INSIGHTS
2012
How Digital Innovation Impacts Your Business
Table of Contents
3 MarkeTING aT THe INTerSeCTIoN of Mobile
CoMMuNICaTIoNS aND CoMMerCe 47 Context — The New Gold of the Mobile Industry
Alan Herrick Torsten Schollmayer
51 Could Mobile Lead Your Customer Experience?
5 MoBIle MoMeNTS
Paul Bevan
Hilding Anderson, Rachel Zinser
Technology
19 VIewSIGHT
54 Digital Marketing Platforms: Taking Back Control
Marketing and Media
Dan Barnicle
21 What’s New in Digital
Nigel Vaz 57 After the Release: Maximizing Value From
Your Commerce Platform Investment
24 Rise of the Machine —
Sheldon Monteiro
Death of the Media Planner?
David D’Alleva 61 Platforms in the Cloud: Deciding to Use or Own
Scott Petry
27 The Cross-Channel Challenge:
Building Pervasive Information Architecture
65 INTerNaTIoNal PerSPeCTIVeS
Michael MacLennan
North america:
31 Media of the Moment Justin Barkhuizen, Rob Murray
David Bradfield australia: Mark Krebs
China: Jennifer Tan
34 Predictions for the Next 5 Years
in Retail Banking Singapore: Jue Lu
Alex Sion India: Vidhya Sankarnarayan
russia: Yulia Rubina
Social Media Middle east: Matt Horobin
36 Branding Out Loud Without Losing Your Voice:
Germany: Torsten Schollmayer
How to Avoid Social Dilemmas in the Digital
uk: Paul Bevan, Chad Cribbins
Knowledge Marketplace
Erik Gottesman
85 foreSIGHT: THe oNe To fIVe Year
39 If a Tweet Falls in the Forest: TreND ouTlook
Using Listening to Drive Social Media Strategy Rob Gonda, Hilding Anderson
Annicka Campbell
94 NoTe froM THe eDITor
42 Social Commerce — Hilding Anderson
Beckoning New Opportunities
Chitranjan Sood
45 Is Social Commerce Exempt From ROI?
Uwe Tueben
we believe in the intrinsic relationship
between brands and the brand experience
and that, ultimately, all communications
will be interactive. Marketing at the Intersection of
Communications and Commerce
Written by Alan Herrick, President and CEO; Sapient Corporation
“revolutions never go backwards.”
– Wendell Phillips
we live in interesting times.
2012
spread Unilever’s mission to encourage people to share life’s
small moments of happiness. This “ice-cream truck for the
The way we go about living our lives has been forever
digital age” leveraged facial recognition and 3G technologies to
transformed by the unceasing march of digitization and device
create an industry-leading, award-winning brand experience.
proliferation. In the wake of this transformation stands an
emboldened, digitally armed consumer who is an opportunity Another great example of how technology is liberating the
— and therefore — a target. The challenge for brands? traditional boundaries between marketing and commerce
Get to that consumer first … and last. channels is Tesco. To increase its online market share in South
Korea, the UK’s leading grocery chain developed a mobile app
Television’s monopoly is over. The couch is no longer the main
that allows customers to view and purchase products at virtual
seat of brand impact. And the lines that used to distinguish
stores installed in subways. The campaign reflects some of the
communication from commerce are barely discernible. More
earliest examples of how brands can create and satisfy demand
sales are occurring via digital channels but, more importantly,
in the same environment. As a result of its virtual stores, Tesco
the brand experiences being delivered by those channels are
increased online sales by 130% becoming the number one
influencing the traditional retail shopping pathway. Add the
online grocery store.
silo-breaking effect of mobility to the equation and you end up
with a $500 billion advertising industry in desperate need of More and more, clients are turning to SapientNitro to
an integrated, seamless solution that blends traditional with understand how they can evolve to thrive in this new world.
digital, marketing with sales. This is exactly what SapientNitro was built for, and why our
distinctive ability to create brand experiences at the intersection
Shortly after Sapient acquired Nitro Group, a traditional,
of multi-channel marketing and multi-channel commerce is so
brand-led agency, in June 2009, I was often asked why we
relevant today.
made, what many considered, an upside down decision: a digital
shop acquiring a traditional agency. The answer I gave then is In the following pages of Insights, SapientNitro subject matter
the answer I give today. Because we believe in the intrinsic experts present their perspectives on how business leaders
relationship between brands and the brand experience and can successfully face the challenges posed by today’s complex
that, ultimately, all communications will become interactive. business environment. From harnessing the voice of the
consumer through social media management and listening
Clients ask how they can stay ahead of the curve and navigate
tools to constructing optimal multi-channel experiences using
change. For CEOs to achieve these goals it must start by letting
pervasive information architecture, the cloud, and user content,
go of the “above the line, below the line” mindset. There is no
our authors address a diverse range of market, marketing, and
line. Brand success hinges on two key capabilities: optimizing
design topics.
investments and creating high-impact, integrated customer
experiences, which is at the heart of what we, at SapientNitro, At SapientNitro, we see the challenges facing our clients and
call Idea Engineering. are inspired by the array of opportunities they present for
companies to create truly groundbreaking experiences. In this
Empowered consumers are dictating when and where they
complicated world where connections and capabilities are
interact with brands. They don’t think in terms of touch points;
being reinvented, Insights is the ultimate accelerator.
they see, hear, and feel the collective brand experience,
regardless of where or how it’s being delivered. That is why we We appreciate your participation, your interest, and your
must create robust, technology-enabled brand experiences support of SapientNitro, and I wish you all success as you
that will allow CMOs and CIOs to get the most out of the navigate this ever changing, always exciting business world.
multi-functional nature of digital channels.
Experiences like Unilever’s Share Happy, the world’s first
smile-activated vending machine that was created to help
Mobile
Moments
Written by Hilding Anderson, Sr. Manager, Research + Insights; SapientNitro Washington, DC
and Rachel Zinser, Associate of Research + Insights; SapientNitro Chicago
135,000,000
exploring Multi-Channel Mobile experiences
Mobile represents the next major frontier for interacting with the digital
world. Be it the Amazon Kindle, Redbox reservation system, Google Wallet,
or M-PESA’s Kenyan experiment, great mobile apps create interlocking
connections between the web, kiosks, physical stores, and other platforms.
U.S. and W. Europe Smartphone Sales
MOBILE DEVICE
SALES ACCELERATE
2010 2011 2012
Global Tablet Sales
Companies are now able to — and should strive to — we interviewed 23 mobile professionals, conducted
provide a single, cohesive experience in the store, at heuristic evaluations for each app, and asked our top
home, or on the go. These new experiences place the strategists to identify the most important, influential
customer at the center of a company’s ecosystem of apps offerings in each of the following categories:
and devices, which have the potential to create genuine
• Mobile wallet
value for both the company and the consumer.
• In-store mobile
Demonstrating genuine value for consumers is a test • Integrated experiences
for any mobile application. To get past the initial "trial (multiple devices or channels)
and forget" model of 80% of mobile apps, there must • location-based technology
be consistent and repetitive value. even among • emerging technology
applications that are commonly used, we still found • International experiences
troubled user experiences. applications such as
Google Maps, eBay Mobile, and amazon kindle meet a guide to scoring: We evaluated the strength of each
the test. others do not. application across three equally-weighted sections.
example 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
Mobile wallet Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
The mobile wallet is an ambitious experience — much more Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
than just touchless payment with near field communication
1st 3.9 overall
(NFC) at the point of sale (POS).
consumer behavior. In addition, our interviewees emphasized
Ideally, a mobile wallet will allow mobile devices to store
five key challenges of implementing a mobile wallet: security,
all the elements of a physical wallet digitally. It will include
versatility, customization, ease of use, and design.
photos, government-issued IDs, credit card information,
cash-equivalents, and loyalty cards. It will use location and Google wallet: a brand new platform that holds promise
preferences to notify users of nearby brands, sales, and As the first mobile wallet solution, the Google Wallet
deals. It will allow payment processing with a simple swipe combines tap-and-pay mobile payment, location-based offer
of the phone. discovery, integrated loyalty cards, and a digital transaction
history to create the first true mobile wallet experience.
At the time of this report, there is only one mainstream,
full-fledged digital wallet technology in the U.S. The mobile The mobile professionals polled emphasized Google’s
wallet will have profound implications for a variety of strong relationships with banks (Citi, Visa, Discover,
applications including: American Express have all announced partnerships),
• Personal financial management and banking its in-house mobile phone engineering prowess, and its
• Shopping and product comparison tools substantial financial resources as key factors.
• Payment and card services In our initial testing, we found that tap-and-pay works well
• Promotions and couponing with the thousands of PayPass devices deployed at major
• Loyalty and customer services retailers. But more significantly, Google’s SingleTap connects
• Tickets, passes, and event integration a purchase to a loyalty or reward card, and can apply coupons
Our research suggests that substantial NFC mobile wallet during checkout. Boarding passes, tickets, digital receipts,
adoption is at least four years off, based on the pace of and other personal transaction information are also core
adoption and the complexities of the service model. As Gartner elements. Location-based offers can shape consumer
noted,1 the biggest challenge isn’t the technology but changing behavior and drive in-store traffic.
1
Gartner “Market Trends: Mobile Payment, Worldwide, 2011"
The initial Google Wallet rollout is quite limited. It is available eBay’s PayPal 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
only in the U.S., only on the Sprint version of the Nexus 4G
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
phone, only on the Android marketplace, and supporting only Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
two payment types (Citi Mastercard and Google prepaid).
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
The Google Wallet delivers the first salvo in what promises to Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
be the next major wave of mobile technology — perhaps the
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
most significant mobile innovation since SMS and broadband
connectivity. It opens doors for more secure transactions, real 2nd 3.6 overall
time offers, and a brand new real-time marketplace. Starbucks Mobile application: a widely adopted,
in-store payment tool
Google wallet 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use The Starbucks App doesn’t offer the fullest set of functionality
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set compared to Google Wallet or PayPal. It only works with
Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design Starbucks stores, and the app was not always intuitive
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity (especially on initial setup).
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
Yet based on our interviews, it is one of the most influential
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
mobile wallet applications. It has the key elements of any
mobile wallet application: multi-platform, multi-location
1st 3.9 overall
(over 7,800 locations), multi-payments, and an integrated
eBay’s PayPal: Peer-to-peer player with opportunities rewards program.
A leader in online payments, PayPal has invested heavily in
building out its mobile payments platform, although it falls Ultimately, it is a promising start, which shows the potential
short of a true mobile wallet offering. PayPal lacks a mobile for the digital wallet, but may be swept away — certainly
phone of its own, reducing its ability to influence future from this list — when multiple wallet solutions come out.
mobile wallets design and implementation. It does allow
Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
easy peer-to-peer mobile bill payment, and mobile web Mobile
purchases, but doesn’t integrate with any physical retail application 1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
Heuristic
stores — yet. Its NFC-based peer-to-peer payment Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
technology is a start of a mobile wallet capability. Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
As one of our interviewees said, “[PayPal’s] mobile can
serve as a unique bridge between the digital and physical Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
worlds.” Another noted, bluntly, “PayPal will be big.”
3rd 3.3 overall
others of note: Verizon and Payfone, Bling Nation,
ISIS, and Apple
The domestic mobile wallet challenge: Changing consumer behavior
NFC and the mobile wallet face a substantial Yet in the U.S., our interviewees feel it will take
challenge in the U.S. substantial incentives to transition us from a credit
card swipe culture to a tap-to-buy technique. Many
Internationally, consumers are already using of our interviewees feel that the key to accelerating
touch-to-pay technology. According to our adoption will be loyalty programs, simple and
interviewees, Canadians commonly tap credit cards easy-to-use offer redemption and couponing, and
for payment, while in Japan they’ve been using mobile real-time offer delivery as promised by Starbucks,
tap payment technology for years. Sparkfly, Shopkick, and many others.
8
In-Store Mobile
The in-store mobile experience has, as one of our Our interviewees believe these in-store mobile experiences
industry interviewees delicately put it, “a great should be a core, strategic area of investment for many large
opportunity for improvement.” consumer-facing firms. And recent research shows the
firms are responding, with 40% of surveyed online business
We’re seeing glimmers of that future now: integrated managers planning on building a mobile-optimized site.3
bar-code scanners, practical mobile tools, inventory
visibility, and location. A few of the best applications serve But, creating a fantastic in-store mobile experience takes a
as a guide while you browse the store. Some of the strongest long-term commitment. According to a recent Forrester report,
even offer concierge services, allowing you to make 60% of all eBusiness managers either do not have a mobile
appointments with sales associates and experts for custom strategy, or have one that has existed for less than a year.4
services (think: clothing tailors or personal shoppers).
While there remains overall room for improvement, we did
Core elements of leading branded applications include identify several examples that show the strong potential of
reviews, ratings, recommendations, cross-sell and up-sell, mobile devices and their use in-store.
features comparison, or video. More advanced functions
include ordering from the aisle and shipping it directly apple Store app: Your personal concierge
home, or integration with social networks. Apple’s application enables users to make purchases, read
reviews, reserve products, view in-store events, and schedule
With a few exceptions, most in-store mobile applications Genius Bar appointments. The in-store mode also lets users
are largely disconnected pilots, apps, and mobile sites with see how many people are in line and estimates wait times.
low adoption (just 20% of smartphone consumers have The differentiated value is transparency. This same
downloaded and used their shopping application to receive technique could be applied to any sort of one-on-one service,
coupons, price alerts, and product deals).2 The result: and could be applied at many different major retailers.
confused consumers and low ROI.
Solid scores across our heuristic evaluation in ease-of-use,
we identified three main issues: feature set, and design round out the product.
• ease-of-use. Getting set up and then using these apps
is too difficult, inhibiting adoption. Most require multiple apple 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
steps, and require the consumer to remember to activate Store app 1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
the app while in the store. Can a consumer opt-in to a Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
brand on one device and receive those messages wherever
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
they are in another? Not today. Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
• lack of value. Functionality generally doesn’t show
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
enough value to be compelling. Most apps haven’t quite
figured out the right value proposition for users — narrow 1st 4.0 overall
enough to be easily used by consumers, valuable enough
to be regularly used. Promotion and rewards plans are Home Depot: Bringing utility to the in-store
anemic; special offers are not very special. mobile experience
• Integration points. The third issue is weak integration The Home Depot application delivers genuine value to its
with existing processes and back-end technology. Problems users — it's useful and relevant to the consumer while
include non-imaging POS systems, untrained sales associates, still remaining on brand.
and a lack of integration between the mobile phone, POS, and 2
http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/06/02/one-five-smartphone-owners-
the back-end CRM system that should drive the loyalty, use-shopping-apps-survey-finds
personalization, and customization options presented. 3
Forrester Research “Mobile Channel Strategy: An Overview,” June 2, 2011
4
Ibid
Practical tools add value in-store or when preparing to a gift certificate has been earned. It delivers rewards and
shop: everything from the basics (finding Home Depot special offers in-store and allows users to purchase products
locations) to more complex features (using the toolbox's directly from the app.
caliper, tape measure, and converter).
Our testers' main disappointment with the experience
The integrated barcode scanner holds promise of in-store was the app’s inability to save what the user had looked at.
integration, but wasn’t working during our testing. Scanned items are not automatically saved into a history.
However, most online reviewers of this app had no problem Also, the manual “save” feature was not functioning
with the barcode. correctly when we audited the app.
Home Depot has made a substantial investment in the Best Buy reward Zone 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
application, and it shows. The interface is well designed
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
and makes goal completion easy and intuitive. Yet even Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
a top in-store experience still has technical glitches and
ROI concerns. Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
Home Depot 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
Heuristic 3rd 3.5 overall
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
others of note: Barnes & Noble, Redbox, ShopSavvy,
Professional RedLaser, My Coke Rewards, and Shopkick
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
2nd 3.6 overall
a fight with your partners:
Grocery store chains versus CPG companies
Best Buy reward Zone: In-store shopping for
Grocery store chains and CPG companies, long
technology geeks
partners, are seeing their relationships evolve in this
The Best Buy Reward Zone app is another full
new digital world.
featured application.
Increasingly, large CPGs and grocery store chains are
In our review, we found that the Best Buy Reward Zone app investing in mobile experiences. Yet they’re targeting the
is a complement to the store and works to infuse the social same customers with similar applications. Long-time
content from the website into the shopping experience. partners are becoming competitors over who will
The most helpful capability within the app is the QR scan own customers' search and discovery methods,
feature, whereby users can surface additional product developing a parallel system of marketing to traditional
information like users’ reviews and other nearby Best Buy in-store facings.
locations where a product may be available.
This is another example of how a mobile and
It also allows Reward Zone members a quick view into digital world is upsetting existing relationships
the points that they’ve earned at Best Buy as well as the and business models.
opportunity to redeem points directly from the phone when
10
Integrated experiences
Integrated experiences offer the holy grail of our digital challenge. Other industries like retail have taken a slower
future: one device, many channels, and multiple devices, path to multi-channel.
with a single profile.
While many are talking about it, few have mastered the
The ability to seamlessly jump across devices or channels multi-channel consumer journey. Our interviews identified
is the key. Soon, you'll be able to create a wish list on several best practices for building these journeys:
Target’s mobile app while waiting on the train, purchase
• Meet the consumer where they are. Provide the right
those items on your PC at work, and change the shipping
set of tools — mobile, kiosk, digital display, sales-
address on your iPad at home. Your personal information
associate devices — for where and how your
and ordering data won't change across devices.
consumer wants to engage.
Many of the early leaders we’ve found are those facing • Think and organize beyond silos. Many business
industry disruption, forcing them to rapidly change. professionals are still thinking in silos, and developing
Airlines, books, banking, and car rentals are all facing a a separate solution for PC, mobile, TV, and social.
Organizations should consider the overall experience
this creates for their customer, and optimize that
our interviewees identified six key components experience across organizational boundaries and silos.
of future in-store mobile experiences: • Consider back-end technology. Digital tools are built
1. Integrated loyalty, personalization, and on top of your existing technology. If you don’t have
customization options. Based on past buying one view of the consumer, or your technology stack
history and level of loyalty, the retailer will push is unstable, it will impact the quality of the offer.
specific offers. For example, Sparkfly offers • Support in-store technology. Traditionally, most
progressive discounting — 10%, 20%, 30% over in-store IT support is focused on the PC platform.
time, rewarding repeat customers. Make sure you have a plan to support products when
2. real-time deals and messages. Retailers will they go down. Do you have the right skills in-house?
be able to push relevant, real-time messages to • Plan for ongoing upgrades. Just as with any in-store
the user as they walk through the store, perhaps product, you’ll need to have a plan for regular
personalized by the area of the store. upgrades to new displays, interfaces, and
3. ability to digitally "like" or share a product on product offerings.
a shelf. Retailers will be able to connect the • repurpose content. Make sure you reuse any video
in-store shopping experience with social networks. or static content created for one channel to others.
4. enabling sales associates. Store associate- This benefits the company by reducing rework, and
enabled mobile devices will help improve benefits the consumer by creating a single, easier to
demonstrations and provide richer, more learn experience.
personalized selling.
5. Digital displays. There will be a roll out of new amazon kindle: one profile, many devices
digital merchandising options, including tablets The Amazon Kindle is reshaping media consumption.
attached to the aisle, large touch screen kiosks, With tremendous scale and a quality product; today,
and interactive displays. Amazon is selling more eBooks than paper books.
6. New physical configurations. Look for mobile
The Kindle suite of products sets a new baseline for
POS devices (think: Apple store), or being able
multi-device integration (seamless switching across
to scan on your phone as you shop.
devices). Consumers can read on a mobile phone, review
it with a PC, and continue on the tablet at home.
This ability to pass profile and status information between and a highly regulated industry, airlines have been forced
devices, and the cloud, is of strategic importance far to aggressively cut costs, particularly in customer service.
beyond the Kindle. It represents the future of integrated The Delta Airlines kiosk, mobile, dot-com, and loyalty
experiences: multiple specialized devices, while program integration scored highly. Mobile ticketing and
simultaneously making the device irrelevant. check-in highlights the potential of multi-channel
integration. Delta’s efforts integrating loyalty programs
amazon kindle 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use with other channels (e.g., personal SMS messages to
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set platinum flyers after flight delays) helped put them on top.
Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design Mobile ticketing, combined with enhanced loyalty programs,
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity digital status updates of upgrades, flight delays, seat options,
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance post-flight feedback, and even those apologies due to
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic cancellations or delays become possible through the
consumer's channel of choice.
1st 4.3 overall
While our evaluation found data integrity issues, and slow
Banking (uSaa): Mobile deposit and banking from home performance hampered our ease-of-use score, the promise
A pioneer in an industry not known for innovation, USAA’s of an all-mobile ticketing and rewards future is glimpsed.
mobile application is a leader in multi-channel experiences.
airline kiosks 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
USAA’s pioneering work allowed consumers to deposit checks
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
from their phone for the first time. The mobile app reinforces Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
its strategic position: as a branchless bank (USAA has only a
handful). Tight integration between the remaining channels: Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
web, mobile, and call center is essential. Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
The app offers remote check deposit, quick (and secure)
mobile login, and accident claim photo submission. 3rd 3.3 overall
USAA changed expectations of what service from your bank others of note: Zipcar and Streetcar (UK), Banking (Chase),
really means — without investing in thousands of branches. and Shazam
Suddenly, the ROI for mobile becomes clear.
Banking (uSaa) Mobile, social, and location: an era of radical transparency
1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
For better or for worse, combining mobile, social, and
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
Heuristic location is going to transform shopping experiences. For
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
retailers, it's no longer easy to have unique pricing and
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity product selection for each regional store. Consumers can
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance sniff out the best possible price quickly and easily — either
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic at your store or on the Internet at your competitors' sites.
2nd 3.8 overall Increasingly, the shopping experience becomes infused
with entertainment, on top of a much more robust set
airline kiosks (Delta): Cut-throat competition of fulfillment options. Multiple screens, interactive
drives kiosk, mobile innovation elements, and even gaming have become a potent part
The modern airline experience is a fiasco. With their backs of the retailing world.
against a wall by high fuel prices, cutthroat competition,
12
location-Based Technology
Few technologies show the societal impact of digital technology Yelp: Global, crowd sourced service evaluation tool
for average Americans as clearly as the rise of GPS. The ability Yelp’s aggregation of comments and ratings, augmented
to instantly access a vast database is incredibly powerful, and reality, and location create tremendous value for consumers.
opportunities are still being discovered. Its search features are its strongest asset, allowing users to
conduct manual searches where the user designates search
It is easy to take for granted the tools that Yelp and other parameters, while also leveraging location-aware technology.
similar community review sites offer. You shouldn’t. Just Additionally, the augmented reality integration, the Yelp
five years ago, getting this information required a paid Elite Squad rewards program, and local relationships have
subscription, or a physical guide. Information was largely helped to sustain its growth over the past three years.
undated, and reflected expert views.
Yelp has also started to make inroads into Foursquare's
The ideal future for location-based technology is for all and Groupon’s territories with a check-in feature that can
mobile activity to be filtered based upon its current location, unlock special deals for users, although this initiative has
and areas of recent activity. Location becomes a layer, had limited success and is being reconsidered.
which defines all the other functions — you can find your
friends who are nearby, shop nearby deals, find good The bottom line: Yelp is in the process of becoming a
restaurants, and more. global taste arbiter.
Google Maps: an uncredited, yet essential location tool Yelp 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
Mobile mapping and routing technology represents the
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
greatest practical application of mobile technology that Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
we’ve seen over the past 10 years.
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
These tools have a new sophistication: mode of transportation Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
options, contextual layers (traffic, hotel finder application, Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
restaurants, gas stations), GPS integration, special offers,
2nd 4.3 overall
and rewards integration. These tools, not coincidentally, are
an excellent fit with the Google Wallet.
This cloud-based technology allows computation-intensive
displays on simple, low-power devices (so long as you have
good data).
In the end, Google should be appreciated for what it is: the
definitive location application.
Google Maps 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
1st 4.7 overall
“ one of the amazing things with Google Maps is that every
day there is some other new things going on there. The
latest is being able to download maps for offline access
on your mobile phone.” – Mobile Business Professional
foursquare: flash in the pan or genuine value? facebook Places: Beyond the check-In
Foursquare has had a continuing struggle to stay relevant Facebook was the first large network to acknowledge
and active. the lack of value of a check-in. They officially removed all
check-in notifications from their feed, and instead allowed
Their recent partnership with American Express — which users to seamlessly Geotag status updates, photos, and
allows consumers to pay with an American Express card videos. Users find much higher value in adding location to
and receive deals and coupons after check in — is a strong their digital assets.
effort to make the tool more valuable and relevant for
consumers. Foursquare's tips for individual locations is In the end, Facebook has effectively integrated location
another differentiator. across the 600-million user platform, even though the
location tag is only used by a tiny percentage of users.
As one interviewee stated, “Foursquare is still a leader [in
location-based tools]. Amazing work. They’ve come up with Location is evolving from an action or service, to a ubiquitous
a value proposition for consumers and businesses that may attribute that simply adds value, and plays a key role as
become less of a recommendation engine but more of a brands become situationally aware and contextually relevant.
check-in service.”
In our research, most felt Facebook's location tagging
foursquare 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use remains important, and highlighted the event location
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
check-in and ability to check in friends. The lack of tips in
Heuristic locations and limited mobile commerce integration remain
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
a weak point. Much more public facing than Foursquare,
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional several noted the different makeup of friends on the
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
two platforms.
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
In the end, most people’s go-to tool for location check-in
3rd 4.0 overall
remains Foursquare — for now.
facebook Places 1 2 3 4 5 Ease-of-Use
1 2 3 4 5 Feature Set
Heuristic
Evaluation 1 2 3 4 5 Design
Mobile 1 2 3 4 5 Familiarity
Professional
Review 1 2 3 4 5 Importance
Strategic Importance 1 2 3 4 5 Strategic
4th 3.4 overall
others of note: Gowalla, SCVNGR
14
emerging Technology
The Emerging Technology section of this report examines information, special offers that allow consumers to find and
the most interesting future and emerging technologies learn using their mobile device, and businesses to present
developments relevant to marketing services. By 2013, and market to this audience.
when mobile web traffic is expected to exceed desktop
traffic on the Internet, many of the nascent technologies Gesture recognition: Taking touch screen to the next level
we identify in this report will be more developed. Others will The gestural interface (e.g., Microsoft's Kinect, Apple's
be gone. Here are the top emerging technologies identified iPhone, or Microsoft’s Surface) was a surprising top-scorer
by our interviewees. in our mobile expert survey. In some ways, this is just a
natural evolution from the touch screen revolution that has
augmented reality: Combining the digital and occurred over the past five years. A whole generation has
analog worlds grown accustomed to not needing a mouse, keyboard, or
Augmented reality (AR) has been an emerging technology button to manage their digital tools. Combined with the
darling for years. The technology superimposes digital accelerometers built into mobile devices, gesture or natural
images on the real world, often using smartphone cameras interfaces could control one or many screens and
and displays to capture and display this view. interactive elements in the retail setting.
It holds more promise for consumer applications today than Examples such as the Kinect or MIT’s SixthSense lab —
ever before. which explore the new technologies of full-body gesture
and augmented reality experiences — highlight how far
Early examples included automotive head-up displays, we have come and how much further we have yet to go.
Yelp’s Monocle, and webcam-based virtual try-on. More Other examples such as the Kymera Magic Wand — which
recently, Facebook and Google have rolled out applications controls devices at a distance through motion — can
capable of recognizing human faces and landmarks and create engaging user experiences.6
then presenting relevant information. These tools combine
data from GPS, digital cameras, broadband, and cloud- In terms of practical business applications, our respondents
based information. Overlay databases such as Wikipedia highlighted this type of technology as a major opportunity in
and Google Maps can present special offers, or allow a three to five years. But they also pointed out that, right now,
mobile device to quickly find and display important and there is a lot of hype but few scalable options. "There are
relevant information near a location. examples related to building a campaign, or dropping a
single kiosk in a mall, but few operate at scale."
Examples include pure-play firms such as Layar, which has
more than 700,000 active users worldwide using their AR Nevertheless, when combined with augmented reality,
platform. World Lens allows users to point their mobile voice recognition, and even telematics, there is a long-term
device at street signs for instant language translation. opportunity to reinvent human-computer interaction, with
Panasonic offers the virtual VIERA TV simulator to model massive applications for consumers and the enterprise alike.
how the TV will appear in a consumer's room.
Telematics: when computers talk to computers
Key applications, according to Gartner,5 include exploration Every year, millions of new devices are connected to the
(finding things in your vicinity), suggestion (indicating real- Internet. Some are devices we understand today — mobile,
world objects of interest), and direction (indicating where tablets, PCs. Others we are less familiar with — vending
consumers should go). machines, IP telephones, elevators. And increasingly, everyday
sensors (and networks of sensors) are being enabled.
As AR continues to evolve, business applications will
include branded points-of-interest, local relevant 5Gartner “Hype Cycle For Emerging Technologies, 2011”
6Ibid
Applications range from remote sensing, building Yet with over 15 years of investment, it is still not perfect.
management/automation, logistics, automotive, eHealth, Mobile phone manufacturers from Google to Apple to
and agriculture. Wi-Fi, RFID, Bluetooth, and WiMAX are Samsung have also been offering it successfully for some
some of the enabling networking technologies. time, often using crowd-sourcing models to minimize the
training the older systems needed. Virtual assistants such
There are substantial opportunities for efficiency as Siri — which was acquired by Apple in 2010 and may be
improvements: remote monitoring of fuel, gas, electricity, included in the iPhone 5 — allows a personal assistant to
tracking the location of a fleet of vehicles, or optimizing provide recommendations and assistance. Google has offered
delivery truck routing. a more basic voice-to-text transcription service for some time.
Increasingly, this data is being sent over the Internet. In the And the promise was enough for Ford and other large
future, data sent and received by sensors and machines will automotive companies to begin offering voice recognition
dominate traffic online. as an option in some vehicles.
The rise of these sensors will have major efficiency Driven by continued investments in mobile, voice recognition
benefits, but will also raise real challenges with data, will continue to improve, from a hit-or-miss call center tool
analytics, and modeling, as information threatens to to a reliable partner for consumers and businesses.
overwhelm our ability to process it.
others of note: Content provider paywall, E-Ink daylight
Voice recognition: The natural communication technology color display, Mobile device barcode scanning,
A surprisingly high-scoring technology, voice recognition QR codes/2-D barcodes, and translucent displays
has an opportunity to transform computer interaction.
International experiences
Despite the lead of Asia and Europe in 3G adoption, SMS the adoption of new technology. But there are some exciting
usage, and QR codes, the surprising consensus among our applications coming from overseas, and we highlight
pool of international mobile professionals is that the U.S. several below.
remains the leader when it comes to mobile offerings —
at least in terms of smartphone-based mobile apps and M-PeSa: Mobile banking for the unbanked
the mobile web. M-PESA, Vodacom’s offering in Kenya and select other
countries, is an exciting application of emerging mobile
Indeed, in most of the world, mobile represents the technology to improve the lives of the unbanked in the
“first screen” — the go-to device for digital information, developing world.
entertainment, and conversation. According to comScore,
smartphone penetration in Japan is around 10% — far This financial platform for low-cost, peer-to-peer payments
below the U.S.’s 32%, and also far below the penetration has seen massive growth. It has seen particularly large
rates in the UK and Spain (each around 40%).7 International growth in Kenya, where 13.5M have an M-PESA account,
users are doing more — or at least a lot — with less. while only 3.5M have a bank account. It supports the
ubiquitous and low-cost feature phone. In many cases, it
Our interviewees also mentioned that a combination of represents the entire set of financial tools for Kenyan users.
device fragmentation across Asia and Europe are slowing
7eMarketer “Asia-Pacific Mobile: Redefining the Digital Landscape,” July 2011
16
As a result, people in these countries are starting to use shopper's cart. Once purchased, the goods are delivered
their mobile devices for more. Over the next decade in to the customer's door right after they get home.
emerging countries, many people’s first exposure to the
Internet will be through a mobile device. And this, in turn, Conclusion
will change their expectations of future devices.
In this report we’ve highlighted six major categories of
Homeplus Subway Virtual Store: Grocery shopping research we examined — mobile wallet, in-store mobile,
while waiting for the train integrated experiences, location-based technology,
The 2011 winner of a Grand Prix Lion for Media, for “Best emerging technology, and international experiences.
Use of Outdoor,” the Homeplus Subway Virtual Store is a
remarkable business and mobile breakthrough. Homeplus We found that while there are a great many mobile
(rebranded from Tesco to gain local audience relevance) applications, in total, the space is uneven. Mobile
is a South Korean/British discount store retail chain jointly represents a major new frontier for brands. As we look
owned by Samsung and Tesco with 113 local branches at the top mobile applications available to date, what is
throughout South Korea. most remarkable is how much opportunity remains to get
the product right. Years after the first smartphone arrived
Customer research revealed the urgent need to avoid rush in the market, sophisticated experiences remain
hour in the supermarket. The solution from Tesco was to in development.
save time by doing the grocery shopping on the way home.
For its "shopping on the move" campaign, Homeplus Whether it is mobile payments, in-store shopping and
created virtual stores in subway stations at rush hour brand experiences, or integration with location, social,
using floor-to-ceiling pictures of actual store aisles. Each and loyalty programs, there is still ample time and room
product includes a QR code, which adds the product to the in the competitive landscape to be successful.
Notes on Methodology
We spent over three months of intensive research to SapientNitro clients that would otherwise be eligible
identify and evaluate leading mobile experiences across were excluded from a final ranking in this report.
six key categories.
Among the companies we interviewed for this report:
We conducted in-depth interviews, followed by an online poll, Sparkfly
of 23 mobile business professionals. These experienced leaders 360i
(40% with over a decade of professional experience in mobile) Major National Retailer
discussed what they felt were the leading examples in each Smartsoft Mobile
category, and scored them in the poll. Major Mobile Wallet Provider
Banking 2.0 Author
A heuristic evaluation was conducted across nine elements in Digby
three major categories — ease-of-use, feature set, and design. Kurt Salmon
Finally, a strategic review was conducted to understand In addition, we consulted with SapientNitro’s top mobile
the long-term significance of each offering. strategists working with major brands such as Coca-Cola,
Foot Locker, New Balance, Dove, Chrysler Ram and Dodge,
Mars, MetLife, Volvo, Vail Resorts, and the TSA.
Sapient Nitro:
Strategic
Heuristic evaluation Mobile Professional review Importance
Category Name Ease-of-Use Feature Set Design Familiarity Importance Strategic Overall Rating
Mobile wallet
eBay Paypal Mobile App 4.0 4.3 3.0 3.7 4.1 3 3.6 2nd
Google Wallet 3.7 4.7 3.3 3.1 4.4 4 3.9 1st
Starbucks Mobile App 4.0 3.3 3.0 3.9 3.1 3 3.3 3rd
In-Store Mobile
Apple Store App 3.7 3.7 3.7 4.6 3.9 4 4.0 1st
B&N App 3.7 4.0 4.0 2.9 3.1 3 3.3
Best Buy Reward Zone App 3.0 3.3 3.3 3.0 3.5 4 3.5 3rd
Home Depot App 2.7 4.3 4.3 3.1 3.3 4 3.6 2nd
Redbox App 3.7 4.3 3.0 1.9 2.4 4 3.3
RedLaser App 4.0 2.0 2.0 3.7 3.7 2 2.8
ShopSavvy App 4.0 3.7 3.7 2.5 3.2 3 3.2
Integrated experiences:
Multiple Devices or Channels
Airline Kiosks (Delta) 2.0 3.3 3.3 4.2 4.1 3 3.3 3rd
Amazon Kindle 4.3 3.7 3.7 4.1 3.8 5 4.3 1st
Banking (Chase) 3.3 3.7 3.7 3.1 3.8 3 3.3
Banking (USAA) 4.3 4.0 4.0 2.5 4.1 4 3.8 2nd
Macy’s iShop Mobile App 3.0 1.7 2.3 2.7 3.2 2 2.4
location Based Technology
Facebook Places 4.0 3.0 3.3 3.9 3.9 3 3.4 4th
Foursquare 3.7 3.7 4.0 4.1 4.2 4 4.0 3rd
Google Maps 4.3 4.7 4.0 5.0 4.7 5 4.7 1st
Gowalla 2.7 2.7 3.0 3.3 3.2 1 2.3
SCVNGR 3.7 3.7 3.7 2.7 3.2 2 2.9
Yelp 4.0 3.7 3.3 4.2 4.1 5 4.3 2nd
emerging Technology
Augmented Reality 4.1 3.9 5 4.5 1st
Augmented Social Experiences 3.3 4.0 3 3.3
Content Provider Paywall 2.8 3.2 4 3.5
E-Ink Daylight Color Display 2.7 3.5 2 2.6
Mobile Device Barcode Scanning 4.6 4.1 3 3.7
Motion-Gesture Technology 3.8 4.1 5 4.5 2nd
QR Codes/2-D Barcodes 4.7 3.7 2 3.1
Telematics/Internet-Enabled Vehicles 3.3 4.1 5 4.3 3rd
Translucent Displays 2.5 4.1 4 3.6
Voice Recognition 3.9 4.2 4 4.0 4th
18
Viewsight
A collection of essays, written by Idea Engineers, on a broad
spectrum of topics affecting commerce and technology.
Marketing and Media
what’s New in Digital
Written by Nigel Vaz, Managing Director; SapientNitro UK
"what’s new in digital?" might just be a misleading to us with business problems and we have the strategic,
question. It’s tempting to try and pick the Next Big Thing creative, and technical expertise to come up with solutions.
— mobile and social are the new trendy buzzwords, the
latter epitomised recently by properties like friendster Another example of this is the situation faced by publishers
and MySpace. Consumers make or break trends, just like like The New York Times. They came to us because the days
a popular new song that drops off the charts a few of breaking news to readers every morning are now gone.
months later. It needed to fundamentally change how it engaged users
to maintain its relevance where news was being broken
The focus instead should be on the fact that, for thousands around the clock, and many times not by news reporters.
and thousands of businesses and brands in every imaginable
market, the digital age has already changed or is about to — The solution was to look at what The Times does best and
in a profound, fundamental way that cannot be ignored. use the digital medium to redefine its relationship with its
Digital — that incredibly broad concept — is no longer the consumers and maintain its legacy of relevance.
teenager that brands flirt with to simply pretend to be
current. It is a fully-grown adult and it is punishing those who That’s how we came up with the concept of Breakingviews,
are not ready to embrace it, especially since consumers have. and how The Times went from having a strategy of selling
news printed on paper in a 24-hour editorial cycle to
The convergence of consumer behaviour, innovation in breaking insightful content around the clock a few
business models, and technology is changing everything. minutes after an event.
Take, for example, the video rental chain Blockbuster that
managed to replace every mom-and-pop video shop. High street retailing, or retail activity in the traditional areas
of towns or cities, is another industry that is undergoing
Then the world got "digitised" and its business model a profound change. Ten years ago, mainstream thinking
became as good as redundant. What Blockbuster needed was that online stores were an adjunct to the main high
was not a digital campaign or a television campaign, or even street business.
a really brilliant Twitter feed before anyone else "got"
Twitter. It needed someone to tell them they had to change So when thinking about how Foot Locker could enable their
their business with a whole new business strategy and then brand promise of “sneaker enthusiasm beyond reason,”
redefine the roles for communications, technology, and the answer wasn’t to create just another campaign to gain
customer experience in that. their customers' attention for a second. It was to create
a community for the global audience of the sneaker
When Tourism Queensland came to us with a problem obsessed — a resource that appeals to collectors and
that would normally have been solved by a simple TV ad fans: Sneakerpedia.
and some posters and calendars distributed to travel
agents, we came back with a suggestion that turned out What’s different about it? Sneakerpedia isn’t really a
to be "The Best Job in the World." campaign. It’s a growing, living social space that has
already generated 4.5 million mentions online, even though
That campaign illustrates the fundamental way that the membership is currently limited while the site is in beta.
digital age is changing the guts of most businesses and And it isn’t created by a team of marketing pros; it’s created
how that, in turn, requires all of us to do things in a by the fans for the fans and powered by Foot Locker.
radically different way.
Our clients often come to us and ask for a mobile app.
One of the reasons that SapientNitro is in Fortune magazine’s But we deliver only a few.
Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies is that our clients come
22
Conversely, exactly none of our clients has ever come to communications and interactions, across all brand
us and asked us to build them a vending machine that can touch points from marketing and communications to
recognise when people are smiling, but we’ve built one sales and service.
anyway. Why? Because it was the solution to one of
Unilever’s problems — getting people to buy ice creams. To give consumers an excellent brand experience,
In many stores, the ice cream freezer is burried in the back. businesses and their advisers need real focus on business
We found a way to make ice cream more accessible. problems, and a mix of marketing, communications
creativity, and deep technological expertise to deliver the
Unilever's Share Happy became a lot more than just a way answer to these problems.
of getting ice cream up in front. It was a beautiful campaign
because it created a phenomenal commerce channel It’s hard to ignore the hype and instead focus on tackling
for Unilever and, at the same time, a very cool brand complex issues, but with Idea Engineering, we can conceive
impression (yes, with a great social media aspect). and execute real ideas that deliver real results.
So, Share Happy was not just a digital campaign with a The takeaway
cool new mechanic, but a fundamental change to ice cream Understanding what’s The takeaway isn’t about obsessing
selling that blurred the lines between sales, marketing, over the next hyped trend; it’s seeing how it digital is
retail, and digital. changing businesses on a profound level.The successful
approach is to tackle business problems with strategy,
What is big in digital? It is realising digital doesn’t really creativity, and technology: Idea engineering.
exist. The brand is the experience, and the experience is
an amalgamation of the perception created by all First published by Campaign in July 2011.
Marketing and Media
rise of the Machine —
Death of the Media Planner?
Written by David D’Alleva, Media Director, North America; SapientNitro Boston
You say you want a(nother) revolution? an emphatic "yes" — or "no" for that matter. Simply put, we
Technology. Can we imagine what our lives would be know they haven't yet, but media planners must certainly
without it? It is the fabric of our day-to-day experience evolve to hold their ground.
— and we both demand and anticipate its continued
evolution. This rapid evolution — rather revolution — Media’s new face
isn’t the final frontier or last chapter of its story. It’s Let's first step back to understand the changing media
just the latest chapter. landscape. Over the past three years alone, there has been
rapid innovation taking place like never before. Media is
If we dust off our history books (or, more realistically, becoming measurable. Media is becoming attributable. The
conduct a Google search on our computers, smartphones, worlds of traditional and digital are on a collision course.
or iPads), we would learn that this revolution began over
250 years ago when major changes in agriculture, Just think about it. Out of home is rapidly becoming digitized.
manufacturing, mining, and transportation had a profound Television is becoming a targetable monitor for digital
effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of the content. Even the standard newspaper size has shrunk to fit
times. It marked a major turning point in human history an 8”x10” (or smaller) screen — one that can’t be tossed on
where almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in the front porch or rolled up to swat a bug. Even in the display
some way. Today, we are living in an “Age of Innovation,” media world, nearly two decades since the first clickable ad,
and after a decade of struggling with remnant inventory and
sheer tonnage, ad networks are now more "tech-ed up" to
A media planner's purpose is to select make network buys safer and more effective.
media for advertisement placement on
behalf of their clients. They must achieve We witnessed a plethora of alphabet soup surface during
business objectives through their advertising this time as well. RTB (real-time bidding) emerged at the
budgets by recommending the best intersection of data and inventory liquidity, creating an
explosion of choice where display ads could run. Three
possible use of various media platforms
other letters became one of the most searched media
available to advertisers. Their roles may
terms in 2009: DSP. The rise of DSP (demand side
include analyzing target audiences, platform) machines gave way to the promise of efficient
keeping abreast of media developments, and scalable audience buying.
reading market trends, and understanding
consumer motivations. Today, display isn’t just banners and buttons, and shouldn't
be seen as a dirty word. It’s any advertisement that can be
displayed across many devices and in many formats. It is
where technology continues to act as both a catalyst and fuel mobile. It is video. It is contextual. It is viral. It is social. It is
to change. In the last 30 years alone we’ve seen the personal search. It is everywhere advertisers want and need to be.
computer and the Internet become as common as the Users are in control — billions of times a day.
television or the telephone.
we can rebuild the media planner — with technology
This evolution has given rise to the idea that the Holy Grail Fact: There are millions of sites accepting display ads,
of media attribution and measurement is getting closer every significantly increasing the level of effort for a media
day. But it has also made us question the role of the media planner. It would be too difficult for media planners to
planner. Can machines and technology — the modern day explore them all. Even a few dozen sites would require a
R2-D2 or Optimus Prime — replace them? The answer is not planner to spend an inordinate amount of time, even before
the campaign launch. So technology in the online display 2. exhibit search-like prowess. Given the campaign-
arena is certainly helping media planners not only find empowering tools at a planner's fingertips (e.g., vendor
audiences at scale but also become more efficient. dashboards), the media planner must harness and master
this Pandora's box of raw insight to their advantage.
Yet it's not a fact that the “human lens” can be replaced by They must unleash a search-like approach to campaign
robots, and this lens will continue to be a crucial driver for management, roll up their sleeves, be proficient with the
agency clients — one that won’t be replaced by hardware, tools available, and dive into the day-to-day intricacies.
software, algorithms, and artificial intelligence — at least
not in the foreseeable future. 3. Be a data geek. The media planner cannot be afraid
to roll around in the mud with the data nuggets available.
But the planner’s role in the campaign process requires an While they understand the client objectives, they must also
evolving skill set in order to succeed. Media planning is no be able to understand the data, which truly blends art and
longer just about reaching audiences. Today’s it’s also about science. The ability to quickly interpret raw campaign data
engagement. Planners of today must look, listen, and in order to drive proactive conversations, develop key
respond to real-time insights and strategies. Gone are insights, and leverage them quickly is paramount.
the days where planners could "set it and forget it." The
DNA of the new media planner must accomplish these While the rise of the machines has brought the media
three things. landscape many changes and efficiencies, the fall of the
media planner has been exaggerated. However, there is
1. Master relationship management. The media planner certainly a change in the air that is forcing planners to
should continue to work closely with their key vendors in evolve if they want to remain relevant and valued to
creating and identifying the right media opportunities for their agencies and clients. In the end, those who want to evolve
clients. These relationships will continue to lead planners to a will succeed. Those who choose not to evolve won't.
plethora of unique opportunities and first mover advantages Time and technology will wait for no one.
— a value add that cannot be taken for granted.
26
Marketing and Media
The Cross-
Channel
Challenge:
Building
Pervasive
Information
architecture
Written by Michael MacLennan,
Senior Information Architect; SapientNitro Toronto
Consumers, now more than ever, are engaging with As Aristotle aptly put it, “the whole is greater than the
brands across multiple channels. No longer do they sum of its parts.” There is no quote more relevant when
interact with brands solely through traditional media examining cross-channel experiences. Blunders happen
like television, radio, or print. and, since 2009, the every day, whether it's a customer who has downloaded a
number of people browsing the web has more than retailer’s mobile application but struggles to understand its
tripled; this number continues to grow as more devices structure or someone who has researched a product online
offer browsing experiences comparable to a desktop only to find out that it’s no longer available at the store.
experience.1 additionally, social networking sites like In one study, over half of those asked reported buying
Twitter and facebook now present companies with new products offline after first researching online. Additionally,
opportunities to interact with their consumers and another 43% reported starting their research on a computer
promote products and services. or mobile device only to contact the company directly because
they could not find the information needed to complete the
How, then, do we bridge the gap?
transaction online.2
Information architects and user experience designers
are tasked with creating new platform experiences by
In an effort to reduce customer frustration, Andrea Resmini
considering how these varied touch points build a brand’s
and Luca Rosati proposed integrating a small set of heuristics
cross-channel relevance. As a result, these individuals
to keep in mind when creating cross-channel experiences.
must consider how their efforts will create a seamless
These heuristics concern themselves with ensuring that this
experience1 that transcends beyond these new channels.
experience is consistent across every platform, adapting to
user needs and to the context of the experience, and
In response to this growing challenge, a new idea has
suggesting relevant connections among the varied pieces
surfaced in the design community. Pervasive Information
of information offered by that particular company.
Architecture, coined by Andrea Resmini and Luca Rosati,
promotes a holistic methodology to user experience design
in order to create a seamless cross-channel experience.
Sapient incorporates an approach that aligns with
this methodology.
1http://www.quirksmode.org/blog/archives/2011/01/2010_mobile_bro.html
2
See Andrea Resmini and Luca Rosati (2011), Chapter 3
28
Case studies
Sprint
SapientNitro's efforts building both the web and mobile structurally. As illustrated in Figure 1, maintaining the look
experience for Sprint inherently used key design approaches and feel of the experience allows Sprint’s customers to
to ensure those experiences were seamless and integrated. easily orient themselves as they move between platforms
to perform various tasks including paying bills, viewing cell
With SapientNitro's cross-channel expertise, we were able phone usage, and exploring incentives to upgrade phones
to ensure that every Sprint channel built a strong sense of or service plans.
place through consistent connections, both visually and
Figure 1. The image above left represents the mobile
experience while the image on the right illustrates the web
experience. The similar look and feel ensures a strong
sense of place for Sprint’s customers.
Jeep
The redesign of Jeep’s history site sought to make it easy to As illustrated in Figure 2, the interface of the application
navigate over 70 years of the company's history. As a result, also aligns to a similar structure found on the website itself,
the current design breaks up vehicles by decade allowing a making it intuitive to familiar users.
simple and effective navigation structure for browsing the
different generations of Jeep vehicles. And, when the client Cross-channel experiences are pushing users toward a
chose to use the iPad application, the challenge became holistic and ubiquitous approach to products and services.
experience-based within a different context that made the This means that designers must incorporate strategies that
large set of data usable and pleasurable for the consumer. consider the larger context, as interactions become one
seamless flow between the real and the virtual.
In the end, the solution culminated in an interface that SapientNitro's approach to cross-channel challenges makes
leveraged the touch screen of the iPad in a unique way that it easier to provide solutions that inherently align with new
allowed users to explore the history of Jeep in a simple way. emerging ideas like Pervasive Information Architecture.
Figure 2. Each thumbnail allows the consumer Figure 3. Similarly, each grill image
to browse Jeep vehicles by decade. represents a specific Jeep decade.
References: Andrea Resmini and Lucia Rosati (2011).
Pervasive Information Architecture: Designing
Cross-Channel User Experiences, Albany (MA): Burlington.
30
Marketing and Media
Media of
the Moment
Written by David Bradfield, Director, Marketing
Strategy and Social Experience; SapientNitro Toronto
life is made up of moments: good and bad, happy and 1. Context
sad. In today’s connected world, moments happen in Context frames the moment. It can be physical or digital,
many different places and spaces. They shape customer and is shaped by the “here and now.” Where am I? Why
impressions and notions of what a brand represents. am I here? Who am I with? What does this mean to me?
Too few marketers effectively harness these moments in Context opens peoples’ eyes to options. As they consider
a social world, losing opportunities to optimize brand and new brands, products, or services, context may emerge
social equity in conversations and communities. But it through a conversation with a friend, Internet search,
is challenging to create authentic moments. People often product review, or advertisement, to name a few.
resist intrusive brand pushes because they lack context, Moments can be unpredictable because context is such
relevance, or personal appeal. a moving target. Marketers need to understand consumer
context and align with those conversations and
So how do you effectively humanize your brand and create communities. That doesn’t mean being intrusive,
channels out of moments that amplify the consumer voice but respectful and useful instead.
and generate genuine engagement around the brand?
Organizations that succeed listen to and respect their Effective marketers understand that a multi-channel strategy
customers. They recognize brand value from the customer’s is a necessity in today’s fragmented world. With people
perspective. They work to create meaningful moments that trusting media less and seeking alternate sources of
build on customer preference and reinforce business priorities. authority, understanding the consumer journey is essential.
If those moments are significant enough, community 2. Conversation
members can be motivated to share them in an instant, Moments spur conversation with people who are
turning experience into action. Every marketer wants their personally close to “me” or close to the moment based
customers to advocate for the brand, to share their positive on proximity or context. Conversations represent potential
experience and impressions. points of entry for brand representatives and advocates.
Context | Conversation | Community | Captivate This is not an opportunity to interrupt. It is a chance to align,
SapientNitro has developed a model called Media of the a moment to understand your brand through the eyes of the
Moment to help organizations understand the way people consumer. Conversation does two things in the modern
experience brands and interact with others. There are four marketing mix:
elements to these seamless multi-channel experiences.
1. It allows you to move beyond push tactics into a dynamic
Context
relationship with individuals who care about your brand
enough to share their opinion — good or bad. These people
Conversation can be influential. Conversations teach, and insights
Community
gleaned can impact your entire marketing ecosystem.
2. It forces you to let go a bit. Online conversations are
Captivate personal and informal. They don’t often happen on your
turf; conversations happen in person, over the phone, via
email, and on social messaging platforms such as Twitter
and Google+.
32
4. Captivate
eMarketer reports that 60% of U.S. Many brands strive to captivate the customer through
social network users were at least engaging experiences such as games, applications, or
somewhat likely to take action when loyalty programs that drive value. Captivating experiences
have a longer duration and carry a higher value proposition
a friend posted something about a
to the customer.
product, service, company, or brand
on a social media site. Only 18% were A captivated customer can create context, drive
not at all likely to take action. conversation, and engage a community in a way that
traditional media is currently unable to achieve.
3. Community Concluding thoughts
Conversations are not always 1:1. The right context and Media of the Moment is a model designed to pull customers
conversations may lead customers to a community sparked closer to the brand. Context establishes fit and relevance.
by the moment — where sustained engagement and an Conversations build alignment. Community drives engagement.
“always on” environment add depth to their experience, Captivate encourages people to spend more time within
connect them with others, and can reinvigorate a brand by branded experiences. Ideally these experiences
offering insight into the subtext behind the community activity. build deeper moments that are valuable and shareable.
Additionally, communities are more private. As a result, the It's one thing to meet customers in the moment, but in order
members set the direction for terms of engagement and to convert a customer into an advocate we need to motivate
community tone. Social networks such as Facebook, even them to share that moment. Sometimes just asking is
if a presence is branded, are not owned channels. You can enough. Provide them with digital keepsakes that can be
manage but not control the conversation. shared. Photos, videos, facts, coupons, and group incentives
all help people tell their stories and carry them forward. Our
ability to turn experience into action holds incredible brand
potential. It is powerful, authentic, and “of the moment.”
Marketing and Media
Predictions for the Next
5 Years in retail Banking
Written by Alex Sion, Vice President, Digital Strategy and Financial Services; SapientNitro New York
while many customers are still satisfied with their experience you deliver them is your message. This bank will
banks, it's no surprise that the banking industry — from slash its traditional marketing budget and re-allocate all
products to channels to transactions — has changed those dollars into amazing customer experiences and then
and will continue to do so. and, in the next five years, provide a platform for those experiences to be “heard.” This
the following shifts will affect everything. doesn’t necessarily mean awesome Facebook pages and lots
of tweets, but it will likely mean some contemporizing of the
1. a giant will fall. Somewhere, sometime within the next notion of community.
five years, a historically significant retail banking institution
will run out of steam. And the culprit will not be the wizards 4. a completely “crowd-sourced” bank will emerge.
of Wall Street. It will be a broken distribution model. For P2P payments, social lending, stock tweeting, social credit
many firms, the cost of branch-centric distribution, scoring, and underwriting — will somebody connect the
service, and acquisition through traditional media techniques dots already? A “bank of the people” will pop up
continues to rise while the fundamental profitability of core somewhere, and it won’t be “off the grid.” It’ll be
banking products gets squeezed by government regulations, mainstreamed: a legitimate alternative to the traditional
competition, and savvier consumers. For these firms, the banking system. Money will be deposited, loans will be
fundamental cost model is out of whack with the ability to made, secure payments will clear, and risk will be
generate profits. Banks will scramble to re-align distribution managed. And guess what, it’s not going to be
costs to profitability, launching bold multi-channel technology The Communist Manifesto: Part II. It will be wildly profitable
initiatives. One won’t do it, won’t be able to move fast enough, with 10 “employees” and a million customers.
or will struggle with execution and change management.
It won’t survive. 5. The main battleground for distribution will not be
on the street corner or online — but in the workplace.
2. New stars will rise. As a giant falls, several new stars As some banks learn that building relationships with
will rise. And the catalyst will not be a game changing errand-running multitaskers isn't easy and other banks
product, interest rate chicanery, or an unbeatable rewards realize that non-stop email spam about interest rates is just
program. It will be a steady but fundamentally transformative plain irritating, they’ll start to understand that grounds for a
change in the distribution cost structure and client experience. relationship-oriented approach can exist at the workplace.
These will be the firms who are aggressively investing now — While workplace banking is nothing new, the approach will
whether they are startups, traditional players, or challengers dramatically transform. What banks will realize is that
from the technology, retail, or telecom space — in a new workplace distribution is not just about bulk discounts —
client experience. They won’t all be digital- or mobile- it’s about demographics and psychographics. It’s about a
centric. In fact, expect several to be fairly low tech and take community of colleagues and friends. Companies have
cues from high-engagement, high-touch businesses like personalities and often hire like-types. Banks that figure
direct selling. What they will have all figured out is a better out how to craft workplace experiences that add value to a
way to distribute engaging products, services, and company and then leverage its natural community will have
experiences to customers. caught on to something special.
3. a bank will slash its traditional marketing and media The current retail bank experience looks nothing like it did
spend by 90% while increasing customer acquisition and 10 years ago, or even last year for that matter. As these
engagement. One bank out there will soon embrace what predictions come true in the upcoming months, there will
many Internet and technology companies already understand: be implications and new challenges that arise in the new
Your customers are your marketing machine and the retail banking world. And that's something you can bank on.
Social Media
Branding out loud
without losing Your Voice:
How to avoid Social Dilemmas in the Digital knowledge Marketplace
Written by Erik Gottesman, Director; SapientNitro Boston
Your workforce and your customers are your new “shadow impregnated with brand-transforming power reveals their
management.” Social tools for sharing knowledge, solving susceptibility to the many social, political, and economic
problems, and shaping new ideas are increasingly foibles they predicted. As real-world markets have shown,
pervasive both inside and outside the enterprise. economics are inseparable from politics and underlying
Consequently, organizations risk flirting with age-old social contracts, whether explicit or assumed. And while
free market problems in a new context imbued with the measures used to treat these market inefficiencies vary,
power to not merely transform the organization — the fundamental problems (e.g., information asymmetry,
but the total brand experience. over-exploitation) are common and solutions must treat
all three forces — in a balanced way that works for each
Two markets, connected
individual corporation.
Television personality and Twitter aficionado @PiersMorgan’s
recent and well-publicized Delta flight debacle provides but
Market-based problems call for market-aware solutions
one example of branding’s participatory new stage. The CNN
One example? Ratings and reputations. While they may
talk show host slammed the airline after missing America's Got
reduce some problems on many social platforms, they still
Talent auditions following a string of airplane troubles and bad
provide only partial answers to social dilemmas such as
customer service.
reciprocity and complacency, and expectations of social and
material incentives. Another example concerns moderation
Social messages such as Morgan’s, combined with near-
policy. Open or un-moderated platforms allow diversity, but
obsessive re-tweeting, create a market force that is not fully
invite a flood of shallow or negative contributions. Closed
controllable. This effect occurs equally inside the enterprise.
or moderated platforms increase quality, but sacrifice
Endowed with social tools, employees reveal their do-it-
diversity and participation. The solution isn't always clear
yourself tendencies, innovating solutions to procedural
cut, but establishing a workable market design sensitive
inefficiencies, synthesizing new products and services, and
to these concerns involves making trade-offs — with
generating real value while simultaneously exposing the firm
real-world consequences — that, if poorly chosen, will
to new risks and confounding management. It is within these
inhibit marketplace efficacy, value, and fairness.
Systems of Engagement (to use the term coined by Geoffrey
Moore) that an increasing volume of brand knowledge is
In an article entitled, "How to Find Answers Within
created, challenged, and even destroyed. The individual
Your Company," which appeared recently in MIT Sloan
experience, swept into vibrant and inclusive dialogue, has
Management Review and Harvard Business Review, authors
usurped the official experience methodically crafted by few.
Hind Benbya and Marshall Van Alstyne offer guidance for
dealing with such market-design dilemmas. Benbya and
The social marketing trifecta
Van Alstyne suggest that executive leadership function like
Over a decade has passed since Thomas Davenport and
a Federal Reserve, promoting flexibility and liquidity instead
Laurence Prusak suggested, in their well-regarded book
acting as a central planner. Evidence suggests that embracing
Working Knowledge, that knowledge markets are subject
this paradigm shift produces benefits not solely limited to the
to three distinct but inseparable sets of forces: economic,
company, but offers opportunities externally to the consumer
political, and social. At that time, the commercial Internet
as well. Despite the privacy, property, and governance
was still in its infancy, and “social” on the scale evidenced
challenges it poses, this approach may indeed offer the
by Facebook or Twitter had barely been contemplated. Yet,
greatest reward.
Davenport and Prusak’s observation proved prescient.
Recognizing social forums as knowledge markets
To establish a vibrant and durable marketplace, your The takeaway
company should invoke the following six strategies: Social technology is blurring the boundaries of the
organization. But, by employing these new "social
1. Identify the brokered social objects (e.g., testimonials, strategies," your organization can mute the negative
support requests, product ideas) that create maximum network effects that present a threat to today's socially
market liquidity. transformed brand experience.
2. Invite participants to collaborate in the market’s
procedural and structural design.
3. Build market authenticity and trust by connecting
real-world and virtual indicators of repute.
4. Balance the system of social and material incentives
that engender self-identification, contribution, and
reciprocity without measurable dilution.
5. Adopt a floating pricing mechanism to focus and
agitate the most valued forms of participation and
discourage monopolistic behavior.
6. Partition or de-partition markets to optimize for size
and time perspective of decisions affecting the
brand experience.
38
Social Media
If a Tweet falls in the forest:
using listening to Drive Social Media Strategy
Written by Annicka Campbell, Associate, Marketing Strategy and Analysis; SapientNitro Chicago
as a marketing research practice, social listening (also online through social listening. With studies ranging from
known as social media conversation analysis, social media a few days to a few months, the insights generated through
monitoring, or digital anthropology) has been growing listening research are frequently used to inform, drive, and
steadily in popularity in recent years. In its most basic evaluate strategy for our clients.
form, social listening can be described as the analysis
of consumer conversation happening on social media In recent years, the Research + Insights team has conducted
platforms in order to distill insights related to products, social listening research specific to a wide range of industry
brands, or behavior. for researchers and strategists, in verticals. Over time, we’ve begun to identify a number of
particular, social listening has revolutionized the way we conversation patterns that are industry-unique. For example,
study consumer behavior online. commercial banking brands tend to generate high volumes
of negative sentiment. We’ve found that these conversation
Social media lends itself to oversharing, passionate debate,
patterns aren’t just true for the client in question — they hold
and self-expression, often in a very public context. New
true for the way consumers are talking about many brands
behaviors predicate new methods of study; today, marketers
within an industry. Therefore, these conversation patterns
have access to a vast universe of rich, real-time data being
can act as unique guides to development of social media
generated by social media users related to nearly any topic,
strategy, by industry. While the development of a more
brand, or behavior imaginable. With access to this kind of
comprehensive framework is a long-term undertaking,
data, researchers are able to identify and understand the
we have provided our initial thoughts below.
way consumers behave, perceive, and discuss brands and
products online. While social listening isn’t a replacement for
financial services
other forms of market research, it does add a layer of insight
In the financial services space, the most obvious application
and perspective to strategy and creative messaging that is
of listening is customer relationship management. With
completely unique.
unhappy users frequently taking to Twitter to voice concern
over unresponsive customer service representatives and
In such an ever-changing space, the potential applications
ailing online banking websites, providing customer support
of social listening are nearly endless — as are the means of
via this microblogging channel is a no-brainer. Moreover,
culling this type of data, as new listening platforms emerge
in the realm of using listening as a behavioral research tool,
and evolve as quickly as the tweets they track. Major brands
Twitter can be a great place to understand customer
are also quickly increasing their investment in such research.
perception towards aesthetic design and creative work:
We’ve seen companies like Gatorade and Dell adopt internal
“Why does the Chase website look just like the PayPal
social listening "command centers" as a means to identify
website? O_O are they related? Or is that just the standard
and address the needs of their customers (and potential
thing for money sites?”
customers) in real time. Other companies, like Xerox and
Kodak, have built out their listening capabilities to drive
Another one of the most consistent themes emerging from
specific business objectives like acquisition and product
financial services listening is a high volume of negative
development research — all by paying attention to what
sentiment, particularly on Twitter and forums. The global
their customers are saying on social media sites.
economic crisis and resulting bailout in the United States
have coupled to produce feelings of cynicism and mistrust
At SapientNitro, we’ve developed a range of ways to apply
from consumers online. As one Twitter user recently said:
social listening to our clients’ needs. In addition to community
“I don’t understand my bank. They attach chains to their
management and influencer identification, our Research +
pens?! If I’m trusting you with my money, you should trust
Insights team also specializes in studying consumer behavior
me with your pens!”
40
Banking customers are often turning to web forums and In turn, auto brands can use listening as a way to
message boards as a means of finding (and providing) understand what values and stories their core advocates
unbiased answers and support specific to mortgage, credit are using to describe and discuss their brand.
card, and small business financial products. Listening to the
concerns and questions expressed by customers on these CPG
forums is an integral step toward rebuilding the trust lost Not surprisingly, we’ve found that social listening research
between bank and customer over the past five years. There holds substantial potential for CPG brands, particularly
are many active forum communities and blogs for bank in terms of generating product use cases and behavioral
customers to share problems, advice, and news related to insights. Through listening, traditional brands can uncover
their personal finances. innovative uses and applications of their product that would
otherwise go undetected by traditional research methods.
One forum dweller gave the following advice to his peer “Tartarus, the most effective toothpaste for children under
regarding the expected closure of an account: “The guy IS the age of twelve, can also be used for dogs!”
responsible to you as a customer to tell you who took them, This can help identify new demographic targets and
and it is ABSOLUTELY NOT his responsibility to tell you to ‘get messaging opportunities — specific to season, day of the
a lawyer.’ The person at your actual bank branch also knows week, region, and more.
exactly what is going on … you need to go bug them about it
first thing in the morning. Did you, by any chance, make two We would also note the effectiveness of social listening
deposits into separate accounts that may have totaled more as applied to tracking of media campaigns. “As an owner
than $10k if they were on the same deposit slip?” of both a hamster and an Xbox 360, I find myself hating the
most recent Kia commercial for multiple reasons.” In
automotive addition to qualitative analysis, the tracking of sentiment,
In the case of automotive brands, we’ve found that social volume, and topical reaction to both traditional and digital
listening is a wonderful way to inform creative messaging. messaging can provide granular information on brand
Cars and car brands have an emotional connotation in the perception before, during, and after a campaign or new
U.S. (as in other countries), and for auto fans, social media product launch.
is a great way to connect with like-minded enthusiasts and
discuss what they love the most about their vehicles: We’re excited to continue this study in understanding social
"I love driving down dark country roads in my truck. media conversation patterns as a way to develop more
#luckytoliveinthecountry #newhashtag" meaningful and relevant social media strategy. We continue
to share these new insights with clients through research
deliverables, thought leadership, posts on the SapientNitro
Idea Engineers blog, and academic publications.
Social Media
Social Commerce —
Beckoning New opportunities
Written by Chitranjan Sood, Senior Associate,
Business Consulting; SapientNitro Gurgaon
Social media has had a profound impact on the way Social Commerce Market Size 2010-2015
brands interact with consumers. Invariably, all
$30
consumer-facing companies use at least one social +56%
media channel to engage customers. Social media’s role $20 $14 U.S.
as a marketing tool has assumed so much significance $14 $9
$9
that a number of companies now have dedicated $5 Rest of
$5 $3 $16
senior-level positions for social media. $1 $12 the World
$6 $8
$4
The next phase of social media evolution is its convergence 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
with e-commerce channels — popularly known as social
commerce. Increasing numbers of consumers are using The six pillars of strength
social media platforms to access brands’ websites, Social commerce is based on six main elements.
research products, and post comments. Consumers are They are as follows:
also "following" brands to know more about product
updates, promotions, and discounts. This rapidly-evolving ● Social shopping. This involves use of social media stores
consumer behavior is forcing brands to use social media on Facebook or other social media sites, which get users to
along the entire consumer engagement process from bring their online social network to e-commerce sites in
brand awareness to conversion to retention and growth. order to make purchases. 1-800-FLOWERS and Levi's are
examples of brands already making use of social shopping.
Now and later — social commerce by the numbers ● ratings and reviews. Customer opinions are integrated
Social commerce has taken the digital world by storm. into e-commerce sites or comparison shopping sites,
Social commerce startups have proliferated and, in the sponsored reviews, and customer testimonials. Marks &
first quarter of 2011, received funding of nearly $2 billion. Spencer used Bazaarvoice’s ratings and reviews solution
Groupon alone received $950 million. The market is also to allow its customers to share their opinions and provide
ripe for consolidation — 2011 has seen big-ticket acquisitions feedback on over 24,000 products.
of social commerce players by companies such as Yahoo! ● recommendations and referrals. Customers are
and Walmart. rewarded for referring new consumers, and shopping
recommendations are based on similarities in profiles
But now, the social commerce market is set to explode of customers. Think: Apple’s iTunes Genius and Netflix’s
in the years to come. Dollar value of products such as Cinematch.
electronics, apparel, and movie tickets sold through social ● forums and communities. In discussion forums, people
media is expected to rise to $30 billion by 2015. Wireless, often solve each other's problems or answer questions.
cable, and financial services companies will also have And online communities can be linked to an e-commerce
multi-billion dollar opportunities. site with a loyalty, advisory, or social CRM purpose. Juicy
Couture’s conversion rate increased 162% following
"If I had to guess, social commerce is the next area the implementation of an online community portal called
Club Couture.
to really blow up." - Mark Zuckerberg
● Social ads and apps. Ads can be placed in media space
on social media platforms as well as within blogs and
forums. Social apps are widgets that support social
interactions and contributions. Chick-fil-A ran a successful
ad campaign on Facebook, whereby users who clicked on
the fast food chain's ads received coupons.
●Social media optimization. As part of social media ● loyalty and referral marketing. Brands will use social
optimization, services can be offered such as news feeds, media platforms to run a variety of loyalty and referral
deal offerings, or online social media events. Leading marketing programs in their bid to maximize customer
brands such as Starbucks, Victoria’s Secret, and Dell experience. Consumers are enamored with special deals
currently run feeds on various social media platforms. and discounts; giving them reward points for purchasing
and referring products will further strengthen their bonds
How does social commerce benefit brands? with brands.
Social commerce can benefit your brand in three ● Social CrM. Social media is also seen as a customer
primary ways. retention tool. The CRM market is buzzing with activity and
all the leading vendors have added social dimension to their
First, it allows you to monetize your social media investment. CRM suite. Vendors are also reporting robust growth in
Companies have already invested time and effort to have a revenues on the back of increased focus on the use of social
social media presence. But by adding commerce functionality, software for marketing and customer service.
social media investment can effectively generate ROI too — ● Mobile social commerce. Integration of social media with
which can easily be measured in terms of sales and profit e-commerce on mobile platforms is also expected to hold
increases as a result of investment and promotion of fort. More consumers are using smartphones for accessing
social media. customer reviews on products, and brands will certainly look
to incorporate ratings and reviews in their mobile offerings.
The tools social commerce can leverage (some that have ● location-based marketing. Consumers using location-
never been available before) — things like live chat, feeds based apps are heavy users of social media. These users
with deals, or social media events — all help to facilitate are also not averse to data sharing, and brands will focus
online sales. And social commerce apps, ratings and on this important user group to drive social commerce.
reviews for instance, are also integrated on e-commerce ● Group buying. The success of Groupon has attracted a
sites, resulting in additional prospects for increased sales. number of companies to move into this space. Given that
discounts and promotions are the most important reason
Second, it helps gather market insight. Through social for consumers to indulge in social commerce, there is hardly
commerce, brands can make important observations any doubt that group buying will be among the hottest trends.
on buying behavior, key themes of consumer conversation, The market can see consolidation and expansion in new
and trends with respect to particular age groups or territories and broaden the product portfolio.
specific locations.
Social commerce will continue to capture the imagination
And last, it can improve customer loyalty. Enhanced of consumers, brands, and agencies. Ever-growing numbers
customer experience as a result of a variety of social apps of people accessing social networks on smartphones,
will drive consumers to use social media channels again emphasis on word of mouth marketing and user-generated
and again, and brands will reap the rewards of a one-time content, and clear-cut measurement will further aid the
investment in social apps many times over. growth of the social commerce market. And social commerce
will be an integral part of companies’ multi-channel
Hot trends to watch strategies. Capturing mindshare, enhancing customer
Social commerce will be in style for the foreseeable future. experience, and generating commercial value out of strong
There are five trends to keep a close eye on — and consider relationships will be among the top priorities of brands —
using in your business strategy: and agencies and technology companies will play an
increasingly vital role in helping brands realize the true
value of social commerce.
44
Social Media
Is Social Commerce
exempt from roI?
Written by Uwe Tueben, Director, Technology; SapientNitro Dusseldorf
Social commerce is on everybody’s minds — and on the “supported” the purchase with their comments; once it
minds of most marketers in particular. reaches “critical mass,” the deal is done, and the transaction
is settled. These techniques can increase the quality of the
at a recent conference, I saw a presentation delivered by customer experience of the online store.
a young, successful online store specializing in bikes that
was gaining positive customer feedback and revenue. a good customer experience drives increased conversion
These cutting-edge guys decided to launch a store on In fact, we recently evaluated the customer experience
facebook as part of their social strategy. Their regular quality of online stores run by the 25 leading multi-channel
online store is great — highly tailored to the needs of bike retailers in Germany. We also conducted consumer research
enthusiasts. It has ratings and recommendations and even into digital and traditional behaviors of their customers.
product videos. The facebook store is … well … a store that Together, this data demonstrated a clear link between the
kind of works — once you figure out how to enter it. as customer experience and key business success metrics.
with many facebook applications, users often have trouble
finding and launching f-commerce capabilities. This documented correlation should simplify the justification
of an investment in an improved customer experience —
As a market launch campaign, the company offered a 10% particularly in social commerce. Yet many times, investments
discount on each purchase within Facebook. When I asked in customer experience are delayed or cancelled, due to a
what their strategy was to pull people into the Facebook store lack of confidence in the ROI. With modern web analytics
after the 10% campaign had ended, the response was, “Well, and social media monitoring in place, those doubts should
we believe we will grant the 10% permanently.” be lifted.
Why is that? Because without a discount, there is no reason A good social commerce strategy should, without any doubt,
to buy with Facebook over a traditional online store. Is this lead to conversion and/or margin improvements in the short
social commerce? Yes, but social commerce can be much term. This is not to say Facebook commerce is the answer;
more. As with their traditional online stores, e-retailers need rather, we view f-commerce as a promising but still unproven
to understand their customers’ needs, and they need to be new technology. When combined with elements of social
open to experimenting with social channels to make it work commerce (e.g., reviews and ratings) and other channels
for them. (e.g., Twitter or SMS), it can be an effective way to leverage
social interactions between friends and families to achieve
Taking social commerce to the next level your social commerce strategic goals.
A better example of the potential of social commerce — be it
on Facebook or another platform — involves pulling in social Social commerce remains an evolving set of technologies. As
comments and social affirmation to drive higher conversions. part of the maturation process, we'll see more experiments
Start with what we have today: Consumers have the like the ones described in this article. To maximize success,
opportunity to show on Facebook that they “Like” your products. companies should focus on customer need, measurement,
and ROI as part of the social commerce strategy.
But you could go much further than this. Imagine a
“conditional checkout process” for consumers who are
unsure whether they should buy your product or not — either
online or in-store. At the end of the online checkout, or on a
mobile device in-store, the consumer publishes his or her
pending purchase to Facebook. The transaction is kept in the
pending state until a certain number of friends have
46
Mobile
Context — The New Gold
of the Mobile Industry
Written by Torsten Schollmayer, Mobile Experience
Strategist; SapientNitro Dusseldorf
what we are seeing today is only the surface of the real Second, we need to distinguish if it is a proposition that will
potential for mobile services. This is because producers, serve every user with the same need or if we need to design
brands, and agencies are still doing what people do when the product in ways that serve different people with
they discover a new channel: They transport existing different needs.
products and ideas into the new channel, but neglect to
dig deeper to reach "the gold." Let's start with two case studies, from the least complex
to the most elaborate.
Because banner and display advertising had worked well
on desktop screens, the obvious reaction is to simply autoTrader's iPhone app. This app was created and
reduce the size of the ads on mobile screens regardless developed by SapientNitro, and only available in the UK
of where users were or what they were doing. market, which originally focused on one specific idea:
Users were in the streets (a very mobile situation) when
This mistaken behavior happens because it is too exhausting they spotted a vehicle they liked. SapientNitro asked,
and time consuming to think disruptively and consider the "How can we leverage that moment into a mobile opportunity
user context. Unfortunately, we are often “prisoners of our for AutoTrader?"
own ideas.” We tend not to be objective and are therefore
bound by our own thinking most of the time. However, The initial information that these users needed was the
according to The Next Web article, "Everyone Sits in the make and model, its price, and how to purchase it. The
Prison of His Own Ideas," new thinking is needed for solution was to use the iPhone camera to identify the car
developing successful mobile services. There are several model by taking a photo of the number plate and then
ways to accomplish that goal: match it with the government database. As a result, the
user got the exact model, could search for it within the
● Trying to get an idea of what people want by doing AutoTrader market, and then could contact the car dealer.
market research,
● Building something you really need yourself, This was not an adaptation of the desktop AutoTrader
● Building something your friends say they need, portal. There were no sitemap or navigation elements.
● Copying and pasting someone else's idea and The entire focus of the concept was to serve the needs
improving upon it, or of the user to identify and shop from the street.
● Letting a thousand flowers bloom and watching
what happens.
Context will certainly be the key driver for popular mobile
offerings that serve specific customer need. And while there
is no best way for victories in mobile, there are
strategies for building a winning mobile service.
Case studies: user context considerations for mobile
So how do we design, create, and develop a mobile service
with user context in mind?
First, we have to look at the existing assets of the mobile
product or service and what the core value might be. If we
can identify these things, we are halfway there.
Figure 1. The AutoTrader iPhone application
48
The Homeplus Subway Virtual Store. This product was In the second phase, when the user wants or needs to
the 2011 winner of the Cannes Lions for “Best Use of “Swim,” he or she gets a richer level of detail for the
Outdoor.” For its "shopping on the move" campaign, content or the function that enables shopping or browsing
Homeplus created virtual stores in subway stations at rush quickly and securely.
hours showing their goods on displays that looked exactly
like those in real stores, including prices and advertising. In the final stage, when the user is “Diving,” he or she has
The difference was that people shopped with their smart- extra time and is able to use all the functionality that leads
phones by scanning the QR code and putting the products to the desired goal.
in virtual shopping baskets. Once purchased, the goods
were delivered to the customer's door after they get home. Think disruptively and create simple + social
Along with accepted design principles for mobile services,
Users could avoid rush hour in the supermarket and save there are other determinants for creating successful
time by shopping on the way home. mobile products that leverage the idea of “considering
user context.”
When thinking about a user's behavior in a mobile
environment and how to match this to mobile products,
a common mistake is to copy a great idea or adopt already-
known behavior patterns and market offerings that exist
in the non-mobile space.
To be successful, however, the principles need to be based
on disruptive and creative thinking that are very different to
known offerings and highlight the core value and function of
the mobile service.
Additionally, we should also consider what the mobile
Figure 2. Homeplus Virtual Subway Store device means to us in the context of “being on the move.”
Every user is unique and uses the device in a personal way
Complex mobile services need a — and often under severe time pressure. This means that
“Paddle, Swim, and Dive” approach we need to build mobile services that are social, simple,
But what if the mobile service that needs to be designed and and connected to the personal environment of the user.
created must serve different users with different needs?
To illustrate that theory, take the example of Gigalocal.
For this scenario, SapientNitro recently introduced the Gigalocal is a service that describes itself as the first
“Paddle, Swim, and Dive” approach, which generally fits well “microworking” mobile application that offers a market-
and provides the right level of detail to initiate the concept. place for micro deals and offerings. Users will be able to
suggest and provide service delivery via their smartphones
In the “Paddle” phase of a mobile product, we see a person from two perspectives: buyer and seller.
who urgently needs to solve a problem or save time. This
might be a quick look at the news, a pop-up reminder, or Gigalocal is focusing on city or local markets, which means
anything that is only “one-click” away. that users can immediately act on offerings in real time.
Typical services that could be offered and consumed via
this mobile service include repairing a bike, getting glasses insurance cards, IDs, subway tickets, event tickets, and
from the optician, or buying a Big Mac and Coke for a the list goes on. A digital wallet is not just a way to pay. It’s
special price. taking that actual wallet in your back pocket and all of its
contents and associated behaviors and integrating it into
Gigalocal uses the power of user context by combining the some type of digital device.”
time the user has with the urgent need to get a problem
solved while providing a unique, social, and simple service. To convince the user of the benefits of using a mobile device
as their digital wallet, we need to rethink the user's context
and what would provide the added value to bind the
customer to the service permanently. The digital
combination of one place and continuous availability
will be the core values of the digital wallet.
Figure 3. Gigalocal
The digital wallet of 2012
If we look at the trends that may greatly impact the near
future, it is obvious that the technical environment for
mobile payment will soon be a reality. Global banks, credit
card companies, and Internet companies like Google are Figure 4. The digital wallet
attempting to position themselves as the first contact point
for payments with mobile devices. If you are thinking about creating and delivering a digital
wallet, a mobile commerce solution, or any other mobile
One of SapientNitro's “Idea Engineers,” Christina White, service, you must consider user context. Once this is
phrases our perspective:“Most of us carry some sort of recognized and appreciated by your customers, usage
payment method [in our wallets], but you probably have and distribution can be built on a solid base — leading
a bit more — loyalty cards, business cards, receipts, to success and satisfied users.
50
Mobile
Could Mobile lead Your
Customer experience?
Written by Paul Bevan, Mobile Strategist; SapientNitro UK
Just a few years ago, the idea of mobile taking the lead On the other hand, mobile services aren't perfect: 90% of
in customer experience would have seemed ridiculous. apps are deleted after 30 days and 38% of people are not
However, thanks to the iPhone charge, mobile is now satisfied with their favorite brand's app. The mobile web
significantly more important to most brands, and has become does not fare much better; 25% of people would not revisit
an integral part of their multi-channel experiences. a retailer’s mobile site after a bad experience and and 75%
of the UK top 100 retailers do not have mobile-optimized
The opportunities that accompany this new technology versions of their website even though people spend three-and-
is real, but taking advantage of them will not be easy. a-half times longer and look at three-and-a-half times as
Brands will have to create great customer experiences, many pages on optimized sites, compared with non-optimized.
and this comes with challenges and questions that must
be answered. will mobile continue its rapid ascent?
The demand for mobile services and their commercial
Is mobile working? importance will only increase — and quickly. We have
To understand how far mobile can go, it is important to identified four areas that have influenced mobile growth,
understand how far it has come. The audience for mobile and will continue to do so.
interactive customer experiences has grown quickly. Mobile
ownership is now nearly ubiquitous. And while phone and text 1. rise of the smartphone and tablet. Mobile has been
still dominate usage, interactive usage has grown significantly propelled by the explosive sales of smartphones and tablets
in two major areas of mobile — Internet and native apps. that give people a far richer experience. Sales of smart-
phones in the UK jumped 74% between 2010 and 2011.
In fact, people now spend on average 32 minutes a day Tablets were virtually non-existent 18 months ago, yet
using mobile Internet services, and more than 15 billion worldwide tablet sales in 2010 almost hit 16m units, and
apps have been downloaded from the iTunes App Store this is expected to grow to 56m units by 2012.
alone. Customers are consuming these mobile experiences
on both phones and tablets, at home, at work, and on the 2. availability of cheap, fast data. The availability of cheap
move, and are looking for experiences that are fun, useful, data bundles, the rollout of 3G across the UK, and the
usable and/or convenient. launch of LTE/4G in 2014 will mean greater mobile
broadband speeds and even more mobile growth.
Customers are also becoming increasingly comfortable
transacting on mobile, which has led to impressive revenue 3. awareness of mobile services. Many mobile solutions
figures. Online retailer ASOS brings in more than £1m a fall at the first hurdle because firms fail to pay proper
month through mobile transactions, Amazon brought in attention to launching their services. One example? There
$1bn from 2009 to 2010, and eBay sold $2bn worth of are over 420,000 apps in the Apple App Store alone. To
products last year. compete with the saturation, smart brands are looking at
how to best tag apps, categorize, and drive participation.
However, the influence of mobile reaches far beyond just
direct sales. Brands are using mobile to build awareness 4. Better technology. In the past few years, a range of
through advertising and create affinity through customer improved technologies such as cloud-enabled, NFC-enabled,
care and loyalty programs, and consumers are using mobile and location-based services have started to deliver more
to research products both at home and in-store. Because complex experiences. Over the next few years, technology
mobile devices are carried with the consumer constantly, will continue to improve. This trend will only continue.
they become powerful tools for creating multi-channel
brand ecosystems that can deliver real value.
52
Can you meet the challenges? See what the customer doesn’t. Richer mobile experiences
Just because the screen is smaller doesn't mean the frequently require access to back-end systems such as
obstacles are any less. Key challenges to keep in mind follow: product catalogues, e-commerce systems, and account
information. Too often, companies do not consider their
Match your offering with your audience. Understanding back-end architecture sufficiently. As a result, mobile
your audience is the first step. This is particularly important experiences that rely on good access to back-end
in mobile as audiences are fragmented by form factor systems are often delayed or never come to life at all.
and usage, which are also heavily influenced by culture
and geography. Think strategically. When creating consistently great
mobile experiences that deliver customer and business
Mobile behaviors should also be considered. This includes value, strategy matters. The time for one-off mobile
filling spare time, performing small jobs that are ideally experiments has now passed.
done on the go, and offering a third screen at home. Then,
the real value comes from detailed understanding of your The first step is to have a clearly defined mobile strategy in
audience and unveiling key insights. place that includes a roadmap. This needs to be supported
by a conviction that warrants the growing investment
Craft the right experience. The range of front-end required. Many analysts will suggest that there is no such
technology is broad and changing by the day. They include thing as a “mobile strategy” — only a multi-channel strategy.
native apps, hybrid apps, NFC, 3D, and good old SMS, to While this is true, mobile often carries the load for innovation
name a few. From the business point of view, a deep and business transformation.
understanding of the technology is not necessary.
What is important is choosing the right technology. Conclusion
Could mobile lead your customer experience? The simple
These decisions have a direct impact on the consumer. For answer is yes! And even if it does not lead, it will without
example, typing in a URL is very different than downloading doubt play a critical role. There are a series of mountains to
an app. The end solution may accomplish the same goals, climb, but consumers are demanding it and the opportunities
however the consumer expectations can be wildly different. are huge, so the time to act in a serious fashion is now.
Technology
Digital Marketing Platforms:
Taking Back Control
Written by Dan Barnicle, Vice President, Content
Management and Collaboration; SapientNitro Munich
Planning, delivering, and measuring sophisticated 1. The early years. In this initial stage, the retailer is
multi-channel marketing campaigns has never been "dabbling" with digital marketing. There is no common
more difficult. process or technology approach. Numerous silos of agency
and technology partners create flexibility, but only
Marketing was once much more straightforward: occasionally share assets or technology investments. Small
TV, radio, print, and physical store channels were taken scale means that these inefficiencies can be considered a
care of by one agency. Today, two main factors are cost of doing business, and worthwhile given the flexibility
changing everything: the explosion of channels to meet and time-to-market benefits.
communication needs, and the push toward personalized
engagement marketing. 2. The awkward years. The retailer is struggling with scale
and cross-campaign analysis. It is frequently "reinventing
We now have microsites, mobile, apps, VOD, real-time the wheel," but isn't sure how to evolve. Symptoms include
social conversations, and a vast number of other overspending on redundant technology investments. This
channels, leading to specialized agencies, organizational company may also experience occasional security and
challenges, profit nightmares, fragmented technical liability incidents due to inconsistent processes.
governance, asset inefficiencies, and new competition.
Multiply that across a portfolio of brands across a number 3. The adult years. In this phase, scale is fueled by a
of local markets in a fast-paced social world and what do standardized operating model and consolidated technology.
you get? An overwhelmed marketer with a big problem. Additionally, coordinated consumer data, campaign
analytics, and reporting across campaigns are optimized.
Hence the rise of the digital marketing platform, designed The benefits of this fully mature platform include:
to centralize digital assets, group and manage content,
reuse processes, connect with external sites, and apply • Marketing innovation
advanced analytics. The result enables rapidly launched • Speed-to-market and nimbleness
experiences using pre-built and tested digital components, • Intimate consumer-brand relationships
and shifts the cost from developing digital functionality to • Effective and holistic consumer intelligence
providing marketing services. • Measured campaigns in real time
• Optimized technology investments
• Reduced liability and data security risk
The digital marketing platform is no
The digital marketing platform solution
longer a technology problem, which has The digital marketing platform toolset allows marketers
become relatively straightforward; it is to maximize their campaign or marketing strategy, and can
now a business problem, a philosophy, also enable important organizational changes, which are
and a working model. essential for productivity. Digital marketing enablement
touches on eight areas:
The digital marketing maturity model 1. an organizational model. There are a number of
Marketing organizations’ digital marketing maturity falls interweaving elements that are critical to a successful
into three distinct "ages." campaign including content, production, and technology.
Strong organization is paramount and the key is in building
out those connections.
2. Campaign production processes. Inefficient and One global consumer products company
redundant processes are minimized, and a consistent estimates that, due to a lack of coordination
process — critical to reuse — is rolled out across the and process subordination, over 50% of their
organization. Benefits are seen by all the players involved. digital marketing spend goes to production
and technology capability costs alone —
3. Technology governance. A close working relationship,
and clear governance structure is essential to overcome
which could be better spent on creative
the inevitable technical challenges. strategy, concepts, and experience design.
4. Standardized campaign types. Clients typically develop In the end, the challenges of a true multi-channel digital
a core set of campaign types to speed time-to-market. marketing enablement can be accelerated with a platform.
The common technology platform must anticipate and But we believe that how you integrate the platforms — with
support these types. An actual campaign could be a their various capabilities — is critical. Accountability for
hybrid of long-lived (e.g., websites, brand affinity, content digital marketing, long divided among various traditionally
syndication, social networking, mobile apps) or short-lived and digitally focused constituents, must be explicitly
campaigns (e.g., promotional web or mobile sites, social defined. Governance must focus on enablement and
networking campaigns). acceleration, not on constraints.
5. Managed platform capabilities. Identifying and Incentives become a critical part of the driving platform
enhancing the core management platform capabilities adoption across an organization — whatever your agency
is essential. Content management, digital asset and partner model.
management, social or community presence, marketing and
campaign management, measurement and analytics, or Does one production model fit all?
consumer data management make up this set of opportunities. Choosing the right balance between centralizing production
partners, and allowing a modest set of loosely coupled
6. Digital production toolkit. Creation of a set of reusable firms to operate relatively independently is a tradeoff
asset libraries — from copy to HTML to video and more — between capability, coordination and overhead costs,
can deliver a campaign much quicker, with better results. and ability to scale. And, in most cases, allowing fully
ungoverned production procurement should no longer
7. Multi-channel campaign delivery. Combining the asset be an option.
libraries with the standardized processes and campaign
types allows rapid multi-channel campaign delivery. Conclusion
From iPhone apps to in-store end-caps to viral videos, The digital marketing platform is a tool to meet the
multi-channel is all about quickly executing cohesive complex needs of the marketing creative process, creative
marketing on every appropriate touch point. agencies, and production agencies. Tactically, it offers the
opportunity to accelerate specific campaign roll outs, and
8. Campaign management and analytics. Testing, optimize those campaigns from existing assets and
learning, tracking, and adjusting are all tremendously processes. Strategically, it addresses governance gaps,
challenging. But for true engagement marketing, optimizes digital marketing processes, and provides a level
it is essential. of nimbleness, control, and insight that allows marketers to
focus on driving marketing innovation and effectiveness.
56
Technology
after the release: Maximizing
Value from Your Commerce
Platform Investment
Written by Sheldon Monteiro, Vice President; SapientNitro Chicago
$
“There will come a time,” wrote louis l'amour, the great that will result in more work down the road. Debt is not
american storyteller, “when you believe everything is necessarily a bad thing (you did launch after all), unless
finished. That will be the beginning." l’amour passed you let it get out of control. Then you find yourself applying
away more than a decade before digital commerce went patch after patch, resigned to inefficient operational
mainstream, but he eloquently captured the gestalt of a work-arounds or foregoing opportunities because change
digital platform going live. launching a platform today is simply costs too much or takes too long. There is a real
no small feat, typically taking months — perhaps years temptation to focus all investments in post live releases on
— of effort. Yet, on the eve of launch day, the real work adding new user features, which may worsen the problem
has just begun. The operational and evolution challenges by actually adding debt.
are many, and it’s no surprise that we see some
platforms thrive while others stumble and fail. How to avoid this fate? Avoid interest-only mortgages.
Create a list of operational and technical debt, and address
There are nine things every customer experience items that improve future agility and reduce recurring work.
executive should know on launch day:
One of our major telecommunications clients conducted
1. It feels like you just gave birth. No matter how much four major platform releases, but then invested their fifth
you planned, you will be surprised in the first few months, release almost exclusively to reorganizing the platform
and not in a pleasant way. There will be issues, whether code for easier and more streamlined maintenance
related to scalability, stability, operations, or content. Peak supporting their organizational structure. That meant foregoing
business periods and hours tend to reveal quite a bit about new functionality in the fifth release in favour of non-user
the behavior of your new platform under stress. And after facing features, but which enabled less friction, cost and time,
a few 3 a.m. calls, it might feel less like you launched a and higher through-put, in every subsequent release.
system and more like you brought a colicky infant home
from the hospital. 3. Design, build, and test must evolve to listen, respond,
and evolve. Today, no platform investments lack technology
Smart firms take a pragmatic approach in the first six to measure customer experience. Analytics are common-
months. They realize that the only true test is one with real place, yet all too often we see firms stumble with listening
customers and traffic — a staged go-live — where the or responding to their customers. Data may be plentiful, but
platform is gradually opened up, in parallel with existing it isn’t worth a dime if you don’t have an effective process to
platforms. In addition, they invest T+180 continuously make changes based on the information.
stabilizing, improving processes and reviewing analytics.
Every anomaly is a learning opportunity, which should not Often, it’s measuring too many things, an over-reliance on
be squandered. This critical period should be used to generic metrics, or a lack of a working process that cripples
fine-tune your release process. insights from driving action.
2. New platforms start out with a mortgage. And, no, Empirically, we have observed that firms that initially
we are not referring to the check for your platform signed choose no more than three top-level core metrics have an
by your CFO. Going live on time and within budget likely easier time making informed changes — especially those
requires some compromises in the business tools or requiring material investments.
technical maintainability.
4. Marketing, business, development, and operations
You can view these deviations from the optimal solution in a must converge. At go-live, it's unlikely that the marketing,
manner similar to a mortgage or debt — the loan you took business, development, and operations teams are on the
58
same page. We commonly observe organizational budget, actively incentivized development and operations to
structures and incentives tailored for slowly evolving improve deployment and process efficiency, with sustained
enterprise resource planning systems, rather than those C-Suite visibility. In a few months, the team was steadily
required to facilitate customer expectations. deploying platform changes to production every two weeks.
Notwithstanding executive focus and attention, significant
We have two proven suggestions to drive change: financial resources are required to maintain the platform
For one, you can force alignment by establishing a fixed and stay competitive — after the first year post live, the
and firm calendar of “global releases.” Global releases are typical enterprise IT application devotes 80% of on-going
a vehicle for major feature changes that require enterprise spend to maintenance and only 20% to enhancements and
coordination, and complement smaller, interim releases upgrades. For digital commerce platforms to remain
that are localized in scope of impact. Every business unit, competitive, we have observed that an even split is more
department, and individual knows that any significant appropriate between lights on and evolution spend on an
change happens on set release dates that are established on-going basis.
in advance every year, and negotiation of what goes into
each release happens on set dates prior to the releases. 6. New platforms need help fitting in with established
If scope is not closed by the due date, the desired change channels, structures, and incentives. Though discussed
does not make the release. often, few firms have truly mastered multi-channel today.
In many instances, their ability to get there is compromised
Or, consider using iterative, incremental time-boxed due to organization and scale constraints.
practices for enhancements and operations. Agility is an
acute challenge within a “design, build, transfer” model At one major office supply chain, the store associates will
that is prevalent in enterprise IT, where the developers who literally intercept customers headed towards the in-store
build the system and know most about its workings hand kiosks to make a purchase — an egregious example of
over the code to a junior, inexpensive maintenance group. incentive misalignment. Regardless of how delightful the
In contrast, those development teams that continue to work online platform experience or the in-store experience is,
using agile methods integrated with marketing, business multi-channel fails if the organization and incentives are
and operations are able to increase feature through-put and not aligned.
respond faster to change.
Conversely, another Fortune 50 client aligned all digital
5. Time + attention + resources = value. During the initial platform investments under a single program executive
platform launch, it’s common to work alongside senior reporting directly to their COO. Their in-store, call center,
executives. But as time goes by, we see less focus from and digital experiences are synchronized across brands.
the C-Suite, with operational management relegated to Incentives are aligned. Digital is not a channel; it’s a part
someone two or three levels removed. of the business, enabling every channel.
One telecommunications firm we worked with immediately While technology plays an enabling role, your best hope for
moved post release into a functional silo structure, and realizing the promise of multi-channel is to understand why
a modest budget was almost fully consumed by routine your employees act the way they do and then plan accordingly.
maintenance. Larger enhancements were funded via
capital requests through a lengthy and bureaucratic 7. Content is not the redheaded stepchild. In the race to
approvals process. It took them five years after go-live to go live, content is commonly not treated with the same
introduce a sorely needed technology feature — functional rigor as development or system testing — and may not
clustering — that they knew was needed three months even be fully defined. Often, content teams are too anemic
after go live. In contrast, another client, also with a modest
to sustain the effort needed, but consumers still demand mid-level IT manager. Unsurprisingly, starved of executive
personalized, differentiated content. focus, many of those investments languished and were
ultimately written off.
Prior to launch, one major retailer realized they would
require several million dollars of additional funds to In hindsight, digital was not and is not a channel — it’s
re-shoot thousands of product images (based on hard simply part of business, across channels and customer
data that product imagery was a major conversion driver). touch points. The trap many firms fall into is that digital is
Another retailer disbanded their catalogue business only viewed as “infrastructure” — or an enabling technology
to realize 18 months later that authoritative content on their commodity. The net result is bespoke or duplicative
website was strongly correlated with increased dwell time investments in technology, business process, and
and conversion. It took them considerable time to staff and operations. In contrast, the platforms that support digital
rebuild their content capability. are maximal in their business value when viewed as an
integrated and strategic product suite across channels
8. additions will be needed — just avoid spit and duct and business lines.
tape. Your significant investment and robust platform
will feel like it's falling behind before the year is out as A major CPG client has invested in a global marketing
customer expectations and industry innovation forge ahead. platform that operates across their brands, business units,
and partner marketing agencies. It provides common
Think through new feature additions with a custom (not infrastructure, content administration, and analytics.
vendor-provided) business case — including what you A small, full-time staff of platform account managers
might learn from smaller investments that can inform interfaces with each global business and their marketing
future decisions. Also, create a vision — user journeys agencies. It’s an effective “platform as a product” model —
relayed through video narratives, rich media prototypes one with direct focus from their CMO and CIO.
placed in a test area of your site to stand trial in the court
of customer opinion. Chances are, you are aware of some of these issues.
But if you have gained some valuable insight from these
While being first with new features may not always be proven practices, then consider leading the change.
the wisest, being a fast follower is often prudent, and Making change happen takes some doing — it takes
maintaining experience parity with your direct competitors destroying some notions and creating some positive
is a cost of business in a digitally connected world. friction to do things in a new way. louis l'amour once
again provides us inspiration: “I would not sit waiting
9. Your platform is a product — sell it. Whether you think for some vague tomorrow, nor for something to happen.
about (and manage) your new platform as an IT application, one could wait a lifetime, and find nothing at the end
a channel, or as a product will have a massive implication of the waiting. I would begin here, I would make
on its success. something happen."
At the height of the dot-com boom over a decade ago, it was This is an excerpt of a longer article series, which is
fashionable for organizations to anoint a dot-com czar, and available at http://ideaengineers.sapient.com/
essentially view the investment as a new channel, even a
new business. In large part, that was driven by investor
appetite to pursue e-business metrics as distinct from
business metrics. In the bust that followed, companies
retrenched, czars went out of fashion, and the former
platform investments were typically folded under a
60
Technology
Platforms in the Cloud:
Deciding to use or own
Written by Scott Petry, Director of Technology Strategy; SapientNitro Atlanta
a decade ago, digital marketing and e-commerce involved However, just because your software provider has a new
building websites. any substantial website was built version, doesn't mean you can use it. In fact, you probably
using technologies like content management systems, can't. The latest version is probably a complete overhaul of
personalization servers, rules engines, and e-commerce their solution, and the customizations you've deployed over
platforms. and the first step in the process was to make time are probably not compatible.
a fundamental decision about whether to buy or build.
Since the available solutions could often meet business we need a new strategy
requirements, most companies chose to buy, rather than Marketing is a nimble industry, and marketers are looking
getting into the business of developing and maintaining for their technology partners to deliver all the latest and
software (though buying often led to the need for a team greatest capabilities swiftly and cost effectively. The decision
to develop, maintain, and operate software regardless). we need to make today is whether we can effectively take on
ownership of the platform required to achieve the business
Today, digital marketing and e-commerce are infinitely objectives or not. If we don't want to be in the business of
more complicated than websites alone. Consumers engage software development and maintenance, we need to find
with brands across a dizzying array of digital channels that built-for-purpose solutions (or services) to use. If we don't
are integrated into the traditional physical world in ways want to be in the business of software development and
that make it impossible to distinguish real from virtual. maintenance, we need to find ready-built solutions to use.
The complexity of consumer experiences and interactions
across all these channels presents a daunting technology The big question is how to decide. The criteria for the
challenge for anyone tasked with building the platform decision needs to be objective and measurable, not
to support it all. Fortunately, several leading software emotional. We all take great pride in our work, and we
companies and a few innovative startups have been able enjoy ownership and relish control.
to keep pace with the proliferation of digital channels.
62
In IT, this often leads to a desire to own and control the But those are all emotional criteria. Objectively, it comes
platforms that run the business, so the systems can be down to value — benefit versus cost. In marketing, value
deeply understood, and when something breaks, the is the ratio of working spend to non-working spend — the
situation can be addressed within the team to get the higher the ratio, the higher the value. Working spend goes
business back on track. It seems harder to manage a toward media, content, conversations with customers,
bad situation when we are dependent on a vendor to fix it. merchandising, and taking orders. Non-working spend
goes toward infrastructure, development, process
Conversely, in the business team, the need for control often management, and operations and maintenance.
leads to a desire to avoid IT as much as possible; IT has few
resources to deliver new solutions, limited capabilities We also need to consider the timing of non-working
with the latest concepts, and spotty performance when spend versus working spend. The value of working spend
it comes to swift resolution of issues. It is often more depends on the success of the campaigns being executed.
effective to put pressure on a vendor who is motivated If non-working spend associated with a particular
by the same metrics as the business, and expect them campaign is high upfront and the campaign fails, we'll be
to deliver the best solution or resolve the issue swiftly. left with a very low ratio of working spend to non-working
spend. We need to be able to align the costs to the
benefits. (And, of course, we need to measure to
understand if our working spend is really, well, working.)
own Versus use
10 Working spend 10 Working spend
Non-working spend Non-working spend
9 9
Business value Business value
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Figure 1. Own (left) versus Use (right) quarterly spend and value over 3 years
The Use model delivers 35% greater business value on 18% lower non-working spend
enter, the cloud However, we’d still rather get to the cloud if the offerings
This is where cloud-based platform services can really were there. While most new concepts are built in the cloud
change the game. In the cloud, we can have the latest (e.g., ratings and reviews, recommendations engines,
innovations and capabilities readily available, and video serving with in-stream tagging, multivariate testing,
pay-per-use pricing models — everything we need to location-based targeting, etc.), few fully-featured content
balance the value equation for marketing and e-commerce. management and e-commerce platforms are available in
the cloud today. And when they are, they tend to have
There are some situations where owning the platform really generalized capabilities, limited scalability, or unproven
does make sense. For example, with unusually complicated vendors. It is not a small task for software vendors to
back-end systems to integrate, highly-specialized become cloud service providers. It represents a fundamental
requirements, or if the business is so large that managed shift in their business models, their sales forces, and their
solutions just aren’t scalable enough, owning the platform organizations.
is in the best interest of the company. Maybe.
The question that still remains is who — not when.
The time is now.
64
uk
NorTH aMerICa
International
Perspectives
Seven questions. Nine markets. Nine local perspectives.
In this section, we explore what's hot and trending in major markets around the globe. From the
iPhone, Foursquare, the digital wallet, and QR codes to Angry Birds, Vodafone, and even Jay-Z —
read on to hear what our counterparts around the world think about consumer behavior, technology,
trends, multi-channel experiences, the future of privacy, and the best media campaigns out there.
GerMaNY ruSSIa
SINGaPore
CHINa
MIDDle eaST
INDIa
auSTralIa
Q&a NORTH AMERICA
Written by Justin Barkhuizen, Strategist; SapientNitro NYC, Rob Murray, Strategist; SapientNitro NYC
QueSTIoN 1 location-based bias. Whether we’re checking in at the U2
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in concert and sharing that experience on Instagram with
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region? anonymous fans, or snapping QR codes at Best Buy to make
evolution from GuI to NuI. The rise of gesture-based sure we’re getting the best price, geo-based technology has
interactivity has radically changed the way we engage with accelerated the recession of the divide between the physical
machines, and has allowed digital activities to be consumed and digital realms. And we can’t go back.
by a much broader audience. Apple's latest OS "Lion" is based always public, all the time. The socialization of media and
entirely on NUI learnings; Wii, Move, and Kinect immerse the the mobilization of connectivity means that every activity,
gamer in ways we only dreamed of before. Just ask any parent question, cry for help, and status update is packaged,
on a long road trip with their 6-year old what price they'd put on published, and public — usually in the moment. It's no
that iPad. longer behind the walled garden.
QueSTIoN 2 smartphones consume more data than PCs. And that data
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key is ingested in large part through apps.
opportunities for marketers in your region? Smart marketers will also understand appification —
Marketers will have an e-dentity crisis; smart marketers will that content is being chunked into packets of digestible
find a successful solution. They will be challenged by the experiences. And they will adopt an "86/4" not “24/7" mentality;
everyday barrage of content, options, and opinions their they will realize they are no longer fighting for day-parts or a
consumers face. They will understand that iPads and share of 24 hours, but for the 86,400 seconds in a day.
QueSTIoN 3 QueSTIoN 4
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel In the last 12 months, what were the most creative,
marketing campaigns in your region? design-driven campaigns of note in your region?
One success was Bing's Jay-Z: Decoded campaign. The Ralph Lauren 4D experience stands out.
QueSTIoN 5 everyday life. Spotify contains every song ever sung in the
what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile cloud and is available on demand. HBO GO lets its users take
product in your region? their living rooms with them. And Evernote makes it possible
There are many. Flipboard for iPad is an elegant display of to save thoughts and then access them anywhere.
personal content. Instagram offers a visual, social story of
QueSTIoN 6 Democrats agree, it is online consumer privacy protection.
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view The implications for marketers are both unclear and profound
consumer privacy as a concern in your region? at the same time.
what are the implications? What is known is that every channel and touch point will
Supercookies, zombie cookies, and history stealing — industry now have a new layer of privacy requirements that will affect
self-regulation is not working and consumers are more creative and user experiences. What will always remain is that
privacy-aware than ever. In the next 6 – 24 months, we will see consumers will surrender personal data for a valuable and
the federal government enter the world of online privacy relevant experience.
regulation. If there is one issue where Republicans and
QueSTIoN 7 Maybe they're the best place to test new shows before sinking
what are the most important social platforms millions of dollars into production and network expenses.
regionally and why? foursquare. The race to own check-ins is over. Foursquare
facebook. Its hush-hush music platform, Instagram-esque won — hence the demise of Facebook Places. Innovations
photo filters, and video chat innovations show that the leader include their masterstroke American Express deal, opening
is aware (unlike MySpace) that it needs to evolve to stay on top. up monetization opportunities and silencing the cynics.
Twitter. They are the de facto live search provider, and Google+. This platform cleverly exposed a chink in Facebook.
continue to make the proposition make sense for brands It has a bunch of features, and is integrating them into their
with their "sponsored" suite of products. properties pretty well. There's a lot riding on this — including
YouTube. The world's number 2 search engine is simply becoming the number 1 web destination again.
a synonym for online video, and is a continually leading
innovation in the display world. Their latest suggestion?
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Q&a AUSTRALIA
Written by Mark Krebs, Strategy Planner; SapientNitro Brisbane
QueSTIoN 1 Connectivity. The ubiquity of social media has seen the
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in number of social "creators" plateau, giving rise to the social
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region? "spectator" — largely driven by voyeurism. This can be seen
"always on." Smartphones have truly flooded the market, from an APAC region point-of-view with Australia having
with many consumers upgrading to the most current some of the highest usage levels for Facebook globally.
generations of products (largely, the iPhone 4) after their first e-commerce. This trend is driven by the trends above,
24-month phone plans. Tablet devices such as the iPad are also as well as the strength of the Australian dollar.
increasingly common, particularly around the workplace.
QueSTIoN 2 QueSTIoN 3
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel
opportunities for marketers in your region? marketing campaigns in your region?
From a brand point of view, it will be about delivering added Tesco's virtual stores in Korea are exciting. In Australia,
value across the entire customer experience (Australian CommBank's augmented reality newspaper ad could be
consumer confidence is currently at its lowest levels since the the future of advertising.
Global Financial Crisis). From a channel point of view, mobile
will be key as will connecting it with social CRM.
QueSTIoN 4 QueSTIoN 5
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative, what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile
design-driven campaigns of note in your region? product in your region?
Drambuie's "The Premise" campaign and Foot Locker's Pocket Hipster. As one enthusiastic consumer put it,
Art Prize. “It’s like, the best music app ever!”
QueSTIoN 6 QueSTIoN 7
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view what are the most important social platforms
consumer privacy as a concern in your region? regionally and why?
what are the implications? Facebook, thanks to the connectivity it offers, and YouTube,
Privacy? What privacy? With Google Street View, WikiLeaks, the content king.
and data harvesting, public is the new private. The implications
are far-reaching and yet to be seen.
Q&a CHINA
Written by Jennifer Tan, Chief Creative Officer, China; SapientNitro Shanghai
QueSTIoN 1
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region?
Micropayments via social gaming, online commerce via
Taobao, and group buying platforms have reigned supreme.
QueSTIoN 2 QueSTIoN 3
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel
opportunities for marketers in your region? marketing campaigns in your region?
Integrating social media with e-commerce plus the Lynx has one of the most successful multi-channel
prevalence of micropayment online will lead to successful campaigns. It relies on humour, celebrity endorsement,
social commerce. In addition, marketers should take advantage and sexual innuendo to sell its products, and attracted
of video-based marketing and in-store interactive marketing 70,000 followers on Weibo and Renren in the first three
via digital screens. months alone.
70
QueSTIoN 4
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative,
design-driven campaigns of note in your region?
Mercedes, 7UP, and Levi's.
QueSTIoN 5 QueSTIoN 6
what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view
product in your region? consumer privacy as a concern in your region?
Currently Nokia and its app store are dominant, with what are the implications?
90% market share in China. Consumer privacy is still a nascent issue in China, but there
was a recent move to enhance consumer protection. This will
have some implications on businesses who are used to paying
about $250 USD for thousands of pieces of vehicle owners’
information, including their names, cell phone numbers,
home addresses, vehicle models, colors, and more.
China's Social Media Market
Youku
Renren
Tudou
Sina Weibo
QueSTIoN 7
what are the most important 1,300m
social platforms regionally and why?
Video sharing via Youku.com and Tudou.com is the most 2,500m
popular social media activity, followed by messaging on
3,300m
QQ.com (China's instant messenger) and bargains on 3,600m
Taobao.com (China's eBay). Search on Baidu.com is also
important as every search allows users to create or join a
forum thread.
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Q&a SINGAPORE
Written by Jue Lu, Senior User Experience, Design; SapientNitro Singapore
QueSTIoN 1
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region?
Smartphones and tablets, social networking, and digital data QueSTIoN 2
in marketing and public service campaigns. In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key
opportunities for marketers in your region?
Marketers must focus on digital interactive street media,
QueSTIoN 3 including digital signage, and figure out how to effectively use
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel mobile, real-time data, and innovation via a crowd. And social
marketing campaigns in your region? networking is poised to become a future driver in purchase
The Taiwan Tourism Bureau's Fun Taiwan Challenge on through social video and live TV.
TLC has found great success. Additionally, the digital wallet will become a reality.
QueSTIoN 4
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative,
design-driven campaigns of note in your region?
A clever use of technology and design for retail
interaction was Melvyn's Nike Trackball campaign.
Formula 1 and Samsung Smart TV also developed
successful interactive campaigns.
QueSTIoN 5
what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile
product in your region?
Currently, FlightLover and taxi booking apps are paramount.
QueSTIoN 6 QueSTIoN 7
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view what are the most important social platforms
consumer privacy as a concern in your region? regionally and why?
what are the implications? Facebook still the most popular social networking site.
Privacy is government driven. Singaporeans are quite mindful Facebook is like an extended arm of the individual‘s
(but sometimes a bit naive) of their security. While we take personality and voice. That, and Twitter.
it seriously, we are certainly reliant on the government to
ensure the technology is safe and secure.
74
Q&a INDIA
Written by Vidhya Sankarnarayan, Director; SapientNitro Gurgaon
QueSTIoN 1 Base: All India Internet Ever Users
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in (Urban) (All figures in Million)
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region?
Top 8 Metros Other Metros 5-10 lake towns Less than 5 lake towns
Mobile social media usage has increased. Active mobile
5 Mn 9 Mn 12 Mn 16 Mn 32 Mn 46 Mn 50 Mn 63 Mn
Internet users have increased to 26.3 million in India, as of March
5%
2011. E-mail, chat, search, social networking sites, and portals are 4% 20% 20% 19%
13% 29% 29% 30% 36%
among the most commonly used applications. Lower subscription 7% 7% 6%
rentals, the availability of Internet-enabled cell phones at cheaper 10% 12%
15% 19% 20% 12%
prices, and increased digital literacy are some of the reasons why 12%
20% 21% 21%
mobile Internet penetration has risen. 18%
E-commerce sites are hugely popular among consumers.
77% 58% 55% 55% 41% 38% 37% 34%
Indian e-commerce is on the rise, with around 17 million
users. The fact that they feel comfortable shopping on the
Internet in a country that has historically been shy of online
spending speaks about the rising acceptance of the digital 2000 2001 2003 2004 2007 2008 2008 2009
medium in India. Sites like Flipkart.com have built a strong
network of customers and escalated their business and valuation considerably over the last year. Additionally, group buying
and discount sites are gaining ground at a rapid pace. For example, Snapdeal.com attracts 500,000 visitors every day.
Internet usage is also skyrocketing. Small town India is edging out metropolitan cities in terms of Internet usage.
QueSTIoN 2 among the youth. Internet on TV has also entered the Indian
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key market and could take-off in the next two years, offering
opportunities for marketers in your region? marketers the opportunities in brand tie-ups, applications,
With Internet-enabled mobile phone penetration going up, games, etc.
Indian digital consumers are getting excited about the Additionally, Foursquare is showing signs of lucrative growth
possibilities it offers. Metro consumers are using mobile in the India market. It has caught the fancy of metro youth and
phones for social networking, searching, and more. Social youth marketers in particular and is increasingly waking up to
networking is in fact beginning to emerge as one of the its potential.
biggest motivations to use the Internet on mobile, especially
QueSTIoN 3 a mania across the nation over the last couple of years.
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel MTV India’s experience also comes alive across a variety of
marketing campaigns in your region? youth-centric media touch points including mobile, social
The Vodafone ZooZoo campaign is one of the most successful networking, and TV. The brand currently has one of the fastest
examples of multi-channel marketing in India. ZooZoos were growing and most highly engaged communities on Facebook
launched as Vodafone’s brand mascots in 2009 and became and Orkut in India.
QueSTIoN 4 handprint in blue (Team India’s colour). Fans continue to
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative, "Bleed Blue" today.
design-driven campaigns of note in your region? In addition, Parle Hippo developed a very successful
Nike Bleed Blue. Cricket and Bollywood are India’s two campaign. Hippo chose to partner with its consumers in one
biggest religions and every Indian marketer is constantly of the most inventive and simple Twitter campaigns India has
seeking opportunities to leverage them. The simple, yet seen. It asked them to tweet whenever they could not find
evocative, "Bleed Blue" mantra, which ran across traditional Hippo at outlets near them, with a promise to stock the outlet
and new media, captured India’s imagination during the World as soon as possible.
Cup cricket frenzy of 2011. The campaign leveraged cricket Hippo’s campaign resulted in not just resolving the brand’s
fervor in India by collecting over 11 million handprints via an distribution problem, but also kick-starting brand sales to
innovative digital and events-led campaign that inspired fans the point of selling out across over 200,000 stores.
to express their loyalty to the team by simply marking their
76
QueSTIoN 5 and mobile service offerings have plummeted making these
what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile the most attainable digital devices.
product in your region? Smartphones are currently the hottest mobile device.
India is one of the most exciting emerging mobile markets Android is already investing in this trend by setting up its
across the globe. Over the last few years, costs of handsets largest development hub in India.
QueSTIoN 6 India’s relationship with personal space and privacy is very
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view different from that of the rest of the world. India’s current
consumer privacy as a concern in your region? buy in to digital media comes from the way they expand and
what are the implications? improve an individual’s life. It remains to be seen whether and
in what sense privacy will be a concern in India.
QueSTIoN 7 Facebook ousted Orkut as the number one platform in
what are the most important social platforms July 2010. Orkut now rests at #10.
regionally and why? LinkedIn has also evolved into a highly popular and influential
Facebook’s popularity among Indian online users is at a high social networking site among Indian professionals. LinkedIn
with around 31.5 million users, double of what it was in 2010. has grown at a rate of 76% in the past year and with a user
Over a third of Indian Internet users are on Facebook. Orkut count of 9 million, it is poised to get bigger.
had been the leading social network in India since 2005, but
Q&a RUSSIA
Written by Yulia Rubina, Senior Strategic Planner; SapientNitro Moscow
QueSTIoN 1 The Internet. The amount of users and their activity is
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in growing on the Russian Internet (Runet), as well as the
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region? amount of viewed pages and time spent. In general, the
Smartphones. Mobile Internet audiences were two times typical urban person spends two hours a day on the Internet,
bigger versus general Internet audience last year and mobile with half of this time devoted to social networks.
content and applications demonstrate active growth. IPTV. With more diversity, and higher quality, the amount of
people watching TV (federal and online channels) is increasing.
QueSTIoN 2 russian Internet activity
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key Portals 26 MMH.
opportunities for marketers in your region? Social 51 MMH.
Networks 5 MMH.
Integrated campaigns with interactive cyber elements,
5 MMH.
advocates who are willing to recommend and talk about your News 2 MMH.
brand or product in social networks, and mobile marketing Resources 9 MMH.
will be dominate opportunities. Education 6 MMH.
5 MMH.
Software 2 MMH.
Video 15 MMH.
Product 10 MMH.
Catalogues 6 MMH.
7 MMH.
Blogs 5 MMH.
Weather 5 MMH.
QueSTIoN 3
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel
marketing campaigns in your region?
Red Quest aimed to engage a young audience. This mobile
tariff plan from MTS was developed to save Russia from the
increasing smog and heat. At the heart of this campaign is a
team game that resulted in 3.5 million unique visitors in the
first two months, 1.04 million registered participants, and
800,000 app installations.
78
QueSTIoN 4 QueSTIoN 5
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative, what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile
design-driven campaigns of note in your region? product in your region?
Red Quest, Windows with noise insulation, and BCE PABHO. Red Quest, Angry Birds, and Foursquare.
QueSTIoN 6
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view
consumer privacy as a concern in your region?
what are the implications?
Many Russians do not care about privacy. In fact, there is no
direct translation of the word. We are quite open and comfortable
posting pictures in social networks and sharing details of our
private lives. Perhaps because we are used to living in limited
spaces and were given no privacy during Soviet times.
QueSTIoN 7
what are the most important social platforms
regionally and why?
In August 2010, Russia ranked #1 worldwide in time spent on
social networking sites, with Vkontakte, a site geared toward
socialising and fun, at the top. Also highly popular is
Odnoklassniki, a social network service primarily for
classmates and old friends.
Q&a MIDDLE EAST
Written by Matt Horobin, Strategic Planning Director; SapientNitro Dubai
QueSTIoN 1 Facebook but we have local versions as well.
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in The second is increased smartphone ownership.
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region? While Smartphone sales are trending, this ownership is not
We've seen two. The first is significant growth in popularity necessarily leading to high levels of usage of smartphone
and prevalence of social media usage. The most popular technologies due to prohibitive data costs.
social media sites are international versions such as
QueSTIoN 2 control that comes with this — as well as a perceived lack
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key of measurability.
opportunities for marketers in your region? Transforming such activity into genuine consumer
Despite the above activity on such networks, social media engagement, leading to accountable brand- and revenue-
marketing has yet to be truly maximised. Brands are active in building opportunities, will be the next step.
the online social space but in a very timid, traditional way. This The next opportunity will be mobile engagement. With mobile
lack of confidence likely stems from the "mystification" of the penetration at nearly 200%, this channel offers massive
social space and a general lack of understanding. Brands are potential. Currently brands rely on push SMS campaigns to
also concerned about the implications of engaging with engage with mobile users, mostly alienating rather than allying
consumers in an open, two-way dialogue and the ceding of them. Critical to success will be a more competitive mobile
landscape with more affordable pricing, which is on the horizon.
QueSTIoN 3 A second example of harnessing online consumer behaviour is
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel the Standard Chartered "Food Explorer" concept — although
marketing campaigns in your region? this was almost entirely online and not so multi-channel in its
There are very few examples of campaigns using mobile as part approach. It involved establishing an online dining community
of a multi-channel campaign. However, a leader in innovative to promote SC's credit cards and an associated discount at
communications within the region is Batelco, the leading selected restaurants.
Bahraini Telco, with its "Infinity" campaign.
QueSTIoN 4 Again, Batelco launched a much-acclaimed brand campaign,
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative, which is probably as creative a campaign as has ever come
design-driven campaigns of note in your region? out of this region.
80
QueSTIoN 5 a high price and therefore remain niche amongst wealthier
what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile audiences. However, these audiences are key influencers and
product in your region? will define wider consumer behaviours as prices decrease and
Tablets — either in form of an iPad, a Samsung Galaxy, or a associated up-take broadens.
BlackBerry PlayBook. These big-ticket items tend to come at
QueSTIoN 6 Middle East (well, until recently!), there is little concern
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view regarding personal privacy at an institutional level. This
consumer privacy as a concern in your region? privacy issue only becomes a concern at a personal level
what are the implications? where individuals may not be comfortable sharing content
At a governmental, social, and legal level, privacy is not such (e.g., imagery) of themselves and their lives, given the
an issue. Given the mostly non-democratic nature of the custom of women remaining veiled in public at all times.
QueSTIoN 7 Facebook recently proved itself as a formidable catalyst of
what are the most important social platforms regionally social change by facilitating uprisings across the Arab world.
and why? At the same time, Facebook is also being used by youths
Facebook is the most popular social platform. Twitter is looking to date, meet, and marry.
gaining ground but is still relatively niche. In a region that Blogging is also big — particularly in Saudi Arabia where
struggles with self-expression and individuality in the real this serves as really the only means of self-expression —
world, the virtual opportunities for self-expression are very particularly for women. As a result, blogs are now
compelling. Community is also a critical pillar of Arab culture tightly controlled.
and the instant, real-time connectivity that such platforms
enable is unrivalled.
Q&a GERMANY
Written by Torsten Schollmayer, Mobile Experience Strategist; SapientNitro Dusseldorf
QueSTIoN 1 QueSTIoN 2
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region? opportunities for marketers in your region?
QR codes as marketing tools for mobile microsites, the Mobile commerce and the digital wallet (NFC) will drive the next
growth of e-commerce (especially for brands like Adidas or wave of marketing meets technology. The smartphone will be
electronic goods), and social media campaigns and activities the most used Internet device and will be complemented by
within Facebook. tablet devices. Consumers and sales personnel will interact
with these devices and will be standard in-store.
QueSTIoN 3 in order to manage (e.g., add, edit, delete) recordings on
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel the IPTV box in the users' living rooms.
marketing campaigns in your region? Additionally, the Audi car campaigns are the most advanced
The remote EPG of the IPTV service of Deutsche Telekom is offerings on all channels, presenting quality and brand
available via mobile website, mobile app, and desktop website value continuously.
QueSTIoN 4 QueSTIoN 5
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative, what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile
design-driven campaigns of note in your region? product in your region?
Vodafone launched several real-time campaigns promoting The most used and downloaded mobile app is the WhatsApp
moments with music in combination with social networks. Messenger application, which offers simple text messaging for
all mobile platforms. Despite any availability on web or desktop
QueSTIoN 6 platforms, the traction still grows: Group chatting and picture
In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view and video sharing are the key functions.
consumer privacy as a concern in your region?
what are the implications? QueSTIoN 7
Historically, German customers are very sensitive with what are the most important social platforms
privacy in general, and with data security in particular. A lot of regionally and why?
regulations are currently in place and the media acts quickly Facebook is heads and shoulders above the others.
if there is a breach in any kind of privacy. The fear of giving But Twitter, and the VZ-group offerings (StudiVZ and
away privacy and owning the data is huge. SchuelerVZ) are valuable too.
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Q&a UK
Written by Paul Bevan, Mobile Strategist; SapientNitro UK, Chad Cribbins, Associate Creative Director; SapientNitro UK
QueSTIoN 1 industry. We've gone from “I must have an app” to a more
In the past three years, what were the top three trends in mature and business-driven approach. Increasing customer
digital consumer behavior and activities in your region? demands. Fun, useful, and usable experiences on mobile
Higher adoption of smartphones and tablets. There has been devices whenever, and wherever they want have become
a huge increase in touch screen devices. Greater maturity of standard and expected.
QueSTIoN 2 Particularly important to international firms. Yet many times,
In the next 12 – 24 months, what do you see as the key offers, pricing, and stores vary. Branding needs to feel
opportunities for marketers in your region? consistent, but regional leaders need to be able to tailor
Health and mobile apps. Being able to use your mobile their offerings and merchandise according to local needs.
device as a health monitor will become even more popular. Collaborate and leverage technology. More and more in
Consumers will use phones to remind themselves to take mobile, you can only offer the caliber of experience that people
drugs, measure heart rates, and track their loved ones with are requiring if you have a solid set of front-end and back-end
dementia via GPS. technology to support it. Until you get the technology stuff sorted,
Standardization. When you visit a company’s page in a given you can have nice ideas, but all those things are reliant on effective
region, it needs to feel the same as those in other areas. technology behind the scenes. That’s often the painful bit.
QueSTIoN 3 Additionally, the Aurora Group, a major UK retailer, will deliver
what would you highlight as examples of multi-channel orders from any channel — mobile, in-store, eCommerce —
marketing campaigns in your region? within 90 minutes, thanks to a fantastic, organized inventory
British Airways' mobile ticketing campaign allows users to system. They also recently announced an iPad point-of-sale
check in on the way to the airport and use a QR code to get to device for sales associates to take payments, and to browse
their gates as quickly and easily as possible. and order on the brand's website.This sets a new benchmark
in this space and has delivered huge success in the UK.
QueSTIoN 4 QueSTIoN 6
In the last 12 months, what were the most creative, In the next 2 – 3 years, to what extent do you view
design-driven campaigns of note in your region? consumer privacy as a concern in your region?
Using clever campaigns to connect with consumers in the what are the implications?
region. Generating great ideas, which deliver real value and It's important. A client is currently engaging us on a project
deliver them using innovative technology. One example is a related to this topic, in which future monetization of data relies
bus shelter campaign run by VitaminWater — "Recharge." on permissions to enable business services like location driven
By recharging your cell phone while you’re waiting in the advertising and targeted marketing. The key is to provide trust
bus stop, VitaminWater stayed on-brand — and offered their and reassurance, and to show, wherever possible, the benefits
customers a positive experience to boot. to the customer. So whilst reassurance and privacy is key, more
In addition, mobile and associated technology, location-based and more consumers are also realistic that data can make
services, and the mobile wallet are massive opportunities. modern services better.
Ability to form truly multi-channel experiences — and
delivering on those experiences.
QueSTIoN 5 QueSTIoN 7
what is the latest, hottest mobile application or mobile what are the most important social platforms
product in your region? regionally and why?
Vouchercloud displays vouchers for restaurants, retailers, Facebook is the obvious leader in the UK. It offers a nice
and evening out events. The interface is nice and intuitive. global platform, with an intuitive mobile offering. LinkedIn
web app, which uses HTML5 technology to provide native-like provides huge amounts of value in the B2B space, and is
experience through a mobile browser. growing in popularity.
TripAdvisor isn't the newest, but their mobile app uses the
hybrid model quite effectively.
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foresight:
THe oNe To fIVe Year
TreND ouTlook
Written by Rob Gonda, Global Head of Innovation; SapientNitro Miami and
Hilding Anderson, Sr. Manager, Research + Insights; SapientNitro Washington, DC
Tomorrow’s consumers are increasingly empowered to participate and
share their perceptions of brands, products, and their environment.
The implication? Brands will be forced to respond and react faster and
better than they have in the past. Social, geo, local, mobile — all these
terms reflect a new reality: an empowered consumer with more
information and tools than any one brand or individual can handle.
Interesting, yes, but also scary, as major brands rise and fall. watch for
these new trends — what we call the SapientNitro Seven.
1
The SapientNitro Seven: Trends to Shape the Next one to Three Years
Trend 1: Transmedia Storytelling when will this trend be relevant?
Marketing has evolved from the traditional one-value It is relevant now, and will continue to be increasingly
message broadcast, and the consumer has evolved from relevant over the years.
passive to engaged. Technology has empowered people to
consume media at their own pace, in their own terms, and who will be affected?
2
shifted the notion of trust — from the brands to other people. Brands, advertising agencies, PR agencies
Over the past few years, research has demonstrated that Trend 2: Data Is the New Holy Grail
the power of a recommendation drastically improves Data is the most undervalued aspect of our business. It is
conversion; people have found an easy way to tap into their traditionally misconceived as analytics and afterthought,
friends' networks for recommendations, disrupting the and more recently upgraded to mining results to refine
focus of brands attempting to influence this new space. strategy. However, those who undercover the power of data
to drive personalized experiences that optimize outcomes
But the wheels keep turning and, by 2014, we will have will succeed.
reached an era of data and friendship overload. In fact,
studies show trust has shifted so much that people world- There's a new notion of "big data" and specialized
wide need to hear the same thing three to five times before databases optimized for NoSQL. The amount of data
they believe it; in the U.S., it gets as high as eight to nine collected today is far greater than the amount of data
times. People will have so much advice online that the true possible to consume. Companies are investing in data
value of that advice will be reduced — the law of diminished scientists and experts in visualization; the art of making
returns. People will revert back to seeking expertise, not the most complex relationships easy to absorb by the
just friendly input; they will seek expertise from a subgroup business minds is becoming highly valuable.
of their social circles or from experts in the field elevated by
brands. It is an opportunity for brands to regain their voice. Advancement in storage capacity and processing power,
especially the one delivered by cloud computing, is making
Messaging and information will need to be consistent across it possible to quickly process and understand the data in
channels — TV, radio, print, digital, mobile, and social will macro and micro levels, allowing it to be used to customize
all have to confirm, extend, or complement the same real-time experiences. The holy grail of data is a centralized
information to gain that trust of the skeptical consumer. database with a single view of the customer and all related
dimensions: customer data, their relations, sales,
The truth is that today's art of storytelling goes beyond marketing, advertising, transactions, behaviors, and social.
narrative and requires the understanding of networks, We will not only have all these dimensions and be able to
group dynamics, and social spread. The introduction of apply advanced business intelligence, but be able to use
social media has further coined terms such as "social them in real time to predict the next action and optimize
currency," "likeonomics," and "attentionomics," all brand exposure.
attempting to put a structure around the art of word of
mouth, conversation propagation, and influence. The semantic web has been a long time coming, the true
web 3.0, if we dare to keep the term web in this new era.
Brands will succeed when they understand the proper Semantic computing will allow all brands to be contextually
media mix, allow stories to run free, take their own shape, relevant and aware, driving an optimized value exchange
empower liquid content, and understand that their brand between brands and consumers.
experience is the sum of all the little moments — and they
need to make each one of them count.
when will this trend be relevant? who will be affected?
Early traces are surfacing, mainly focused on behavioral Venture capitals, startups
4
display advertising and socially driven commerce. More
integrated solutions should start appearing in two years Trend 4: Digital Invades retail
and a fully formed contextual computing ecosystem should Integrating the physical world with digital technology (and
take shape in five. vice-versa) is one of the most interesting and opportunity-rich
territories of our age. It happens everywhere, but one of the
who will be affected? largest opportunities and demonstrations is happening in
Brands, media companies, technology companies retail environments. Innovative brands are using digital
experiences to draw new customers, enhance their shopping
3
Trend 3: Technology Invades and enables experiences, extend and facilitate social communications,
advertising and Marketing and — soon — will integrate mobile payments.
There should be no doubt that today’s customer experience
is enabled and driven by technology. Everything from the 1. enter, customer. The digital retail experience starts
very basic notion of connectivity: broadband to cloud before customers have even entered the store. Back
computing to mobile devices and tablets to smart televisions projections, cameras, and gesture recognition (made
to in-store kiosks to digital merchandising. The consumer easy through Kinect), allow people to engage with stores
drives, and the money follows. Many top venture capital without stepping in.
dollars reside in the technology domain, sponsoring high-tech
and innovation startups, which are fueling the evolving 2. ambient in-store interaction. Once hooked, digital
customer experience. installations engage, immerse, and entertain, enticing the
customer to stay and shop.
It is — and will continue to be — interesting to observe
the impact of pure technology companies in the world of 3. a richer product experience. Once shopping, digital
marketing and advertising. Take Google Labs. It wasn’t technology including short code, RFID, reader displays, and
until 2010 that they started to get recognition: Super Bowl augmented reality will be able to provide a wealth of detail
ads, the Ad Age A-List, and in 2011 appearing at Cannes, around the item the customer is interested in, from related
winning five Lions, and winning "Media Person of the Year." products, to reviews, to promotions.
They have been shaking the industry not just by being
creative, but by using technology to bend the limits of 4. lean on me. The shop assistant will use digital
what’s possible. A perfect example is their ongoing Chrome technologies as well to help the customer evaluate
Experiments, which use HTML5 to build dynamic new and compare choices and offer advice.
experiences in the browser, which weren't possible before.
5. The fitting room. Augmented reality browsing and
HTML5, for instance, has opened the doors not only to customization will be increasingly possible.
innovation on the web, but is particularly strong in the cross-
platform application arena, enabling building applications that 6. a second opinion. People seek validation by close social
run on multiple mobile platforms, tablets, even on TV. circles. Retailers that understand the purchase lifecycle
and provide a shortcut — such as validation without leaving
when will this trend be relevant? the store — will have the power to increase the conversion
Venture capitals are betting on disruptive technology. There significantly.
is a mass overvaluation in the private equity section, and all
eyes are on tech companies that are going public to either
predict a sustainable growth or another bubble.
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when will this trend be relevant? A further step in brand advocate involvement is true
We’ve seen initial prototypes in store, though not many co-creation — everything from the store experience
have shown significant results and ROI. Over the next (Starbucks), the advertising (Old Spice), or the product
couple of years, the cost of these experiences will go down, (VitaminWater). It gives fans a sense of belonging, ownership,
5
allowing deeper experimentation and growth. early buy-in, and guarantees success as the end result.
who will be affected? when will this trend be relevant?
Retailers, design companies, technology companies Brands are already betting on, and building, communities,
though some are still learning to identify tribes and
Trend 5: Collaboration and Co-Creation understand complex relationships. Co-creation requires a
Brands and products used to be a closed system. Research much more liberal approach but after a few success stories
and development, manufacturing, marketing, and retail over the next few years, it will begin to push stronger adoption.
were all different silos. But the system has changed —
feedback loops are now open, and everything is who will be affected?
interconnected. Brands used to hire research focus groups Brands
to understand consumer perception, whereas now the
6
feedback is immediate and everyone has a voice. Not only Trend 6: Cloudification
that, but consumers are passionate about becoming part of “The Cloud” has been picking up rapidly with growth of
the community and having a say in the product’s future. a combination of software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-
service, and infrastructure-as-a-service solutions; but
Smart brands are allowing their advocates to evangelize despite the level of abstraction or solution layer, easy
them, influence connections, and provide critical feedback. access to endless storage and processing power is reducing
They build systems and tools to elevate their brand advocates barriers to entry and giving birth to more start-ups and
and give them an even larger voice. By building and services than ever before.
moderating these communities, brands have the opportunity
to sit on a gold mine of insight and data that will not only drive Amazon AWS is leading the charge in the infrastructure
their product and release strategy, but will potentially inform side, hosting massive services such as Netflix, Foursquare,
every aspect of their business. BackType, HootSuite, IMDb, and Yelp just to name a few.
The race however, is to win the connected experiences:
A great example is Sneakerpedia by Foot Locker, a iCloud, Google+, Spotify, Pandora, and Kindle are all
community that enables sneaker fans to post and share their allowing users to sync content through the cloud and
collections. By providing tools for an existing community to allowing mobile phones, tablets, and TVs to converge.
communicate, get closer together, and elevate their status, Led by the music industry, and extended by Google and
Foot Locker built themselves an insights factory that can other brands, the ability to move licensed content, shared
understand demand through many dimensions such as content, and, in the future, even entire operating systems to
demographics, cultures, locations, and seasonality. These the Internet will create substantial value for organizations
insights can inform stores about inventory, fulfillment, and customers alike.
marketing strategy, and drive vendor relations — all because
of what seemed to be a simple community repository for For instance, Google+ might be a much closer competitor
"sneakerheads." to iCloud than to Facebook. It will embed itself natively into
Android mobile devices, Google TV, Chomebooks, and the
Google ecosystem, allowing people to socialize, and store,
and share all their pictures, videos, music, and more —
exactly the same promise as Apple iCloud. Ultimately, environmental, political, and economic data. Calculating
these giants are not fighting to own your data, friends, correlations and causality among all the different variables
or social networks; they want to own the experience. allows the brand to build predictive models to optimize
every interaction — ultimately gaining relevance with the
Benefits will include easy access across devices (a key consumers, but with the goal of increasing the conversion
expectation for the new multi-channel consumers), lower ratios and sales.
hardware requirements, and integrated community and
social networks. Downsides will include a reliance on data Access to real-time data — and being able to process and
networks, privacy concerns related to the data being stored compute in nanoseconds — is changing the decision
and shared without your permission, and performance. But making engines. Small and large technology companies
the cloud is here to stay, even when it doesn’t make sense are all investing in real-time decisions, using a wide array
for all applications. of techniques: neural networks, statistical models, and
even genealogy.
when will this trend be relevant?
The cloud is the de-facto platform solution for every One example of this trend in the media space is real-time
solution provider start-up, music and videos are rapidly bidding (RTB). A simple concept, RTB matches real-time
adopting, and will play a revolutionary role in user-content supply and demand of media properties to maximize
storage over the next 36 months. relevance and gain. RTB is slowly evolving to incorporate
more sophisticated decision engines that are not solely
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who will be affected? based on price, but actually value and yield.
Large companies, consumers
Data is abundant and will be soon commoditized; context
Trend 7: real-time everything will continue to gain relevance and soon create a context
In the age of constant connectivity, information travels marketplace. In the near future, the money will reside in
at the speed of light. Technology enables instant the media properties and the right audience segments.
communication — although it’s nothing new. People use more
SMS instead of email, social network chats and feeds, and Real-time everything represents predicting every outcome
Twitter to announce earthquakes before the mainstream and constantly adapting to responses, applied at the macro
news channels can mobilize their traditional channels. All and micro levels.
these experiences are setting expectations of responsiveness
— and brands need to evolve to provide them. when will this trend be relevant?
Real time, now.
However, the real opportunity is for the brands. Access to
real-time data allows brands to be more relevant in every who will be affected?
engagement, and brands must be situational-aware and Large companies, consumers
contextually relevant to succeed.
The world of data has evolved from being used to analyze the
past, to optimize the present, and ultimately to predict the
future. Real-time data gives brands the ability to combine and
compute massive sources of data — including demographic
and psychographic, historic purchases, sales and marketing,
social and conversational, and externalities such as
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The long Term: what to watch for in Three to five Years
Marketing services are experiencing a major and rapid Implications for major brands
evolution. Predicting the future in this space is difficult. Don’t over-invest in social commerce and tracking tips.
we have created four future scenarios, which illustrate Respect consumers privacy concerns today to help reduce
visions of the world in 2014 to 2016. the risk of this scenario. Be prepared for potential
2
regulatory changes.
Most likely, none of these scenarios will be completely
accurate. rather, they should be used as a tool to help Scenario 2: Digitally enabled retail Business Models
make crucial business decisions. Invest in a portfolio of Major advances in digital retail will transform the way we
1
capabilities which, when combined, will strategically shop and enable the creation of entirely new retail business
position your company most advantageously across a models. Moving beyond the integration of digital we
combination of these scenarios. discussed in Trend 4, above, in this scenario the retail
industry is forced to adapt to an ever-more digital business
Scenario 1: Privacy
in order to compete with new business models.
A combination of government intervention, over-aggressive
use of cookies and tracking technology, a well-publicized Kiosks and mobile integration will become routine. New
murder based on a privacy invasion, and poorly managed layouts will optimize flow, remove checkout aisles, and
advertising and marketing business will result in changes allow associates to check out consumers anywhere in the
for privacy. Governments will intervene, severely restricting store, maximizing sales per square foot. Major pharmacies
a number of key marketing technologies. will roll out kiosk-only stores (think: Redbox writ large).
Rich, interactive exhibits in retail stores will delight and
Nevertheless, we will see the next generation of existing
entertain younger shoppers, and create an entirely new
tracking technologies. Today, facial recognition is already
level of brand engagement.
in use by Facebook (and called illegal by the UK and
German governments) and in select retail locations to New business models around virtual goods, extensive multi-
identify visitors by gender, ethnicity, and age. Cookies are channel delivery options, just-in-time inventory, and pop-up
being replaced by alternative tracking technologies such stores become important levers to complement the still-
as flash-shared objects, HTML5 storage, and HTTP ETags. dominant traditional retail channel. Efficiencies gained from
Companies like Phorm are conducting behavioral analysis nimbleness and reduced overhead will result in lower cost,
of ISP data to deliver targeted behavioral ads. which will allow small businesses to complete with the
massive capitalized investments of large retailers. Pure
If these trends continue, we expect a privacy response
digital offerings will allow businesses to mobilize quicker,
across the three main areas: mobile, shopping, and online.
perhaps enter a new time-share or charter model —
Mobile. Major new controls will be built into systems leasing only the time they need.
to allow precise, app-level control of location-based,
Meeting the customer at the moment of truth is a timeless
geo-fencing, and personal information.
guiding principle, which will hold and sustain value as
Shopping. In-store biometrics and tracking will be technology improves customer segmentations and is able
delayed or pushed off, digital innovation in-store will to better predict consumer behavior.
suffer, and the dot-coms will be the ultimate winners,
Implications for major brands
as consumers seek anonymity.
If you have a retail presence, be prepared for a major
online. All ISPs will be required to conceal and block investment in your physical footprint, along with the
cookies and other tracking mechanisms when requested back-end technology, which drives these experiences. Those
by the consumer. Personalization, email, and cross-sell companies who lag in their investment will find their in-store
effectiveness will be greatly reduced. experience fails to attract this new demanding consumer.
3 4
Scenario 3: Mobile everywhere Scenario 4: Context will Be king
Goodbye, desktop computer. The mobile device (including Social networks and major Internet players are making
tablets) will continue its rise, becoming the dominant device headway in storing every aspect of our lives. Facebook is
on the Internet. Mobile shopping, mobile advertising, effectively tracking people, their relations to each other,
consumer behavior shifts, and the mobile wallet will and their relations to brands, objects, things, and tastes.
converge to make mobile the go-to choice for shopping, Google is tracking click behaviors, keywords, and interests,
reading, and watching while on-the-go or at home. and with Google+ it will bring in personal data such as
Tablets will have overtaken laptops for typical users, while videos, photos, music, and games. Apple iCloud is playing
desktops and laptops will be mainly for content creators: in a similar space, trying to capture all user-generated
developers and designers. assets and commoditize the storage, sharing, and
socialization aspects. They are all becoming master social
U.S. usage will begin to track more closely to Southeast
data warehouses.
Asian behaviors, and mobile will be the way to have
personal time while at home, on the bus, at school, or However, smart and effective engagements will be the
spending time with a group. Carriers will make major ones who can consume, process, and act on all this data in
investments into data networks as bandwidth (despite real-time, at the moment of truth. We will see new types of
upgrades to WiMAX or LTE) will continue to be a major issue. companies surfacing and providing enormous value: RTDE
(real-time decision engines). These RTDEs will use
Smartphone users will become the majority and adoption
advanced semantic analysis and statistical models to
will continue to increase at an accelerated pace, at which
leverage the massive amount of data, understand the
point they will not be called smartphones anymore, they
nature of every engagement, and predict the best possible
will be just phones. New phones, enabled with GPS,
scenario for a brand to engage.
cameras, Bluetooth, and NFC will connect, pay, and
become full-featured tools to enable consumer digital There will be a strong emphasis in value exchange. People
lifestyle. Wearable devices — eyeglasses and contact lenses will perceive much greater value when brands understand
— will use integrated sensors, cloud-based processing, and their needs, in context of the exact moment, and help them
cloud-based data to present additional layers of information fulfill them. Brands become more situationally aware, and
of the world around us; but at their heart, they will still be therefore more contextually relevant.
powered by the universal connected device: the mobile phone.
Raw data, highly valuable today, will slowly get commoditized
Implications for major brands — giving room for media, audience identification, and
Mobile will no longer be another track, channel, or contextual brokers to take the main stage.
extension of a web-centric campaign; instead mobile
Implications for major brands
will take the front seat and be the center piece, core and
Brands have to evolve from broadcast message delivery,
essential as the primary digital medium, with all other
beyond enabling social conversations, into understanding
media as extensions.
context of conversations. There is great value to be unveiled
Mobile commerce is no longer a luxury — in this scenario, by fusing existing data sources with new ones. Yet the focus
your mobile presence will influence the majority of your in the future should not be on data collection, but rather on
sales across all channels. Multi-device support will technology or services that allow access to the valuable
continue to transition from an optional luxury to an data when needed. Real-time usage of this data — to
essential element of a company’s strategy. predict outcomes and maximize the chances of success —
will separate leaders from followers.
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Note from the editor:
We do live in interesting times. Consumers are in the midst of a dramatic change — mobile is hitting critical mass and digital is
influencing up to 45% of all retail sales, even as companies struggle and, too often, fail to move beyond their silos to connect
with their customers across channels.
As I reflect on the content of this report, I'd like to highlight eight key insights:
• The Google Wallet, PayPal, and Starbucks (and perhaps Apple) represent the future of payment, loyalty, and
rewards programs. (Mobile Moments: Mobile wallet)
• Companies must escape from "desktop thinking" when developing new products and services. Specific
techniques, including user research, can help envision new mobile services. (Context — The New Gold of the
Mobile Industry)
• Apple’s mobile app accelerates face-to-face interactions in store; for in-store mobile applications to be successful
over the long-term, they must represent a tangible, genuine value for consumers. (Mobile Moments: In-Store Mobile)
• Digitally enabled retail stores and, more importantly, new retail business models (pop-up stores, large kiosk-only stores,
and rich interactive exhibits) have substantial potential. (foresight: The one to five Year Trend outlook: Trend 4 and
Scenario 2)
• Device-agnostic multi-channel experiences, like the Kindle, will paradoxically allow for increasingly
specialized devices, while enabling seamless switching. (Mobile Moments: Integrated experiences)
• Digital Marketing Platforms are allowing marketers to plan, deliver, and measure sophisticated multi-channel
marketing campaigns. (Digital Marketing Platforms: Taking Back Control)
• Challenges remain after you roll out your new commerce platform: we explore what they are, and how to overcome
the inevitable compromises you’ve made along the way. (after the release: Maximizing Value from Your Commerce
Platform Investment)
• Thoughts from the Middle East team revealed the search for self-expression and individuality on Twitter, Facebook, and
blogs amid the Arab Spring. (International Perspectives: Middle east)
We hope you’ve enjoyed reviewing Insights 2012. Our goal for this report was to pull together some of the best thought leaders
across SapientNitro globally, and share our perspectives on the evolution of communication and commerce. We hope this
report has succeeded in helping you better understand this ever-changing landscape.
Respectfully submitted,
Hilding Anderson, Research + Insights
Editor of Insights 2012
acknowledgements:
This report could not have been assembled without the support of a great many people. Several I’d like to highlight
include: Lauren Cohen, Todd Cherkasky, Rob Gonda, Rachel Zinser, Abby Adolph, Julie Capron, Seijen Takamura, Annicka
Campbell, Scott Tang, David Hewitt, Steven Fisher, Byron Cunningham, Sherie Freedman, Allison Bistrong, Sarah Bosch,
and many others.
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about SapientNitro
SapientNitroSM, part of Sapient®, is an integrated marketing
and technology services firm. We create and engineer highly
relevant experiences that accelerate business growth and fuel
brand advocacy for our clients. By combining multi-channel
marketing, multi-channel commerce, and the technology that
binds them, we influence customer behavior across the
spectrum of content, communication, and commerce channels,
resulting in deeper, more meaningful relationships between
customers and brands. SapientNitro services global leaders
such as Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Foot Locker,
Singapore Airlines, Target, and Vodafone through our
operations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
For more information, visit www.sapientnitro.com or
follow us on Twitter@sapientnitro.
for additional information:
lauren Nguyen Cohen
Director, Marketing
SapientNitro San Francisco
lcohen@sapient.com
@ltnguyen
for media inquiries:
David laBar
Global Communications Director
SapientNitro NYC
dlabar@sapient.com
@dlabar
Design
aaron Thornburgh
Art Director
SapientNitro Washington, DC
emily Carroll
Designer
SapientNitro Miami
editor
Hilding anderson
Sr. Manager, Research + Insights
SapientNitro Washington, DC
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