Digital Natives Versus Digital Migrators: Does It Matter Where You Start?
“We are in the age of personalization,” Klein adds. “We believe certainly that we’re in this new wave of the experience-led business.” An example of a business he believes is particularly succeeding at personalization is mattress company Casper. The brand launched in 2014 and offers just one mattress in a range of sizes, from twin to king. Most people like to try out a mattress before they buy it, so Casper created the Napmobile—a trailer outfitted with its beds that traveled to several cities, allowing customers to test the comfort of a mattress before making an online purchase.
“In terms of the age-of-personalization experience, really understanding the audiences that you have, and understanding either how you nurture those audiences or attract [similar] audiences, those are going to be the foundational successes,” Klein says. “Once I have that ability to interact with my existing [customers] and find new [customers], [I need] to deliver great experiences, whether that be at an Amazon value-discount rate, or a Neiman Marcus luxury rate, or a Casper convenience quality rate—I [need to] deliver on that promise.”
Klein cites Adobe’s work with U.K. retailer John Lewis as an example of creating a well-rounded customer experience. John Lewis is one of Adobe’s beta customers for shoppable media, a capability that enables marketers to take an image such as a runway shot or room setup and connect that image directly to the customer’s shopping cart, so that the customer can purchase everything from that image without having to switch pages. At present, Klein says, this function is “limited in its scope or abilities, or how often you see it,” but it provides marketers with the ability to make video and large imagery shoppable.
According to Klein, consumers are “ready, willing, and able to share their information for personalization” but “they don’t feel that they’re getting good personalization, so there’s this gap between what they want and what they’re getting.” He notes that despite this disconnect, many marketers believe they are doing a decent job when it comes to crafting personalized experiences. He says that the key is not to “just give me technology for technology’s sake—this [technology] needs to benefit or enhance my life or my experience in some way, shape, or form.”
Ray Wang, principal analyst, founder, and chairman at Constellation Research, says that brand consistency is the ultimate goal for companies to focus on. “Why do you exist, what is your mission, how do you want to get there—once you understand that, then you can shift the way you deliver your business models, and then once you know the business model, then you think about new products and services and insights and experiences and outcomes,” he says. He adds that the companies succeeding in today’s environment really understand that they’re not selling a product or service—they’re selling a brand promise.
He also says that knowing how to harness customer data to drive business is essential. “[Data is] not just for reports—it’s a competitive weapon.” He says that these companies realize that they can build their business on the insights derived from customer data.
“When push comes to shove, [most companies] focus on regulatory compliance and operational efficiency. The problem is, that’s the fastest way to failure because existing companies are built to grow two to three percent, three to five percent, follow a plan, make it all work, but the reality is, anyone that’s disrupting you could come out of nowhere, and when they do that, your plan completely gets screwed because you don’t remember why you’re in business,” Wang says.
Assistant Editor Sam Del Rowe can be reached at sdelrowe@infotoday.com.