You are not your Consumer

Q: A first question, Delphine, what is ‘Consumer Connect’ all about?

“Well, more and more do leadership and marketing teams realise that they are not their consumer and that they need to get out of their ‘bubble’. So, a lot of companies are looking for an easy and efficient way to connect with consumers. This is where Consumer Connect programmes come in; where company employees spend time directly with consumers or customers, in an online and/or offline setting. The whole idea behind these encounters is that company stakeholders engage directly and frequently with their target audience.”

Crafting experiential habits

Q: How can brands make such a Consumer Connect programme a success? What do they need to do?

“I can share three tips to make such programmes successful. The first one focuses on the flow of your consumer connect. All too often connects are treating it as a one-off video call with consumers. However we have seen the importance and impact of adding a pre- and a post-phase to that. Before the conversation, explain its purpose and prepare stakeholders to that they feel comfortable speaking to consumers. It’s also important to match the right consumer with the right company stakeholder. Poor matching, skipped preparation and assumptions about what customers think can all weaken the conversation and limit consumer closeness.

My second tip is ‘make it a habit’. Building consumer empathy is like going to the gym: if you only go once, you will not see much impact. But do it regularly, and you will see the full potential and impact of it. The same goes for your empathy muscles. Of course, you can organise consumer connects on a more ad hoc basis, but I’m a strong believer in the power of structural connects, making them a company-wide habit.

And my third tip is ‘do something offline from time to time’. The best channel depends on what you want to learn and how you can reach the right customers. Online conversations are efficient and make it easier to connect regularly, while in-person experiences can reveal more about people’s routines, surroundings and interactions. For a deeper, more immersive connection, try an offline activity now and then — such as exploring a city’s hotspots with consumers or cooking together. Choose the format that fits your goal, and use a mix of channels when it helps you understand customers more fully.

Don’t trust your assumptions

Q: Why is it important for professionals to connect with consumers more regularly and directly?

“Despite what marketers sometimes think, they are not that much like the consumers they serve. In fact, an Australian study has shown marketers are living in their own ((sub)urban) bubble, literally out of touch with everyday consumers. According to the survey, 41% of Sydney agency people live in the city or inner city, compared to just 4% of the public. As a result, they often have very different lifestyles. And it’s when you think that your own life is representative for the many consumers you serve, that you will make mistakes.”

Q: Can you tell us something more on the impact of Consumer Connect programmes?

“Training your empathy muscles has a direct short-term and long-terms impact. In the short term, it motivates people as they can directly see who their consumer is. It humanizes the consumer, more than via anonymous quotes and stats in presentations and workshops. And it helps marketers to internalize consumer stories, empathize and act upon them.

In the long term, it provides company stakeholders with a broader consumer context, which allows them to craft better consumer insights and activate them across the organisation. Over time, the connects also fuel their ‘consumer understanding’ – allowing people feel more confident making informed decisions without launching a new research project every time.”

Time to burst the bubble

Consumer Connect programmes help fuel consumer-centric thinking, where internal stakeholders get to know the people behind the numbers. Because just like Microsoft’s Lee Dick Clark said, “it’s not just a statistic, it’s about the human being”.