February 2014 | © Copyright 2014. Marketing Society. All rights reserved.

SNAPSHOT SURVEY REPORTCustomer Engagement

Mobile, Big Data, Loyalty Are Top Game Changers for MarketingAsia-Pacific marketers are shifting their focus from products and services, to the customer. BY LAUREN GIBBONS PAUL

The marketing mindset is increasingly evolving from a focus on products and services, to a focus on the customer. Throughout the

world, customers are always connected via their mobile devices, and they are quick to seek and share opinions about brands on the Web. With every click and comment, customers generate high volumes of information about themselves that marketers are hungry to collect and use to provide a more relevant and personalized experience. In this way,

bolstering the other. “Mobile and harnessing customer insights are enablers to driving customer loyalty,” one respondent said. “Once you’re able to identify the winning formula (by using insight), you’ll be able to drive loyalty.”

Another poll respondent concurred, placing more emphasis on mobility. “Both mobile and big data are important game changers,” she said. “Mobile is increasingly the preferred platform on which consumers search and engage online. With digitization, every piece of data is available for analysis. And increasingly innovative solutions are being invented to harness and visualize the data for effective actions.”

For the near term, this respondent believes mobility is the top game changer for the B2B market, “especially in industries with long sales cycles and low conversion rates.” The ability to effectively harness mobile customer insights will be critical, she added.

All in all, said one respondent, it would be dangerous for businesses to continue competing on price alone, noting that “improving customer loyalty is paramount. If you can create and hold onto a loyal client and offer value for the product or service, then you will have long-term commitment.”

marketers hope to establish such a strong sense of loyalty that customers will advocate their brands on the Web.

“To turn the marketing ship in this direction, senior marketers are focused on four key areas: mobility, harnessing customer insights through big data, inspiring customer loyalty and providing real-time offers,” said Katharine Schäfli, director of Marketing Society, Asia. The mindset shift is readily apparent in a late-2013 poll of senior marketers in Australia/New Zealand, Singapore and India who were asked to reveal which of these four marketing trends would be a game changer for their business.

Mobility and big data topped the list for most respondents in all three regions, with “improving customer loyalty” rising to the top-two rating in India and ranking a close third in the other geographies. So far, real-time offer management is not a pressing concern for the Asia-Pacific region, perhaps because this capability is dependent on first creating a strong foundation of mobility and big data analytics. Big Data and Mobility Tie in Australia/ New ZealandAmong respondents in Australia/New Zealand, mobility and big data insights shared the top spot (see Figure 1, “An Even Split in Australia/New Zealand”).

However, respondents in these countries also seemed to agree that both big data and mobility are intertwined with improving customer loyalty, with each

MethodologySAP and Marketing Society launched a global survey via LinkedIn in late fall 2013 to analyze the views of marketing executives in the Asia-Pacific region.

Approximately 1,715 respondents from the following countries participated:n Australia/New

Zealand: 263 respondents

n India: 1,314 respondents

n Singapore: 138 respondents

Their titles included:CXOVice PresidentEngineerBusiness Owner

An Even Split in Australia/New ZealandRespondents were asked, “Which marketing trend will be a game changer for your business?”

Mobile 31%Big data 31%Improving customer loyalty 26%Real-time offer management 8%None of the above 4%

Base: 263 respondents Source: SAP/Marketing Society via LinkedInFIGURE 1

2 Marketing Society

SNAPSHOT SURVEY REPORT | Customer Engagement

data), analyze and use it to predict future customer behavior models; and to innovate, create, develop and bring to life the solutions to meet those behaviors.”

The importance of big data was echoed by another respondent, who also looked further down the road at providing those insights in real time. “Applying big data analytics on huge amounts of data and then giving the insights in real time so one can make the right decision at the right time is the next game changer,” he said.

For another Indian survey participant, mobility is the centerpiece of the marketing strategy. “All the other things—harnessing customer insights, improving customer loyalty, real-time offer management—depend on the success of your enterprise mobility strategy.”

Across the Asia-Pacific region, respondents were in agreement that driving customer loyalty is paramount. “We must focus on creating customer loyalty,” said one respondent. “It’s this consistent devotion to truly serving the customer, at every point of customer contact, that will retain the customers you’ve got and obtain a steady stream of new customer referrals.”

A respondent from India summed up: “These same customers will become the most effective sales team you could ever build, spreading the good news about your business to everyone in their network.” n

Lauren Gibbons Paul has written extensively on customer rela-tionship management and customer experience management for more than 15 years.

This research project was funded by a grant from SAP.

Singapore Eyes Big Data For respondents in Singapore, big data slightly edged out the other trends (see Figure 2, “Big Data Tops the List in Singapore”). Respondents were quick to note, however, that big data requires an upgrade in skillsets. “Harnessing customer insights via big data is definitely the strategy to go to, if companies are willing to invest time and money in it,” one respondent noted. “Big data can be daunting, as you need to sift the gold from the sand to find the analytics that can get you the right results.”

Mobility is also very much on the radar among Singapore respondents. “Smartphone ownership is high with my target market,” one said. “Mobile will be the platform, while customer insight comes in second.”

Customer Loyalty Top Trend in IndiaMore than one-third of respondents in India named customer loyalty as the marketing trend with the highest impact (see Figure 3, “Loyalty Above All in India”). One

“It’s not enough to understand the needs of the customer today; you need to forecast the needs of a customer tomorrow.”

Big Data Tops the List in Singapore Respondents were asked, “Which marketing trend will be a game changer for your business?”

Big data 40%Mobile 29%Improving customer loyalty 26%Real-time offer management 4%None of the above 1%

Base: 138 respondents Source: SAP/Marketing Society via LinkedInFIGURE 2

Loyalty Above All in IndiaRespondents were asked, “Which marketing trend will be a game changer for your business?”

Improving customer loyalty 32%Mobile 28%Big data 21%Real-time offer management 16%None of the above 3%

Base: 1,314 respondents Source: SAP/Marketing Society via LinkedInFIGURE 3

respondent summed up the views of many in the region: “Only customer loyalty can be part of a long-term strategy and can be the most effective in the survival of the business. [The other choices] are temporary and will not allow you to survive.”

Another respondent emphasized the importance of not just meeting but also predicting customer needs and desires, which involves big data analytics. “It’s not enough to understand the needs of the customer today; you need to forecast the needs of a customer tomorrow,” he said. “And to do that effectively, you need two things: to harness customer insights (big