• by Larry Thomas , Columnist, June 24, 2015

Asking an industry to rethink how and where it makes money is never going to be easy. And yet, to a certain extent, something like that is happening across the consumer goods industry. Companies are increasingly recognizing that their future may lie less in developing and marketing consumer products, and more in creating genuine consumer experiences. 

In recent years, consumer products companies have given consumers some of their most memorable experiences by way of personalization and customization. In personalization, retailers give consumers a shopping experience that is often independent of where they shop. They use data to recognize spending habits, anticipate preferences and recommend other products they might like. In customization, leading brands — notably in the footwear and soft drinks segments to date — give consumers the chance to co-create the design, packaging and even flavor of their products. The pay-off has been differentiation and increased market share.

What has perhaps been under-appreciated so far is the critical role that marketing functions can play in defining the agenda and leading the way in customization and personalization. To do so, leading marketers set out to achieve something radical: they stop thinking about products and start thinking about creating personalized and customized consumer services instead. 

By creating a vision for a service-based future, and defining the offerings required in that future, marketers can take ownership of the new consumer experience. 

Creating the vision

Leading marketers use their expert insight and creativity to envision what a service-led approach to consumer goods could mean for their companies. First of all, this means stepping back from the product. Consider, for example, a shampoo company. Rather than focusing purely on updating the packaging or building the brand through traditional advertising channels, marketers today ask what personalized or customized services they could offer to consumers around the product. How would consumers feel about co-creating a stylish container that fits perfectly with the color scheme in their bathroom? How about a subscription-service where new shampoo is delivered every month, wherever they are? And how about access to a social platform that brings them together with like-minded people?  

Brands are creating services to maintain relevance, and in doing so, disrupting both the status quo and market chains. Start-ups and unexpected competitors (like suppliers and distributors) threaten larger corporations as they create useful services that quickly expand past their product at launch.

Shaping and reshaping the experience across different channels

Creating the vision is only half of the story. Leading marketers also play a critical role in translating that vision into consumers’ day-to-day experience with the brand. Marketing’s insight into consumers is essential in bringing together all the different elements — such as seamless fulfillment, path-to-purchase, social consumer engagement and retail partnerships — and creating a truly personalized experience across online and physical shopping channels. 

For example, marketers can determine the omni-connect approaches that will resonate best with the consumer — whether guiding them to a special offer in a physical outlet nearby, advising where they can get better value through click-and-collect, or giving them the option of signing up for a subscription service online. These different offerings can only be made possible through the company’s investment in digital — from data analytics to location-based alerts — and marketing has a key role in making it happen. 

Moving to an experience-led approach to the consumer is not easy. Many executives are skeptical about the long-term potential of this approach. They may feel customization and personalization are just “not right” or “too complicated” for their brand. This is where marketers can use their skills in internal marketing to make the case for personalization and customization. This will likely involve challenging preconceptions about cost and risk. It will involve communicating the vision in a way that has traction with the audience. Done correctly, it could lead to an entirely new world of opportunities.