Brand Experience Management
From Sales Funnel to Customer Life Cycle
Basically, it’s simple: A brand builds loyalty when it delivers the right solution to a specific problem at the right time in the right place.
A company delivers best when it focuses not only on products and features, but when it strategically plans and implements all interactions with a strict customer-focused perspective.
The aim is a multi-channel brand experience that embraces the entire customer life cycle and generates substantial benefits at every stage: from decision making to purchase to actual use of the product or service and, eventually, to choosing a replacement.
Creating a Comprehensive Brand Experience: More Insights, More Success
With our approach we go beyond mere sales funnel management and monitor the entire buying cycle at every stage. We fully recognize the role of the conversion rate as a central KPI; but for long-term strategies customer lifetime value is by far the more significant dimension: here the advantages of a seamless integration of all channels, touch-points and services are apparent.
“Customer experience” is rightly seen in this context as a key marketing parameter. Yet, the term falls short insofar as there is much more than clients to consider – prospective customers and many other stakeholders such as employees, social communities or other influencers.
Therefore, we prefer to use the term “brand experience” to describe the type of work we engage in and the range of benefits it offers: dedicated employees on the one hand, and on the other an increasing acquisition rate plus an increase in brand loyalty.
60% of customers are prepared to pay more for a good experience; 53% recommend companies to others only if the service quality is good.
Networked customers have more influence on the perception and success of brands than ever before. We take care of that.
At Systemic Branding we design cross-channel experiences that are based on the values and positioning of a brand. We analyze both internal and external requirements for smooth implementation. And we ensure that the defined brand experience will be rolled-out within an agreed time frame and budget and monitored on an ongoing basis.
To master the complexity of what are mid to long-term projects, a compelling vision, small steps and transparency are more effective than attempting to execute a single grand design. That’s why we always follow a phased approach allowing fine-tuning and flexibility along the way. As a result, brand experiences can be successfully deployed even for heterogeneous corporations and adapted to their markets – realistically, reliably, and with a satisfactory cost-benefit ratio.
Looking In from Without and Out from Within: Holistic Brand Management
Brand experience management excels at generating profit and long-term value, since it is a superior methodology in defining both the outside-in perspective as well as clarifying the inside-out aspects.
This means we first set up scenarios, SWOTs and benchmarks to map out a precise picture of target groups, their need and expectations for interactions and experiences at online and physical touch-points.
Secondly, we clarify what conditions need to be created within the company, in its marketing, sales and service departments, for the desired brand experience to occur in real life. This involves networked IT systems, an appropriate organizational structure and, above all, a highly skilled, committed workforce. Ultimately, it is the people, their expertise and attitude, which contribute to a company’s success.
Expertise and attitude – keywords that point to a simple correlation: If you want to be trusted by others, you have to be credible yourself.
Brand experience management becomes quite a challenge if there’s a mismatch between corporate culture and the intended experience.
Consequently, we design and implement a change program at the earliest stages to engage employees and to motivate them to contribute to the company’s customer focus; their motivation is essential to enable any change in culture and procedures in the first place.
61% of surveyed companies include all employees in the customer experience program.
A Precise Script for Flexibility: the Experience Blueprint
Our brand experience blueprint is a key document for a successful rollout. Here we describe our objectives regarding quality, investments, returns and customer satisfaction over time. Moreover, we define in detail all the relevant means to achieve our goals.
Each blueprint covers all specific aspects of a project.
For instance, we develop customer journey maps and propose use cases and narratives. We draft a framework for marketing activities and guidelines for design. We provide role descriptions and requirements for all staff members having direct customer contact.
We define internal and external workflows including cross-channel interactions, interfaces and data management. And, naturally, we set a realistic timeline including clear KPIs and fine-gauge quality gates.
Fixed milestones show one side of implementing a brand experience successfully; another is flexibility in planning – crucial to ensure swift and appropriate responses to shifts in internal or external parameters.
As such, clarifying various scenarios and associated strategic options forms an integral part of our blueprints.
47% of surveyed companies lack a customer experience management process.
The Reality is Multi-Channel
75% of all customers use more than two channels to look for, compare and purchase products [1]; 85% expect a consistent experience in the process [2]
Brand Experience Management: More Customers, More Volume
Brand experience management makes a brand stand out from the crowd, enables it to attract and retain a loyal customer base, and effectively increases a company’s revenue and overall worth through customer lifetime value.
1. Strengthen the brand
Integrate channels and touch-points; enable consistency and continuity
2. Increase relevance
Drive personalization; focus on cross-channel interaction
3. Improve loyalty
Ensure employees and partners are customer-focused; achieve customer loyalty through service and experience
4. Push profitability
Reduce costs per acquisition; increase return on marketing
5. Outperform competitors
Lift conversion and retention rates; enhance customer lifetime value