As a kid, sadly and in spite of my catholic school upbringing, my memories of Christmas were all about presents. I can remember many of them - Legos, Battleship, Hot Wheels, Sony Walkman, and the list goes on.
But what made Christmas exciting was not the gifts, but the anticipation of getting them.
The prelude to Christmas is one big tease filled with gamesmanship. As a kid, I played the game well dropping hints on what I wanted each year down to the color, the model, and even the number of AAA batteries required. Holiday shows with toy commercials provided the perfect foil for an impromptu, “Hey mom, that’s the really cool game Tony’s mom got him for his birthday!” All the data was there for my parents to grab.
This gamesmanship between child and parent is a lot like what goes on with marketers and their customers (just in reverse). Marketers collect data. Some do surveys. Some try segmenting them into meaningful clusters to find the right product or service to offer. They do all this work in order to anticipate what their customers want. Most get it wrong.
They’re wrong because they think about what the customer wants from their point of view. How do I meet my product specific goals? How do I increase penetration? What segment can I lump this customer into?
In reality, they are thinking more about what THEY want for the customer.
Why? Because it’s easier. Lump customers into segments and call it personalization. Use high level data (e.g., profile data) instead of harnessing and analyzing behavioral data. Rely on classic campaigning to blast messages rather than trying to anticipate when customers are most receptive.
Listening to customers, analyzing data to glean what is right for each one, and delivering on their expectations is a lot of work. But there are ways, through automation and machine learning, to leverage the petabytes of data more easily. Understanding your customers has never been easier. Getting it right can be so magical. But getting it wrong can be so deflating.
Reflecting back on my youth, that’s exactly what happened when I was eleven. I’d laid out all the data points (hints) for what I wanted. I wanted a remote control helicopter. I made comments about it when I saw it advertised on TV. I even left the catalog turned to the page with the item I wanted on the kitchen counter.
Well as the big day rolled around, I felt I’d done my best to get the word out. Of course, I didn’t get the remote control helicopter I wanted that morning. Instead all I got a wool sweater with reindeer on it!
What went wrong? They got me what they wanted. My mom loved the sweater – thought I’d look cute in it. She anticipated I’d only wear it for the next week so she got it a couple sizes bigger thinking I could wear it next year too! She’d seen the data point at the Frederick & Nelson’s where the sweater was prominently displayed. Way too easy and something she wanted me to have.
After years of lots of reflection (and lots of therapy), I figured it out. Sure I was bummed. I didn’t get what I wanted but, hey, it’s my parents. They’ve delivered food, shelter, lots of love and even cool gifts countless times. I forgave them for this one slip.
Marketers aren’t as fortunate – their customers don’t scream out what they want but they also don’t have a lot of patience of loyalty if you get it wrong. The good news is today’s marketers, especially in the mobile space, have the capability to listen, analyze and understand what their customers want.
Marketers often make the mistake of ‘projecting’ what they want or think is right for customers. Be cautious. When you’re wrong; they are gone.
Fast forward to today. Maybe because of my past experience or because I am a marketer, when I see my eleven year old open another window in his Lego advent calendar and see the anticipation in his eyes grow, I take the opportunity each day to probe on what he wants for Christmas.
No chance of a reindeer sweater under our tree. When you market this holiday season or any time, make sure there are none under your customers’ trees as well.
