In June I detailed an innovative participatory marketing program at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel. The “running concierge” program demonstrated how leading brands can build a differentiated customer experience through participation and even operationalize it. It also showcased the importance of moving beyond data and using public-facing employees to engage customers in ways that provide a benefit while also reinforcing your core positioning and marketing messages. While I’ve detailed several examples of participatory marketing in this blog over the last 10 months, I think the Westin example and ones like it are among the most powerful. Why? Because they use real people and, like social media, demonstrate the power of getting as many people as you can involved in your brand, particularly those that work for you. 

The Westin program also reminded me of the countless opportunities nearly every brand has to engage customers to participate with their brand on a daily basis - be it your help desk, store personnel, web site or online customer service consultants like Saturn’s -- which was highlighted in my recent eM+C email marketing column. In the Saturn example the online consultant effectively moved me through the purchase process and offered me a special incentive to take a test drive. Where the program unfortunately fell a bit short was its inability to continue the conversation by asking me to subscribe to future emails from Saturn. However, the lessons are clear – every touch point is an opportunity to engage, encourage participation and continue the conversation. For marketers the next steps are clear. 

• Audit all customer touch points
  • Web site
  • Communications
  • Customer service/help desk
  • In store o Etc.
• Build a strategy that:
  • Engages the customer by offering value
  • Encourages a desired action and engages the customer to participate with your brand further
  • Attempts to continue the conversation
• Commit to innovation and open communication
  • Involve employees in the process by sharing winning programs and case studies that encourage brainstorming and idea exchanges among critical consistencies.
• Train
  • The Saturn program and other successful and notable programs like Comcast Cares, Zappos and others all demonstrate the importance of training employees and making the commitment to the customer front and center.
• Execute and evaluate
  • Like any great program, success is in the details and your ability to not only execute but evaluate learnings so the program can evolve and get better.

Last but not least, as the Westin example demonstrated – the ability to operationalize a program can be the ultimate differentiator when it comes to building a truly unique and valued customer experience.

Til Next Time

It should come as no surprise that Gen Y’s are great consumers of social media and content. In fact, according to our latest research nearly 90% of Gen Y’s reported they watch videos, 68% reported they read blogs/vlogs/forums and 65% reported reading customer ratings/reviews. At 70 million plus strong, Gen Y represents a marketing tsunami as these consumers not only become great consumers of social media but creators and powerful influencers that will fundamentally change the way people buy and how we as marketers market.

No doubt, it’s a critical time for marketers as we learn the skills necessary to attract consumers, engage them in conversations and encourage them to participate with our brand(s). Advertising in its pure “push” sense is being questioned, as it should be, due to its diminishing impact. Marketing attention is turning as we see the emergence and growth of new powerful brands, like Zappos who built a brand on great products, exceptional service and powerful word of mouth. It is an evolving marketplace for sure and it highlighted most effectively in Steve Rubel’s recent interview with Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do? - “In an age when competition and pricing are opened up online and when your product is your ad, you need to spend your first dollar on the quality of your product or service. If you're Zappos, you spend the next dollar on customer service and call that marketing. If the next dollar goes to advertising, there has to be a reason -- and if the product is good enough, that reason may fade away.”

The customer brand dynamic is changing and that will become increasingly dramatic as Gen Y’s purchasing power continues to grow. To survive and thrive, CMOs will have to figure out what strategies and tactics to deploy to encourage participation and loyalty. One of those strategies will be centered around how we manage customer interactions and support customer service. That’s why we invited social media guru Steve Rubel to lead the PMN Webinar entitled “The New Rules Of Customer Service – Participate Or Perish”. In this free Webinar, Steve will address the strategies and tactics to increase customer service satisfaction using social media and the tips, tactics and tools to mange, track and monitor your customer interactions. There are few topics as important as this one, as brands attempt to reinvent their marketing in order to gain their fair share of what will become the biggest wave of consumer purchasing power and influence this country and the world have ever seen. Are you ready? Join us and Steve in June for the Webinar and stay tuned as the PMN leads the way with new research, more informative webinars and new live discussions with the folks that really matter…your future power purchasers and influences - Gen Y. To register for Steve’s webinar click here.