An unpublished research interview with Erica D’Aloia, Manager of Ecommerce Traffic for Godiva Chocolatier. The topic explored the idea of upgrading RFPs for CMOs to consider the mobile customer journey uniquely. Special thanks to Mike Grehan of Acronym. How are micro-moments and shift in mobile behavior shaping the RFP process (or not)? How are micro-moments changing marketing strategies? The word ‘Mobile Behavior’ initially threw me off – where I think of this more as use and importance of a device. I…
The Marketing Centre – The Marketing Centre book club: Essential summer reading
Digital analyst, sociologist and futurist Brian Solis scans the horizon to see what’s next for businesses. Solis doesn’t just explore trends and theories, but offers his vision as to how you can get ahead in uncertain times.
Why Jason chose this book: “Though this was written in 2013 I still think it’s very relevant today. It talks about the ‘dynamic customer journey’, and how every consumer touchpoint on that journey adds or subtracts from the overall customer experience.
“Given that context, it strongly recommends that as a business you need to ‘innovate or die’ with clear priorities on what to address. Solis has written three other books on innovation and consumer trends. ‘What’s the future of business’ is his second one, and he has written two more subsequently expanding on his work. So depending on your knowledge on the subject area, you could start at a different point in Solis’ bibliography.”
A Prelude to Innovation: Figure Out How The World is Changing and How To Be More Relevant as It Evolves
There are many places in this world I hope to one day experience. On that list was Sofia, Bulgaria. I use the past tense as I’m so happy to report that I had the opportunity to visit this beautiful city (and country) for the DigitalK conference. What a great event! I presented on topic that I refer to as “A Prelude to Innovation.” It’s meant to spotlight the important actions and events serving as the introduction to innovation itself. Shortly…
Customer journeys start with smartphones, but brands still don’t get mobile
Customers are not going to wait for brands to get the mobile journey right…they’ll move on and find someone else who gets them. Customers are increasingly and overwhelmingly mobile-first. For the most part, many brands are still learning how to optimize traditional e-commerce experiences let alone mobile sites and apps. The Amazons of the world don’t make it any easier to keep up. Yet every day, customers are reaching for their smartphones to learn about what to buy, what to…
Why your website (and CX) suck and how to better engage digitally-savvy consumers
I recently had an opportunity to speak with Juliet Stott of Content Magazine about the impact digital has had on marketing, how customer experiences can help marketers differentiate their brands, and why websites in general, suck. It was such a fun and revealing conversation, that I wanted to share it with you here. I hope it helps you! Content: What has been the greatest disruption to marketing, and what impact has it had on the industry? Brian: Social is one of the disruptions,…
Innovation is a gift worth getting: Competing for the future starts with challenging business as usual
Every day when you get to the office, there is a surmountable volume of work that greets you. The list is usually pretty long, with calls to return, to do items stacked up, emails overflowing, meetings, marketing and sales planning to fill the pipeline. It’s all in a day’s work. But what if one day you woke up and noticed that the volume of work was notably less? I’m sure you’d be relieved for a bit. But then each day,…
Moving Beyond Demographics: Today’s Hyperconnected ‘Generation C’
Several years ago as I was writing The End of Business as Usual, I researched how the customer journey was evolving. Specifically, I studied how traditional touch points compared to digital touch points and more so, how customers were hacking their way to desired outcomes. Along the way, I found that when it comes to “digital customers,” alignment in behaviors and preferences spanned generations beyond traditional demographics. At the time, I referenced this group of hyperconnected customers “Generation C” where…
Top 11 Trends Shaping the Future of Retail
I took this picture in 2016 at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo, California. This used to be a Sears department store. While Sears is still alive and kicking, it’s sad to see so many once celebrated brands slowly deteriorate and/or then suddenly crumble. I call this the new “Kodak Moment,” that moment when executives fail to see how customers and markets are shifting. All too often, there appears to be a pervasive “too big to fail,” shareholder-first attitude during what amounts to…
Digital Darwinism: Evolve with Your Customers or Regress Toward Irrelevance
I recently had the pleasure of speaking at Unite host by Satmetrix in New Orleans. Customer experience, IT and management executives from around the world met in the “Big Easy” to learn from one another, share experiences and envision a new future for customer engagement. Prior to the event, I met with the Satmetrix team to discuss my presentation so that we could share the message for those that could not be there live. The conversation was summarized over at…
What is Influence 2.0 and why is it important in the future of CX?
Before social media, before modern digital marketing and before DCX and digital transformation, I spent much of the late 90s and early 2000s studying and experimenting with online influence. In February of 1999, I opened a lab to test and learn and in the process, was one of the many contributors to shape the future of digital marketing and customer engagement. Shortly after joining Altimeter Group in 2012, I shared all of the research I had collected and more and published…
