Customer Engagement Labs: The creative consideration

18 May 2017

Think like the customer to future-proof your business, says CEO of TMW Unlimited, Chris Pearce as he introduces the creative component of the customer engagement labs

There are a host of opportunities for brands willing to think about what the customer wants, not what a marketer might think they want.

"Think like a consumer", says Chris Pearce, CEO of TMW Unlimited, "and don't disappoint. 70 percent of consumers aren't impressed with , "The Experience Revolution” according to IBM," he says. According to the IBM research, marketers believe that consumers want control. Actually they want time.

But what is customer engagement anyway?

Chris says there should be one of two goals to focus on:

Removing friction
Elevating experiences

And, he says that customer engagement is the key to both, and for three reasons:

Behavioural science

"We know more than ever about how humans make decisions, and part of this is building memory structures," he says.

According to Richard Sedley, CEO of EY-Seren, "Repeated interactions that strengthen the: emotional, psychological or physical investment a customer has in a brand."

Traditional advertising is less effective

"Customers now have elevated expectations, of service of customer experience, or relevance. Also, because of media fragmentation, media consumption is also fragmented. This makes paths to purchase more complicated and unpredictable, and consumers are far more savvy, and less easily persuaded than in the past," he says.

Enduring value creation

According to customer engagement work by Gallup, "customers who are fully engaged represent an average 23% premium in terms of share of wallet, profitability, revenue and relationship growth compared with the average customer".

"While engagement can take time, the effects are enduring. It creates long-term value," he says.

How does customer engagement work?

"We think with our hearts," he says. "According to the work of Daniel Kahneman that there are two ways people think, and the most immediate is using mental short cuts or heuristics. Here emotions play a much stronger role in decision making than rational, logical thought."

"We feel first, then do, then think," he says.

But he says it's crucial to tap into the right emotions.

For example, research into charity giving showed that the biggest emotional triggers were surprise, interest and compassion. Emotions like fear and shock might be deeply fely, but are less effective at driving behaviour.

"Getting the right emotional responses to drive desired behaviour is key," he says.

"Finally, messages have to be relevant, not just to the consumer, but also to your brand," he says.

"To have impact, communications must capture attention, must have an emotional response and must be relevant to existing associations both for you and your brand," he says.

Surprise – is there some novelty? Can you reframe the brand in some way? Is there something new?
Emotional connection – what emotion fits and works?
Brand consistency – messaging must fit with your brand
Personal relevance – use research to get this right

Example of a brand transformation - Lynx Boys Don't Cry: