The myth of customer experience and the emergence of brand experience

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We all know what a customer experience (CX) is. To many, it is the holy grail of marketing metrics. Yet I think as important as the CX may be, of greater importance overall is the view, the big picture, of the brand experience (Bxp).

Am I splitting words? Not really. Are the terms interchangeable, or are they something very different? As with many things in life and marketing, the view, your point of view depends on your position on the...

4 March 2016 | Customer Experience

Why preparing lasagne is like developing a digital marketing plan

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If you think about it, lasagne is not only a perfect food – well, maybe pizza is better – but also a perfect analogy to assist you in developing a near perfect marketing plan.

Consider the following. When developing your marketing plan, you need to first envision the scope, the universe, the market that supports your goals and objectives. Budget, cost outlay, and market spend must also be serious considerations. Marketing demographics,...

3 February 2016 | Best Practice

Who goes there?, or, Your most important marketing resolution for 2016

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In 1938, John W. Campbell, under the alias Don Stuart Jr, presented to the world one of the very best science fiction stories of all time: Who Goes There? This novella, converted to multiple film versions, presents a creature from a world beyond the Earth that, when it devours its prey, can shift to its prey’s shape, memories and personality, while still retaining its own personality.

I see this creature as analogous to the various...

5 January 2016 | Case Studies

Why the marketing bubble may be about to collapse – and how digital fits into it

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Over the past 25 years, multiple economic and related bubbles have negatively impacted the United States and the world. These bubbles include the very famous dot.com bubble, the not-so-famous technology bubble, and the very financially damaging housing bubble and real estate bubble.

Whether you believe in the concept of bubbles or not, I believe that the marketing sector is on the verge of a bubble that is truly about to pop.

Let’s be...

5 November 2015 | Best Practice

This micro moment – so different and so new for brands?

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Advocated most recently by Google, a 'micro moment' in marketing represents a moment where consumers search 'in the moment' for something top of mind using whatever device is nearest to them. It also represents a serious opportunity for brands. This piece examines what a micro moment is, where brands and companies sit and what action can be taken from here.

If Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman – and of course the Drifters – would have read this...

6 October 2015 | Branding

Experiential marketing: Is it the future or just another almost big thing?

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In 2002, Steven Spielberg directed the film Minority Report, based on a short story by Philip K. Dick. The PreCrime captain, played by Tom Cruise, used three psychic sources called “precogs” to predict crime prior to the event occurring and apprehend the potential criminal based on foreknown knowledge.

Advertising and marketing has been searching for a “Minority Report”-esque captain of its own for years. In the past, the...

10 September 2015 | Customer Experience

Defining the ultimate wearable technology – and what it means for marketers

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I sense a revolution on the horizon. A revolution that will slow the advance of technology, but one not stopping the advance. This revolution will redefine who and how the users, consumers, customers will use the next stage of integrated (wearable) convergence technology.

Defining wearable technology

There is, as you can imagine, a broad and somewhat vague definition available of wearable technology. One definition includes the term...

27 May 2015 | Customer Experience

The correct use of data for marketers: Big, little, or nearly any thing in between

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As a dedicated integrated media and marketing technologist long supporting the advent of personalised marketing (aka database marketing, perhaps aka as scientific marketing), I clearly see the use of data, clearly see the advantages of correctly applied data, and also see the confusion that may be widespread throughout our industry when the following question is asked: “Is there a correct process, methodology for the use of data – big or...

9 April 2015 | Best Practice

So, so social: The symmetry of an asymmetric media?

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I am a social type of guy. I have a really good pal, a number of friends, acquaintances, and a larger universe of others, people who I have meet over the years that keep in touch with me or are those that I choose to keep in touch with.

On the business side of the social scene I am also a social person. My business-based social structure is defined by a hierarchy as well:

A very limited number of highly trusted advisors Knowledge-based...

4 March 2015 | Social Media Marketing

The continuing failure of the mobile media channel

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Somebody told me five years ago that “this is the year of mobile or if not this year it will be next year – maybe”.

As a person on the go I like mobile, but to me the mobile media of today is like most other trending, shape-shifting and emerging media, a single legged stool. Interesting to look at and discuss, but tough to actually use.

I wonder if mobile, when looked at as a single-source media (and maybe only...

21 January 2015 | Commerce