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Our recent survey of 588 DVR users reveals that they buy more premium TV and consumer electronics and have a higher ownership rate of home networks than the average consumer. They are also passionate -- the average respondent has shown her DVR to seven other people.
Mark Your Calendars! On December 16, The Essentials Of Search Engine Marketing Boot Camp is coming to San Francisco. Learn how to: 1) make sites highly visible in search results; 2) purchase and evaluate keywords; 3) design effective paid placement ads; and 4) integrate search into the marketing mix. For details, contact Shar VanBoskirk at svanboskirk@forrester.com.
1. "Companies need to merge the physical and virtual." - Vikki Pachera, Hewlett-Packard
2. "We need experience to decommoditize our product." - Robert Cotter, Starwood
3. "We are in a sight, sound, and motion world." - Linda Wolfe, Leo Burnett
4. "The middle ground -- boring mediocrity -- is dead." - Peter Chernin, NewsCorp
In an age of spam blocking, ad-skipping, and do-not-call lists, marketers need a unified, intelligent marketing technology backbone to optimize customer contacts and integrate marketing efforts across channels.
Hewlett-Packard's Digital Entertainment Center acts more like a TV than a PC and will appeal to entertainment lovers, especially when the price drops. Microsoft's Media Extender is an interesting platform, but it still will not gain much traction against cheaper distribution options.
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Companies Must Delve Inside The Brain Of Consumers
In my last First Look, I outlined why customer experience is quickly becoming the next competitive battleground. Recently, at Forrester's Consumer Forum in New York, more than 600 attendees and 60 speakers, including C-level executives from Aetna, Best Buy, Clear Channel, Comcast, JetBlue, Leo Burnett, NewsCorp, Starwood Hotels, and Victoria's Secret discussed best practices for attracting and retaining finicky, fruit-fly consumers in the digital era.
So what is the answer? What is the secret to creating great experiences in the digital age?
Two concepts: logic and emotion. In other words, head and heart, fact and feeling, the two sides of the brain. As companies, our mandate is pretty clear: We need to discern logic more than we ever have and connect to emotions at new and deeper levels. This starts with using technology in creative ways to achieve a more advanced level of insight into customer behavior and then assimilating this knowledge into products and marketing. Let me explain what I mean by logic and emotion.
Logic. Companies must dispel the myth that hard science has no place in marketing, management, or product design. One idea we have been writing about is Left Brain Marketing (the most popular report at Forrester this year). Left Brain Marketing is the rise to predominance of analytical marketing strategies, skills, and processes that are centered on audience knowledge, not media. This is a big change for marketers, especially brand marketers and creative types within agencies.
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Creative work still plays a big role in advertising, but segmentation, marketing analytics, sophisticated targeting, and measurement will be more critical in the days to come. The rise of addressable television, via intelligent set-top boxes, will only accelerate this trend.
New technologies are critical to discerning logic, in the form of smart point-of-sale systems, kiosks, and voice-enabled self-service. At the center of many of these applications is a marketing technology backbone that supports smart contacts across channels.
Emotion. As digital technology commodifies many industries, creating emotional connections with customers is becoming critical. No longer is general satisfaction a good measure of brand loyalty. Consumers have to be proud or thrilled about you or your brand. We see this in the financial services and auto industries. We see it with consumer electronic products like Apple iPods and DVRs like TiVo -- these are products that don't just accomplish a task, but they inspire users and improve their lives in an emotional way (see graphic above).
Emerging technologies play a huge role in connecting to emotions as well. Look at how blogging and social networking played a huge role in the passion of Howard Dean supporters. Live events, streaming media, persona development, proactive service -- all of these are examples of how new technologies can help companies touch the emotions of customers.
The prospect of getting further into the mind of customers should not be daunting. It's something to be energized by. We've heard a lot about consumer empowerment during the past few years as a result of putting more technology in their hands -- and it's certainly true. But we are just beginning to see businesses get empowered with new technologies, new data, and new tools.
And here's the rub: You've gotta love learning about logic and emotion if you want to create products that blend logic and emotion. Some of the best products are those that blend logic and emotion in incredible ways. One of my favorite examples of blending logic and emotion is the LeapPad -- an electronic book for children. Talk about logic -- it's portable, it's interactive, it's light enough for a kid to carry, and it's educational. And emotion? Children can play with their favorite character, on their own time, wherever they may be.
Don't be left out. Companies are figuring out that blending logic and emotion are critical to their success and have repositioned their entire companies around the customer experience. The old slogan for Staples (an office supply store here in the US) used to be "Yeah, we got that." It recently changed the slogan to "That was easy" -- focusing the company around the ease of the customer experience across channels. Other examples abound: Dell's slogan of "Easy as Dell," McDonald's slogan of "I'm Lovin It!", and BMW's tag line of "Sheer Driving Pleasure." There's something big going on here. So think about how you can discern logic and connect to emotion in new ways.
By next month, we'll have completed research on the battle for the digital home, video-voice-data bundles, and the future of TV advertising. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Chris Charron
Vice President, Research Director
Devices, Media, & Marketing Research
P.S. If you'd like to suggest research for us to write or if there are data points you're looking to track down, feel free to drop me a line anytime at chrischarron@forrester.com.
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