The Vulcan Mind Meld - Understanding the New Consumer

Some years ago during my days with an agency, I was presented with or rather took the opportunity to talk to some of the clients we served in a far more formal setting than I usually find myself in.

To understand this, you need to understand the philosophy with which I approach anything; I build relationships, Whether it is with the team in my care, the leadership or my clients. Relationships are at the centre of my "casual" behaviour.

If you are an 80’s kid, you have grown up with Star Trek and voyages of NCC 1701 or the U.S.S. Enterprise, captained by Jim Kirk and his trusty second in command, Spoc, a blend of human and Vulcan traits. What is interesting about the entire series to me now is the dynamic that Kirk shared with his team and everyone he engaged with, including the odd Klingon or two. Spoc could mind-meld, get inside the heads of people to know where they were or what they wanted and even share his thoughts without speaking them out, otherwise known as Empathy. Kirk, Spoc and his team still define a great team to me, they were strong, empathetic to cultures and civilizations that they had no clue about and even dealt with some tough situations with grit.

All this feels familiar; as an experiential marketer, you are continually finding yourself in situations where you have to display strength and empathy and even be the outlaw that Kirk sometimes is, going against the larger audience to trust his gut and go with a decision, all the while backed by his team.

In the industry we belong in, we find ourselves at an impasse. Current times have slowed down the growth of any possible innovations in terms of technology and tactile experiences that I have previously delivered.

But, now is the time to focus on creating inward and lasting experiences as a marketer through strategy and research and a deeper understanding of the product and the roadmap.

Nudgestock 2020, is a festival curated by Ogilvy Consulting that celebrates, studies and discusses Consumer Behaviour and Behavioural Science. I was intrigued by how consumer behaviour will be changing in the post-crisis (COVID-19) era.

The search led me to understand that in China and India, people remain optimistic about the growth of the economy post the crisis. In contrast, countries like Japan and the U.K. are doubtful.

The consumer will change, and with it, our CX strategy to evolve as well. Ogilvy Consulting put together a framework called AWARE to understand this better.

A — Assess Your Employee Experience: Assess the state of your employees and your ability to deliver an experience that will meet customers’ expectations during this time. How are your employees holding up? Have you made a clear plan for their health and safety? Do they have the resources they need to do their jobs and support your customers’ needs during this time? Your employees’ mental state and ability to do their jobs will have a profound effect on your customer experience. A recent Gallup poll states that only 54 per cent of employees strongly agree that, considering the current impact of COVID-19 on their jobs, they feel well-prepared to do their work. Just as you are instructed to put on your oxygen mask before helping someone else on an aeroplane, you must make sure that you are internally safe and healthy before reaching outward. This may mean understanding that your employees can’t do as much because they’re working from home while managing children and their schooling or that your essential employees require more sick time or more protective gear. Regardless of what it is, employee health — mental and physical — is imperative to creating a good experience for your customers.

W — Watch (and Wait): Unless you have a quick way that your brand can help contribute to the fight against COVID-19, take some time to evaluate what your customer base needs and how you can help. For many brands, this is a terrifying time, and there will be a lot of pressure to do something! However, doing the wrong thing at this time could be more damaging to your customer relationships than doing nothing. Ask yourself, How are our customers engaging with our brand during this time? Have we seen an increase or decrease in business? What about our customer experience metrics? A decline in the market may be unavoidable, but you may notice that your customers continue to engage with some of your touchpoints regardless. You may even see some of those metrics increase as customers make plans or wishes for the future. This data will help you understand what is still working within your customer experience strategy. This is an excellent time to connect directly with customers through your customer service channels. Put your researchers and other CX team members on the front lines of your customer service, listening in on calls and observing social media channels. It’s essential to understand how people are thinking about your products and services before you start making changes to your customer touchpoints and communications. According to Forrester, 4 in 10 consumers anticipate that they will get things done from home and reduce spending overall.2 Digging deeper, consumer attitudes about what activities they will engage in are changing drastically. Your brand is likely not immune to these changing mindsets.

A — Adjust Your Artifacts: Even if you’ve done careful and diligent work creating your customer and employee experience artefacts, such as personas, journeys, and service blueprints, the chances are that they are going to need some adjustments now. At least for some time, maybe forever, our world has changed, and customer needs and pain points have likely changed with it. Use the information you’ve gained during the watch period to make these adjustments. Although it’s possible that your core product and service touchpoints and maps won’t change during this time, I’ll bet you’ll find that personas and communication touchpoints will need to be updated. If you have a robust online business, you may find that you have new types of customers that have never seen you before. If you are a brand with physical locations, you’re likely experiencing drastic changes to your customer journeys as a result of social distancing. Adjusting your artefacts to show where your customers’ thoughts are today will help ensure that every team is working from the same information when changes are made. Distribute any updated artefacts to all relevant groups — CX, innovation, product, marketing, and customer service.

R — Rethink Your Strategy Now it’s time to rethink your customer engagement strategy. Do the changes to your customer behaviours or needs necessitate updated or new solutions or communications? Do your employees need new tools to help themselves be more efficient or to serve a new type of customer? To determine what touchpoints you need to rethink, first, compare your previous CX artefacts to your new ones. Discuss the changes with your teams. Are there natural ways to address the changes using existing messaging or solutions? If not, highlight these as areas of opportunity for ideation. Next, consider your new journeys and personas in the context of our new COVID-19/post-COVID-19 reality.

According to Forrester, only 24 per cent of U.S. online adults trust that companies are currently putting their health and well-being first when making business decisions.3 Do your communications and marketing feel appropriately sensitive to your employees’ and customers’ state of mind and current reality? For instance, if all the images on your website show people close to one another, could that make your customers feel uncomfortable? Don’t give your customers reasons to doubt or misconstrue your intentions or sensitivity to their situation. After you’ve determined where you need to adjust your touchpoints, determine the value to the business and complexity of the change to create a plan that prioritizes changes to drive the most significant gains quickly.

E — Ensure Success, So you’ve realigned your strategy, your employees have the tools that they need, and your revised touchpoints are rolling out. Now is the time for you to engage with your customers and employees by listening, responding clearly and directly, and measuring your changes to ensure that everything is working as you expect. Continue to monitor call centre data, social media, and other forms of qualitative customer input to ensure that your customers’ needs are being met. Also, make sure you’ve implemented a feedback loop on any employee experience changes you’ve made. When you respond to concerns, continue with clear and transparent messages so that your employees and customers know what to expect. Measure your touchpoint engagement, conversion, and satisfaction metrics to ensure that you made the right changes. Use measurement as a way to guide further changes or revisions to your strategy and ensure that your CX is generating value for your business.

The consumer is more aware. According to a report published by McKinsey, consumer behaviour is shifting and can be categorized into five broad themes.

• Shift to value and essentials
• Fight to digital and omnichannel.
• Shock to loyalty
• Health and “caring” economy
• Homebody economy

The shift is evident to a more sensible way of buying, and with it, a change in the way customer experience is created.

The future is not tactile from what I have read. It is going to be driven by emotional experiences, that foster loyalty and build conversations within the customer universe. We should use this time to understand each other better and create lasting value for everyone across the ecosystem.

I understand that and I am trying to carve out a niche for myself with a deeper understanding of what it means to be a marketer. Mind Melding with the consumer to drive engagement and build loyalty.