Authenticity Breeds Advocacy, Says L’Oreal Australia’s CX Director

Customer experience is now a job unto itself. Just ask Emma Williamson, who’s heading up L’Oreal Australia and New Zealand’s efforts in this space.

When she became director of customer experience at L’Oreal Australia and New Zealand, Emma Williamson was determined to shift the conversation from assuaging customer dissatisfaction to embracing customers as brand advocates.

It’s a mindset shift, the marketing leader said, and one that was very different to a traditional care role where interaction with customers was kept to a minimum.

“The more contact we have, the more we are able to actually refine the way we work,” Williamson said in this episode of The CMO Show podcast. “And that is really a way that we can be successful and engage with consumers. I want to actually have consumers advocating for us.”

Ethics are central to this process, Williamson added. “It’s all about being ethical and showing that you stand for something more than just the bottom line,” she said. “That aligns with what consumers want these days. Their expectations of businesses are so much higher than they were even two years ago.”

Tune in as CMO Show hosts Mark Jones and JV Douglas discuss the challenges of localising content, the value of customers as brand advocates, and the importance of being open to feedback.

The CMO Show is a podcast about brand storytelling and the future of marketing. To listen to previous episodes, visit the website or follow along on iTunes or SoundCloud.