How 3 Top Brands are Using Personalization

These days, customers want to feel that they’re being heard and understood by their favorite brands. In fact, 73% of consumers want a more personalized shopping experience. Personalization allows brands to create a unique experience for their customers — in turn, demonstrating that they are being heard, and hopefully contribute to increased sales volume.

And, it is working. According to a study done by Infosys, 86% of consumers are influenced by personalization when making shopping decisions. Consumers are motivated to purchase more when they are made to feel relevant.

Thus, personalization has become increasingly important for brands and their success. Let’s take a look at three brands that are succeeding by bringing personalization into the consumer journey.

Burberry

This 156-year-old brand has pioneered a different kind of personalization for customers. Partnering up with Pinterest, Burberry has given customers a way to build personalized boards with product content provided by Burberry.

The “Cat Lashes” promo initiative offers a personalized experience for customers based on their makeup preferences. Users take a quick questionnaire and get personalized makeup looks and tips through a personalized Pinterest board. Burberry promotes their Cat Lashes Mascara through the Pinterest boards. The personalized boards also offer tips on how to create relevant looks for each customer while also using the Cat Lashes Mascara.

According to an internal study, 42% of consumers have bought products based on promoted pins they saw on Pinterest. Burberry’s “Cat Lashes” initiative is, therefore, capitalizing on Pinterest’s broad consumer base. The personalized boards serve as a promotional hub for the Cat Lashes Mascara, as well as related and relevant Burberry products.

GILT

Gilt.com was listed in Fast Company’s Top 25 Innovative Companies in 2010and ranked first in fashion that year. How did a company, which launched in 2007, garner so much success in just five years? The reason is that the online retailer personalizes sales and promotions for each customer and app user.

The luxury flash sales site has installed a personalized user page online and on the mobile app. This personalization feature is called “Your Personal Sale,” and goes beyond the daily e-mails a shopper receives. The personalized sales, generated by an algorithm, takes into consideration a customer’s entire shopping experience. Based on factors such as purchase history, geographic location, browsing behavior, and personal preferences, “Your Personal Sale” finds fresh items and deals daily. Personalization goes one step further, with Gilt.com also considering size, categories, and brands that customers frequently engage with. Each personalized sale lasts 24 hours, after which a new set of deals and sales are presented. According to CIO Steve Jacobs, personalized sales are “the next phase of the flash sale model.” The company leverages the sense of discovery the app provides, “tailoring [the] shopping experience just for them.”

Gilt.com brings personalization to the online fashion and retail platform and makes a conscious effort to tailor products to its customers. According to  Jacobs, “people are coming back more frequently, and they’re excited to see what’s in their sale tomorrow.” Personalized sales pushed the online retailer to be valued at roughly $1 billion just after five years of launching. Gilt’s personalization strategy has propelled the e-commerce company to enormous success.

Spotify

The online music platform Spotify is the leading music streaming host, despite competitors like iTunes and Google Play.

The introduction of personalized playlists has distinguished Spotify from other streaming sources.

One of these personalized playlist functions is “Discover Weekly.” Discover Weekly is a service which personalizes to each listener’s taste across a variety of genres. A personal playlist of 30 songs is curated and released each Monday based on listening habits. The music streaming service has also launched the “Release Radar” feature. Every Friday, the two-hour playlist is updated with newly released music from artists and bands a listener frequents. In addition, listeners who curate their playlists receive personalized suggestions on their playlists as well. The streaming service learns from personal preferences, songs skipped and replayed, and even looks at micro-genre music preferences to curate the best suggestions for each listener.

Spotify’s lead engineer and algorithm creator Edward Newett says, “we’re trying to show that Spotify understands users better than anyone else.” Within the first 10 months of launching, Discover Weekly saw 5 billion song plays. Senior product owner Matt Ogle says Discover Weekly’s success has “completely changed” the way Spotify interacts with consumers. The great success with user personalization has also increased consumer loyalty. Spotify boasts 40 million paid subscribers, compared to Apple Music’s 20 million paid subscribers.

Personalization is key to a brand’s success and transforms the customer experience. The focus on personalization allows many of these companies to grow as customers engage with brands more and more. With personalization on the rise, it will be interesting to see how industries implement various personalization tactics into their customers’ experiences.

The Best in Banking Personalization: USAA’S Innovative Customer Service

Legendary Service in the Digital Age

USAA is known for providing great service. Don’t believe it? The Temkin list of companies with the best customer service ranks USAA as No. 1 and has done so for the past five years. Why is USAA so highly ranked? USAA is passionate about providing the best in financial services to the men, women, and families involved with the military. According to the President of Property/Casualty insurance, Wayne Peacock, “that passion is what fuels our focus on delivering an exceptional member experience by listening to our members and constantly innovating to meet their needs.”

USAA’s goal is to bring the best customer service experience to each and every member. USAA has worked to create a heightened customer experience through enhancing services available in their mobile application as well as omnichannel customer service. Let’s explore how USAA is leading the way in using omnichannel personalization to create a better customer experience.

Mobile App

USAA has changed their mobile application to make it easy for members to navigate. Members can now easily access all features and functions within the mobile app; however, there is a focus on what each member does most frequently.

USAA begins the personalization from the moment a member opens the mobile app. The interface of the USAA app looks the same. However, the iteration per member differs. Personalized landing pages are a key feature of the app. These pages show the tasks each member does most frequently and their accounts. The products and services a member may see on the mobile app coincide with the products and services they have with USAA. If a member has a financial account with USAA, they will be able to see only relevant banking information on the account.

USAA has also made their app more user-friendly by integrating personalization and omnichannel interactions to the mobile app. Within the mobile application, customer context provides highly personalized information that the company and its members share between each other. This information is synced up across channels. For example, a member can make a payment online and see that same activity on the mobile application. By having the app customize to each member’s omnichannel interactions, USAA can better serve and help its members by highlighting that which matters to each member.

Functionality

Sharing information across channels has given USAA a way to effectively provide omnichannel customer service to its members as well. Members can now get immediate service anywhere, at any time, and from any device.

USAA has implemented a contact handoff system. When a member clicks “Contact Us” in the mobile app, they are connected to a service representative. These service representatives are provided information about the member and what they were looking for, before actually speaking to the member. Service representatives greet members by name and can immediately start helping without having members reiterate their questions.  Having this knowledge of the member’s information gives USAA the ability to create an experience that demonstrates to the member that USAA knows them.

USAA works to be aware of its members’ daily lives. Personalized customer service drives efforts to increase the service efficiency a member gets. Members no longer have to wait to speak with someone, nor are they bombarded with unnecessary questions. The assistance they need is at their fingertips.
USAA’s dedication to providing legendary service has allowed them to provide highly personalized support over multiple mediums. Sharing context about members across channels is enhancing the member experience. Members save time and get the assistance they need when they need it. USAA serves its members well by providing a better experience based on their personal needs. As an innovative leader in technology within banking, it will be exciting to see where USAA decides to explore next within the technology landscape.

The Best ROI In Marketing: Personalization

Omni channel personalization is here to stay. Nearly 50% of U.S. brands are working to streamline their brand experience within the next five years, as they chase industry leaders like Google, Netflix and Amazon. They are already seeing the benefits of personalization. But as a savvy corporate marketer, you need to take an objective look at what is going on to make sure you’re not just getting caught up in a fad. You need to be sure the money and time you’re thinking of spending to streamline your customer experience is going to have a positive impact and, ultimately, an increasing ROI.

In this article, we’ll explore how and why personalization is becoming a marketer’s primary focus and the fantastic ROI that comes from it.

Exclusive Bonus: Download this guide to learn the 3 easy ways personalization can increases ROI.

The Value Of Personalization And ROI

You can see it more and more online: companies of all sorts, like Google, Amazon, Netflix, and even a brick-and-mortar store like Best Buy, are integrating different forms of personalization to improve the customer experience and strengthen their brand.

You’ve probably had experiences with all of these companies, whether a personal Netflix account that you fiercely guarded, your email and browser settings, or your wish list on Amazon. All these industry leaders understand the value of personalization and have taken the wise words of Dale Carnegie’s 1936 timeless book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, to heart:

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

The Best ROI In Marketing: Personalization NectarOM

People LOVE hearing their name, and having things just for them – it’s hard-wired into us, and human nature!

Since the cumulative value of these companies is around 228.65 billion it must mean they’re doing something right; not only that but they’re on the leading edge of personalization and are implementing these features for one ultimate reason – because they increase their ROI.

As a business or marketer of any size or type, personalization isn’t something you can conquer in one leap overnight. It’s a new mentality that you can build into your business moving forward. The best part is, its positive effects can be felt immediately and the long term benefits will hit you like a wrecking ball. The result? Loyal customers who keep buying time after time, give you valued feedback, and don’t complain.

Too good to be true, right?

Wrong.

You can change your marketing direction just a little bit, and in a while, you’ll see significant changes. It’s a long game, and the psychological approach to omni channel personalization really seals the deal of why personalization is a must.

Let’s work backward to see exactly how it increases ROI:

Great profits and continually successful companies have loyal customers.

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Loyalty is created because the company provides consistent products and experiences the customer wants.

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Loyal Customers are repeatedly engaging with the company because they have an excellent system in place to deliver meaningful content.

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The company effectively introduces relevant content and recommendations that make customers feel special and keep them coming back.

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The customer will introduce their friends, who are equally valuable to the brand.

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Then repeats, following the “Good to Great” Flywheel effect, breaking through with increased sales.

 

And when you’re coming back, it means you’ll buy another product, or keep your subscription going, or click on more ads, which all increase ROI.

Exclusive Bonus: Download this guide to learn the 3 easy ways personalization can increases ROI.

Personalization Improves Clarity

The Best ROI In Marketing: Personalization NectarOM

Your brand is made up of the small interactions that customers have with it, sort of like a mosaic. Though you, the artist, know how you want it to look, will all your customers, who can only see a tiny portion, understand what you’re trying to convey? If they don’t know what you’re selling, you’re not going to make any money.

It’s imperative that brands have a consistent experience which links things together. With an authentic omni channel-integrated, personalized brand, a customer can understand it from any point of access.

If someone started shopping on their laptop and want to finish the process on their phone, the experience needs to be the same. If it isn’t, that could mean one less sale. Additionally, you can’t disregard that data and pretend like it didn’t happen. The implicit data could mean that the user is showing your business to a friend or trying to use it in a new way, which could represent a new group of customers.

Using Google as another example, someone might have been looking for vacuum cleaners while they were out on their iPhone. Google will remember that search, and then offer vacuum ads when they hop on their laptop.

To not connect the dots or log the mobile search with their overall system is losing potential revenue for Google, which could have displayed new relevant ads to make more money.

Tracking all aspects and interactions of customers with your brand will lead to a higher ROI.

Different Channels

The Best ROI In Marketing: Personalization NectarOM

A channel is any source of traffic coming to your business. Traditional digital channels include computer websites, mobile sites, social media presence, communities like Reddit or LinkedIn, ads, email marketing,apps, devices like beacons or Internet of Things (IoT). When marketing, it is important to have a comprehensive view of all channels.

This channel fit doesn’t only matter to you; it matters more for your customers. If your target audience spends a lot of time on Instagram, it won’t make sense to spend your marketing budget for LinkedIn ads.

Moving one step further with the Google example, understanding what channel people are choosing to interact with your brand is also crucial. Smart businesses never rely on one channel, as shifts beyond their control like Google changing their algorithm can completely devastate traffic.

One way tracking channel data can lead to a higher ROI is by cross-pollination, or reaching new channels.

Say you typically interact with a company solely through their website and emails. They should be tracking this data and using it to their advantage in their ongoing Facebook ad campaign. With this knowledge, they have the potential to show you content they know you’ll love, on a different channel.

Since you like the brand and are a paying customer, you choose to watch one of their news feed videos, and maybe even share it.

Bam. That share does something special.

By sharing this video, you’re introducing the brand to all of your friends. Not only that, but you’ve recommended their content by liking and sharing it.

This didn’t happen by mistake. Smart brands track data between channels to save on ad testing and deliver content that has already been proven to work. This is exactly how brands are getting more exposure, and in front of more customers.

Knowing where customers hang out will increase your visibility to get you noticed on an untapped segment. If you know what your customers are doing on your site, it’s essential to send the right message to them to get them moving, and increase your bottom line.

 

Personalization + E-commerce Example = Best friends

If the last example of growing your brand by tracking email stats and then using them in ads may have seemed a little complicated, this e-commerce example will be a no-brainer.
Any customer using an e-commerce site needs to log in to an account to put items in their shopping cart. This alone can give marketers a significant advantage for tracking data to be used for personalized content. Pairing this with the knowledge that 75% of online shopping carts are abandoned before checkout, you have an easy opportunity to make some additional sales.

The Best ROI In Marketing: Personalization NectarOM

All those abandoned shopping carts may look like a digital ghost town; but, the truth is, there are lots of reasons for abandonment, and it usually isn’t because you’ve irritated them. Maybe they were running late, got distracted by their children, or other dinner was burning?

As an e-commerce business owner, if you could stop this or get some of those lost carts to check out, would you? Of course. There’s no better or easier way to increase your ROI.

Understanding your customers and using omni channel integration will make it easier than ever to bring those ghost carts back from the dead.

It’s been proven time after time that sending personalized emails shortly after abandonment increases conversion anywhere from 8 – 20%. This is something as simple as showing what items were in the abandoned cart. This, the simplest of cross-platform integrations is a simple tactic can lead to great results.

 

What It All Means

It’s important to understand that the more you know about your customers, the better you can market to them. This means that integrating data from all of your different channels can help get a clear image and connect the dots of your brand mosaic. This ultimately allows you to make data driven decisions that will help your bottom line.

Tracking multiple channels, on multiple platforms, analyzing the data and making informed decisions to increase ROI is a job for a full marketing team if you want to do it properly. Luckily, our team at NectarOM has had lots of experience with this. We’ve knocked it out of the park for industry leaders like Michael’s, Vitamin World and many more. Our track record speaks for itself. If your business is at the point where you have traffic and sales but know it can be brought up to the next level, consider getting in touch to see how we can help.

Exclusive Bonus: Download this guide to learn the 3 easy ways personalization can increases ROI.

If you take one thing away from this, it’s that personalization is one of the best ROIs out there, with a significant shift happening industry wide, pushing towards complete omni channel personalization. The sooner you act to improve your customer experience, the faster you’ll see the results, and the longer they’ll last.

How Marketing Personalization Increases Customer Loyalty

What Kind Of Data Do You Need To Be Tracking To Meet Your Conversion Goals?

Who are the best kind of customers? The ones that never complain and keep buying from you and tell everyone they love you. You know the type.

They’re the loyal ones.

If you’re trying to grow a solid brand, loyalty should be on your radar. There are multiple definitions of what loyalty means to businesses. While loyalty programs, such as points, miles, coupons, are great, the type of loyalty you want from your customers is blind devotion, and refusal to look elsewhere. The problem is: loyalty is hard to obtain. It takes a lot of work and effort to gain trust, and along the way one slip-up could negatively impact all that hard work. It’s a very delicate process, there’s no question about it, but if done right the benefits far outweigh the drawback.

Exclusive Bonus: Download NowThe Personalization Checklist To Increase Customer Loyalty

Take Apple fanboys for example. There weren’t nearly as many of them around 20 years ago, but now there are tons, and Apple is the most profitable company in the world.

Coincidence?

I don’t think so. They are the best kind of loyal customers, willing to pay a premium for products and line up for days before they’re even out. These aren’t exclusive models either, and, on paper, they’re comparable to ones can be bought for nearly half the price. But people continue to buy from them. Why? These are customers that are loyal because they like the entire process, from the lineup to unboxing.

Gaining this type of loyalty is hard, but with businesses having the ability to capture more data, personalizing content is an easy way to start fostering a loyal customer. Let’s explore three aspects of personalization that you shouldn’t ignore.

1 – Profiles & Behaviors

Data can reveal a lot about someone: where they are, what browser they’re using, what links they clicked and what kind of device they’re on. It’s a marketer’s dream, and this information can, and should be used to help you increase your conversion.

In general, there are two types of data: explicit or implicit.

Explicit signals are hard facts: This user was on an iPhone in Canada, and clicked three links and visited the site four times.

Implicit signals are what you can deduce from the hard facts: It looks like this user was browsing items. Since he’s from Canada, he’s less likely to purchase than an American; but, since he’s clicked three links and been to the site four times, he has a high chance of buying.

Turning implicit signals, which come in the form of data, into explicit signals and determining how you can initiate the sale can be a daunting task. NectarOM can simplify things and help automate this process in real time.

 

Customer profile

Once you have begun tracking your data, your next goal should be to create virtual profiles of your customers by combining data from multiple sources.

A profile describes a particular segment of customers with as much information as possible. This should include info like:

Exclusive Bonus: Download NowThe Personalization Checklist To Increase Customer Loyalty

These are just a few examples of points you can use to build your own persona. When you have a clearer picture of your ideal customer, the next step is to describe them and turn them into real people. Only once you have a profile of your customer can you start creating a plan to market to them. There’s no point wasting your time on strategies that might work.

How somebody is interacting with your content can tell you a lot about who they are and how they will interact with your brand. Generally speaking, mobile use accounts for a lot of search traffic as well as browsing, while computer/laptop traffic accounts for the majority of purchases.

 

2 – Test & Learn Strategies

What a simple world it would be if all leads came from the same place. You could focus all your marketing efforts on one thing and then clean up! But this is real life, and people are complicated. Different people hang out on various sites and can experience a brand in a variety of ways. One may prefer your Twitter feed, and another may frequent your site. Where they access your brand influences what they buy.

You can use this knowledge to your advantage by sending unique channel offers. For example, we all know Instagram is ideal for sharing images, so depending on what kind of images your audience’s feed is filled with, you could make something that blends in and barely looks like an ad. In this example from Qaloring, it’s not clear that they’re selling anything, and all you see is a woman in exercise clothes.

loyalty in marketing imagePeople on Twitter are usually looking for some interesting news, delivered in the iconic 140 characters or less and is a great place to promote your product with a catchy headline that gets people curious. Looking at the example from Ideapod; they play to people’s egos and drum up a bit of intrigue.
indeapod imageAm I smart? Heck yes! *click*

It can also be used to easily tag influencers in the industry to try and drum up some buzz for your product.

Facebook is a mix of the two, allowing more headlines but also a lot of space for an image. This ad from Jetsetter gets right to the point with a clear offer and beautiful picture.
facebook post image

Giving messages that relate to how people like to interact with a brand is the key to success. Make sure you’re not only thinking about the marketing campaign but how people will interact with your campaign over all sorts of channels and devices that you’re choosing to run it on. The more specific and targeted your campaign is, the better it will perform.

Exclusive Bonus: Download NowThe Personalization Checklist To Increase Customer Loyalty

3 – Automated Activation

Knowing all of this information is great, and any business owner should be doing everything they can to leverage this wealth of data that is at their disposal, but if you aren’t using or tracking this information, then you’re wasting your time. We here at NectarOM have an orientation toward action and apply marketing automation, predictive analytics and trigger based communications. Our system allows you to put this data to work. That way you can create detailed user profiles and implement laser precision campaigns.

No matter what your business model is, trigger based messages can help foster loyalty and increase your ROI. Making each customer feel special by delivering content based on their actions is a surefire way to keep them coming back.

With e-commerce, you’re always in the trenches, so to speak, looking forward to that sale and email notification coming through. Automated personalization has been proven to help with cart abandonment, by sending a follow-up email a day or so later. This can help bring people back to the state of mind where they were about to purchase, and could seal the deal.

As a corporate marketer, you’re more concerned with activating users because it’s necessary for continued subscription and a long term relationship. Sending a series of tips during a trial period, and capping it off with a ‘last chance, the trial is expiring’ email is a great place to start, and sure to get a conversation going with customers looking for an extension.

In a brick-and-mortar setting, clienteling, or providing a personal touch to shoppers can go a long way to building loyalty. This is usually achieved by using software to learn about customers preferences, behaviors, and purchases, and then having sales reps connect with customers in meaningful ways.

 

The Loyalty Effect In Action

At the highest level, getting all these systems in place can create machine-learning recommendations, which, if you can attain, mean a constant stream of business. Just look at what Netflix is up to:

“A study from Wharton cited that Netflix reported 60% of its sales came from machine-learning recommendations, and 35% of Amazon sales came from system-generated suggestions. Regarding increasing engagement, Venture Beat reports that personalized email subject lines can increase open rates by up to 41%.”

With industry leaders like Netflix heavily pursuing customization and machine-learning, it needs to be on your radar of things to implement. By keeping your messages relevant and personalize, you’ll be able to not only see the benefits in the form of increased revenue but will be able to keep your customers loyal – and more importantly, coming back.

This stuff can get complicated, and there are a lot of plates spinning in the air. But by focusing on your ideal customers and giving them personal attention, you’ll be able to keep them around. For businesses looking to deliver automated personalized omni channel experience book a free consultation with us here at NectarOM to discuss a strategy for your business.

Exclusive Bonus: Download NowThe Personalization Checklist To Increase Customer Loyalty

The Business Imperative: Personalization

This Wednesday, the DFW-Retail Executives Association ended its season on a timely topic for retailers: Personalization.  If you missed out on this panel or are one of the 77 percent of companies saying, “In 2016 we need to be doing personalization,” have no fear we have the panel highlights for you.

Cover Photo Amrit Speaking at REA Personalization Panel
DFW REA Personalization Panel

The panel consisted of three experts,

  • Jeff Rosenfeld-Vice President of Customer Insights & Analytics at The Neiman Marcus Group
  •  Veeral Rathod- Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder at J. Hilburn Clothiers
  • And NectarOM’s very own Chief Executive Officer & Founder Amrit Kirpalani.

Panel Moderator Steve Dennis kicked off the panel discussion setting the stage for why personalization is quickly becoming a business imperative.  Explaining that personalization is  “an imperative because the battle has shifted from market share to share of attention- and it’s increasingly difficult to be the signal amidst the noise.”

The rest of the discussion focused on how personalization is changing their marketing efforts, what challenges they faced when launching their personalization efforts, how it is changing marketing, and finally discussed how other companies could successfully launch their own personalization efforts.

Here are a few of our favorite topics from the panel,

Test and Learn

Don’t start off trying to personalize every message coming from every channel.  Amrit suggested that the clients with the most success started off small.  Start off testing a few channels and messages at a time, learn what worked and then test some more.

Be Prepared to Think About Marketing Differently

Personalization fundamentally changes how marketing has been done for years. Instead of a one size fits all strategy, personalization shifts the focus to marketing on a one-to-one level.  Jeff and Amrit agreed that culture change was one of the biggest challenges when companies started discussing personalization.

Not a One Size Fits All Solution.

Take the time to figure out how personalization fits into your company’s structure and into what your customers want.   The Neiman Marcus Group and  J. Hilburn Clothiers both used personalization in the retail space, however they each had a unique approach that fit their customer and business model’s needs.

Have the right partners in place

Not everyone can afford to have a team of data scientists creating custom algorithms.  However, personalization is something that is becoming more realistic for companies of all shapes and sizes to start adding to their marketing efforts. All you need to do is find the right partner.

If you are interested in learning more about sending tailored messages to your customers in real-time across all your owned channels let us know and schedule a demo to see the NectarSuite in action.

The Road to Omni Channel Department Store: JCPenney vs Nordstrom

The next Round of The Road to Omni Channel Tournament ended with two “old-school” retail brands, Nordstrom and JCPenney. One brand, arguably the best customer service in the industry, and the other, a story of perseverance and come back. At the end of a tough game, Nordstrom’s unwavering strategy was upset, 71-68, by scrappy JCPenney’s frenetic pace of play and a half court heave.

The Play-By-Play

There aren’t too many business sectors experiencing the kind of pressure big box department stores face today. Foot traffic continues to decrease and in-store sales are stagnant. Meanwhile, online sales are increasing more than 30% over the next couple of years so companies like JCPenney and Nordstrom have no choice but to make omni channel a top priority. Each has done it differently, but both have made amazing strides, recruited deep teams and get solid play from every channel.

Nordstrom’s game was about everyone buying into a philosophical approach from the tip. Their relentless focus on customer service resulted in an unbreakable zone defense which covered the competition like a blanket. JCPenney never had an uncontested shot whether it was in the store, on desktop, mobile web, their app, social channels or from the customer service line.

Just when you thought there couldn’t be a deeper bench, JCPenney showed up with matchups for each channel, but also included a strong SMS player. That said, the difference in style was palatable. JCPenney played a full-court defense that poked at you like a jackhammer to concrete. There was a dizzying number of deals, discounts, clubs, groups, communities, opt-ins, points and promotions on every square inch of the court.

The offenses were opposites, as well. Nordstrom ran a smooth motion offense that was like watching a jazz ensemble in perfect sync. Crisp passes from desktop web into a login experience, to the mobile web, to the app, to push messaging and a perfect feed for a slam dunk from email was commonplace. The abandoned cart emails, location-based recommendations, and previous product views were all points of personalization and they occurred in nearly every channel. As a result, they posting the highest shooting percentage of any team in the tournament.

JCPenney played every offensive set like it was the end of the game tossing up three pointers from everywhere on the court. You could hear Desktop Web screaming every second of the game, “5 off 25! Buy one get one! Free, free, free!” Their shooting percentage wasn’t great, but the points stacked up as scoring runs that would rattle any team…except Nordstrom.

The summary of the game is best described as “streaks vs steady” with one streak too many. At the end of the game, JCPenney came back from a ten-point deficit with :46 left and their SMS player put the last nail in the coffin with a text from just beyond half court giving them a three-point win.

Key Stats – The Hammer vs The Diamond

When you compare these two teams the styles couldn’t be more different, but the stats were almost mirror images…

  • Cross Channel Experiences – Both teams drove to store via directions, allowed you to add events to calendars, barcode scanning in app, and localized content. Nordstrom did edge out JCPenney by highlighting and connecting you to their many events they offer in store across the country.
  • Operations – Every shot from the charity stripe went in for both teams, because they followed each purchase, opt-in and question with appropriate messaging. Nordstrom got extra points for their copy tone. Instead of standard requests for location or opt-in, they repeatedly presented benefits to giving them access and used cheeky copy throughout. They also won in store, because of the autonomy they give their staff and their very cool pop-up stores.
  • Recognition – Both companies will serve you well if you log-in, but it appears they’re both targeting anonymously, as well, at times.
  • Consumer Journey – Both teams were lacking a little in this area, but JCPenney dominated Nordstrom by integrating their Wedding and Baby registries online and in the app.
  • Recommendations – These were served up in a fairly typical fashion using widgets to introduce what others like you looked at or bought. Both parties could elevate recommendations to better match their brand essence: Nordstrom, by auto-emailing recommendations via local sales associates like they currently send manually; JCPenney, by personalizing their offers and discounts. Prior to the Ron Johnson era JCPenney shoppers used to love gaming the system with the mass of coupons floating around so why not embrace that gamification?         

Conclusion

It’s clear JCPenney’s had challenges withstanding a rotating door of leadership at the institution and coaching ranks, but they appear to have rallied around omni channel. They’ve returned to their roots as an “in your face” couponer and elevated their game in store, but they still have to deal with the squeeze from competitors at both the top and the bottom. The jury is out, but they live to play another game.

Nordstrom is the classic Duke Blue Devil doppelganger. They play their game first, you know they’re always going to be in the mix and they’re extremely well coached. The players are given great autonomy so they have success from the floor of the store to the online customer service. It didn’t work out this time, but count on seeing them next year.

 

The Road to Omnichannel: Consumer Electronics Conference

Two wildly different styles showed up for the Consumer Electronics division of the Road to Omni Channel Tournament – the massive line-up from juggernaut, Best Buy, and the most effective “small ball” team in the tournament, GameStop. The classic match-up of a methodical half-court team full of tree-toppers vs. a high octane, run-and-gun team resulted in a 76-75 win for Best Buy and an incredibly interesting game for the fans.

The Play-By-Play

This was one of the more anticipated games because both parties cater to a tech oriented audience, they both have full-funnel data and rabid followers in their loyalty programs. At the start of the game you could feel both parties flexing their muscles in the form of the in-store experience. Best Buy has been recruiting the best store experience for as long as most can remember. As an example, when the rest of the industry was worried about showrooming, Best Buy was embracing it by prompting shoppers to scan QR Codes in store on all product descriptions. They were an early member of the Shopkick loyalty program and have an industry defining loyalty program to support those 1,000+ massive stores.

GameStop, on the other hand, served the fickle and passionate gamer audience with more than 6,600 small format stores and, most recently, has employed a pace of play that makes most of their competitor’s heads spin. Their staff is very knowledgeable and consumer friendly, but so are the Best Buy “Blue Shirts.” Their PowerUp loyalty program was fast growing and deemed highly successful, but so was Best Buy’s. However, throughout the game you could feel GameStop’s recent investment in the GameStop Technology Institute wearing on the larger, slower Best Buy team. The partnership between the retailer, IBM, the Center for Retailing Studies at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School, and several tech startups, allowed GameStop to rapidly deploy and test applications. In the first half of the game, many thought those innovations would be Best Buy’s undoing. Then there was the second half.

Though GameStop got off to a fast start and ran up the score on Best Buy, the GameStop team repeatedly struggled in a few areas which left the door open for a Best Buy comeback. The old adage, “You don’t usually win if you don’t make free throws,” was proven as GameStop continuously missed opportunities to deliver important, but basic operational communications. Welcome messages, purchase follow ups, and abandon cart emails were just a few examples of GameStop’s shortcomings in customer support and “next step” communications.

As the game progressed, Best Buy started to impose their will and showed their years of experience by recognizing their customers and making highly relevant content available. It showed up in product recommendations, opt’in communications, their customer service/preference portal and several other areas. The most impressive part was when Best Buy showed personalization was more than a “first name” at the beginning of a mass email. Best Buy recognized the consumer’s individual preferences whether it came from, or was served back, in their websites, through social media, or in their mobile apps. That level of personalization proved to be a major blow to GameStop which was surprising considering their publication, Game Informer, produces exceptional content their customers enjoy.

The Stand Out Performance 

At the end of the game, when Best Buy needed it most, they got exceptional play from their Preference Center and their mobile app. The Preference Center dashboard for a consumer’s account was very user-friendly with built in recommendations, wish lists, and rewards program details. The Preference Center grabbed all the rebounds in the form of returning customers. Meanwhile, their app drove the offense providing prospects and customers with many helpful shopping tips along the journey, location relevant content like targeted weekly advertisements, and driving to other channels like in-store support schedules. It was a one-two punch GameStop couldn’t manage.

Conclusion

When it was all said and done, the size, depth and history amassed by the Best Buy franchise was just too much for GameStop’s smaller team, but you have to give credit to the underdog, as well. You can see how GameStop’s investments in their portfolio of brands (i.e., Spring Mobile, Simply Mac, Kongregate, Game Informer, etc.) could look like a never-ending flurry of talent coming at the competition in future tournaments. Similar to a West (“Press”) Virginia with it’s “next man up” mentality, if GameStop can get the channels to work together across these diverse businesses they would be unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Best Buy, makes you think of a program like UCLA. They continue to do well in their category of the Consumer Electronics space, but they want to get the recognition they used to receive. While many say their store format will be their undoing, you have to recognize their efforts as a successful Omni Channel Marketer will go a long way towards elongating their success.

Tune in here for Game Four: //nectarom.com/department-store-conference/ 

The Road to Omni Channel: AT&T vs Verizon

Telecom giants, AT&T and Verizon, squared off in Game 2 of the 2016 NectarOM Road to Omni Channel Tournament and proved safe, steady defense wins games – especially when you’re playing your mirror image. It seems like an oxymoron to say a triple overtime game wasn’t exciting, but that was the case until AT&T ran a surprise play in the last seconds to win 73-71.

The Play-By-Play

Some would say this game was as boring as watching paint dry, but if you’re a fan of fundamentals and you don’t like the flashy style that seems to be taking over marketing then you probably loved it. These institution’s omnichannel marketing is steeped in legacy and you have to respect the way they’ve committed to playing their own style.

Right from the tip you could see both teams were going to let the game come to them since neither showed any offense focused on helping a new prospect through the buying process. The most personalization either team showed was regional promotional pricing. Verizon did get slightly better production from their desktop web and mobile web channels, but the difference from AT&T’s was marginal at best.

It was more like watching twins in a choreographed dance or a chess match than an omni channel shoot out. No one lead by more than three the entire game and the back-and-forth scoring made you think they traded playbooks and coaching strategies.

These companies are arguably the most digital brands in the world, but surprisingly, the most personalization and omni channel success showed up in their brick and mortar experience. In both cases, the store has evolved and their experimentation with use-based positioning was helpful for decision-making. Their staff were equally educated on the products, plans and promotions, but the clienteling apps at their fingertips filled in any gaps that may have existed. While it was a decent experience, neither party offered anything “breakthrough” like Apple did many years ago.

In the end, it appeared as though the game would have to end in a tie, but AT&T saved a player for overtime that Verizon didn’t have an answer for at all. Email put AT&T on it’s back and scored 18 unanswered points over the course of the three overtimes. With ten seconds left in the third overtime, AT&T scripted an “abandoned cart” play. Recognizing what people had placed in their online shopping carts and then following up with an email to remind them was the only example of responding to a prospect’s shopping journey needs. It was a fairly pedestrian play, but it was executed flawlessly and the resulting layup proved to be the game deciding shot.

 

AT&T Email Cart

Key Stats – A Tale of Two Games

When we look at how AT&T and Verizon did at applying omni channel marketing you had to ask the question, was it for prospects or customers? If it was the latter, both companies had an endless number of sites, apps, billing tools, support methods, etc. That said, the omni channel efforts didn’t really inspire as much as they facilitated account management or payments. This was illustrated clearly in the player statistics…

  • Cross Channel Experiences – Verizon was 3:1 better at starting an experience in one channel and moving them to another, but they also had more turnovers than AT&T with poorly managed transitions.
  • Operations – This is the foundation for all things omni channel for these two organizations – they start and end with their customers. In both cases they have the blessing and curse of being large and having extensive resources. As an example, both have evolved to create a very well done central account management apps (myAT&T, myVerizon). Simple to use, they cover a great deal of relationship scope and give you access to most account management needs. However, both organizations have at least 25 other apps in the app store. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if it’s a part of their mobile strategy, but most of the apps provide functionality represented in the central app (or seem like it should) and the Customer Service Representatives don’t support them or even know they exist in some cases.
  • Recognition – Relevant if you’re a customer, otherwise both companies invested minimally in it.
  • Consumer Journey – The journey for both companies was bifurcated between being a customer or not. For existing customers, they both had intermittent solutions for contract renewals, upgrades, etc.
  • Recommendations – In all channels this seemed to be based more on product promotion than on prospect or customer needs. In the stores the staff did a good job of understanding the buyers needs, but in digital channels it was ignored or it was an afterthought.  

Conclusion

These companies are reminiscent of great legacy teams in the big dance, like Michigan, Indiana, Syracuse, etc., that are known for their distinctive style and the fact that they will always have great recruits with untold potential. The question is whether they can play as a unit. A five-star recruit focused more on making it to the pros than playing in a system can be detrimental to programs like these.

It’s clear no one would look forward to playing AT&T in the next round. It’s also clear that AT&T’s omni channel efforts serving prospects leave a big opening for that team to exploit.

Tune in here for Game Three: //nectarom.com/consumer-electronics-conference/

The Road to Omni Channel: PepsiCo vs Dr Pepper Snapple Group

The 2016 NectarOM Road to Omni Channel Tournament kicked off with two titans of refreshment squaring off to show which shopper marketing heavyweight was best positioned to win in the fast approaching world of ecommerce, omni channel, and data-driven marketing. Unfortunately for Texas stalwart, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, NY-based PepsiCo beat them so badly it will go down as one of the worst blow outs this year with a final score of 102 – 68.

The Play-By-Play

Both institutions are at a distinct disadvantage compared to the more established “conferences” like retail that have transactional data, but they’ve both invested heavily in their digital channels and are beginning to resemble the more established competitors. That said, it’s clear Dr Pepper Snapple Group is closer to cardboard and end-caps than omni channel and personalization. It looked like Dr Pepper was going to have a bright spot in the game when they used the Batman v Superman movie promotion introduce image recognition and can packaging to access extended comic content. Unfortunately, it was very similar to the program Frito Lay did with DC Comics for the Green Lantern movie back in 2011 so they saw the play coming a mile away.  Aside from that, the only other player Dr Pepper had involved in the scoring was Email and it’s numbers were very pedestrian showing off nothing more than a batch and blast style.

PepsiCo, however, quieted a lot of critics with their performance. They played with a chip on their shoulder showing a Consumer Packaged Goods company could hang with any team. The PepsiCo enterprise website made some fans right from the start with a little known program that allowed people to sign up for the “Brands You Love.” While there were a few missed assist opportunities in how they could use that self-reported data, we were impressed with the attempt. That start put Dr Pepper Snapple Group on their heels for the rest of the game.

Once you moved beyond the enterprise site you couldn’t help but be impressed by the other starters on Pepsico’s roster. There was the “Find Your Match” function on the PepsiCo Beverage Facts site which offered some pretty cool functionality and exposed us to their potential. Room for improvement, but extreme potential was a reoccurring theme when compared the Beverage Facts site with Frito Lay’s loyalty program equivalent, Snack Perks. While they didn’t work well together you could see how they will eventually click and when they do it will make a big impact. PepsiCo’s recent ecommerce tests and hires, their recently launched Hello Goodness vending strategy and past innovations like Social Vending have also contributed to the company’s omni channel future by giving the enterprise direct access to the purchase process.

You would expect both organization’s promotions to provide some bench support. From an omni channel perspective it was consistent, but surprisingly average. Social channels were heavily employed by both companies and the content was available in multiple channels, but there was no sense of personalization or recognition of the participants beyond operational tracking like how many times you entered. At the end of the game it was clear the real stars of the game were PepsiCo’s evergreen programs which are destined for the pros.

Key Stats

Examining how the teams did at applying omni channel strategies and personalization techniques we realize this was really a difference of players over play. For the most part, PepsiCo just brought better athletes, but there were some great areas where the play was elevated …

  • Cross Channel Experiences – If you look at how both teams passed visitors between channels it was fundamentally strong in promotions, but there were way too many turnovers in the evergreen efforts where they could have connected the consumer to the entire portfolio.
  • Operations – Just like free throws in a basketball game, missing basic messaging and channel follow through can ruin an experience. Neither team performed well in this fundamental area and for up-and-coming conferences like Shopper Marketing it’s a requirement.
  • Recognition – Both teams did a good job finding ways to recognize visitors, but PepsiCo definitely took it to a new level with understanding the visitor’s preferences.
  • Consumer Journey – Looking to the future, it’s clear PepsiCo’s made a commitment to understanding the consumer’s journey. Using location-based retargeting, personal preference programs and portfolio solutions over brand promotions were all areas where they excelled.
  • Recommendations – If you were going to pick one statistics category that put PepsiCo in a different league than Dr Pepper Snapple Group it would be in this category. Their focus is on bringing a flavor or product solution to their customers based on whatever they are doing and it really paid off in this game.  

Conclusion

If Dr Pepper Snapple Group ever hopes to make a run in this tournament in future years they will have to focus on the basics – great channel execution, namely mobile, and commit to an omni channel approach. Their promotional approach has been done for years and it limits their ability to create a real connection with their fans. Today they look a little like the mid-major competitors Vanderbilt or Monmouth in that other tournament – a solid program, but always on the bubble and running the risk of being left out of the tournament.

PepsiCo, on the other hand, looks reminiscent of those programs on the cusp of something special like a University of Texas or an Iowa State University. They’ve assembled great talent, they’re well coached, they work together as a team, but consistency will be their undoing. Getting to that consistency is easier said than done considering the brands in the portfolio are used to playing by their own rules.

Changes in Pepsico’s Digital and Shopper Marketing has helped everyone understand they’re “better together,” but will it sustain them against the powerhouse conferences like Retail or Telco? We’ll have to see, but they are certainly off to a good start after this first game.

Tune in here for Game Two: //nectarom.com/telecom-conference/ 

SELECTION MONDAY – Let the “Madness” Begin

By Bryon Morrison, Commissioner of The 2016 NectarOM Road to Omni Channel

Every year March always brings a little “madness” into the office. This year is no exception. Marketers across the nation are setting their brackets, but not necessarily for the “teams” you’d expect. This year at the the NectarOM Headquarters the NectarOM selection committee was hard at work finalizing the 2016 Road to Omni Channel Tournament bracket.

Over the last month, each member of the NectarOM selection committee evaluated a vast amount of data and industry information for each industry category or “conference” during the selection process. A review and discussion of the brands performance based on product sector, fiscal performance, e-commerce endeavors, innovation, and their use of digital – determined selections, seeding, and bracketing.

Selection Methodology
After examining a wide field of competitors the NectarOM selection committee determined the 2016 Road to Omni Channel Tournament bracket would be divided into 4 conferences: Consumer Electronics, Shopper Marketing, Telecom and Department Store Retail.

Qualification and seeding for the tournament was based on the following criteria:

  • Digital and Brick and Mortar Retailer
  • Fortune 500 Company
  • The team communicates with customers in at least three channels
  • They have established domain authority
  • They have been recognized as innovators in other studies
  • They have been recognized in other third party evaluations as leaders in their respective categories

The Teams
After a grueling deliberation the NectarOM selection committee has finalized its brand bracket and is proud to announce the companies included in the 2016 Road to Omni Channel Tournament.

The Road to Omnichannel Brand Bracket

Department Store Conference
Nordstrom
JCPenney

Telecom Conference
AT&T
Verizon

Consumer Electronics Conference
Best Buy
GameStop

Shopper Marketing Conference
PepsiCo
Dr Pepper Snapple Group

Game Scoring
Over the course of the next two weeks these eight institutions will go head-to-head in the hopes of being named The 2016 Road to Omni Channel Champion. To have a better understanding of what these companies are doing in Omni Channel Marketing, each brand will undergo the NectarOM Customer Journey Audit. This audit evaluates eleven communication channels, 6 degrees of personalization, and each brand’s adaptability to customer knowledge. Covering more than 150 review points, this audit provides valuable insight into customer lifecycle, consistency, marketing gaps and opportunities through the view of the consumer and results in a final score illustrating their prowess in Omni Channel Marketing.

Tournament Schedule
The Road to Omni Channel Tournament will start Tuesday, March 15, with a highly anticipated match up of Consumer Package Goods titans, PepsiCo and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, from the Shopper Marketing conference.

Tune in here for Game One: //nectarom.com/shopper-marketing-conference/

Tell us in the comments below which brand you think has what it takes to win it all.