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Interview with Dirk Mörsdorf, Ipsos "It's not just the marketing department's job to create a relationship - that should happen at every touchpoint"
Interview with Dirk Mörsdorf, Ipsos
“It's not just the marketing department's job to create a relationship – that should happen at every touchpoint”
There is no way around consumer insights when it comes to customer journeys. Dirk Mörsdorf, Ipsos, reveals details of his session at Week of Market Research and provides some exciting insights into the topic. He also talks about the benefits of feedback surveys and gives an assessment of whether consumer journeys live up to their hype.
"Why you should also think Consumer Insights, when you hear Consumer Centricity." Aha. Exciting title, but what exactly can the WoM audience expect at your web seminar?
Dirk Mörsdorf: We are currently seeing two different approaches to consumer centricity: one is very technology-driven i.e., there are platforms, real-time dashboards and automated processes for everything at every touchpoint. The other is based on a deep understanding of consumers, their values, lifestyles and needs - the goal is to build a relationship between brand and consumer. There is very little in between and, in our opinion, the representatives of both sides do not get in touch with each other enough - often different units take care of consumer journey implementation and consumer insights. We are one of the world's largest providers of both managed CX platforms and quantitative as well as qualitative consumer insights. That's why we think we are qualified to address this and resolve the apparent contradiction. That's what this session is about.
Why is there no way around consumer insights when you want to design customer journeys?
Dirk Mörsdorf: I recently watched a very interesting video by Ray Gerber from Thunderhead. Thunderhead is a provider of Customer Journey Orchestration software. The most exciting thing in my opinion was that the main goal of Customer Journey Orchestration is to help customers to follow their "Intent". It's about knowing why customers are on the journey and doing everything we can to help them get there effectively and have a positive experience. Finding out this "intent" in the life context of an individual or target group is a consumer insights task. A CRM system or CX platform with a real-time dashboard doesn't tell me how consumers values, needs, and goals are evolving when it comes to retirement planning, mobility, or breakfast, for example. I can use the tech platform much better if I know that.
In your announcement it says: "In the end, it's about people, their experiences and desires, and how to establish a relationship with them". In times of completely automated digital processes and the increased use of chat bots, isn't that a very romantic and nostalgic thought?
Dirk Mörsdorf: Not if you want to stay both relevant and competitive.
In order to understand a consumer properly, hard facts alone are not enough, you claim. Consumers differ in their values, emotions and attitudes. How should these be captured?
Dirk Mörsdorf: Did I really write it that way? Values, emotions and attitudes are also facts... What I meant is that we can't conclude what he or she expects from our brand or our category in his or her life based on how someone moves on our website or with how many stars a customer rates our chatbot or our online store. And I think that's what I need to know in order to design and orchestrate a good Consumer Journey. It's not just the marketing department's job to create a relationship - that should happen at every touchpoint. Currently, that is where accidents happen - for example, when the chatbot doesn't work properly, but the target audience is tech oriented and sophisticated. To capture and represent values, attitudes and emotions, consumer insights experts have developed smart and sound approaches over the last decades, which usually insist on qualitative and quantitative research components. In times of ESG, Purpose and Consumer Centricity, such insights are needed more than ever before.
There are more and more feedback surveys that consumers are asked to answer after a purchase. How can we ensure that people will still participate in the future?
Dirk Mörsdorf: On the one hand, you should only ask for feedback where it is necessary - in some cases there are sufficient behavioral predictors that can serve as feedback (how quickly someone gets through the process, etc.) - so you should be a bit sparing with the assessments. This also requires expertise in where feedback is important and where it is not. And of course, make it as easy as possible for respondents. An overall star rating has to be enough for now - forwarding to additional questions only pro-actively by the respondent - never automatically. And of course, you must be prepared for a comparatively low response rate - especially if you don't have a very romantic relationship with your consumers.
Do consumer journeys live up to their hype? How great is their benefit in the end?
Dirk Mörsdorf: We have done a lot of research on how successful investments in consumer experience are on the bottom line. For a car manufacturer, for example, we found out that improving the NPS by one point generates the equivalent of almost EUR 150 million additional sales. This re-finances one or two journey maps and improvements at key touchpoints with their help. And last but not least, journeys are an important tool for better allocating marketing budgets and using communication in a more target-oriented way - the journey is therefore more basic knowledge than hype in the future.
What criteria should be used to decide which touchpoints a company should deal with and which not?
Dirk Mörsdorf: The focus on specific touchpoints depends heavily on the goals for the brand. For example, is it about increasing awareness, improving brand equity, or optimizing conversion? Despite Consumer Centricity, we as a company also have desires and goals. And touchpoints can play different roles and have more or less relevance. Based on an investigation of my target group, I would create the essential journey maps and identify the touchpoints that help to achieve the goals for my brand.
Who should not miss your web-seminar?
Dirk Mörsdorf: CX and journey managers who are looking for ways to become even more relevant and consumer-centric, and consumer insights managers who are looking for ways and arguments to make consumer centricity more of a consumer insights topic.
ABOUT
Dirk Mörsdorf is Client Director at Ipsos and has been advising companies in various functions on a wide range of consumer insights issues for over 20 years. His main areas of expertise have been and still are all phases of the innovation process and questions around the consumer journey and customer experience.
Interview originally published in German on marktforschung.de - here
