Before I start off, I want to know how many people still believe that we are in the Information Age, business-wise? I believe that the Information Age has just been overshadowed by the Age of Customer Engagement, more strongly in the Indian market.
Customer engagement in India is fundamentally different from customer engagement in mature markets. Unlike the mature markets that are plagued with stagnant growth rates and a saturated pool of customers, the Indian economy has had healthy growth and a seemingly endless supply of new customers. The expanding middle class and the emerging affluent with higher levels of disposable income have fueled an unprecedented growth curve for Indian businesses.
Yet in our experience, that’s not enough. To truly engage customers for whom push marketing is becoming irrelevant, companies must do more outside the confines of traditional marketing. At the end of the day, customers no longer separate marketing from the product—it is the product. In the era of engagement, marketing is the brand. Digital media was there in the fringes, but the infusion of social media has changed the face of marketing. Every day the cutting edge of marketing is being redefined.
But the question remains the same- What can we do differently to maintain our revenue streams and profit margins in the soon-to-be-new normal?
The answer is not quite simple. The typical Indian consumer is a discount shopper. Bargain hunting is a favorite national sport, second perhaps only to cricket. So it is not surprising that the predominant strategy of customer acquisition and retention has been based on pricing. In mature markets, differentiation based on pricing and product alone is no longer a sustainable strategy. What is to be done then? Well, as much as you would yell at me, it's always going back to basics that helps. Just mold it according to the present, that's all. So here's the CusEngagement theory:-
1. Don't strive to only satisfy your customers. Provide an WOW! experience.
2. Entice customers to stay in touch.
3. Give more responsibilities to the customers whenever possible.
4. Try to generate rich customer insights and use the data as best as possible.
5. Use such content that inspires activity like commenting, or better, sharing.
One Indian company that has demonstrated that the Indian buyer is willing to pay more for customer experience is Tanishq. Established in 1995 as a high-end branded jewellery retailer, Tanishq has become the most valued jewellery brand in India. Through a differentiated customer experience – well designed exclusive retail showrooms, complementary nation-wide service, and a generous loyalty program – Tanishq has persuaded a lot of Indians to leave their traditional jewellers and go with Tanishq despite higher prices.
Especially in social media, marketers are turning a leaf or two with innovative campaigns. Every medium has its advantages for marketers, but social media has the power to transform a campaign into a religion. Mint reports that social media is being used not just for plain one way advertising but also for customer engagement, marketing events, generating sales, launching product buzz, introducing innovative concepts and even creating new markets for their existing brands.
Hippo, a unique baked wheat snack food brand launched in the Indian snack market in 2010 and successfully deployed an innovative social media brand awareness-cum-customer engagement-cum-advertising campaign with shot many birds with one stone. HT reported that in February 2010, Hippo launched a Twitter campaign asking consumers and retailers to tweet Hippo’s availability on retail shelves on Hippo’s Twitter page, because they were facing difficulties in tracking distribution across India. The company promised to take action on the tweets which stated unavailability in specific stores. Parle Agro claimed that they received such stock related tweets from 25 cities and that the number of people tracking Hippo stocks on Twitter equaled 45 per cent of Parle Agro’s foods sales team. Their sales had jumped by 76 percent after this campaign, reported HT.
In 2012, ITC’s leading personal care brand, Fiama Di Wills launched Fiama Di Wills Men – Aqua Pulse range of shower gel and bathing bar. They envisaged their innovative social media advertising campaign to target urban Indian males with active lifestyles, reported TOI. The campaign was called the ‘Mega Aqua Pulse Australian Adventure’. It was essentially a contest to give Indian water sports enthusiasts an opportunity to win a free trip to Australia. The contest received more than 4000 entries and approximately 40,000 friends were invited to participate. The brand made sure that there was continuous customer engagement by offering tools such as Wall Posts, Reviews, Mentions, Discussion Posts, Videos and much more on their Facebook page. According to TOI, The Fiama Di Wills Men community on Facebook registered 1.7 lakh fans, with 3.7 million post views and over 19,000 feedback posts, all within just 30 days of its launch.
Much like their global counterparts, the Indian middle class is well informed, social, and influential. However, traditionally, the Indian customer has been conditioned to be less demanding of the experience delivered. Therein lies the opportunity to surprise and delight prospects and customers.
Offering differentiation through experience will have greater impact on Indian customers compared to their western counterparts, who are accustomed to high levels of service delivery. Certain segments of the customer base might even be willing to pay more for a specialist treatment. The key to sustaining profitability during this period of economic uncertainty will be to identify the right target customers and define the right experiences. I think time has come for such an idea to sprout up more in the Indian markets.
Customer engagement in India is fundamentally different from customer engagement in mature markets. Unlike the mature markets that are plagued with stagnant growth rates and a saturated pool of customers, the Indian economy has had healthy growth and a seemingly endless supply of new customers. The expanding middle class and the emerging affluent with higher levels of disposable income have fueled an unprecedented growth curve for Indian businesses.
Yet in our experience, that’s not enough. To truly engage customers for whom push marketing is becoming irrelevant, companies must do more outside the confines of traditional marketing. At the end of the day, customers no longer separate marketing from the product—it is the product. In the era of engagement, marketing is the brand. Digital media was there in the fringes, but the infusion of social media has changed the face of marketing. Every day the cutting edge of marketing is being redefined.
But the question remains the same- What can we do differently to maintain our revenue streams and profit margins in the soon-to-be-new normal?
The answer is not quite simple. The typical Indian consumer is a discount shopper. Bargain hunting is a favorite national sport, second perhaps only to cricket. So it is not surprising that the predominant strategy of customer acquisition and retention has been based on pricing. In mature markets, differentiation based on pricing and product alone is no longer a sustainable strategy. What is to be done then? Well, as much as you would yell at me, it's always going back to basics that helps. Just mold it according to the present, that's all. So here's the CusEngagement theory:-
1. Don't strive to only satisfy your customers. Provide an WOW! experience.
2. Entice customers to stay in touch.
3. Give more responsibilities to the customers whenever possible.
4. Try to generate rich customer insights and use the data as best as possible.
5. Use such content that inspires activity like commenting, or better, sharing.
One Indian company that has demonstrated that the Indian buyer is willing to pay more for customer experience is Tanishq. Established in 1995 as a high-end branded jewellery retailer, Tanishq has become the most valued jewellery brand in India. Through a differentiated customer experience – well designed exclusive retail showrooms, complementary nation-wide service, and a generous loyalty program – Tanishq has persuaded a lot of Indians to leave their traditional jewellers and go with Tanishq despite higher prices.
Especially in social media, marketers are turning a leaf or two with innovative campaigns. Every medium has its advantages for marketers, but social media has the power to transform a campaign into a religion. Mint reports that social media is being used not just for plain one way advertising but also for customer engagement, marketing events, generating sales, launching product buzz, introducing innovative concepts and even creating new markets for their existing brands.
Hippo, a unique baked wheat snack food brand launched in the Indian snack market in 2010 and successfully deployed an innovative social media brand awareness-cum-customer engagement-cum-advertising campaign with shot many birds with one stone. HT reported that in February 2010, Hippo launched a Twitter campaign asking consumers and retailers to tweet Hippo’s availability on retail shelves on Hippo’s Twitter page, because they were facing difficulties in tracking distribution across India. The company promised to take action on the tweets which stated unavailability in specific stores. Parle Agro claimed that they received such stock related tweets from 25 cities and that the number of people tracking Hippo stocks on Twitter equaled 45 per cent of Parle Agro’s foods sales team. Their sales had jumped by 76 percent after this campaign, reported HT.
In 2012, ITC’s leading personal care brand, Fiama Di Wills launched Fiama Di Wills Men – Aqua Pulse range of shower gel and bathing bar. They envisaged their innovative social media advertising campaign to target urban Indian males with active lifestyles, reported TOI. The campaign was called the ‘Mega Aqua Pulse Australian Adventure’. It was essentially a contest to give Indian water sports enthusiasts an opportunity to win a free trip to Australia. The contest received more than 4000 entries and approximately 40,000 friends were invited to participate. The brand made sure that there was continuous customer engagement by offering tools such as Wall Posts, Reviews, Mentions, Discussion Posts, Videos and much more on their Facebook page. According to TOI, The Fiama Di Wills Men community on Facebook registered 1.7 lakh fans, with 3.7 million post views and over 19,000 feedback posts, all within just 30 days of its launch.
Much like their global counterparts, the Indian middle class is well informed, social, and influential. However, traditionally, the Indian customer has been conditioned to be less demanding of the experience delivered. Therein lies the opportunity to surprise and delight prospects and customers.
Offering differentiation through experience will have greater impact on Indian customers compared to their western counterparts, who are accustomed to high levels of service delivery. Certain segments of the customer base might even be willing to pay more for a specialist treatment. The key to sustaining profitability during this period of economic uncertainty will be to identify the right target customers and define the right experiences. I think time has come for such an idea to sprout up more in the Indian markets.
A good analysis, though I feel there is a good scope of improvement in Indian market with respect to building trust. Also, I love shopping at Tanishq. :)
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