When thinking about customer obsession and how it affects the output that creative teams produce, we need to think ‘big picture’.
Obviously, the word ‘obsession’ has a well-understood meaning. But to simply describe “customer obsession” as supercharged “customer experience”, would be missing the point.
Customer obsession is a new mindset. It delivers individual messages and stories to each and every person, that grow and shape depending on exactly where they are on their journey. Not the same message, over and over again. And not just on one purchase either. This is really important. We are talking about a full-on relationship with a brand. One that requires a cultural shift in the way companies do their business. It starts with the view, that the digital world has empowered the customer to be even more fickle. And we all know this to be 100% true, right?
So rather than list the various tactics one could use as marketers to satisfy the customer-obsessed model, I’ve noticed that there’s an overlap already in the way our agency approaches B2B marketing. And it’s that everything starts in the middle.
Emotional marketing and storytelling are certainly not new to marketing. I’m sure most of us are aware of Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’ model too. The belief that customers buy ‘why’ you do something, not just ‘what’ that something is. An emotional meeting of minds with the consumer, that builds brand affinity. Where they share your beliefs, your cause, your reason for getting out of bed every morning. The likes of Amazon, arguably one of the leaders in customer-obsessed business, think in the same pattern.
"We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed.
Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon
We start with the customer and we work backwards."
Mr Bezos believes that focusing on competitors, products, or even technology, just doesn’t cut the mustard. He talks about how customers are always ‘beautifully, wonderfully dissatisfied’, even when they report being happy and business is great. So just like starting with ‘why’, his company starts with ‘them’. Putting his customers at the centre of everything they do allows them to ‘experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight’. He will gleefully point out that none of his customers ever asked them to create Amazon Prime, but it sure turns out they wanted it.
So how are we creating customer-obsessed marketing for our clients?
Well, many of our programmes use personalised tactics aimed at personas or individuals and these certainly go some distance towards this using granular insights to inform. One of our clients creates software for call centres. They mix human response with Bots and AI. And it’s the customer’s call which they use.
If they’re time pushed and want a fact, the Bot tells them. If they want a real conversation and personal advice, they talk to a human. We’re creating an overarching, brand theme for them, based on the notion of ‘perfect moments’. That every, single interaction has value and opportunity. They promise a unified view of their customers’ behaviour, interactions and feedback, across all voice and digital channels. And they can identify important trends and themes for each one, through rich data. Ultimately they’re being relevant, responsive, proactive and nurturing. For each and every customer.
Find out more about our B2B creative services at this page.