In today’s market, it is not possible to ignore consumer insight.
This does not only mean satisfying their needs better, but above all, creating a relationship with them that will also generate returns in terms of image, loyalty, advocacy and market expansion for that brand.
In fact, today, consumers are involved in all stages of the development and marketing of a product and therefore their choices are also based on a mix of factors, which are strongly influenced by other consumers and the relationship they have with the brand.
In recent cognitive theories, relating to consumer behaviour, psychological components are considered as determining factors in delineating the mechanisms of decision-making processes. In fact, purchases are no longer only oriented towards the natural response to a primary need and in an era in which consumer needs have already been largely satisfied, it is necessary for companies to implement differentiated and diversified strategies to maintain their competitive advantage.
For the German psychologist and philosopher Wolfgang Köhler, humans, like animals, interact with their environment by following a kind of insight, a restructuring of the perceptual-cognitive field, thus overcoming the stimulus-response model.
According to this theory, behaviour is therefore based on an active role of emotional intelligence relating to the perception of received stimuli.
To find out more, we met Carolina Cappabianca, lecturer at the International Master’s in Marketing and Sales at the Rome Business School, who told us:
“”In the digital age, the bombardment of information to which the consumer is subjected on a daily basis can make the decision to purchase a product or service complicated. From this point of view, the multitude of messages can represent an important opportunity for all those companies that implement a correct consumer-centric policy.
Insights, literally ‘inside view’, for example, are very useful tools and represent an added value for the company: however, I would like to emphasise that it is crucial to understand which tools indicate the correct insights to explore and solve that particular problem and direct us to the right related sources. So the meaningful insights, in my opinion, are not mere customer data, but rather the customer’s opinions and thoughts about that service or product, and even more insight is powerful when it is based on consumer behaviour, not necessarily rationalised, and linked to his need to solve a problem, not to the product.
Often, however, those who collect insights within the company merely collect DATA and thus verbatim or research results, linked to specific interactions with the company. These are therefore not necessarily strong enough to break down the resistance to accept the product/brand that is proposed to them.
In this scenario, the new trends are the exchange of information not only through
social netwoks and platforms are very useful agora for gathering information, but also the monitoring and study of online conversations on a particular market or topic.”
The adoption of an omnichannel strategy, of which digitisation is the main pivot, represents a distinctive means of standing out to consumers.
In fact, the potential offered by a direct and intense interaction constitutes an added value and a driver for a constant development of the brand/product/service/customer relationship.
If innovation is a necessary aspect to provide value to the company’s propositions, innovation does not necessarily have to be conjugated in new products or services, but can also be understood as a change in the way of proposing itself to customers/consumers.
“The world is changing fast and on average every 10 years we rediscover the expression ‘putting the consumer at the centre’. This approach reinforces the need to build a marketing strategy that must be customer-driven. Currently, for example, with the advent of blockchain, putting the consumer at the centre has taken on a new and different meaning.
It is not the company that decides but, conditio sine qua non, it is the consumer community that directs
marketing actions. And it is precisely in this direction that the customer journey leads us, a real journey that starts from the need for a product/service and explores all the stages of the customer experience that does not end with the purchase, but continues with advocacy and post-sales: useful indications for unpacking, by cluster, the behaviour and attitudes of customers.
In this way, we could explore the days of people who, by performing daily actions, also arrive at the purchase. We will then have planned a customer driven marketing strategy, where profiling is linked to behaviour, because I am of the opinion that behaviour is what really guides us in the right direction of understanding phenomena.”
Over the last few years there have been various definitions of the concept of Customer Experience, however, even today, no universal and shared one has been established. Many, in the literature, consider Customer Experience as the evolution of the concept of the company-consumer relationship, the latter being oriented in their purchase more by the intangible factors of the product than the material ones.
“Consumer loyalty is a very important point in the purchasing process: it is the battle cry of the last 10 years. The correct strategy, which is not always shared, is to establish a relationship with customers/consumers from the outset in order to build loyalty even when they are only prospects. In my opinion, therefore, the right approach is to create value for the consumer when a relationship of trust is generated, which is based on service: what used to be called value-added service. Today, there is enormous competition, also due to the accessibility of technological innovation, and it is necessary to put order in the confusion of the markets. The pivotal point must be value, not in the absolute sense, but for what it really means to the consumer. The example to follow is that of the Swedish company Ikea, which has built products based on a clever mix of economy, sustainability, design and quality. This company is constantly evolving and listening.
Furthermore, we must not forget that any consumer experience is almost never linked only to the act of purchasing a specific product/service, but is influenced by all stages of the customer journey. Today, this can also be seen in the example of the intermingling we find between the world of e-commerce and the digital world and in the world of the store, which are now more intimately connected than ever, so much so that this very intermingling is one of the elements that enriches the customer experience today.”
Research by the Centre for employee relations and communication of the Iulm University in Milan focused on the role of internal influencers and showed that stakeholders consider employees to be very effective brand ambassadors. Their adherence to corporate values and knowledge of the product or service boosts their credibility. The process of creating these new figures is based on a strong synergy between marketing and human resources, capable of creating important communication opportunities to the benefit of brand awareness.
“The phenomenon of internal ambassadors has exploded in recent years. Today we have 3 types of influencers, the young youtuber, the stylist who becomes an ambassador of himself, and influencers understood as content creators of companies. Since the relationship with the brand’s equility is essential for a company’s success, that these values are amplified and reported by the company’s staff becomes crucial.
Of course, we have to make a distinction between companies, but especially on the training received and roles played by employees. For example, the giant McDonald’s has always invested heavily in the training of its resources, which allows them to know the value of the brand from the inside and to verify the consequentiality between promises and company policies.”
“In my experience, I believe that the most successful teams are those that are heterogeneous in terms of skills and age. We need to rediscover personal skills, and therefore also curiosity about new solutions and trends.
One can no longer think of living today without looking at what is happening in the world, so, just as in the 2000s one could not ignore the web and its evolutions, from social networks to digitalisation in general, today one cannot ignore knowledge of the world of blockchain, artificial intelligence and the Metaverse. The most interesting profiles, moreover, are those related to the ability to have a strategic vision of the company and focus on different inclusiveness and sustainability.
Finally, one must have an international, open mindset and acquire the discipline to delve into unfamiliar topics. It is necessary to understand that in order to achieve success, one must work, study, focus on lifelong learning and cultivate one’s interests, such as reading, which is always a source of inspiration and knowledge.”
CAROLINA EUGENIA CAPPABIANCA
Italian by birth, cosmopolitan by aspiration, she grew up in marketing for multinationals, such as J&J and Unilever. She completes her experience in multinational agencies, managing work themes on international clients, such as P&G, TWA, Colgate Palmolive, Kronenbourg, in Italy, Europe, the United States and Latin America.
An executive at 29, an entrepreneur at 36, he founded Market Energy, a marketing and communications company, providing direct and digital marketing projects as well as consultancy. Subsequently, he founded Connection-e, a consulting company, specialising in relationship marketing and communication strategy, with clients such as SKY, Pfizer, Wolters Kluwer, locally and internationally. In 2021 he founded, together with two San Francisco-based partners, Rising Partners, a marketing and strategy consultancy, for companies, operating mainly in the creative economy, to navigate the great times of change and develop projects related to the blockchain world. Among its first clients, Culligan EMEA, with an international rebranding project in 20 countries. He is a lecturer at several universities, for MBA, MS and BS courses, in various disciplines related to marketing and advertising.
