Global Brand Experience Trends in 2014
Everyone in the customer loyalty/customer experience industry wants to know what the big global brand experience trends will be in 2014. Several thought leaders from global brand experience agency Jack Morton Worldwide shared their predictions for top trends in 2014.
Relevant Retail: The big trend for retail brands is building relevant experiences around what consumers actually want, Richard Vincent, Head of Consumer in Jack Mortons London office, said in a press release. That's hard work, but its better than the status quo. Last year there was a lot of talk about show-rooming and other presumably negative consumer behaviors that were seriously troubling to retailers.
This year, Vincent said the brands that are growing are the ones that embrace consumer needs - for example, promoting their in-store experience as mobile-friendly.
Im also a big fan of brands that are bringing retail experiences to new places, through innovative kiosks and social campaigns, Vincent said.
According to research released by Jack Morton in 2013, consumers are looking for differentiated retail experiences, but less than half (46%) think retail brands are doing enough to stand out.
The Rise of the CXO: According to Katie Chatfield, Head of Strategy in Sydney, a big opportunity for brands is elevating brand experience within the organizational structure.
Experience is enormously complex, Chatfield said. Think of all the touch points in a customers set of brand interactions: No one person controls them all, but if one goes wrong, the customer doesnt blame the call center manager, she blames the brand. Theres unacceptable asymmetry: Centralized risk, distributed responsibility. Thats why we advise clients to appoint someone to champion excellence in brand experience - whether theyre called a Chief Experience Officer or a Chief Customer Officer, their role is to centralize and lead experience.
According to Jack Morton, nine out of 10 consumers worldwide say that they choose brands on the basis of experience
User Experience Writ Large: In 2014 well stop thinking of user experience strictly in terms of online, says Leesa Wytock, Head of Digital in the agencys New York office. User experience thinking should really be the way you think about the whole experience - because today, experience is the net sum of every interaction a person has with your brand, online and offline. What user experience thinking means in practice is an overarching ethos of building experience around human needs and behaviors that can influence action. It impacts design, it influences how we creatively use technology and its defining for how great brands build customer interaction and even develop products.
The user experience trend is reflective of the higher standards that consumers have for brands: Almost six in 10 (57%) consumers surveyed worldwide say they hold brands today to a higher standard, according to agency research conducted in 2013.
Owned Media Strategies for Content Marketing: Brands are desperate for content, says Dan Carter, Senior Creative Director in Jack Mortons Shanghai office. They want campaigns their consumers will want to participate in and share. We think a huge area of need is the inherent interest that comes with experiences consumers can witness or engage with live. In 2014, we believe brands will invest in owned media strategies that give them that - experiences that create intrigue, fuel conversations, and foster engagement. For consumers, experiences are the ultimate currency - they represent something to remember and share across social networks. In 2014, we'll advise clients to innovate ownable experiences to fuel their content marketing strategies.
Research indicates that experience fuels consumer word of mouth, still one of the most trusted ways people learn about brands and products.
Big Data Gets Small: Big data is one of the most over-used, least understood terms in our industry, says Steve Mooney, Managing Director of Jack Mortons Boston office. In 2014, the big opportunity for brands is using information to enhance customer experience - to get small with big data. We know from research that consumers put a premium on better brand experiences theyll pay more for them. We advise brands to shift from the mindset of using data to target ads, to a mindset of using data to make experience better.
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