Marketers must become much more adept at delivering relevant,
targeted and consistent brand messaging and information across
multiplying channels of customer interaction and communication,
reports a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council.
Minimizing customer confusion, frustration and disengagement
through optimal content delivery has become a critical imperative
as financial failures, business consolidations and more aggressive
and complex promotional and pricing practices impact the customer
experience in today's soft market, says the CMO Council.
In a new 200-page report on "The Variance in Customer
Experience," the global thought leadership group and its program
underwriter, Interwoven, took a deep dive into the accuracy,
uniformity and timeliness of information delivery across the
customer touch points and content sources of 25 major brands
selected randomly across multiple market sectors.
The CMO Council -- whose 3,500 members control more than $100
billion in annual marketing spend -- ranked Home Depot top of the
list in customer experience followed by Marriott Hotels, Southwest
Airlines, American Airlines, AllState Insurance and Dell. Those
scoring less well were DirectTV, Major League Soccer, JetBlue,
Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, Music TV (MTV) and Comcast.
In light of recent industry upheavals in industries such as
aviation, automotive, banking, diversified financial services and
home building, the need for a major focus on the overall customer
experience is arguably more important today than ever.
"Marketing's mandate is to reinforce the brand value proposition
and communicate more effectively, accurately and consistently in
trying times," said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the
CMO Council. "This can significantly improve customer loyalty,
retention and advocacy rates (NetPromoter scores), while also
driving top line growth through deeper, more meaningful engagements
with customers," he noted.
"What the study found was that marketers -- along with the
channel and customer service executives -- are failing to respond
fully to the pain, unmet needs and expectations of today's
consumer," stated Neale-May. "Quick, efficient and positive
resolution of issues is not necessarily a hallmark of most
businesses and those that set a standard can gain competitive
advantage and differentiate their brands," he added.
25 Surveyed Companies Chosen At Random
The CMO Council selected 25 companies at random to represent a
broad range of consumer brands, products and services. These brands
have no affiliation with the CMO Council, nor did they have any
prior knowledge that they had been selected for this initiative.
"While customers by and large noticed the brand's visual identity,
they were far more in tune with discrepancies and disconnects in
content and service delivery," Neale-May said. "While countless
marketers fret over brand identify makeovers, refreshed websites or
creative advertising, it is clear that the customer is looking for
something more engaging than an image."
Some of the study's highest-ranked companies offered the most
consistent customer experience across all customer touch points,
ranging from web sites to advertising programs to call centers to
in-store presentations.
Top-Ranked Home Depot
Home Depot, the top-ranked brand, did not stand out in a single
category, but it communicates an even, consistent and accurate
brand message. It leverages the belief, "You Can Do It, We Can
Help," clearly through its web site, call center, events and
in-store content channels.
"Considering competitive messaging that brands Home Depot as an
overwhelmingly cavernous warehouse, Home Depot seems an unlikely
candidate for this top honor," Neale-May conceded. "But it is not
about the intimidation one feels by walking through the door. It is
about the expert advice and diversity of product for both weekend
Do-It-Yourself adventurers and the professional. Information was
consistently the same both online and in-store."
Other companies that scored in the top quintile in the CMO
Council study were Marriott Hotels, Southwest Airlines, American
Airlines, AllState Insurance and Dell. Rankings were contingent on
the consistency and accuracy of branding and messaging on their Web
sites and in their call centers, advertising, marketing collateral,
retail displays and customer-centric events. Companies that ranked
in the lower quintile were DirectTV, Major League Soccer, JetBlue,
Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, Music TV (MTV) and Comcast.
The Impact of Negative Customer Call Center Experiences
Hurting many companies, in particular, were negative customer
call center experiences, causing the rankings of many companies to
plummet. Prime examples were DirectTV and Comcast. "Call centers
had an overall diminishing impact on the customer experience of
many of our audited companies," Neale-May said. "Unfortunately,
call centers, a critical point of live interaction, are among the
most troubled touch points of the customer experience for many
companies."
Ominously, consumers have stated that a single negative
experience with a brand can alter the decision to do business with
a company. According to a 2007 Harris Interactive poll of more than
2,000 adult consumers, 80 percent of consumers will never go back
to an organization after a negative experience. Seventy four
percent of unhappy customers would register a complaint or tell
others about their experience, the poll added.
"Consumers are not taking their experiences lightly," Neale-May
said, "and their disaffection can have an immediate and measurable
impact on the bottom line."
For a free summary of the CMO Council report on the Internet, go
to http://www.cmocouncil.org/resources/form_variance.asp.
About the CMO Council
The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council is dedicated to
high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal
relationship building among senior corporate marketing leaders and
brand decision-makers across a wide-range of global industries. The
CMO Council's 3,500 members control more than $100 billion in
aggregated annual marketing expenditures and run complex,
distributed marketing and sales operations worldwide. In total, the
CMO Council and its strategic interest communities include over
6,000 global executives across 57 countries in multiple industries,
segments and markets. Regional chapters and advisory boards are
active in the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and
Africa. The Council's strategic interest groups include the
Coalition to Leverage and Optimize Sales Effectiveness (CLOSE),
Brand Management Institute, and the Forum to Advance the Mobile
Experience (FAME). More information on the CMO Council is available
at www.cmocouncil.org.
About Interwoven
Interwoven, Inc. (NASDAQ: IWOV) is a global leader in content
management solutions. Interwoven's software and services enable
organizations to maximize online business performance and organize,
find, and govern business content. Interwoven solutions unlock the
value of content by delivering the right content to the right
person in the right context at the right time. Nearly 4,400 of the
world's leading companies, professional services firms, and
governments have chosen Interwoven, including adidas, Airbus,
Amnesty International USA, Avaya, BT, Cisco, Citi, Delta Air Lines,
DLA Piper, FedEx, Grant Thornton, Hilton Hotels, HKMP LLP, Hong
Kong Trade and Development Council, HSBC, LexisNexis, MasterCard,
Microsoft, Samsung, Shell, Sky Italia, Qantas Airways, Tesco,
Virgin Mobile, and White & Case. A community of over 20,000
developers and over 300 partners enrich and extend Interwoven's
offerings. To learn more about Interwoven, please visit
www.interwoven.com.
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