Romancing the customer

Business today is not just about building brand equity or value – it is creating experiences that make a difference, building powerful relationships, strengthening of friendships and emotional bonds, and most important, developing a lasting romance.

Think about it.

When was the last time you fell in love with a pair of rubber shoes, a massage service, or a cell phone company? How did it "turn you on," gain your respect, and communicate with you so well, you ended up "dating and romancing" it?

Dr. Paul Temporal, a leading global expert on brand creation, development and management, says, "A revolution is taking place in the world of branding agencies, companies, and individuals involved in the branding process appear to be shifting their focus from the visual aspects of identity and design to the realms of brand strategy and the customer experience."

Against this scenario, brand management is now gearing toward not just making single-minded selling propositions, but actually delivering them. The focus has now shifted from the creative pitch to the actual buyer and user. Temporal, a speaker in the upcoming PANA-hosted 17th Philippine Advertising Congress (PAC), attributes this shift of thought and action to the powerful influence of what he calls Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

The End Result Is ‘Je T’aime’

CRM is the process of building profitable relationships with customers. While traditional advertising is often based on that AHAI, sweaty-palm WOW moment when the Big Idea is suddenly realized, CRM follows a well-defined process that places the customer at the very center of all thinking and activity.

Regardless of your best advertising efforts to get customers to think of your product, to try and re-try it, over time, each customer is going to give his patronage and loyalty to the product or company that satisfies his needs consistently. If you have to achieve that, you need a CRM program in place. Step out from behind the curtain and find out what is important to your customer. What does he look for when deciding to purchase a product? What is holding him back and what would help him make the best purchase decision? And once your customer has taken the time to tell you, then you’d better listen, and follow-through.

CRM is "Romancing the Customer." It helps you make the buyer or user feel happy, appreciated, and, most of all, loved. When planned and implemented well, CRM programs can help build the brand-customer relationship that starts with an acquaintance, develops into a deeper emotional involvement, further grows into greater friendship and loyalty, and finally graduates into "Je t’aime."

‘Share of Heart’ vs ‘Share of Wallet’

To some marketing people, the goal of CRM is to capture a substantial "share of wallet" – in other words, try to increase the portion of each customer’s spending ability that accrues to the brand. This a "quick-buck" thinking might create short-term demand and sales, but cannot build an enduring romance.

Temporal would prefer to think of it as capturing "share of heart" that is, creating an emotional bond with your customers such that they pledge allegiance to your brand. If you achieve this allegiance, "share of wallet" will be a natural by-product. "In the long term, if you appeal to the hearts of these customers, they will themselves become part of your best sales force – by being your happy, and thus loyal customers and advocates," Temporal says.

How to "make love with your customers" is the subject of the 17th Philippine Advertising Congress at Waterfront Cebu City, Nov. 21 to 24. Call the Ad Congress secretariat at 818-61-13 or 892-48-49.

Communication Arts Forum

Raul Castro, vice president and creative director of Lowe Lintas, and best known for championing one of the most phenomenal advertising campaigns in the country – Surf’s Lumen series, gears up for his scheduled Cebu ad congress interaction with students and professors of marketing communication on Nov. 24, 2 to 6 p.m. at the Cebu Plaza Hotel.

Castro will talk about "Creativity in Motion," or how a marketing goal can be successfully realized by an insightful communications strategy. This will be fleshed-out by providing answers to these questions: What kind of creative idea do consumers break into? Are the best ideas, brand ideas? What is a likeable idea?

Castro’s CA Forum desertion will be amplified with the exposition of some success stories to be done by Tere Filipinia, president of Basic Advertising and Mickey Domingo, president of Creative Guild of the Philippines.

The exclusive and dedicated creating forum with the delegates from the academe is a special treat, to honor and recognize this sector’s heavy turnout, support, and interest in the biennial advertising event.