Guest Commentary: The Consumer As CMO

Guest Commentary: The Consumer As CMO

Today’s Prospects Are Telling Us Exactly How to Reach Them. Are You Listening?

By Michael Priem

Founder, Modern Impact

Once upon a time, there was a world without Amazon or Instagram; a world where those in need of virtually anything had only one option for discovering, researching and purchasing new products.  Believe it or not, consumers in this world would leave their homes with almost no idea of what might be out there, venture to a store or shopping center, and then just walk around until they saw something of interest.  

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?  The truly crazy thing is this ancient method of buying almost everything was still the norm about a dozen years ago. You’ve done it. Maybe your mom still does. But now she’s more likely to see it as a form of entertainment than a means to an end (and use a mobile app to navigate the mall).

The 21st Century shopping journey has evolved immensely. In addition to its migration online across a seemingly limitless number of stores, social media like Instagram are now serving as primary points of origin and product discovery for many brands. The sheer volume of resources the average consumer has in the palm of their hand has expanded exponentially, and this exposure is creating both greater familiarity with and heightened sensitivity to our digital marketing tactics.

The result is a prospect who’s much more skeptical about the way they engage with brands online, and much more critical of those they don’t believe are doing it right. 

Advertisers have long held that if you listen to the market – by simply measuring what it buys or doesn’t buy – the consumer will tell you exactly what it wants. But digital technology now allows us to move the moment at which we can begin “listening” all the way up from the final point of purchase to the point of first impression.

As consumers of digital content ourselves, we’ve all had the feeling of being overserved in terms of ad frequency or underestimated in terms of ad messaging. And there’s no excuse for it. Leveraging cognitive algorithms and real-time analysis, today’s programmatic media platforms help us measure prospect engagement, interpret consumer behavior and build more relevant content to create real connections – from the first moment of contact.

More importantly, this same technology allows us to monitor and manage digital interactions with our most valuable marketing asset: Customers we’ve already earned. Most of us are doing a pretty good job when it comes to market, consumer and audience segmentation for the purposes of new customer acquisition and product adoption. But if smart brands will start paying more attention to their first party data, pushing analysis further into the customer lifecycle (past the point of trial) and utilizing those insights to provide exceptional user experiences, I believe that’s where we could see some truly big wins.

As mentioned above, we’ve all been disappointed by poor marketing tactics from brands who don’t understand us. Yet, we’ve also had experiences that were quite the opposite; when we’ve made a purchase and it’s clear – from the point of purchase through post-delivery follow-up – that this company is intent on earning our loyalty. That’s the space where artificial intelligence and digitally intelligent consumers are pushing the boundaries of marketing communications and brand equity.

The driving initiative behind all our programmatic hyper-analysis ought to be a desire to create customer journeys and online experiences that are more interactiveand lessinvasive. Think about your own digital life and all the content you currently ignore. If you’re like most of us, it’s not that you don’t want to engage with any forms of advertising at all; you just want that advertising to provide an experience that’s relevant, entertaining, informative and joyful, all at the same time. 

Which brings us back to the matter of marketing environment. Understanding concepts like point of origin and place of discovery in this digital age forces us to recognize that the type of media employed, the format of advertising produced and the locations in which they’re served all influence consumer perception of a brand and what it represents.  

It’s no different than if we were launching a new brand with a physical product in the brick-and-mortar world. We know finding a fashion brand in a luxury retailer creates a different sense of discovery and perception of value than finding the same brand in a discount store. So, determining how and where digital shoppers might first experience our brands must become a more heavily weighted attribute in our media planning. Environment influences the net value of each impression and certain audience segments in today’s “online shopping mall” consider place as much as the product, itself.

Again, we know all this because the consumer is telling us so. Several years ago, we jumped into native formats because they feel more informational, appear less visually obstructive and consumers responded more actively. Today, we’re starting to see the next phase of experiential ad units, including mobile interstitials and cinemagraphs that almost make you feel like you’re inside ad content. All of which is being driven not by the consumer’s intention to eliminate any form of advertising altogether but, rather, by their curiosity and desire to actively participate in the process.

There are some limitations in terms of publisher inventory of these new ad formats, but integrating and sequencing complementary retargeting tactics based on performance or behavioral triggers can reinforce initial brand messaging via audio, video, native and other content.

And then there’s the introduction of 5G. With smartphones as powerful as handheld computers, pushing 5G into our mobile world is going to change it at least as much as the shift from analog to digital did. The options associated with 5G provide much higher production quality, much higher capacity for streaming or rich media, and many more options to create genuinely engaging content. In other words, we’re not just talking about more bandwidth, but expanded “brandwidth.”

Add the real-time analysis that smart technology provides in terms of ad sequencing and content personalization, and it’s clear the opportunity for smart brands to attract, recruit and retain their best customers has never been better.

But we’ll never be able to seize that opportunity if we won’t listen to our customers and then act on what we’ve learned without the prejudice of preconceived opinions.  The only reason these advancements in AdTech are occurring is because the market is inviting and accepting them in the form of online behavior. 

In that respect, the consumer is now making the most important decisions regarding our advertising programs – from placement and format to content and frequency. The consumer is your new Chief Marketing Officer.  

If you’re ready to make room at the conference table for your new CMO, the first step may be building a protocol and best practices around harnessing your current customer data.  Building a detailed data strategy that allows you to extract meaningful insights from your ecommerce interface, order management system, loyalty database or CRM system also allows you to understand and interact with each of those customers in a new, dynamic, personalized way.

Granted, it won’t happen overnight. But changing the lens through which an organization views its entire business can deliver powerful, profound rewards – and your new CMO demands it.

About the Author 

A life-long innovator with a talent for leveraging technology, Michael Priem’s aptitude for strategic planning, application development, new business ventures, large-scale project management and corporate development have made him a sought-after adviser to dozens of world-class brands – including General Mills, BestBuy, Target, Sears, Williams Sonoma, Harley Davidson, American Express and HP. Prior to launching ModernImpact, Michael’s entrepreneurial career included leadership roles with a global advertising agency that pioneered many digital media principles, a publicly traded global consulting firm and his own boutique corporate advisory firm. He is a sought-after speaker, frequent conference panelist and routinely interviewed by a broad variety of publications including Ad Age, AdWeek and Financial Times.

You May Also Like

Time to Hit the Road

Outgoing AMN Editor Amy Antenora reflects on her time covering the automotive aftermarket.

Amy Antenora aftermarket news

Twenty years. That’s more than 5,000 business days, roughly 15 AAPEX shows (for me, at least), more than 400 executive interviews and who knows how many article posts.

That’s what my time here at Babcox Media, as Editor of aftermarketNews, looks like in black and white numbers. But that’s not the real measure of what I’ve accumulated over 20 years’ time.

‘The Aftermarket Should Not Fear the Future’

Paul McCarthy flipped the script on vehicle technology and its potential impact on the automotive aftermarket.

The Challenge of Organizational Culture, Post-Covid

The impact of Covid on our society and organizations will not be fully understood for many years.

Four Keys to Creating a Succession Plan That Works

Do you have a plan in place to ensure your business maintains its success after you leave?

Commentary: The Power of Team Spirit

Dr. John A Passante & Dr. Thomas Litzinger share their thoughts on the multiplying benefits of adopting a team spirit.

Other Posts

Federated Upgrades Car Care Center Program

The enhanced program features updated signage, marketing support, image-enhancing tools, wearables, business management assistance and other information to help with day-to-day shop operations.

Federated Upgrades Car Care Center Program
5 Minutes With… Monika LaPrete, CRP Industries

Get to know Monika LaPrete, a 28-year aftermarket veteran and marketing communications director at CRP Industries.

Monika-LaPrete-CRP-Indsutries
STA-BIL Launches New TV Commercial

The commercial educates consumers and highlights how STA-BIL has been a trusted brand from generation to generation, Gold Eagle said.

Sta-bil-Gold-Eagle-commercial
5 Minutes With…Autumn Lamb, Marketing Manager, GSP Americas

Get to know Autumn Lamb, marketing manager at GSP Americas.

GSP Autumn Lamb