Belonging Experiences

CHAPTER THREE BRAND ENGAGEMENT The word “engagement” defines the action of being committed, of occuping a presence, of attracting or causing someone to become involved. For marketers, the word clearly defines the level of brand loyalty and repeat purchase, the true measures of the health of a brand. The challenge for marketers is to define the most effective approach in engaging their target group within an environment where consumers are being bombarded with a wide range of messages and offers from a broad source of vehicles. Today, consumers lack the time to explore the right option to suit their needs or the level of risk to try something new. Adding to the challenge, customers and employees are skeptical about company claims and commitments and confused about who is working in their best interest. The market downturn and the erosion of corporate credibility have further fueled this sense of confusion. This chapter will identify the three critical sides of engagement and the needs driving each side of the pyramid while providing an approach on how to increase the level of brand loyalty for your organization. Exhibit 1: Engagement Triangle Each of these three dimensions (Exhibit 1) plays a critical role in building engagement with customers and ensuring strong brand loyalty. Each dimension of the Engagement Pyramid builds on the Belonging Experiences model, supporting a strong understanding that there are numerous factors that come to play in ensuring customers are truly engaged in brands. A recent Forrester study on the influence of brand experience on brand loyalty clearly identifies a direct correlation between the overall experience in which consumers engage with brands and the level of commitment towards purchasing additional products or the reluctance of switching to competitive brands. Organizations that have defined the key elements to engaging the consumer as part of a unique and well-defined experience in a way that is relevant and meaningful have been able to gain significant market share and brand loyalty. In addition, understanding the role of the various marketing tools and messages as part of each of the different consumer touch-points that support an engagement process will help ensure strong long-term relationships. The Engagement Pyramid also helps define the role that the different moments of truth and the employees play in its success. Why is Engagement so Important? In December 2006 and January 2007, the Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of The Economist business magazine, conducted an online study with 311 executives on their companies’ customer engagement practices. The respondents covered the globe with approximately 32% of respondents from western and eastern Europe, 32% from the Americas, 31% from the Asia-Pacific region and 5% from other parts of the world. Respondents represented a wide range of industries, functions and revenue levels. The survey indicated that executives in a variety of industries believe customer engagement moves beyond customer loyalty and satisfaction to provide a crucial competitive advantage. As markets become commodities through aggressive competition and the flattening of the innovation process, companies have identified a need to evolve beyond the conventional marketing initiatives to better engage their most valued customers. The research findings identified that, despite their general optimism and strong understanding about the value of customer engagement programs and strategies, many respondents identified that they find them difficult to implement in their own companies. The study supports my belief that what is lacking within the industry is a process that will allow organizations to foster new and unique engagement strategies. The study outlined a list of strategies that included cultivating a closer understanding of the customer and what he or she expects from the company in order to become more fully committed. The study clearly identified the need to translate the voice of the consumer into engagement opportunities while clearly defining customer segments. The study also supports the Engagement Pyramid model since it takes into consideration the role of technology in creating engagement and identifies how new technologies can help to engage customers. The findings are further supported by a Gallup Consulting Group 2008 study on why banks must carefully manage their digital touch-points to create a seamless customer experience. The study was launched to investigate the role interactive technology plays in creating engagement among retail banking customers. Gallup Consulting conducted a survey of more than 2,100 people in six countries. The survey found that extremely satisfied website users are 7 times more likely to be engaged with their bank when compared to less satisfied website users. Extremely satisfied mobile banking users are 15 times more likely to be engaged with their bank when compared to less satisfied mobile banking users. Customers tend to be more engaged with their bank when they use many of their bank’s website features, use certain features that have an especially strong connection with engagement and/or interact with their bank across many different touch-points (both digital and non-digital). In most cases the overall level of engagement of customers who use their bank’s website is not substantially different than the engagement of those who do not. However, customer satisfaction with a bank’s website is strongly related to overall engagement with the bank. More than half of the retail banking customers in many countries visit their bank’s website and approximately 1 in 10 use a mobile device to conduct transactions with their bank. The Gallup study also identified four types of engagement that were based on the combination of attitudinal loyalty and emotional attributes: • Fully Engaged: Loyal and strongly attached. • Engaged: Less strongly connected, with somewhat lower attachment and loyalty. • Not Engaged: Emotionally and attitudinally neutral. No emotional connection. • Actively Disengaged: Active emotional detachment and even antagonism to your company. Process, a Key Factor in Identifying Customer Knowledge Needs Where are all of these insights leading? I believe that today’s consumers are not buying products or a service, they are seeking knowledge that would allow them to make the right decision on their quest to get their given job completed. In his blog Experiencematters.com, Bruce Temkin, a senior researcher for Forrester, identified six laws of customer experience. One of these laws identifies that every interaction creates a personal reaction, where the individual needs of customers must be taken into consideration and prioritized by customer segments. The beginning of any engaging relationship is established through the ability for organizations to guide consumers through the purchase decision by clearly understanding which segment is being served and what tools best meet their given knowledge needs. For example, if you are a packaged goods company, it may be more about how to provide a quick, balanced meal the whole family can enjoy while being healthy. If you are a consumer seeking to buy a house, the need may focus on the knowledge of how to best negotiate a mortgage versus shopping for the best mortgage rate. The ability for the customer to feel empowered and knowledgeable is a critical factor in creating the platform for an engaging experience on the journey to brand loyalty. The process follows similar fundamentals as to how consumers build personal relationships and foster a sense of belonging. Most people do not get married following the first date. By understanding the courtship process and how your brand’s touch-points play an important role in gaining the customers awareness, interest and ultimately trust and how information about your brand is shared, companies create a strong platform for customer loy