Five brands bridging the data-execution gap

There’s a massive amount of data across the digital ecosystem. So much in fact, Google stopped counting indexed URLs at one trillion. Here are just a few other staggering stats: Google boasts over 100 terabytes of data, YouTube receives four billion views per day and there are 124 billion tweets per year, that’s 4,200 tweets per second.

Is your head spinning yet? 

To manage this new world of data, we need a new perspective. Instead of big data, let’s think in terms of “all data”. Once this new perspective is adopted, we can focus on the larger issue at hand: execution.

A huge gap exists between marketing data and execution and this is potentially costing marketers and brands millions of dollars in lost opportunities. 

However, a handful of familiar brands are showing Australian marketers how to begin to bridge the execution gap.

Deliver in real time and connect socially

Uniqlo’s Lucky Counter is a prime example of this. Consumers use the Lucky Counter app to post their wish lists to their Twitter page using a special hashtag. As users engage and share items with the personal social networks, the prices of the products on their wish list are automatically reduced. 

Similarly, Dove’s living campaign encouraged women to “show us your skin” by downloading an app and taking a picture, which was then posted on a living billboard. A photo of the billboard was then taken and sent back to consumer. The campaign app had over 500,000 downloads within the first two months.

Add responsive value to the ecosystem

Customers demand engagement and experience. This is essentially how Delta went from bankruptcy to becoming one of the most profitable airlines. To regain customer satisfaction, Delta conducted a complete overhaul of their digital channels to become an experience-based airline with a website that engages and allows consumers to connect with friends and family while viewing their future reservations. 

They also dug into their data and found new and innovative ways to leverage their current pain points, such as lost baggage. The airline added a “Track My Bag” feature to their app that allows passengers to take a picture of their baggage tag before boarding. Throughout Delta’s transformation process they stayed out in front of customers, were responsive and forward looking. 

Another customer-centric innovator is Tesco. They have pioneered the multichannel customer experience, establishing the world’s first virtual store in South Korea in 2011 and the UK’s first virtual grocery store a year later. Tesco’s new beta in-store app “MyStore” aims to become the ultimate handheld personalised in-store assistant for customers. The app works with Tesco’s free in-store WiFi to push personalised message and offers to customers upon arrival. The app not only helps shoppers navigate the store to locate the best deals and products, but also allows them to scan the products as they go and find out nutritional information about the products they pick up. Ultimately, they can pay through the mobile wallet at check-out.

Connect platforms through the social layer and gamification

Improve the consumer experience by bringing together platforms such as Facebook and other communities. Nike’s Fuel Band, for example, deepened the experience by allowing users to join social groups or have their progress feed into their existing social networks.

By competing against other Fuel Band wearers, users could gain points for their physical activity and create competitions and missions against one another. By utilising Fuel Band wearers’ physical activity data, Nike is able to create an engaging and interactive experience for users. On top of that, by connecting through social platforms, Nike is also able to infuse product references throughout the process. 

Just remember, in the “all data” ecosystem, more is better. Data needs to be leveraged to create and enable the customer experience. But collecting relevant data is only half the battle. To mind the gap and ensure you’re executing data-driven strategies that create lasting engagement, you need to be able to act on that data and infuse it into your marketing strategies at every touchpoint.

Michael Miller is the Chief Marketing Officer, Agency Services at Epsilon