Majority of CMO struggling to unify online and offline

85% of marketers are having trouble joining together their online and offline customer data, new research by Conversant has found. As part of its CMO report, the company surveyed over 60 international CMOs about the challenges they face in today’s data-driven market. The findings show that a minority of 16% were ‘very confident’ that they are capable of identifying an individual across multiple devices online. 61% said that they are aiming to build closer customer relationships. But while technology provides the tools to make this a reality, many CMOs are failing to use technology to reach customers on a personal level. Only 15% of those surveyed felt confident that they really knew who their customers are. “The word personalization is often bandied about by marketers, but few are actually doing it right,” said Elliott Clayton, VP of Media UK, Conversant. “In fact, the large majority of marketers don’t have sufficient clarity to tell if it’s the same customer online and offline, or between their smartphone and laptop. Not only will this annoy customers, but it’s a waste of marketing spend – you could easily be advertising a product to a customer who just purchased it.” Losing track The main issue that seems to be hampering the ability of CMOs to forge tighter bonds with their customers is a lack of effective tracking. 65% said that they do not currently track online and offline sales, and less than a quarter make use of real-time customer activity to tweak and hone their digital marketing. 34% still use click data as the only way of measuring their channel impact. “A big obstacle...

Hospitality Industry to Move from discounting to loyalty in 2018

It used to be the attentiveness of the staff or the free ‘nightcap’ at the end of the meal that attracted diners to a restaurant in the hospitality sector. Increasingly it is now the lure of a discount. Rising inflation in the global markets has led to a tightening of purse strings, with dining out deemed a luxury. Restaurants on the high street are often competing for the same guests. Many restaurants view enticing potential guests with a discount as a reliable way to get guests through the door. However, heavy discounting cannibalizes sales and isn’t sustainable. There is the risk that almost every customer coming through those restaurant doors could present a discount code at the end of their meal. Meaning restaurants may only make a profit through drink sales. The main issue evident is that restaurants are focusing too heavily on fast sales. Rather than aiming for repeated sales from loyal guests. By moving away from discounting and instead putting a loyalty scheme in place, restaurants can begin to identify and understand their guests and use a variety of methods to encourage repeat visits. Without the need for blanket discounting. The difference between discounting and loyalty Consumers love great deals, especially when dining out. Offering a percentage discount off their bill, 2-for-1 on main meals or a three-course set menu for £12.95 is likely to motivate. However, there is a fine line between creating compelling enough offers that your guests will respond well to, and pricing yourself out of profits all together. That is where the shift to loyalty comes into place. “loyalty is about creating a personal...

End of B2B/C Marketing & rise of H2H

When I first began my career, I’d hear people say things like “business is business,” which they would use as an excuse for treating people badly. Today, more people are realizing that business is actually just people, which completely shifts the paradigm. Your approach should shift with it. Marketing has traditionally been segmented into two categories — business to business and business to consumer – also known as B2B and B2C. Even these names imply an impersonal, transactional approach to customer relationships – and that’s exactly what we saw. Fortunately, business thinking is evolving and there’s a better approach – human to human (H2H). H2H starts to say: “I’m not a business and you are not a business or a customer. We’re both human and we’re going to have a conversation about something which will hopefully benefit both of us.” Think of H2H as simply talking to someone, communicating the same way you would if they were standing in front of you. In a conversation, you share information that needs sharing and you can expect some immediate feedback. And while technology often feels less personal – think spam emails and robo-calls – it’s now giving us the opportunity to turn that around and be more human. Human conversation Imagine I go into a restaurant and receive poor service. I might fill out a comment card and, based on my experience, I expect that comment card just to go into a void. I never actually expect the company to talk back to me. “every single email those customers receive is an attempt to sell to them” Today, we have online...

Myntra woos customers with hassle free returns, instant refunds in its ad campaign

Myntra has kicked off a 360 degree marketing campaign to underscore its service offerings, targeted at uninitiated shoppers across the country with a special focus on non-metro cities and small towns. Myntra’s research into the online shopping habits of people in non-metro cities indicates growth potential due to the presence of a high number of internet users in these markets who do not shop online. Myntra aims to augment its position through this campaign by emphasizing upon important propositions such as seamless returns and instant refunds to help drive adoption among new customers. Commenting on the campaign, Gunjan Soni, CMO, Myntra & Head- Jabong, said, “Non-metro cities are very important markets for Myntra as we see our next phase of growth coming from there. Our research shows that over 30 million SEC A internet users in non-metros do not shop online and as a market leader we have launched this campaign to drive adoption among them. We see about 25% of our daily acquisitions coming from this cohort and with this campaign we are looking at acquiring half a million new customers from this target group over the next three weeks.” As part of the campaign, Myntra has released two TVC’s that will highlight some of its key service features, such as easy returns and instant refunds with an aim to acquire new customers. The ad films exemplify the hesitancy among shoppers from smaller towns to avail certain services or features related to online shopping, owing to their environment and showcase their unpretentious acceptance of such overtures. Neeraj Kanitkar, creative director, Taproot Dentsu, Mumbai, said. “Myntra is undisputedly one of India’s most fashionable...

Data usage per smartphone in India to quintuple by 2023: Ericsson

India jumped to top spot in data usage in a period of 1 year after Reliance Jio launched its 4G (LTE) services The monthly data consumption on every smartphone in India is estimated to grow nearly five times from 3.9 GB in 2017 to 18 GB by 2023, Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson said in its mobility report today. “The total mobile data traffic per month in India is expected to grow 11 times during the forecast period (2017- 2023) from 1.3 EB (exabytes) to 14 EB by 2023. The report estimates that the monthly data usage per smartphone GB/month) in India will increase 5 times from 3.9 GB in 2017 to 18 GB by 2023,” Ericsson said. Globally, the mobile data growth witnessed highest year- on-year growth due to surge in data consumption in India. “It shows the highest year-on-year mobile data growth globally since 2013, led by massive growth in India, and highlights the underlying need for mobile data,” the report said. India jumped to top spot in data usage in a period of 1 year after Reliance Jio launched its 4G (LTE) services. “We expect LTE to be the most dominant technology in India by 2023. LTE will account for more than 60 per cent of the total subscriptions in the country by 2023 compared to the 12 per cent LTE subscriptions in 2017,” Ericsson India Managing Director Nitin Bansal. The report estimates that there will be around 800 million VoLTE (vocie over 4G) subscribers in India by 2023. At present entire network of Reliance Jio supports VoLTE (voice over 4G) calls which are upgraded version...

232 ads come under Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)’s scanner

India’s advertising industry watchdog on Tuesday said its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) has upheld complaints against 232 out of 305 advertisements in the categories of healthcare, food and beverages, education, personal care and others in September for either misleading campaigns or not able to substantiate their claim India’s advertising industry watchdog on Tuesday said its Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) has upheld complaints against 232 out of 305 advertisements in the categories of healthcare, food and beverages, education, personal care and others in September for either misleading campaigns or not able to substantiate their claim. “Out of 232 advertisements against which complaints were upheld, 62 belonged to the healthcare category, 151 to the education category, followed by seven in the food & beverages category, four in the personal care category and eight advertisements from other categories,” the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) said in a statement. Indirect complaints, it processed complaints against advertisements from general public, industry as well as from the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Grievances Against Misleading Advertisements portal. “Out of 92 advertisements, complaints against 28 advertisements were upheld. Of these, 13 advertisements were of healthcare, 2 belonged to the education category, one belonged to the personal category, four belonged to food & beverage category and eight belonged to the others category,” it said. Some advertisements were picked up through its suo moto surveillance of print and TV media via National Advertisement Monitoring Services project. “Out of 213 advertisements, total of 204 advertisements were considered to be misleading. Of these 49 advertisements were of healthcare, 149 belonged to the education category, three belonged to the personal category...