Dealing with new tools

Marketers beware: there's no running away from digital channels

Welcome to a new model of consumer behaviour: snackable consumption, a world in which people use smart devices to shop in increments, moving comfortably from one digital destination to the next, grabbing bite-sized information such as prices about brands, products and services, often doing their research while multitasking. Snacking behaviour often discussed in the context of content consumption - now extends far beyond content. Increasingly, we are seeing this behaviour extend into new areas.

We see many signs that snackable consumption is the norm: Smartphone users interact with their phones 150 times per day - every six minutes. Seventy-nine per cent of 18-44 year olds have their smartphones with them 22 hours per day, with the vast majority checking their phone within 15 minutes of waking up. On social networks, small and frequent online interactions are the rule. Smartphone users are checking in to Facebook 14 times per day. They are engaging with brands through traditional channels, but now, the majority of people are also multi-screening: 60 per cent of smartphone owners report they are likely to be using another device when watching TV (and even more for tablet owners). It is more natural for people to find ways to fit things into gaps, delaying activities until they have a moment and do several things at once (watching TV and shopping, for instance).

This change in behaviour challenges brands and marketers to rebuild how and where their brands engage consumers. Not only do we now need to create content, which consumers can snack on, we need to create whole experiences that can be consumed in - bite-sized chunks at any time, in any location. For example, Nike's use of sensors and the Nike+ platforms means that although you might only engage with Nike consciously once every other day during a run and perhaps only ephemerally at that time, the brand remains with you.

Impacts across customer journey
Snackable consumption patterns tend to break down classical definitions of the customer journey. In many respects, the path from awareness, consideration through purchase and support has been compressed, as people buy quickly on the go. Yet in other ways, the buying process is actually much longer and complex, with significant new influences on the ultimate decision, as customers seek advice from their social networks (for example, Pinterest), third-party information providers (for example,Trip Advisor) and on-site customer reviews. Ultimately, the actual journey will vary by industry. Here we explore four specific need states along this new path to purchase.

• Inspiration: Snacking during the inspiration phase has increasingly involved mobile services. For retail shoppers and bloggers, mobile street-style discovery tools lead the way - fitting in very well to busy young female professionals' lives and leading to snap purchase judgments. This is massively important in segments where it is difficult to experience a product prior to purchase, such as personal care and beauty items, or even travel and hospitality.
• Information: Small bits of content, when available at key steps in the journey, can help shoppers move forward with a purchase. Shoppers often need specific information: for example, where they can buy it, its provenance, product reviews or rating. When this information is unavailable at key moments, the journey can be stalled.
• Comparison: In addition to social tools, community and brand engagement, consumers' online and offline shopping patterns are changing. To satisfy this new behaviour, retailers and third parties are developing tools to surface content and drive conversion ultimately shortening the sales funnel. For example, at the point of purchase many savvy shoppers get that niggling feeling that they could get a better deal, and, in that moment, balance convenience and instant gratification with getting the best price or deal.
• Maximisation: The final step, maximisation, occurs as people seek to get the best deal. Maximisation means that people are ever more game to take part in coupons and reward schemes. Where maximisation really comes into its own is when big data is used to understand shopping behaviour and identify unmet needs. For example, Guatemalan sneaker retailer Meat Pack created a mobile app called Hijack, which activates when customers walk into a competitor's store. It offers a discount that starts at 99 per cent and counts down by 1 per cent every second while the customer races to the Meat Pack store.

What next?
To respond to the snackable challenge, CMOs should focus on five areas:

• Insight: CMOs need to understand consumer behaviour much more intimately than they do today. New data is available to us in the form of the 'digital exhaust'. By analysing this data in real time, we can develop patterns and see dependencies that allow us to change the future, not just look at the past.
• Storyscapes: A CMO needs to build a Storyscape of communications and experiences around a central organising idea. The Storyscape delivers bite-sized interactions and responds in real time to the snacking consumer. It needs to work as a constant to and fro, consistent across all channels, responding to individual needs and mindsets, never reaching a dead end. Cognitive science will help frame experiences in the right way for a snacking consumer.
• Digitising the shopping environment: We can no longer distinguish between online and offline behaviour. People are comparing prices, checking reviews and even ordering while in-store. They are just as likely to do research, try demos and ask friends for advice at home as they are to go to the store.
• Technology: You need the right technology platform that can deliver the right bite-sized content and experiences at the right time, in the right format. It needs to be easy to use, manage and maintain so that it enables rapid, fluid marketing at scale. Each platform should be customised to very specific brand and consumer needs.
• People: A different approach to marketing requires new skill sets. A new generation of marketers needs to be empowered to take brands forward, to break old marketing models and create the sustainable brands of the future. Leading companies are rethinking marketing global structures and skill sets to allow them to succeed in this changing world.

Neil Dawson
VP, Chief Strategy Officer, SapientNitro Europe