Being Human is Good Business Customer service, by definition, is about serving people; it should be genuine, personalized, and compassionate—or, simply put, human. For most organizations, customer service is an afterthought. And since servicing customers is primarily viewed as a cost center, customers are often treated as a liability. Yet, customers are a valuable resource: their feedback is integral to shaping your product and building your brand. Customers are not shy about exercising their clout, shouting their experiences—good and bad—to the world. Your customers are the reason your company exists: serving and retaining them is essential. If you don’t recognize the value of your customers, they leave. Current approach: issue-centric customer service#section1 Current customer service models focus on resolving issues instead of serving people. What is issue-centric customer service? What’s wrong with issue-centric customer service? When customers share their story, they’re not just sharing pain points.
Anheuser-Busch InBev China Reinvents Smart Drinking Campaign To Appeal To Gen Z Anheuser-Busch InBev’s APAC unit launched the 12th iteration of its “Smart Drinking Campaign,” a corporate social responsibility program meant to promote public awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. This year, for the first time in the campaign’s history, AB InBev created a non-alcoholic beer via its Chinese brand, Harbin Beer. Building on the success of previous smart drinking campaigns aimed at reducing the amount of alcohol-related casualties, the brewer launched this campaign to better appeal to China’s rising Gen Z population. The company chose Harbin Beer for its popularity among young consumers in China, and plans to have non-alcoholic offerings account for a minimum of 20 percent of all its sales by 2025. AB InBev will sell the new product, which comes in a palace-themed gift pack, via ecommerce platforms, the sales of which will go toward the Ministry of Public Security’s underage traffic education program.
What Good Does Design Do For Business? Have you noticed how similar some products are becoming? A Tesla and a Lotus, that’s an easy one. But I’m talking about the similarities between seemingly disparate objects, like an Audi car and Oakley sunglasses, a 3M stapler and an Alessi teapot, or a Starbucks café and your bank lobby. For starters, designers tend to collaborate with each other, other disciplines, and users to generate new ideas, explore alternatives, and create new stuff (products, websites, brands, stores, etc.). This cross-pollination can be the path to innovation. In addition to being a collaborative path toward innovation, design is a way to differentiate a brand’s products from its competitors’. We live in an experience economy, and design is key to creating meaningful customer experiences. Lastly, design simplifies. It is time for the professional design community to promote the demonstrable value of design, as described above. [Top image by Steve Johnson]
Facebook Faces Another Legal Challenge; Snapchat Allows Content Sharing From Spotify This week, Facebook finds itself in hot water again as Attorney General Letitia James announces a multi-state investigation against the social media giant over alleged antitrust violations; Snapchat partners with Spotify; Telegram enters the final stage of its blockchain launch and releases blockchain code; Twitch is coming to Apple TV; Bank of America analysts find that Facebook and Instagram mobile downloads are in decline and Facebook is spotted testing new ad features for Facebook and Instagram. Facebook To Be Investigated Again New York’s Attorney General Letitia James announced she will lead a multi-state investigation against Facebook over possible antitrust violations. Why it matters: The investigation will examine whether Facebook used its market dominance to illegally force competitors out of the market, and/or drive up ad prices. The largest social media platform in the world must follow the law.” Snapchat Users Can Now Share Music Content On Spotify Twitch is coming to Apple TV.
How can brand advocates guide businesses through the new media maze? | ADMA Blog by MIKE HICKINBOTHAM, Head of New Media, TELSTRA New media is providing corporations the opportunity to reassess commonly accepted marketing practices. At the top of my list is the marketing/purchase funnel. According to Wikipedia, the marketing/purchase funnel was developed in 1898. An article by David Edelman (McKinsey & Company) in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) suggests the ‘Customer Decision Journey’ (listed below) is a more relevant approach to marketing in a new media environment. Brands need to pay greater attention to post purchase experiences that influence whether or not a customer enters ‘the loyalty loop’ as shown below. Using the model listed above, brands need to increase the importance they place on ‘brand advocates’. Research conducted by Dr Kathleen R. The stat that jumped out at me was most brand advocates are three times more likely to relax by sharing product information versus general web users surveyed. Like this: Like Loading...
Timberland Pledges To Plant 50 Million Trees In Latest Campaign Merging Marketing And Sustainability Timberland has launched a global campaign called “Nature Needs Heroes” to further the message of its tree-planting project, “Plant The Change,” a commitment to plant 50 million trees by 2025. As part of the campaign, the footwear and apparel company named a host of “multi-generational changemakers” as ambassadors of the “Nature Needs Heroes” campaign. Across Timberland’s site, consumers can learn more about each ambassador, who include influencers and founders who’ve made a positive difference in the world. Timberland is also teaming up with seven partners from around the world to bring its green movement, “Plant The Change” to life. Working with TreeAid, Timberland aims to create the Great Green Wall, a line of trees across the entire width of Africa to combat climate change and famine. Purpose-driven initiatives that build upon its long-term sustainability plans have been a staple of Timberland’s marketing strategy.
Designers Are The New Drivers Of American Entrepreneurialism | Co. Design I recently walked into a packed hall of 200 Parsons students for an event called “Start Something--Why Creatives Need to Become Entrepreneurs,” organized by the NYCreative Interns group. Four women entrepreneurs, including Laurel Touby, the founder of Mediabistro, were up front, talking about their experiences of launching their respective businesses. The incredible energy in the room highlighted an emerging trend--the headlong crash of creativity into capitalism to forge a startup model for the future. This business model is a cause for true optimism. The pattern can be broken down into a series of dots. There’s a dot of small design/innovation consultancies, such as Ammunition, Fuse, and Smart Design, which are developing and selling more of their own products, independently and through corporate partnerships. Another dot is Idiom, India’s answer to IDEO. Led by its cofounder Sonia Manchanda, whom I consider to be the intellectual heir to the great C.K. [Image by Adam Foster]
Your Private Instagram Stories Aren’t Exactly Private Photos and videos posted to private accounts on Instagram and Facebook aren’t as private as they might seem. They can be accessed, downloaded, and distributed publicly by friends and followers via a stupidly simple work-around. The hack — which works on Instagram stories as well — requires only a rudimentary understanding of HTML and a browser. It can be done in a handful of clicks. According to tests performed by BuzzFeed's Tech + News Working Group, JPEGs and MP4s from private feeds and stories can be viewed, downloaded, and shared publicly this way. “The behavior described here is the same as taking a screenshot of a friend’s photo on Facebook and Instagram and sharing it with other people. The hack works even when images and videos in a private Instagram story expire or are deleted. Because all of this data is being hosted by Facebook’s own content delivery network, the work-around also applies to private Facebook content.
Forrester’s 2007 Customer Experience Rankings Let me start by saying congratulations to the company that received the #1 ranking in Forrester’s 2007 Customer Experience Index (CxPi)… Forrester’s 2007 Customer Experience Index The 2007 CxPi ranks 112 firms across 9 industries: Banks, Credit Card Providers, Health Plans, Insurance Firms, Internet Service Providers, Investment Firms, Retailers, TV Service Providers, Wireless Phone Carriers. The CxPi is based on consumer evaluations across three areas: 1) usefulness; 2) ease of use; and 3) enjoyability (see the methodology section below). Here are the full 2007 CxPi rankings… Costco took the top spot in the CxPi rankings - just barely beating out Borders. Retailers take nine out of the top 10 spots. CxPi Results Across Industries We also looked at the overall results for the 9 industries included in the CxPi. Our 27 retailers significantly outpaced the other industries with an average overall score of 78%. Recommendations The CxPi Methodology Like this: Like Loading...
VW overhauls its brand for a 'new era' as it attempts to put emissions scandal behind it Volkswagen is rebranding with a new “authentic” strategy as it attempts to put its 2015 emissions scandal behind it. The “New Volkswagen” sees the car company “mark the start of a new era” with a new logo and brand design that it promises will “not show a perfect advertising world”. Jochen Sengpiehl, CMO of Volkswagen, says: “We have created a new holistic global brand experience on all channels and across all touchpoints. “As a general principle, the aim in future will not be to show a perfect advertising world. In our presentation, we want to become more human and more lively, to adopt the customer’s perspective to a greater extent and to tell authentic stories.” The brand’s “no filter” digital-first approach was developed by 19 internal design and marketing teams, and 17 external agencies. VW’s visuals will be bolder and more colourful, and come with a promise to focus more on people than products. Volkswagen should be focusing on effectiveness not efficiency
Yes, Virginia, There Is A Return On Customer Experience Investments In some business circles, getting people to believe in a return on customer experience investments is a lot like getting them to acknowledge the existence of Santa Claus. Admittedly, it can be difficult to quantify a specific profit or revenue impact from some types of experience enhancers—more robust “voice of the customer” programs, more polished customer statements, better trained front-line personnel, streamlined customer touchpoints, a more user-friendly website, etc. The financials surrounding such initiatives are much less precise than those of hard-dollar initiatives, like the renegotiation of real estate leases or the consolidation of corporate functions. Of course, that doesn’t mean customer experience investments have any less of a compelling return than these other endeavors. Leap of Faith? I know what you’re thinking. The fact of the matter is, though, there are plenty of big business decisions that are routinely made with limited quantification and a healthy leap of faith.
Eurostar looks to stand out from 'generic' travel ads with new campaign Eurostar wants to return to its “challenger roots” with a “bold, exciting, refreshing” new campaign as it looks to move on from “generic” travel ads and focus more on the benefits of catching the train over flying. The campaign, created by Engine, is a move away from its previous ads as it looks to “stand out” in the competitive travel market. The advertising kicks off today (9 September) with outdoor and digital activity, with TV planned for later in the year. The star of the ad will be an ostrich, which will feature alongside the tagline, ‘You see more when you don’t fly’. Speaking to Marketing Week, Eurostar’s customer engagement director Richard Sherwood, says: “We wanted it to be a departure from the tone of voice we have used in recent years.” He adds: “[Our previous] campaigns have been very nice. How do we get a campaign that helps us stand our from the crowd? The use of the ostrich aims to tap into the idea that travelling by train can be better than flying.
What does it mean to design public services? | Public Leaders Network | Guardian Professional Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin was not as haphazard as it may have appeared. Innovation comes from deliberate processes I recently met a bright young policymaker on the local government graduate development programme. I was in full flow explaining the important role that design will play in creating the public services of the future when he interrupted, politely but firmly, and asked: "So what do you mean by design?" It's a good question. Lots of our work in the public services lab is about how design thinking and techniques can help create the radical innovations needed to meet the challenges facing local communities and services. My first lesson was that there is no such thing as neutral design. It's a point illustrated by Thaler and Sunstein in their book Nudge, which introduced the concept of public services as "choice architects". The third lesson was that innovation comes from deliberate and planned processes more than you might think.
Cadbury's brand purpose is just 'woke-washing' The phrase ‘jumping the shark’ comes from a 1977 episode of Happy Days. Lumbering into its fifth season, the TV series was struggling to come up with new storylines. So the season premiere had Fonzie, played by real-life water sports enthusiast Henry Winkler, don a pair of water skis (along with trademark leather jacket) and jump over a captive shark watched by his Happy Days friends. It’s an entirely ludicrous moment, made worse by the fact that the jump itself, completed in slow motion, barely cleared 10 feet of open water. ‘It’s not a marketing gimmick’: Mars on the power of purpose in a polarised world And then somehow, during the last 40-odd years, the phrase ‘jumping the shark’ ironically became the most famous product of Happy Days. Cadbury jumped the shark this month with its Unity Bar. But the concept has been met with universal scorn as social media learned about and then disparaged the idea with a vehemence that was extreme even by its own standards.