Wireless Carriers Lack Gen Y Loyalty July 17, 2008
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y.Tags: Wireless carriers
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I recently published a report called Customer Relationship Snapshot: Wireless Carriers that examined how consumers feel about their current relationship with wireless carriers. We asked nearly 5,000 US consumers a series of questions and analyzed the data across 5 generations of consumers: Gen Y (18-27 years old), Gen X (28 to 41), Younger Boomers (42 to 51), Older Boomers (52 to 62), and Seniors (63+). Here are some of the major findings:
- Interactions with wireless carriers meet their needs
- Highest rating: Gen Y (84%)
- Lowest rating: Seniors (75%)
- Likely to purchase another product from current provider
- Highest rating: Seniors (83%)
- Lowest rating: Gen Y (70%)
- Likely to remain with current provider
- Highest rating: Seniors (79%)
- Lowest rating: Gen Y (57%)
The bottom line: Wireless carriers have a Gen Y loyalty problem
Banks Need A Youthful Overhaul March 24, 2008
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Financial services, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y.add a comment
In a post from late last year, Banks Have A Gen Y Blind Spot, I discussed that banks aren’t serving young consumers very well. Well, we found the same thing in a recent research effort, Customer Relationship Snapshot: Banks.
This analysis examined feedback from 5,000 consumers across 5 generations (Gen Y, Gen X, Younger Boomers, Older Boomers, and Seniors) on overall customer experience; satisfaction with Web, branch, and phone interactions; as well as consumer plans to stay loyal to their current banks. Here’s some of what we found:
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Seniors have their needs met most frequently
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Seniors are the most satisfied with phone and in-branch interactions
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Gen X are the least satisfied with phone, in-branch, and Web interactions
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Seniors are the least likely to switch banks
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Gen Y are the most likely to switch banks; Gen X the next most likely
The bottom line: The battle for the next generation of banking customers is wide open (check here for some ideas: Gen Y Design Guide).
Hulu.com Showcases Gen Y Design March 15, 2008
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y.Tags: hulu
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Matt Vella wrote an interesting article in Business Week called How Hulu’s Design Gets It Right (and he included some quotes from me). Hulu is a joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal that lets users stream television episodes, films from Warner Bros. and Lionsgate, as well as sports content.
The article looks at Hulu.com as a good example of Gen Y design. While I didn’t do a review of the site, on the surface it adheres to many of the principles that we defined in the Gen Y Design Guide (here’s a shout out to Ross Popoff-Walker who led much of our Gen Y research).
On a related note, I just published a couple of reports that examine customer relationships across generations of consumers: ”Customer Relationship Snapshot: Retailers“ and “Customer Relationship Snapshot: Banks.” In both banking and retail, it turns out that Gen Yers are the most likely to switch providers.
The bottom line: If you want business from Gen Y, design for them.
Trend Watch 2008 Wrap-Up January 8, 2008
Posted by Bruce Temkin in 2008 trend watch, Customer experience, Gen Y.add a comment
Hopefully you’ve found my Trend Watch series interesting. I enjoyed looking at how these different articles positioned the future:
Those five posts referenced 52 different predictions; highlighting 32 that I thought were the most interesting. That’s a lot to digest, even for the most avid readers of this blog. So I decided to collect the 14 predictions/trends that capture the collective wisdom of these articles in four areas: 1) Consumer Needs, 2) Online Opportunities, 3) Required Skills, and 4) Strategy & Culture.
1. Consumer Needs
Snack Culture (Trendwatch.com). Excerpt: “SNACK CULTURE represents the catering to consumers’ insatiable craving for instant gratification. SNACK CULTURE thus embodies the phenomenon of products, services and experiences becoming more temporary and transient; products that are being deconstructed in easier to digest, easier to afford bits, making it possible to collect even more experiences, as often as possible, in an even shorter timeframe.”
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My take: Look at iTunes; you can get a song instantly — who wants to wait until they can get to a store and then buy an entire CD?!? I even find myself watching the clips from shows and movies that I like, never mind sitting through an entire movie (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched the McLovin seen from Superbad). Firms should definitely think about how they can break apart their offerings into bite-sized pieces.
Eco-Iconic (Trendwatch.com). Excerpt: “Over the past few years, the ECO trend has moved from ECO-UGLY (ugly, over-priced, low performance alternatives to shiny ‘traditional sphere’ products and services) to ECO-CHIC (eco-friendly stuff that actually looks as nice and cool as the less responsible version) to ECO-ICONIC in 2008: “Eco-friendly goods and services sporting bold, iconic design and markers, that help their eco-conscious owners to visibly tout their eco-credentials to peers.”
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My take: Thanks in large part to Al Gore and his movie An Inconvenient Truth, Eco is cool (who would have ever thought that “Al Gore” would be mentioned in the same sentence with “cool?”). Our world is facing a crisis, so hopefully this eco-iconic trend in 2008 (which highlights the actions of a few people) sparks an “eco-uprising” in the near future where people around the world band together and force all governments to make issues like global warming a top priority.
Privacy, Privacy, Privacy (Advertising Age). Excerpt: “In 2008, marketers will become increasingly sensitive to privacy issues. With “digital-intrusion” and identity-theft issues as paramount consumer concerns, marketers must be extraordinarily careful to respect worries of access to private information.”
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My take: Let me add a fourth word to this theme: Privacy. Expect consumers to be hyper-sensitive to anything that looks like a breech to their privacy. So there are three key steps for marketers: 1) protect consumers’ privacy; 2) make it clear to consumers that you are protecting their privacy; and 3) keep protecting consumers’ privacy.
Unfriend Me (Business Week). Excerpt: “People move to gated networks from Facebook and MySpace (NWS), fleeing the commercialization of their personal information and relationships.“
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My take: Social computing has so much buzz (or should we call it a ”friending frenzy”) that a backlash is highly likely. I know that I get barraged with invitations to join this network or that network. I think Woody Allen got it right in Annie Hall: “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.”
2. Online Opportunities
Freeconomics: Online, there really is such a thing as a free lunch (The Economist). Excerpt: “Because it is so cheap to offer digital services online, it doesn’t matter if 99% of your customers are using the free version of your services so long as 1% are paying for the “premium version.” After all, 1% of a big number can also be a big number.”
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My take:What’s the online component of your offering? You need to answer that question in 2008. And given the “freeness” of the online world, you should think about classes of customers — the masses that get value for free and the cherished ones that pay for additional value. Take a look at an earlier post where I described “online infusion” as a key disruptive customer experience strategy.
Lightening up: Leave the laptop behind (The Economist). Excerpt: “As smart phones take over chores that trusty old laptops used to perform, road warriors are stuffing their overnight bags with other tools of the trade instead-and the trend will increase in 2008 as gadget prices fall.”
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My take: Mobile computing is now officially “real.” It’s not yet mainstream, but there will be many niche opportunities for adding mobile components to your current offerings. Think about what can be done on the growing number of iPhones and target applications at repeat transactions (banking, travel, movies, etc.) especially for younger and affluent consumers. See my post about designing experiences for Gen Y.
Using Consumers As Innovators (McKinsey Quarterly). . Excerpt: “As the Internet has evolved - an evolution prompted in part by new Web 2.0 technologies - it has become a more widespread platform for interaction, communication, and activism. Consumers increasingly want to engage online with one another and with organizations of all kinds.”
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My take: What’s a trends doc without a reference to Web 2.0?!? I’m not sure that online consumers will become the core innovative force for companies in 2008, but firms definitely need to tap into the online voice of customers — as they blog, write customer reviews, and connect with each other in new ways on the Internet. This is particularly true if you’re going after younger consumers.
3. Required Skills
Putting More Science Into Management (McKinsey Quarterly). Excerpt: “Just as the Internet and productivity tools extend the reach of and provide leverage to desk-based workers, technology is helping managers exploit ever-greater amounts of data to make smarter decisions and develop the insights that create competitive advantages and new business models… The holy grail of deep customer insight-more granular segmentation, low-cost experimentation, and mass customization-becomes increasingly accessible through technological innovations in data collection and processing.”
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My take: No doubt; there’s more data than ever. So make sure you’ve got some strong left-brainers around to look at Web analytics and customer analytics; there’s a lot of valuable insights to be mined. But don’t get caught over-focusing on analysis — it’s only one part of the equation. Your organization needs to treat customers differently based on the insights and this often takes more ”art” than “science.”
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My take: There’s a great quote by Stanley Marcus that I’ve blogged about: “Consumers are statistics. Customers are people.” When it comes to understanding what motivates customers, companies have a long way to go. Marketers will need to master ethnography and other forms of socio-cultural anthropology.
Crowd Mining (Trendwatch.com). Excerpt: “CROWD MINING: when co-creating, co-funding, co-buying, co-designing, co-managing *anything* with ‘crowds’, the emphasis in 2008 will move from just getting the masses in, to mining those crowds for the rough and polished diamonds. How to do that? Shower them with love, respect and heaps of money, of course.”
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My take: This trend flows from a combination of two concepts: The Wisdom Of Crowds and The Tipping Point. Companies need to understand who their customers are, how those customers relate to their brand, and how customers relate to each other. This last item is a new skill for most companies. Let me throw out a company that might be a player in this area: Google. Why? Think of customers as a set of diverse, yet somewhat interconnected Web pages. Google already knows how to sort and prioritize that type of information.
4. Strategy & Culture
The Customer Is King (Business Week). Excerpt: “Consumers replace competitors as the key reference point for corporate strategy. Reason? Disruptive innovation now often takes places outside the normal competitive environment..“
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My take: This is music to my ears; and, as many of you know, my mantra. There’s no better strategy than knowing your customers better than your competitors. So I agree, I agree, and I agree. Take a look at the post: “My Manifesto: Great Customer Experience Is Free.”
The responsible company: Performing with purpose is the new challenge (The Economist). Excerpt: “The tendency to manage for quarterly results will yield to a new mindset where short-term performance metrics are complemented by measures capturing the long-term health, vitality and thus sustainability of the enterprise.”
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My take: This is good news; businesses need more purpose. That’s been a theme across several of my earlier posts like ”Don’t Let Profits Replace Purpose,” “Firms Need Some Soul Searching,” and “Words Of Wisdom: Gandhi On Sustainability.” I think this will improve long-term productivity and competitiveness for US corporations. But it also means that organizations that don’t develop a stronger sense of purpose in 2008 will fall behind. Why? Because their organizations will not operate with the same degree of internal alignment as their competitors. And they’ll find it harder to recruit employees who will be looking to join organizations with a clear long-term purpose.
Tapping Into A World Of Talent (McKinsey Quarterly). Excerpt: “As more and more sophisticated work takes place interactively online and new collaboration and communications tools emerge, companies can outsource increasingly specialized aspects of their work and still maintain organizational coherence… The best person for a task may be a free agent in India or an employee of a small company in Italy.”
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My take: The Net definitely makes it easier to tap into a variety of workers in new ways. But it’s hard enough to keep a centralized workforce aligned; think about how hard it is when the talent is ultra-dispersed. In this environment, it is even more important that companies have a clear sense of purpose and a well defined and internally-communicated brand (see principle #2 of Experience-Based Differentiation). These items will help maintain consistency across the myriad of activities and decisions that go one across your company.
Not enough people in China: A shortage of staff means employers will take more risks in 2008 (The Economist). Excerpt: “A new wave of investment will create lots of new jobs in 2008 as Chinese firms expand… Thanks to the one-child policy introduced in 1979, the number of workers in their late 20s will shrink further in 2008… China’s universities and many schools were closed for ten years during the Cultural Revolution. This means that most people in their late 50s and early 60s have had little or no formal education.”
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My take: If you’re doing business in China — watch out. The shortage of employees and trained senior managers raises the risk for more problems like the lead found in children’s toys earlier this year. So make sure to establish clear emergency response processes like product recall plans. If you’re not doing business in China, that actually might become a marketing differentiator.
The bottom line: These trends represent both opportunities and threats in 2008; good luck taking advantage of them.
Trend Watch #5: Trendwatch.com “8 Important Consumer Trends For 2008″ January 4, 2008
Posted by Bruce Temkin in 2008 trend watch, Customer experience, Gen Y.3 comments
This post examines the fifth (and final) article in this Trend Watch series. Hopefully you’ve appreciated the different points of view from The Economist, The McKinsey Quarterly, Advertising Age, and Business Week.
I decided to end the series by looking at a much less traditional source, Trendwatching.com: “8 Important Consumer Trends For 2008.” The article is rich with examples that you’ll want to read. Unlike the other posts where I commented on a subset of the trends, I’ll touch on all eight mentioned in this article:
#1) Status Spheres. Excerpt: “As mature consumer societies are increasingly dominated by (physical) abundance, by saturation, by experiences, by virtual worlds, by individualism, by participation, by feelings of guilt and concern about the side effects of unbridled consumption, status is to be had in many more ways than leading a lifestyle centered on hoarding as many branded, luxury goods as possible. We’ve dubbed the above phenomenon STATUS SPHERES: a variety of lifestyles, activities and persuasions, which can be mixed and matched by consumers looking for recognition from various crowds and scenes.”
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My take: Whether it’s online social networks or local book groups, consumers definitely seek out “affiliation.” So there will be a growing opportunity for firms to tap into those needs. Think of the travel industry, there’s an opportunity to offer different sets of vacation packages like ultra luxury, eco-friendly, and socially-oriented. You need to figure out if your customers are more likely to sip champagne by the beach at a Four Seasons or rebuild hospitals in rural Afghanistan.
#2) Premiumization. Excerpt: “Basically, with more wealth burning holes in (saturated and experienced) consumers’ pockets than ever before, quick status fixes derived from premium products and premium experiences will continue in full force next year. What’s new then? How about 2008 being about the PREMIUMIZATION of everything and anything. In other words, no industry, no sector, no product will escape a premium version in the next 12 months.“
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My take: It will be fun to see what new things come out in 2008. If product managers are listening, here are two of the premium offerings that I’d like to see: VIP entrances at crowded areas (like Disneyland, baseball games, and concerts) and reserved seats at hot movies. But I’m not sure how much I’d be willing to pay for these (pricing is a key issue to deal with). Make sure that any new offering satisfies the three questions that I learned while working at GE: Is the opportunity real? Can you win? Will it be worth it in the end? (the mantra: real-win-worth it).
#3) Snack Culture. Excerpt: “SNACK CULTURE represents the catering to consumers’ insatiable craving for instant gratification. SNACK CULTURE thus embodies the phenomenon of products, services and experiences becoming more temporary and transient; products that are being deconstructed in easier to digest, easier to afford bits, making it possible to collect even more experiences, as often as possible, in an even shorter timeframe.”
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My take: Look at iTunes; you can get a song instantly — who wants to wait until they can get to a store and then buy an entire CD?!? I even find myself watching the clips from shows and movies that I like, never mind sitting through an entire movie (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched the McLovin seen from Superbad). Firms should definitely think about how they can break apart their offerings into bite-sized pieces.
#4) Online Oxygen. Excerpt: “2008 should be a goldmine for smart e-tailers, who, if they get their act together, could make billions and billions of dollars, euros, pounds, yen, kroner, lira and rand that are impatiently waiting to be spent by web-savvy consumers around the world. So in the next 12 months, spend blood, sweat and tears on improving your ecommerce presence; the pay-off will be immediate, and far more substantial than investing in Web 2.0 me-toos!“
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My take: More consumers are getting more comfortable doing more things online with more access to high-speed connections, on PCs as well as on more and more mobile devices. That’s a clear formula for an increasing level of demand for online everything. In the big scheme of things, the online channel is still fairly young, so there remains enormous opportunities for companies to build online experiences that satisfy consumers’ unmet needs.
#5) Eco-Iconic. Excerpt: “Over the past few years, the ECO trend has moved from ECO-UGLY (ugly, over-priced, low performance alternatives to shiny ‘traditional sphere’ products and services) to ECO-CHIC (eco-friendly stuff that actually looks as nice and cool as the less responsible version) to ECO-ICONIC in 2008: “Eco-friendly goods and services sporting bold, iconic design and markers, that help their eco-conscious owners to visibly tout their eco-credentials to peers.”
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My take: Thanks in large part to Al Gore and his movie An Inconvenient Truth, Eco is cool (who would have ever thought that “Al Gore” would be mentioned in the same sentence with “cool?”). Our world is facing a crisis, so hopefully this eco-iconic trend in 2008 (which highlights the actions of a few people) sparks an “eco-uprising” in the near future where people around the world band together and force all governments to make issues like global warming a top priority.
#6) Brand Butlers. Excerpt: “Instead of stalking potential and existing customers (which is not very 2008), why not assist them in smart, relevant ways, making the most of your products and whatever it is your brand stands for? Remember, giving is the new taking 
Think baby food or diaper brands opening a lounge area, including diaper-changing facilities and microwaves, for parents and their offspring at a major airport or in malls. Or a bank installing secure, high-tech lockers next to the beach, so beachgoers can safely store their belongings when going for a swim or walk.“
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My take: Apple’s Genius Bar is also an excellent example of this trend. These items fit into a strategy I call “service amplification,” which is one of five disruptive customer experience strategies that I’ve highlighted in previous posts. But this can be a dangerous strategy. Why? First of all, it can require a significant investment. In many cases there’s no direct revenue stream for the service, so firms need to understand how these efforts improve other parts of their business. Another possible problem is brand dilution if the offerings miss the mark.
#7) MIY | Make It Yourself. Excerpt: “With (in particular younger) consumers having come to expect to be able to create anything they want as long as it is digital, and to customize and personalize many physical goods, the next frontier will be digitally designing products from scratch, then having them turned into real physical goods as well. In fact, expect MIY | MAKE IT YOURSELF (and then SIY | SELL IT YOURSELF) ventures to become increasingly sophisticated in the next 12 months.“
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My take: Consumers are getting more comfortable with configuring their products. That’s why we’re likely to see more things like Capital One’s Credit Card Lab that allows consumers to built their own credit cards. This will be particularly important for targeting younger consumers who are particularly interested in personalizing their experiences (just look at MySpace pages). Doing this well will require multi-domain design skills; so look for some mistakes in this area as companies overstep their capabilities.
#8) Crowd Mining. Excerpt: “CROWD MINING: when co-creating, co-funding, co-buying, co-designing, co-managing *anything* with ‘crowds’, the emphasis in 2008 will move from just getting the masses in, to mining those crowds for the rough and polished diamonds. How to do that? Shower them with love, respect and heaps of money, of course. “
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My take: This trend flows from a combination of two concepts: The Wisdom Of Crowds and The Tipping Point. Companies need to understand who their customers are, how those customers relate to their brand, and how customers relate to each other. This last item is a new skill for most companies. Let me throw out a company that might be a player in this area: Google. Why? Think of customers as a set of diverse, yet somewhat interconnected Web pages. Google already knows how to sort and prioritize that type of information.
Take a look at the other posts in this series: Trend Watch #1: The Economist “The World In 2008 (Business), Trend Watch #2: The McKinsey Quarterly “Eight Business Technology Trends To Watch,” Trend Watch #3: Advertising Age “Trends To Watch In 2008,” and ”Trend Watch #4: Business Week “Innovation Predictions 2008“
The bottom line: A lot will change in 2008, but some things stay the same: firms need better customer insight, there are many online opportunities, and all roads lead to Google 
Designing Experiences For Gen Y December 5, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y, Online strategy, Social computing.2 comments
We just published a research report that I’ve alluded to in earlier posts called “The Gen Y Design Guide.” The research examines how Gen Y (ages 18 to 27) are different from older consumers and defines a set of implications for designing experiences. Here’s the executive summary from the research…
Gen Y consumers are a unique breed. But what exactly makes them different from their elders? Our research unearthed nine attributes of Gen Yers’ social, emotional, and mental makeup that shape their perception of interactions. To reach these young consumers, we’ve identified four design approaches: immediacy, Gen Y literacy, individualism, and social interactivity. To truly engage Gen Y, firms should create a Gen Y advisory board and apply Gen Y design approaches across touchpoints.
To get a sense of the world of Gen Yers, just take a look at the lyrics from a top-rated song “Crank That” from Soulja Boy:
What?!?! I have no idea what that means, but I’m pretty sure that I don’t want to know.
Our research uncovered the following key attributes of Gen Yers:
- Socially Fluid And Highly Networked. Having gone through high school, college, or a first job, many Generation Yers are breaking away from their families and forging their own paths and networks. We found three characteristics that define Gen Yers socially. They are continually connected, speak their own language, and are influenced by peers.
- Emotionally Searching For Their Identities. Adolescents and early adults are at a period of self-discovery, shaped by their environment, education and activities, and social culture. That’s why they seek recognition and fame, enjoy absurdity - and humor with an odd slant, and embrace a variety of subcultures.
- Mentally Fickle And Creative. Few Generation Yers can remember a time when technology - from DVDs to PCs - did not play an important part in their lives. Having grown up with deep exposure to media and devices, they skim text and information quickly, are easily bored, and are expressive and creative.
Based on the unique characteristics of Gen Y, we defined four design approaches for appealing to them:
- Design approach No. 1: immediacy. To overcome Generation Y’s fickle attention and broad use of media, firms need to hook Gen Yers in by quickly exposing value and then keeping them interested over time.
- Design approach No. 2: Gen Y literacy. Because Gen Yers are so influenced by peers and their own communication style, firms need to speak to them authentically and on their level.
- Design approach No. 3: individualism. Diverse and expressive, Generation Yers respond to experiences that allow them to personalize and customize their interactions.
- Design approach No. 4: social interactivity. Since Gen Y consumers are very social, firms should consider enabling them to communicate and express themselves.
The bottom line: If you want to attract and engage Gen Yers, stop treating them like Boomers.
What Men And Woman Want — Online October 23, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y, Online strategy.add a comment
The title of this post (What Men And Woman Want — Online) is also the title of a research report that I published with Ross Popoff-Walker earlier this year (we had fun picking that title). In that report, we looked at what different consumer groups liked most about their online experiences. Since we had about 5,000 consumer responses, we were able to examine differences across both genders (male/famale) and generations (GenY, Gen X, Younger Boomers, Older Boomers, and Seniors).
The survey asked consumers to select important elements in their most frequently visited site. One of the interesting pieces of insight came from looking at which consumers selected “it was fun.” Here’s what we found:
- Young consumers are the most fun loving. No surprise; Gen Y (males and females) were the most likely to select “it was fun” from the list. About 40% of those younger consumers thought it was an important element of their favorite site.
- Men become less interested in fun as they age. Gen Y males were slightly more likely to select “it was fun” than were Gen Y females. In older generations, however, females became more likely to say that fun was important. And the gap increases in every age group — growing from a 1% gap for Gen Xers (32% versus 31%) to a 6% gap in Seniors (24% versus 18%).
The bottom line: Consider infusing some ”fun” into your online efforts. It’s important for many Gen Yers and one-quarter of Senior females.
Banks Have A Gen Y Blind Spot October 20, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y.4 comments
Let’s face it, large banks aren’t generally easy to do business with. In a recent Forrester Research report called “Consumers Don’t Enjoy Financial Services,”I examined survey responses from about 5,000 consumers who told us what they thought about their bank. Here are some tidbits from that research:
- 35% of consumers fall into a segment that we call “at-risk” because of their low level of enjoyment with their bank. Compared to other segments these ”at-risk” consumers are the youngest and have the highest income.
- Young females (Gen X and Gen Y) report the most problems with their banks
Banks know they have a problem. In a previous post called “Banks Prepare For Customer Experience Wars” I discussed a survey of banking execs that I did with American Banker. In that survey we found that:
- 97% of banking execs think that customer experience is very important or critical
- Most say that they aren’t meeting customers’ needs - especially online, where less than one-third of respondents gave their bank’s interactions a vote of confidence.
Hmmmmm. Doesn’t take a PhD to figure out that banks have a customer experience problem — especially with younger consumers.
Given that Gen Yers are really a different beast from older consumers (take a look at my presentation on Gen Yers within this post: A View Of Forrester’s Consumer Forum October), banks will need to focus explicitly on this younger segment.
The bottom line: FWIW, IMO b8nks need better Gen Y strats. HTH
A View Of Forrester’s Consumer Forum October 11, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y, Social computing.Tags: fcf07
3 comments
Today was a great day in Chicago — at Forrester’s Consumer Forum. The place was hopping! I had a number of very interesting meetings with people. It’s always great to catch up with clients and friends and meet new people at this event.
I’m not going to try and recap the entire day. You can get that level of detail from the many bloggers covering the event — maybe starting with Forrester’s marketing blog. But here are some of my personal observations…
- Christie Hefner called me a god. During Christie’s Q&A after her presentation, I was asking questions submitted by the audience from a microphone in the back of the ballroom. When I asked the first question, Christie said that it sounded like god. Okay, I sensationalized the point — but it was still a funny moment. Just call me “Bruce Almighty.”
- Charlene Li started a groundswell. Charlene delivered an outstanding opening keynote called “Your Customers Are Revolting ;-)” The main framework of her presentation was the “Ladder Of Participation” which defined 6 levels of Social Computing involvement: Inactives, Spectators, Joiners, Collectors, Critics, and Creators. She also talked about the P.O.S.T. process (People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology). While all of that content was great, the most memorable moment for me was the story about the TV show Jericho. CBS canceled the show after it received poor ratings when placed opposite American Idol. Some radio guy mobilized the show’s fans and CBS ended up bringing back the show after these fans sent tons of peanuts to CBS Entertainment’s president.
- Richard Edelman is not sorry. Richard Edelman had an interesting discussion called “Be It, Don’t Buy It.” What struck me the most was his response to questions about the scandal about the somewhat inauthentic blog called Walmart Across America. Mr. Edelman showed no remorse and offered no apology. Should he have been sorry? I don’t know; you decide. But, interestingly, he opened his speech with the following quote from Tom Friedman’s column called “The Whole World Is Watching:”
In this transparent world, how you live your life and conduct your business matters more than ever… Companies that get their ‘hows’ wrong won’t be able to clean up their mess by taking a couple of reporters to lunch…But this also creates opportunities…’how’ you keep your promises…build trust…collaborate…lead
- Mobile puts the social back into Social Computing. That was the theme of Vidya Lakshmipathy’s presentation. She opened up her session with a great presentation about the role that mobile does/can/will play in social networks — starting with a personal story about using Dodgeball. She identified a number of different types of mobile social technologies: social networks, social mapping, media sharing, micro Blogs, and tagging. The majority of her session was dedicated to discussion with the twenty-something founders of two firms: Michael Sharon
Nicholas Tommarellofrom Socialight and Nicholas TommarelloMichael Sharonfrom Urban Interactive. Socialight allows users to post “sticky notes” with in their current location — to comment on things like the food, the activities, or the great mural they see on a wall. Other people can search and find the sticky notes that are in their current location. Pretty cool stuff. Urban Interactive uses cell phones to create and carry out adult adventures. Michael used this tag line to describe what they do: “Transform cities into playgrounds.” One key lesson from the two of them: SIMPLICITY is the key to mobile design. - Gen Y are different; design accordingly. That was the theme of my presentation with Ross Popoff-Walker. I thought it was a fun (and hopefully informative) presentation. You can see a handful of my favorite slides at the bottom of this post. Here’s how our presentation flowed:
- After having some fun with the audience by looking at things have changed over the last 40 years, we talked about “a new creature” called Gen Yers.
- We showed a bunch of data to highlight how these youngsters are different. Compared to the overall US consumers, Gen Yers: Play video games 2.2x, Use cell phones 1.7x, Like to show off their taste and style 2.2x, Are influenced by what;s how and what’s not 1.9x, Store/listen to MP3s 1.8x, Watch DVDs on a PC 1.7x, Use IM 1.8x, Use social networking sites 2.7x, and Send/receive text messages 1.8x.
- This data helped us identify 10 attributes that companies need to keep in mind when designing experiences for Gen Yers. I had the most fun talking about how “Gen Y Speak Their Own Language.” To make that point, I showcased the lyrics from the #1 song on Billboard’s list: Crank That by Soulja Boy.
- Keeping in mind all of those attributes, we identified 4 strategies for designing online experiences for Gen Y: Immediacy, Gen Y Literacy, Individualism, and Social Interactivity.
- Our presentation was chock-filled with fun examples. We’ll be publishing this research later this quarter.
That’s all for now. I’m heading home very early tomorrow morning, so I won’t have any more updates from the Consumer Forum.
The bottom line: It’s a great event; don’t miss it next year!
fcf07This Week @ Forrester’s Consumer Forum October 7, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y.add a comment
Well, this will be a busy week. Forrester’s Consumer Forum called “Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies“ is happening on Thursday and Friday in Chicago. I think we’re expecting nearly 800 attendees. Here’s a blurb from the marketing literature:
Fueled by cheap devices and pervasive access, individuals are increasingly taking cues from one another rather than from institutions - a phenomenon that creates chaos for traditional brands, sellers, and media outlets.
It should be a great event. The industry speakers include Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO, Playboy Enterprises; Christina Norman, President, MTV Networks; Robert J. Bach, President, Entertainment & Devices Division, Microsoft; and Richard Edelman, President and CEO, Edelman.
I’ve been responsible for creating a track called “Designing Great Social Experiences” and am really excited about the five sessions in the track:
- Designing Experiences For Young Consumers; led by Ross Popoff-Walker and me. We’ll be showcasing early results from research that we’ve been doing on how firms should design experiences for Gen Yers (18-27 year-olds). We’ll layout 10 characteristics of Gen Yers that firms should keep in mind when they’re designing experiences for these young consumers. And then we’ll provide 4 categories of design strategies to apply.
- Designing Mobile Social Networks, led by Vidya Lakshmipathy. Vidya will also be showcasing some new research on the ways that mobile can be used to enhance social networks. She’ll also be leading a discussion with execs at firms that have innovative mobile applications: Socialite and Urban Interactive.
- Customer Review Design Best Practices, led by Megan Burns. Amazon and NetFlix have successfully used customer reviews to help other people make good choices; and many firms are following their lead. In another presentation of brand new research, Megan will disect the key elements of a customer review and then show attendees how to use this information to build a robust customer review system.
- Blog Design Best Practices, led by Harley Manning. Harley will showcase Forrester’s Blog Review metholodology. Anyone that’s seen Harley speak in the past knows that this will be an action-packed session. (Forrester clients can access to this methodology, as well as others, by clicking this link: Forrester’s CxP methodologies).
- Social Computing Trends: An Interactive Agency Roundtable, led by Kerry Bodine. Kerry will discuss trends in social computing with execs from an exciting group of design agencies: Avenue A | Razorfish, VML, and Organic.
Many of the sessions are showcasing brand new research, so it should be a really interesting event!
I’ll write-up some highlights from the event in my blog: Stay tuned.
You may also want to check out the blog by two Forrester analysts — Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li — called “Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies.” Josh and Charlene are the keynote speakers at the event and they’re writing a book called Groundswell.
The bottom line: Chicago should be hopping this week.
Older Consumers Want Good Service August 29, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y.add a comment
In a recently published research report called Service Trumps Price As Consumers Get Older, we examined what consumers care about most when shopping or doing business with financial services firms, insurers, and retailers. The analysis of nearly 5,000 consumers looked at data across five generations: Gen Y (20s), Gen X (30s), Younger Boomers (40s), Older Boomers (50s), and Seniors (60s+). Some common things showed up in all three sectors:
- Younger consumers focus on low prices. For all three sectors, Gen Y was the group that cared about low prices more than every other generation. This focus on price dropped considerably with progressively older generations.
- Older consumers want good service. When it comes to financial services and insurance, Seniors care the most about good service. And while good service isn’t the top concern for Seniors when they deal with a retailer, it is clearly one of the more important attributes. The need for good service declines with progressivley younger generations.
The bottom line: To reach older consumers, make sure that your marketing messages (and offerings) convey (and provide) good service.
The “Enjoyability” Genderation Gap July 23, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Customer experience, Gen Y, Marketing to Gen Y.add a comment
In a recent comment to my posting on NetPromoter vs. Satisfaction (which is a topic that often evolves into almost a religious debate), someone mentioned generational differences in how consumers interact (younger consumers are more likely to “recommend” than are older consumers). A lot of my research deals with consumer behavior — looking at topics like this — so I thought it might be good to include some elements of my research in that area on this blog. Rather than dealing with the “recommend” topic (we’ll let that discussion continue in the comments), I’ll dig into some of the differences in “Enjoyability.”
In a Forrester report called “Gen X Males Crave More Enjoyment” I analyzed survey responses from more than 5,000 consumers — examining how they enjoy doing business with 14 different types of companies. There’s a lot of data in that report, but let me highlight a few key findings:
- Male Gen Xers want a lot more enjoyment. When it comes to every category of business except airlines, Gen X males were at or near the top in their willingness to switch providers for a more enjoyable experience.
- Seniors aren’t looking for more enjoyment. Female Seniors was one of the groups least likely to leave its current provider for a better experience - except when it came to the group’s dealings with general department stores. Male Seniors felt the same disinterest in moving business away from six of the different types of companies.
- Female Gen Yers have more enjoyment than their male peers. Young consumers are split down gender lines when it comes to enjoyability. Gen Y males give some of the lowest marks to seven firms while Gen Y females give some of the highest marks to four of the firms.
There are significant differences in both generations and genders (we sometimes refer to this analysis as a look at “genderations” – a shout out to Eric Dolan, a researcher at Forrester, for creating that term). So your strategy had better be clear on what you want to accomplish with each of these genderations.
