Customer experience in brand building

Like people, brands also face the fear of losing out

A relatively recent article in a leading business paper essentially talked about how people with different personalities prefer different social media platforms. For instance, a fashionista will prefer Instagram or Pinterest whereas an acamedically inclined person will prefer to spend his time on Quora. We constantly see such people on their smartphones or any other digital device, scrolling and typing, just so they do not lose touch with their community. If we dig deeper, we realise that what they are actually experiencing is FOMO- fear of missing out.

FOMO is largely driving online and offline behaviour of people today. The relative comparison that he knows something more than I do or he is getting something more than me etc. is forming the basis of our actions today. This fear, however, is not just limited to people only. It extends to brands as well as they tend to fear whether they are able to carve a place for themselves while breaking the clutter and at the same time remain relevant in the mind of its target audience.

One way that brands have been traditionally employing to battle FOMO is by strengthening the brand presence. The essence of any brand is primarily to have a distinctive identity that stands out in a cluttered marketing place. With internet and exponential spread of social media, brand communication is seeing an 'explosion' in terms of niche targeting. However, when done in excess, this is also leading to spamming, and other forms of unsolicited communication. In this case, when a customer is least interested, an overload of messaging contributes to shutting out the brand out of his life by simply redirecting the message to junk mails or by signing up for the 'Do Not Disturb' service or in fact in some cases, the end user simply ignores the message.

This is where the fear of 'getting lost' or 'losing out' is coming alive for brands. However, as the times are changing, the expectations of the customer is also evolving. In such a scenario, another method that a brand must deploy to circumvent the FOMO is experiential differentiation. Organisations that are able to build customer connect through 'experiential differentiation' in the mind of consumers tend to leave a imprint - that can be leveraged to remain 'top of the mind' whenever customer thinks of the product/service category. This also contributes to customers remaining interested to any communication outreach from the brand. In consumer research, 'top of mind awareness' - TOMA is a major driver for increasing sales and revenue for any brand. Consumer experience with the brand is surely a critical element to achieve this objective. Customer experience is increasingly becoming a 'strategic' thrust by brand leaders. This experience is delivered basis combination of all touchpoints of consumers starting from:

Use of innovative yet 'non obtrusive' means like social media, preference suggestions based on past usage or best fit, user group recommendations etc.

Use of customer's footfall mapping and placing the product within an arms length or a 'click' away is the new approach. Use of various technological advances in the field of electronics, computing, robotics, nano-engineering etc., the thrust is in making a product or service as intuitive as possible. Some examples are Siri (in iPhones), video games using hand motions, swipe strokes on mobiles, machine to machine communication to command operating instructions to gadgets (such as wireless printing) etc. Designing product or service for no failure and in the event of likely breakdown, ensuring one touch support and speedy recovery such as through, empathatic, empowered and well trained staff

Only a holistic approach to consumer experience will ensure that the brand remains on top of mind and thereby mitigating the fear of getting lost experienced by a brand. Experience Architecture is therefore a need of a core competency in the brand building - where the entire experience of the consumer is designed together by all stakeholders in the organisation. It is no longer the purview of a single vertical in an organisation and investment in this area is strategic in nature .

It is in line with this perspective that chief service delivery officers are taking on a larger role than just handling post sales support but by rather becoming customer experience change agents integrating all functions impacting customer touchpoints and all processes influencing the overall brand experience. From various newly evolving techniques like Customer Journey mapping or Service Design Architecture to Customer Listening strategy and use of data analytics for understanding consumer needs and aspirations at a segment and individual level - all go into building a brand that can become relevant and exciting for the consumers. It is only this approach that can be an antidote to FOMO - an integrated approach with interest of consumers being kept at the center at all times.

The author is Head- Customer Services, Aircel