3-Point Checklist For Innovating Customer Experiences

Brands can earn consumers’ loyalty by thinking about their needs and inventing new services, according to Matt Gee, head of digital transformation at the marketing agency Isobar.

All retail brands face the same issue. Unless they innovate, it is all too easy for customers to think brands are the same, so they might as well head to Amazon and get a good deal on price. Come up with a great new service, such as trying on a dress with a smart mirror that lets you pay through facial recognition, and customers will be more likely to enjoy the experience and not shop elsewhere based on price alone.

It is a very simple premise, Matt Gee, head of digital transformation at Isobar, admitted to Dmexco delegates, but that is the point. “If we make better experiences for our customers, they will transact more with our brands,” he said. “It really is that simple.”

As ever, the devil is in the detail, and so Gee offers a three-point checklist for brands considering new ways of interacting with consumers. “Obviously, the first point is that it has to deliver a better experience for customers,” he said. “You have to show them what the value is you’re providing them through the new experience, why they should care about it. Then you’ve got to make sure it differentiates your brand and finally, of course, it’s got to create value for your business.”

The three-point checklist is, he cautions, the antidote to how many brands, organised around internal silos, pump out marketing messages based on their structure rather than the needs of the consumer. By focusing on providing something truly useful to the customer, built around them, a brand can make customers see the value of interacting with it rather than looking for the cheapest deal online.

A case in point is the Johnnie Walker app, which measures how much of a bottle of whisky has been drunk. “It’s a great idea to tailor the message to how much is left in the bottle,” said Gee. “At the top of the bottle, you’ve got serving suggestions and cocktail cross-selling opportunities. Then, lower down, you can change the message to encourage someone to order another bottle.”

The ultimate in an innovative shopping experience, Gee believes, are pioneering services that allow shoppers to virtually try on clothing or look at items in a store through a mirror, and then pay through facial recognition.

“The Sanderson Hotel and the Westfield Shopping Centre in London have launched a service in a few rooms for personal shopping,” he said. “Just imagine you’re going out in an hour and want a new shirt. With this new service, a personal shopper can show you some shirts and you can click to pay for one to be delivered to your room. All through the mirror.”

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