

HUL is re-imagining the way we shop in neighborhood stores. Many times we were surprised to know how the grocery shopkeeper knows what you ordered the last time and he reminds you to stock it. Let it be yummy Kissan jam, refreshing Lipton ice tea, detergent, or other toiletries supply.

 HUL is India based company that offers food, beverage, home care, and personal care products. It is spread across 600,000 villages and 10 million outlets. In the next 10 years, the general trade will remain big for it.

HUL recently outlined "PROJECT MAXIMA" which focuses on precision marketing at scale. Key highlights of this project:

In this initiative corner shop, strategy, and supply chain is reimagine. It is the biggest initiative undertaken over the last four years for its entire business which divides the country into 14 zones with initiatives like Winning in Many India’s (WiMi).

Here Cluster Category Business Teams as management is decentralized which helps in brand building and marketing.

In this project within 100m of a grocery shop, HUL can do targeted marketing which will geofence for distributed marketing and offers. It will extract the details of the customer about their buying behavior.

The company said, "HUL's data strategy would be how do we acquire, how do we store, how do we use this data and how do we manage it. In this VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world, HUL will prefer to disrupt than be disrupted". It will be achieved using the Internet of Things, AI, predictive analytics via software called Jarvis, and cloud technology.

Under the different simulated scenario, it helps to gauge what the sales is, the demand of the product, its volume, and profit scenarios. Error percentage is as low as 3-4%.

HUL is also having a keen eye on the conversations done by customers on social media platforms and picking up trends in the market. The company has created the micro marketing strategies in the business as per the search results which resulted in a 225% hike in the reach two-fold increase in engagement which increased the sale by 20% in the events like Lakme Fashion Week.

E-commerce accounts for 1.5% of overall revenues and growth and profitability. So, HUL will focus on E-commerce and modern trade more as compared to the general trade model.

Conclusion-

Precision marketing act as a great song which help marketer to engage with its customers. To increase the fan base of the company it’s very important to leverage the marketing technologies used which will provide the customers great experience continuously along with the best medium at the right place and time.