Social Media as an Enterprise Revenue Stream

Many organisations, both large and small are in some way incorporating their social media channels into their marketing strategy to improve customer-centricity…and most importantly, sell. Companies are spending a pretty penny on their Instagram and Twitter pages, in order to shed the best lighting on their products and services across just about every industry and tailor-focused medium. Mobile marketing strategies will be a key theme at the upcoming CXO Leaders Summit, taking place on the 19th and 20th of August at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney.

Chili’s has spent nearly 1 million dollars on an eggwash that gives their hamburger buns a seamless glow that asks the silently ominous question to competing restaurant marketers; sure…your food is good, but does it look good on Instagram? A recent article published by Forbes, “Chili’s Spends Millions To Make Food Look Good On Social Media, For a Millennial Customer Experience,” highlights the social media phenomenon that goes to show the length companies are willing to go to in order to strategically market their products and services; because your customer may be more likely to focus on the appearance of their whereabouts and experiences, (by the “X-Pro or “Hefe” Instagram filter) than their actual experience of eating that burger, anyway.

Rather than stealing their customers social-media-scrolling time, Dutch airline company, KLM has incorporated live customer service via Twitter…proving a truly customer-centric business model by communicating with their clients, at their clients convenience…(and holding-time entertainment, for that.) At a respond rate that averages less than an hour, (less than 15 min from our CXOLeaders inquiry,) a personal booking agent can assist your flight management in a personally tailored and unobtrusive manner. The airline’s social media customer service is managed by 150 agents and generates annual revenue of $25M and of course, is seamlessly convenient, responsive and transparent.

According to Bazaar, brands spend over one billion dollars annually for retail-sponsored endorsements that prove to provide a solid revenue stream. 22-year-old, New York fashionista and blogger, Danielle Bernstein of “We Wore What” sets a $5,000 – $15,000 price tag on a singe piece of sponsored material via social media. The retail-Instagram economy is booming. And it only makes since that companies cater their efforts, quite literally to their customer’s hand; on the bus ride to work and in between coffee breaks that can attribute validation without appearing to try and do so. The day-to-day “this is what I’m wearing” and “this is what I like” tends to come off less intrusive when you have 1 million  Instagram fan-base.

Optimising your mobile strategy to keep up with the demands of the evolving customer is among the key focuses at this years CXO Leaders Summit. The Summit is invitation only and intended for Australia’s leading Marketing and Customer Experience executives to gather together for a strategic two-day event in order to discuss the current challenges facing the industry, as well as the cutting edge technologies that are leading the way. If you are interested in attending this upcoming Summit as a delegate or are a provider with an innovative product or solution to offer, please register your interest here.

Is your organisation in a position to consider social media as a revenue stream? Follow us on Twitter: @CXOLeaders …we’d love to hear your thoughts!

The Customer-First, Uber Strategy

Uber continues to, ‘evolve the way the world moves,’ as arguably one of the most newsworthy, digital company’s of our era. But in addition to using their services and benefiting from their highly successful, international business strategy…there are a few things that we can all learn from Uber when managing customer service. Recognising Uber as one of the most influential leaders in the world in regards to customer targeted marketing and personalisation of service, Media Corp International is a proud user and partner for Uber’s services for the upcoming CXO Leaders Summit, taking place on August 19th – 20th in Sydney.

The #UberKITTENS marketing campaign gained a great deal of attention, starting in the U.S. resulting in an international reach. In February of this year, Uber teamed up with six cat shelters across Australia in order to exchange their goods and services, (kittens and transportation,) and for a price of $40.00, people were able to have a kitten delivered to them for a 15-minute cuddle. The results? The proceeds were donated back to the cat shelters, the customers felt loved and the web was filled with happy co-workers, exchanging kitten-cuddle-photos;, promoting the highly successful, international brand.

More recently, Uber combined forces with the Goodwill in a spring-cleaning promotion that reached more than 50 major cities across the U.S. The collaboration resulted in a free donation service, enabling users to donate their unwanted goods by not having to leave the convenience of their doorstep. Uber was able to contribute many donations that may have been trashed but will now clothe thousands of less-fortunate in an efficient deployment of resources to satisfy their customers and successfully execute a mutually beneficial partnership victory. Uber’s platform, Uberassist is designed to provide additional assistance for customers with accessibility needs that may not be met by other transportation services. Uberassist appeals to the customers that can find this feature most useful, but also to those that appreciate the recognition of need for this extended service.

Whether it be the need to use Uber’s helicopter services, (UberChopper) for a quick sky-high ride or their newer introduction of transportation via water taxi, (UberBoat)…their ongoing business strategies continue to push the traditional marketing campaign strategies; proving value to the customer…resulting in their success.  We’re proud to announce that Uber will be offering our CXO Leaders Summit attendees transportation, to and from the Summit at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney on August 19 – 20.

*The CXO Leaders Summit is invitation only and intended for Australia’s most senior marketing leaders to gather for a strategic two day event in order to exchange knowledge and interact as one over a range of important issues facing the industry. Leading marketing executives will be on hand to discuss cutting-edge business challenges currently facing the industry which include topics such as delivering customer centric marketing, redefining your customer engagement strategy for the mobile user, strategies for unifying metrics to effectively manage the customer experience and increasing consumer relevance in today’s multi-platform digital age. If you are a thought leader within the marketing space, and are interested in attending this upcoming Summit, please register your interest here.

Insurance Customer Satisfaction Decline in Australia

The World Insurance Report, created by CapGemini and European Financial Management Association, reported less than 30% of insurance customers, globally, satisfied with their customer experience. According to the report, Australian insurance customer experience has dropped from 73.4 out of 100 to 68.5, moving its global ranking from 6 to 8. The CXO Leaders Summit, taking place on 18 – 19 August 2015 at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney will cover strategies that engage the customer and increase customer satisfaction in today’s multi-platform digital age.

The report studies industry trends, customer experience and the future of the industry using the metric of customer experience index. Dipak Sahoo, insurance lead at Capgemini Australia indicated that the dip had to do with a younger generation of customers, unsatisfied with current insurance technology.

“The way agents and brokers can learn from this is that they would need to adapt to the technology changes that are happening in the market. First and foremost they need to provide a similar experience that other customers are having through other channels. They need to start using analytics and gathering more information about the customer. In their other channels, whatever channels these brokers provide, they need to replicate that.”

Topics at the CXO Leaders Summit will cover delivering customer centric marketing, redefining your customer engagement strategy for the mobile user, increasing consumer relevance and strategies for unifying metrics to effectively manage the customer experience. If you are a thought-leader within the Marketing arena  and are interested in attending this upcoming summit as a delegate or a supplier, please feel free to register your interest here and confirm your spot for the upcoming event.