Partner Article

Study reveals new consumer engagement criteria

A new study released today and commissioned by Wunderman, a leading global digital agency, and in partnership with Penn Schoen Berland, finds that 72% of consumers aged 18-65 in the UK say brands must actively demonstrate “they understand and care about me” before they consider purchasing. To succeed in this environment, brands need a new approach to consumer engagement identified by the research as “Wantedness.”

The agency defines Wantedness as the degree to which a brand proves their commitment to earning a customer’s business across every touchpoint and throughout the entire path to purchase. This requires brands to take a more holistic approach to their offering, focusing on not just great individual experiences, but the joins between each experience they create for their customers. As brands build better experiences, the real winners will be the companies that focus on the seams between them.

Marketers have traditionally focused on developing consumer loyalty to their brands, but this data shows that brands now need to also demonstrate their commitment to serving the consumer and exceeding their expectations every day.

The study also found that 74% of consumers in the UK say that brands can set a new standard by how they serve customers, meaning they don’t have to just offer a new product. This proves that service and utility can be a real differentiator, and it is no longer just what brands say about themselves – it’s what they do, the experiences they craft and the ease of service they offer.

In addition, the research identified that the competitive landscape has changed with 85% of UK consumers now evaluating brands against leading companies like Amazon, Uber and Netflix. This has set new standards of excellence, where brands are required to craft brilliant and relevant experiences that extend beyond traditional product categories.

“With expectations at an all-time high, brands are required to operate in consumer culture and not just within their own category,” says Jamie Gutfreund, Global CMO of Wunderman. “It used to be that brands had the luxury of customers conforming to their business models, which worked for many years. But the tables have turned. Today, consumers expect businesses to adapt to their needs and our findings are consistent across all generations, geographies and genders.”

Chris Daplyn, managing director, Wunderman UK adds: “Wantedness shows that consumers today rightly expect to come first. The best companies are putting customer experience at the heart of their brand to deliver more impactful and creative communications and experiences. As a result, consumer expectations have risen – and for brands just being good enough will no longer cut it. Brands have to take a holistic approach to their offering if they’re going to meet customer expectations, and more importantly, make them feel wanted.”

The concept of Wantedness therefore requires a data-driven approach to understanding what consumers expect in order to drive engagement and sales.

According to the research, brands today must do more than just provide a good quality product or service. Simply being “at par” is not enough; 79% of UK respondents say that brands must “push boundaries” in order to be considered.

Other key findings from the study include the fact that 89% of UK consumers believe mobile empowers them to make better purchase decisions. While 84% of UK consumers say that they are loyal to brands that share their values, indicating that brands need to have a clear purpose and understand their role in culture in order to beat the competition.

For more on Wantedness and to view a copy of the full report, please visit: wantedness.com.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alex Sampson .