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A while back I visited the Museum of Failure in Los Angeles. Seriously,
this is a real thing–– a pop-up museum showcasing decades of really bad
marketing ideas. My personal favorite? Gerber Singles––meals in a jar
targeted at young adults who didn’t have time to cook. And as we know,
nothing says your life sucks more than eating dinner in a jar…from a baby food
brand.
This
experience jolted me into thinking about how marketers, no matter how well-intentioned,
can become better equipped to embrace change and avoid being showcased in the
Museum of Failure.
We’re
living in a period of unprecedented change. Massive demographic shifts. Shifting
cultural norms. Media fragmentation. New technologies. The power
of data. Low barriers to entry. New business models disrupting the
status quo.
Change
is simply the new normal. The marketers that succeed will be those that
quickly adapt, developing the skills to rapidly test, learn and
iterate. Being open to change isn’t a best practice, it’s a survival
skill. (As has been said, if you don’t like change, you’ll like
irrelevance even less!)
The
most exciting part of where marketing is heading is what we are returning to. We’re moving past the phase of
being dazzled by shiny new marketing technologies, applying them simply because
we can. We’re remembering that on the other side of that screen, those VR
goggles, or holding the mobile app…there is a human being.
Human
Centered Design, and by extension, Human Centered Marketing, starts with
genuine empathy. Human centered marketers don’t draw inspiration from the
latest technologies. They draw inspiration from people. They develop
an empathetic understanding of their journey, needs, and aspirations.
This is not about
going analog. Far from it! Data and marketing technologies give us
more ways to be more relevant and personalized to customers. Addressable
TV enables us to use Mass Media as 1:1 marketing. First party data
segmentation enables us to personalize at scale. Machine Learning helps
technology be more intuitive. (Just ask Alexa.) Data provide the
ability to better understand people––how they’re alike, how they’re unique, how
we can help them.
But
we know, too, that there is a dark side to technology, to social media, to
seeing humans as algorithms. We are witnessing an erosion of trust
concurrent with an increase in isolation, social bubbles, and stress.
This
is why I've embraced a simple truth: what’s true in life should be true in
marketing. If a
marketer hopes to build lasting customer relationships, it must first earn the
customer’s trust. Empathy is how we build trust in our personal
relationships. So, too, in marketing.
Empathy
is different than being customer driven. (Hey, simply being customer
driven leads to dinners in a jar for time-starved young adults!) Empathy is the
ability see the world through another person’s eyes…to truly understand their
experience by standing in their shoes.
Practitioners
of Human Centered Design start by putting aside preconceived ideas and instead
focus on understanding the people they are designing for. It involves
discovering what people are trying to accomplish; how they want to feel; their
unarticulated needs; their pain points. Successful marketers increasingly
understand that true customer empathy is a source of differentiation.
We
see signals pointing to the future of marketing in many of the disruptive
marketing frameworks that take a human centered approach to helping people
accomplish goals.
Direct-to-Customer Marketers such Casper, Warby Parker and Carvana
are disrupting categories by uncovering unarticulated needs and designing new
experiences that are convenient, friction-free and personalized. (DTC
marketers have the added advantage of capturing 1st Party Data, enabling them
to maintain ongoing relationships with their customers.) 
Subscription Marketers, similar to DTC brands, solve real
customer pain points yet have the added benefit of continuously learning how to
personalize the experience. Stitch Fix learns more about its customers
each month based on what clothing they return or keep. Netflix uses
machine learning to understand what we like to binge. And in a surprising
move, John Hancock recently announced it will only underwrite “interactive
insurance” policies for customers who agree to share health data from their
wearable device. (Subscription models have a huge financial benefit to
these marketers, generating a more predictable revenue stream and greater
lifetime value per customer.)
Mobile 1st Marketers use mobile as a business strategy,
not a media channel. Mobile 1st businesses apply Human Centered Design to
understand the customer journey, especially the unarticulated pain points, and
use mobile to help people accomplish tasks. Delta has done a brilliant job
of this, even down to solving the latent anxiety felt by many travelers who
worry whether their bag was successfully loaded on the plane. Domino’s is
also embracing a Mobile 1st approach, not just with their Pizza Tracker, but
now with the launch of Domino’s Hot Spots nationwide.
Purpose-Driven companies are human centered, but in a
different way. Brands such as Tom’s, Chobani and Dove aren’t listening to
customers to figure out how to be more relevant. They are guided by a
clear sense of purpose about making the world a better place. They operate
as a force for positive change and attract people who share that same
belief. (Research increasingly shows a growing number of customers will
consider a brand’s stand on social issues before making a choice.)
As
I said at the start, change is simply the new normal. The most exciting change in marketing is how, in an increasingly
digital age, we are returning our focus to the human experience. We’re
remembering a timeless human lesson: To build lasting customer
relationships, we must first earn the customer’s trust by designing experiences
inspired by genuine human empathy.
Because
what’s true in life, is true in marketing.