Accenture Interactive’s ANZ Boss On Making The Personalisation Game Simple
In this opinion piece, Michael Buckley, managing director of Accenture Interactive for Australia and New Zealand, explains why data is the critical fuel to personalisation platforms.
The age of digitisation has given consumers access to an overwhelming number of choices in everything they do, leaving them more likely to be less satisfied with the selections they make. To cut through this online content saturation and simplify the process, companies must engage in hyper-personalisation strategies.
According to recent research by Accenture, 40 per cent of consumers have left a business’ website and made a purchase through a competitor or in-store because they were overwhelmed by choice. It is clear that the multitude of choice is taking its toll on purchasing decisions, and in this digital market of ‘all you can choose’, businesses must recognise that simplicity is often the key to engaging customers.
While the digital world offers an explosive number of options, companies are losing the personal touch that customers value in face-to-face interactions. Accenture found that 65 per cent of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer if they are recognised, remembered and receive relevant recommendations.
In order to achieve a truly personalised understanding of consumer expectations, companies need to move beyond knowing what customers purchase or consume, and begin to understand why they made those choices. Brands need to look at data centricity and technology as the new tools to develop a deeper, continued understanding of users and enable the delivery of custom made experiences. Through what Accenture refers to as ‘the customer genome’, companies can build a living profile of the customer’s unique preferences, passions, and needs, and lay the foundation for a future where personalisation platforms can create previously unimagined experiences. These customer profiles are cultivated through the collection of digital interactions such as mobile app usage, emails and social interactions that all help shed light on each customer’s unique preferences, motivations and interactions – what Accenture Interactive calls ‘interaction DNA’.
Much like a customers’ interactions reveal attributes about them as an individual, every product or service also has its own attributes, which make up the product’s DNA. It’s the advanced analysis of data from both interaction and product DNA that helps brands develop a living profile for every customer to drive a personalised service.
Netflix has championed this personalisation movement, transforming itself from a content distributor to a content creator. Its success can be attributed to its reliance on data and analytics to understand its customers’ motivations, and develop an acute understanding of preferences and habits. For example, it has implemented an ever-improving system of ‘micro-tagging’, which assigns highly specific labels to content. This data yields close to 80,000 different genres, as specific as ‘visually striking Latin American comedies’ to ‘scary cult movies from the 1980s’. Netflix estimates that close to 80 per cent of the content consumed on the streaming site derives from data-based recommendations, and that this use of hyper-personalisation saves the company over one billion dollars a year.
Although Netflix does not rely on the customer genome as described here, it’s a prime example of a company that is harnessing accessible data to listen intently to its customers and drive effective business decision-making.
Beyond simply tracking customers’ product purchases, hyper-personalisation allows for targeted content consumption and gives brands the opportunity to build stronger customer relationships. By asking how data can change the experience for each user, personalisation can ultimately move beyond engaging customers to producing new products and services, such as content on demand.
Inevitably, harnessing data to achieve this level of personalisation can raise questions around privacy, but Accenture Interactive believes the real issue is one of ownership and benefit. Research from Accenture shows 80 per cent of customers are comfortable with their data being collected.
In collecting customer information, Accenture advises brands uphold the following three guiding principles:
- Transparency: make customers aware that their data is being collected.
- Control: give the customer control over editing, deleting or sharing information on their terms.
- Service: ensure the data accrued is being used on behalf of the customer to enhance or improve his or her experience.
The old-school salesperson approach of simply pushing products on the customer has become redundant and ineffective. Companies must shift from a ‘what’ to a ‘why’ mindset, aiming to understand the motivations behind a customer’s choice, rather than the choice itself. Data and analytics are essential tools to drive the insights for a personalised experience, but brands need to remember not all data is equal.
Ultimately, understanding the customer on this personal level helps brands create experiences that anticipate and fulfil future needs uniquely to each individual and provides breakthrough and proprietary IP to help drive decision-making across the organisation.
Latest News
The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]
‘It’s The Lesser Of Two Evils’ – NRL Eyes US Betting Market As Aussie Regulators Circle
US betting firms will be delighted by the circa 50,000 Americans who could soon watch the NRL on their favourite app.
A-League In Deep Discussions With New Partner To Keep Games On TV After Production Company Enters Administration
The A-League's insatiable appetite for scoring own goals continues.
TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]
Is The Australian Music Industry In Trouble? Inquiry Launched Following Splendour Cancellation
Earlier this week, an inquiry was launched into the challenges and opportunities currently facing the Australian live music industry in the wake of multiple festival cancellations. On 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee on Communications and the Arts to inquire into and report on the […]
Liana Dubois, Leandro Perez, Aimee Buchanan & More Gather For Inaugural Compadres Leadership Event
Didn't get the invite? Perhaps you're not as important as you thought.
Cathay Captures The Unforgettable Thrill Of Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Via Publicis
Nobody does rugby like Hong Kong, apparently. Certainly nobody does it as badly as Australia.
Cocogun Nabs Christine Watts, Kirsty Reynolds & Shev Tan Bolstering Management & Creative Teams
Cocogun bolsters its team with new hires. Committed to purchasing a bigger sofa, too.
The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley & Sam Cousins Take The Plunge With Pro-Bono Work For Cure Cancer
B&T chats with The Media Store bosses about their great pro-bono work and sponsored swim.
Hawke’s Brewing Co. Taps Rocket Comms For PR Agency Following Competitive Pitch
We're expecting Rocket Comms productivity to crash in spectacular fashion following this win.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Patties Serves Up A Taste Of Home For Olympians & South Sydney Rabbitohs Recommit To Gambling Reform
While the Rabbitohs commits to gambling reform, B&T reckons the team should commit to a decent auto sponsor.
Google: “Inevitable” That Bad Actors Will Abuse Ads Platform As Advertiser Account Suspensions Double
Google maintains it's simply impossible for it to entirely stop bad people placing & paying for ads using its service.
Quantcast Expands APAC Sales Team With Appointment Of News Corp Account Manager
No pressure at all when you are appointed as a client success manager.
Publicis Sapient Tests Microsoft-Powered Gen AI Search Tool With Homes & Villas By Marriott Bonvoy
Given Gen AI's record for mangling stuff, B&T cannot see the problem with letting it decide your next holiday digs.
Volkswagen & DDB Group’s “Roo Badge” To Reduce Kangaroo Related Road Collisions
Watch out for RooBadge as Cannes Lions' most debated campaign this year.
Twilio Launches Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot Features To Boost Productivity & Engagement
Agent Copilot sounds like James Bond's less interesting cousin.
Reebok & Honda Among New Clients For onetwo agency
OneTwo finally lives up to its name with this double billing.
Ogilvy Report: Throw Out The Social Strategy Rule Book, The Rules Of The Past No Longer Apply
B&T was puzzled that all 'influencers' aren't, effectively, 'virtual', but here we are.
WhiteGREY & AKQA Merge In Australia, Lee Simpson Departs
Fortunately, the combined agencies aren't opting for a trite portmanteau for the new name.
Splendour In The Grass 2024 Music Festival Cancelled!
Music fans all over the country reportedly relieved they can pack away their rain coats and gumboots for another year.
TV Ratings (26/03/2024): “Fairy Bread, F***ing Disgusting”: Gordon Ramsay Slams Aussie Food In Food Stars Launch
Ramsay not one for mincing his words, even when it comes to minced meat pies.
Paramount+ International Boss Doubles Down On Aussie Content, Says Ad-Tier will Grow Audiences And Revenue
Good news as Paramount will not be binning I’m A Celebrity for re-runs of Frasier.
Brent Smart: Telstra Pushing For 50-50 Brand-Performance Split But Warns Numbers ‘Won’t Look Great’ Initially
The old brand vs performance debate continues. But here, Brent is firmly sitting on the fence.
Crowded House, Tones And I & Dom Dolla Win Big At The Shure Rolling Stone Music Awards
B&T staffer reports back with humdinger of a hangover & feeling seriously uncool after mixing with music types.
Opinion: Dyslexia “A Hidden Gem” For Brands & Agencies
Dyslexics offer underappreciated benefits in the corporate field, according to this op-ed.
David Jones Taps Criteo To Power Online Retail Media Arm
Want to see ads for things you probably can't afford? David Jones has got you covered with new retail media play.
oOh!media Sets Up Team To Target Business Audiences Across Airports & Offices
oOh! wants brands to harass you every minute of your next business trip.
QMS Launches Australian First DOOH & TV Partnership With Samba TV
Samba TV, of course, is not a channel dedicated to dancing. Much to our dismany.
Slew Of New Hires At Amplify
Four new faces join the Amplify offices. Team say desk scarcity becoming "acute".
Adobe Announces Content Authenticity Initiative Expansions To Counter Deep Fakes
Try as they might to enlighten them, we suspect Trump supporters will continue to watch and believe Fox News.
The PR Group Appoints TechCrunch Senior Reporter Catherine Shu As Director Of Content & Media
Catherine Shu makes the bold leap from journalism to PR. Says inevitable pay bump was "unrelated".
HERO Nabs Ebony Santin From AMPR
Rumours Santin cleared out the stationery cupboard before departing are as yet unconfirmed.
Karena Noble Checks Out Of EVT Hotels & Resorts To Launch Comms Consultancy
Noble still managed to squeezed in a continental breakfast before departing.
Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Canva & Adobe face off continues. We're not picking sides but keenly aware that Canva's office is next door to ours.
“Lean On Our Team To Help You Find An Audience”: Why Understanding Audience Engagement Is Essential In Journalism
Engaging the audience is critical to journos, apparently. We'd thought self-loathing & alcoholism were key.
Adobe Summit: Major Gen AI Developments, Data Concessions & Partnerships
What happens in Vegas stays there. Unless it's the Adobe Summit and then you get to read about in B&T.