• by Eduardo Braniff , May 24, 2011

Dear Marketer,

I am not just a faceless number in your database. But every effort by your company and the services you provide me is about making sure I remain a number or, more specifically, data. Data, which is collected from my digital footprints, extrapolated from your algorithms and aggregated from consumer behavior similar to mine. Shouldn't there be more to our relationship?

Sincerely,
A Marginalized Consumer.

CRM: A numbers-driven, technology-enabled, business-building tool that serves up "personalized" email, targeted discount offers and "people who bought this, also bought that" suggestions is a vital part of marketing. But we've all experienced times when CRM as pure transaction made us feel like a faceless consumer; where the relationship is one-way; and where we need to be "managed." Look to your spam folder for countless examples of this type of CRM.

The CRM experience can extend to physical space as well. The importance of physical experiences that create successful CRM opportunities has never been greater. Physical experiences, whether pop up retail or VIP event, are ideal locations to further engage one's most loyal customers. A physical experience starts the relationship. A digital one sustains the relationship. A subsequent physical experience demonstrates understanding and deepens the relationship and so on and so on.

Ultimately, people want and have to connect to the people behind the products and services they are subscribing to or buying. CRM in the physical space allows you to forge a real relationship with the consumer. It is in a physical space where you can see their behaviors, listen to the nuances of their reactions to your products and services, and respond to intangible dynamics among your constituents.

Ford leverages its presence at Auto Shows as a valuable means for engaging drivers and qualifying future buyers. Whether featuring a particular nameplate or providing content on a specific technology, Ford is using every opportunity to learn very specifically about their future drivers and how the manufacturer can meet their driving needs. Every stage of the purchase funnel has improved since Ford viewed the Auto Show less as one-way display and more as multi-way conversation and integrated it into all of its driver communications.

As brands become more experiential -- providing branded content, creating unique events and environments, maintaining real-time conversations -- so too should a company's CRM efforts. As we move from transactional CRM to social CRM we may as well keep heading towards experiential CRM.

Experiential CRM assumes that our brand followers are more than just consumers, they are members. They belong to a physical place and a digital space where they are as much participants in a large group with shared attributes, as they are unique individuals. The relationships we maintain are multi-way and require all parties to respond, adapt and participate.

And, by the way Dear Marketer,

In both the physical and digital spaces that I have chosen to belong, I prefer not to be managed, but treated as a welcome guest.

Sincerely,
Marginalized No More