better for customers – Data Pulses storytelling

Zippin through the store

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A Bay Area startup has launched a small public demo in San Francisco that will grow into a full-sized AI-driven convenience store in the coming months.

A Cooler with soft drinks and sandwiches and a shelf full of crisps is just the beginning for this start-up Cashierless C-store concept by Zippin that launched recently. But the Beta concept will scale rapidly Into a fully fledged C-Store as learnings are applied.

The concept uses relatively inexpensive cameras and weight sensors on shelves. The camera feeds are analyzed by algorithms trained through machine learning to recognize the appearance of each product the store carries.to accurately understand when a customer picks up items and puts them in a bag or pocket.

An app is used to sign in and complete the checkout. This also improves the customer experience as customers get used to the technology, and learn how to use it by signing in ( we found that helps customers know that we know they aren’t stealing things ) as well as quick payment.

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Amazon-Go is rolling out in further stores in San Francisco and New York as well as rumoured to be looking in London. Walmart has just announced a larger less tech but still cashierless store in Dallas.

Zippin will provide another technology that will allow retailers to compete with Amazon-Go in the Better, Simpler, Cheaper stake.

Amazon-Go leading the way

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Amazon opened a fourth Amazon-Go cashier less convenience store in Chicago, the first location outside Seattle. The new store is at 113S Franklin St in Chicago’s Loop, one block from one of the City’s elevated train routes and within a few blocks of Union Station. Good C-Store location dense with Office workers and on a commenter path.

Amazon-Go using camera technology, scanners and Machine learning algorithms to improve the customer journey. They may be ahead in technology but they still have a long way to go understanding Food Retailing.

Read here about the first store AMAZON GO-GO

Amazon isn’t the only one chasing a cashier less vision, Frictionless shopping is the goal of many retailers and start-ups. Companies like Standard Cognition and Zippin have opened their own pilot stores so other retailers can use the technology.

Standard Market based in SanFrancisco is a concept store that users overhead cameras but no sensors to correctly matches items to the right shopper, detects when a shopper returns an item to the shelf or puts it in a bag or a pocket. (View a video HERE) Customers download the STandard Checkout App to shop and checkout. No scanning required for a frictionless experience. View more detailed story HERE,

Zippin are a startup based in BAy Area of SanFrancisco and have a Beta-Concept store where they are learning fast READ more HERE

MobyMart in Shanghai is learning fast ( read story HERE)

and in UK Tesco and Sainsbury’s are trialing stores where customers scan the products themselves and then have a simpler checkout on a phone.

Making it as easy and frictionless as possible is the battleground of retail in the next few years and using data and digital to deliver a Better, Simpler, Cheaper Shopping Experience is the ExamQuestion for many retailers at the moment .

Standard Market – Frictionless Store

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Standard Market based in SanFrancisco is a concept store that opened on 7th September located at 1071 Market Street, that allows customers to shop & pay without scanning or stopping to checkout. The Proof-of-concept store uses overhead cameras but no sensors to correctly matches items to the right shopper, detects when a shopper returns an item to the shelf or puts it in a bag or a pocket.

Customers download the Standard Checkout App to shop and checkout. No scanning required for a frictionless experience.

CHECKOUT A VIDEO DEMO BY CLICKING

This concept is potentially more scalable in Europe as it has higher levels of privacy with no Biometric information collected from customers including facial recognition, with lightweight installation process with overhead cameras and no sensors.

This is a great example of making the customer experience Better, Simple, Cheaper, with a frictionless experience for customers, simpler stores to run, and lower running costs ongoing. The opportunities around Anonomised shopper analytics in the store are also enormous, allowing continuous improvements.

5 ways hard-headed leaders promote innovation

retail leaders

I have known many CEOs and CMOs over my career. The best ones created innovative transformational cultures. Many tried. Some failed to comprehend the definition of the word itself; others lacked the vital leadership traits to inspire creativity and implement great ideas. Those who were adept at driving innovation and sustaining it over the long haul had one thing in common: they were hard-headed.

Their tough-mindedness came from an unshakable belief that innovation is critical to corporate survival, and that without powerful and constant change, innovation would be elusive. These trailblazers were innovative leaders, but surprisingly some of them weren’t creative, themselves. That didn’t matter because they were good a recognizing great ideas and welcoming change. No change, no innovation.

So, how do unshakable leaders create change and how to they sustain the innovation outcome?

They unsettle the organization. There’s a host of companies that get things done, control performance, spot problems and deliver their budgets. But the structures, the processes and the people that keep things ticking along can snuff good ideas and block movement through the system. Innovative leaders appreciate that there is a difference between what’s needed to run a business and what’s needed to foster creativity. This ethic prevents excessive layering from killing ideas before they reach the top.
They’re hardheaded about strategy. Leaders who embrace innovation have a pretty clear idea of the kind of competitive edge they’re seeking. They’ve thought hard about what’s practical and what’s not. So the approach is not wishy-washy, but focused and driven. When this methodology brings results, employees become disciples of the strategy and the culture that facilitates execution.
They make innovation a priority in the “walk” as well as the “talk.” When executive teams demonstrate innovative thinking and practices, the rest of the organization is clear on direction. This facilitates coherent cross-functional teamwork and an innovative modus operandi that encourages diverse viewpoints.
They take note of what’s already going on with a view to balancing creative thinking with the discipline of assessing solutions and their implementation. The best backdrop for spurring innovation is knowledge – knowing the business cold. Good ideas often flow from the process of looking at customers, competitors, and the business as a whole.
They appreciate that not many ideas work the first time, so they’re prepared to praise failure, move on, or try again until the company gets it right. From there, innovative leaders marshal resources behind a few winners and then execute like the SKY Cycle team

Innovative leaders are a special breed. They aren’t as interested in “minding the store” as they are about “opening new stores.” Nor are they shy to admit to controlling strategic direction, influencing the culture, and monitoring the process and practice that unleashes business’s most elusive success factor.

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Alexa I’ll have a skinny decaf latte

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Starbucks have always been leaders in mobile technology to improve the customer experience, with leadership in mobile order & pay technology.

In an initiative designed to simplify ordering even more consumers in Korea can now remotely voice activate a Starbucks order using Samsung’s digital assistant Bixby. They can also pay for it at the same time in advance of picking it up . Starbucks led in South Korea ( a digitally leading culture) to be the first to leverage the technology to improve the customer experience

Never Stop Listening

Never stop Listening

As she’s scanning organic bananas or buckwheat kernels at the checkout the assistant at local health food store strikes up a conversation. She’s curious to know if the bananas are just for making smoothies and what the customer uses the buckwheat for. These seemingly insignificant interactions are hardly worth remembering and yet over time they spark ideas for new menu items to be introduced at the in-store cafe and give rise to opportunities to better serve her community of customers.

Good marketing starts with the customer’s needs and wants, not with the company’s emergency.

A great marketing strategy is geared towards creating lasting connections instead of simply being focused on reaching short term targets.

The gifted marketer doesn’t simply try to sell what’s in stock today. She strives to understand what her customer will want tomorrow and then creates the culture and momentum to deliver that.

If your success and profits are by-product of satisfied customers, it stands to reason that your priority is to matter, not simply to make and sell.

The challenge that many organisations have is understanding what matters to customers, and rapidly transferring that understanding into developing products and services that matter to customers. Don’t get me wrong, being on the shop floor and interacting with customers is a critical part of marketers and leaders’ role. Good retailers still spend a day or two a week out in shops, and Terry Leahey in Tesco formalized this with every leader spending a week in store: TWIST, Tesco Week In Store Together, starting with himself.

Using Data-driven technology can harness the power of your colleagues and customers to listen intensively to customers and anticipate their needs at even more scale.

At Coop we starting a Listen Act and Fix programme where we gathered ideas from colleagues and used these to understand and prioritise problems to fix.

At Sainsbury’s “Tell Justin” was a colleague crowdsourced ideas generation programme where 150,000 colleagues could write to Justin King the CEO with ideas. He saw every idea and they were passed to senior managers to review. Every Idea earned a certificate for the colleagues and a simple thank you from Justin. The best ideas when they were implemented were celebrated through the company.

At Starbucks in USA they have taken this idea further to crowdsource ideas from customers. My Starbucks Idea created a digital portal and crowdsources suggestions to improve service/experience and lets users vote for their favourite ideas. Every idea is responded to by management and customers are kept involved in development, through digital media or you-tube style updates. Ideas such as writing name on the cup, or even suggesting baristas taught the basics in sign language are being seriously reviewed.

Data driven Easyjet flys easy

Data Pulse # 434

Removing Friction in the customer journey to make it easier is critical for future success, and is important as a way of telling your Brand story , particularly if you are called EasyJet. Digital transformation can accelerate this change if applied with a clear focus on the commercial goals combined with deep understanding of the customer journey .

Carolyn McColl at Easyjet made great strides at using digital technology to transform the organisation making it easier for their customers to travel, simpler for their colleagues and cheaper for the organisation. They started with a clear understanding of the commercial goal: More customers flying more often on Easyjet, and developed a series of customer propositions that made it easier to fly driven around the key hardware that most travellers provide themselves: The Smartphone.

Easyjet app developed with key functionality

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1) Book Flight

2) My Flights Booked

3) My Flights Tracked

4) Mobile Check-in and Mobile Boarding Passes.

5) Option to book HireCare & Hotel.

All personalised through MyEasyjet traveller registration , that uses customer data held, (including passport, address credit card details ) geolocation of all data, previous flights searched and taken to make it easier for booking.

I have just headed off skiing flying Easyjet:

The email alerts prior to travelled felt timely & relevant: adding personal information, and checking.
The mobile boarding pass removes friction in finding a printer to print a boarding pass and then not losing the boarding pass as you travel through the airport .
The Flight Status monitor is an easy way of seeing ahead of leaving for the airport if flights are delayed or reassurance.

Easier Self Serve Baggage Drop.

Easyjet now have self serve baggage drop in Manchester as well as Gatwick , which makes it easier and quicker to drop off baggage rather than queuing

What Friction Points Next?

TO AND FROM THE AIRPORT

I would appreciate Easyjet helping me get to the airport and then to my onwards destination. It would be easy to partner / connect with Google or Citymapper to provide live travel options on drive times, Trains/ buses to catch, or even a link to Uber to get a ride to and from the airport.

WALK THROUGH AIRPORT STRESS FREE.

I would really appreciate being walked through the airport with digital alerts that help me understand which gate to go to , the time to gate, and alerts on how busy it is at anyone time. This technology is available and has been piloted in London City Airport by Dan Byles and the team at PlanetIT. So watch out for a digital concierge helping you through the airport and ensuring you have enough time and and not be rushed.

Eat, Drink and Shop at your pace.

I’ll even be able to order ahead and have my Starbucks coffee and porridge waiting for me as I arrive through security !

I am a demanding customer but I am really just like everyone else just more vocal.

Good Luck to Johan Lundgren , new CEO easyjet in accelerating the use of data even further to make easyjet even easier.

Segmentation is a tool to grow customer numbers

data pulse #37

Delivering the most relevant, inspirational messaging and experiences through advanced segmentation and targeting is a key advanced use of data. Segmentation itself is relatively straight forward, we all do it all the time. The skill for CMO lies in bridging the technical teams and the business imperatives to develop segmentation that delivers on commercial objectives

Netflix is an organisation that uses data in three of the advanced states. Netflix micro-tagging of vast content archives allowed creation of nearly 77,000 film segments, rich data, views, searches , times, pauses and more is used to build behavioural profiles and predictive algorithms give uniquely targeted recommendations.

The segmentation techniques are not dissimilar to the segmentations that Tesco, Sainsbury’s , Coop and Asda built for segmenting customers. Both cluster users based on attributing product features to films / products and then clustering film watched/ products bought using analytics.

The difference is the Volume, Velocity and Veracity of data used.

Coop Food apply 7 segments to members annually,

Netflix create 77,000 segments on daily basis, continually refining which segment members are in so better able to predict your best next film.

More complex isn’t always better, as organisations need to WALK before they can RUN, and align people and processes before they build more complexity. Asda is now using customer segmentations and tools and processes for building ranges and promotional plans, and continually building and refining, as well as segmenting customer communication to improve the Customer Experience

Customer focus, data-driven to deliver commercial imperatives.

Building more sophisticated segmentations will develop but add value if they are aligned to deliver commercial objectives, so creating strategic and operational capabilities

Dunkin Donuts Data Perks

dunkin donuts coffee and donut

Dunkin Donuts are just beginning to establish themselves in UK but in USA are the largest coffee retailer, and have applied data driven analytics and technology effectively to improve the customer journey.

A coffee and a Donut is one of the most popular calls, and is the mainstay of this convenience foodservice retailer.

Dunkin Donuts recognised the key to convenience retailing lay in the palm of their customers hands and build a customer journey revolving around the smart phone. They created an app based journey where customers could pre-order, collect and pay for their Dunkin Donut. It started with a minimum credible product, simple sign-up and sign-in and has developed into one of the most recognised programmes in USA.

. They understood the customer journey not in part but fully and recognised they were a convenience foodservice retailer and making a coffee and a donut easy for customers would drive more customers to make more visits.

Dunkin Donuts wanted to reward loyal guests in a fast and convenient manner, and provide an overall superior customer experience. Very similar to the goals that Whole Foods had in mind when launching its own loyalty program.

Understanding the Commercial Goals: Dunkin Donuts used advanced analytics to understand the commercial imperatives, and what would best drive them. They recognised that there was a bigger upside from increasing visits and number of visits that slightly increasing the average basket. ( There are only so many coffees and donuts you can eat in one sitting , but it’s important to be the coffee house of choice when there is a choice of 2-3 on the street.

Design a Customer experience that delivers the commercial imperative: They were clearly focusing on driving additional visits from additional customers because they designed a DD Perks programme that rewarded frequency vs average basket.

The Points based reward Rewarded Frequency: Assuming people ordered a coffee and a donut they earned points which became a free coffee every 10-20 visits. High value to the consumer and relatively low cost to Dunkin Donut.

They also made it easy and intuitive to sign up, and in addition to the basic points structure, Dunkin’ also included features to drive more sign-ups. Sign up on an app downloaded onto their phone,

Make it easy to get to the first reward Customers get a free reward when they join and on their birthday,. That emotional feeling of drinking a free coffee prompts more usage of Dunkin Donut

Make it more rewarding: once the first reward has been claimed targeted offers for incentives and bonus points based on consumer behaviour enable fast rewards accumulation

Make it Easy to Use / Pay Customers must pay with a registered DD payment card at participating locations, or more importantly customers can connect their DD cards to their phone, which enables mobile payments and gets more customers (hopefully) to download the Dunkin’ mobile app.

One last benefit of the program is that customers can share rewards with friends, which is high on many customers’ lists as a desirable loyalty program feature.

Technology developments to make it Easier : with the onset of Apple Pay, Dunkin Donuts enable mobile ordering through its app. Customers on their way to Dunkin’ Donuts can get their order in quicker, and Dunkin’ can speed up its line. In addition, Dunkin’ also announced interest in Apple Pay as a way to make payments easier for consumers

Three key outtakes for success:

Be Clear on the commercial imperative: frequency or average spend
Make it simple, rewarding to use
Integrate across the whole customer experience to make it easy for the customer

Dunkin-Donuts shop

Tech City Coffee

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Understanding customers better has always been critical. Identifying the heart of the commercial challenge and developing customer led solutions to solve them is critical.

Meeting customers needs and simplifying the customer experience using data and digital is a key skill of the new Chief Marketing Officer and delivering the most relevant, inspirational messaging and experiences through advanced segmentation and targeting is a skill every CMO must ensure is delivered.

Starbucks do that

Starbucks carries only 200SKUs but has managed to meet the needs of customers with relevant offers and communications whoever or wherever you are.

How?

Starbucks Influencing Wheel

Starbucks created a segmentation for customers by day of week, time of day and purchasing details, creating the Starbuck’s Influencing Wheel: which helps frame the problem in terms of what they know about a customer. Transaction data allows Starbucks to know what behaviours can be observed at purchase time. External f

ENTERPRISE Influences / Transaction data allow Starbucks to know what behaviours can be observed at purchase time ( Food, Beverage, in-store experience etc.)
EXTERNAL Influences ( Weather, Competitors, Events, Community) may impact the way customers behave so Starbucks collected data to simulate local conditions that may affect purchase behaviour.
CUSTOMER Characteristics ( occupation, demographic, need state, day part, media channel preferences etc.) Not all behaviours can be observed in a transaction so Starbucks deploy .a social listening strategy in order to capture some aspects of a customers lifestyle and how products& services may fit into that lifestyle

starbucks influencing wheel

Customer needs for coffee on way into work, is different to lunchtime or afternoon during the week, and again different to weekend morning coffee. This data is combined with open data to give highly tailored and timely communications with live triggers- offers in the right place at the right time. Arriving at Manchester Piccadilly rail station for early (5-55am) train to London I get an alert on my phone to pick up a Starbucks coffee for the train. and it really does taste sweet that early in the morning…..

Starbucks also improved the customer experience by being one of the first retailers using a digital app that allows payment through Apple pay or creating a Starbucks wallet that is automatically topped up.

Starbucks are leading the way in delivering the power of value based customer delivery, leveraging data driven analytics and digital technology to drive L4L growth.

Uber focused on data

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Uber is a people logistics service that uses a matchmaking model to connect customers directly with drivers to reduce prices for customers by optimising load capacity for drivers. It is now available in 53 countries and more than 200 cities and is revolutionising logistics and service using data. .

The app automatically detects the user’s position using GPS – so ‘riders’ can book a taxi with a single press of a button. Users can get an estimate of their fare by entering their destination. This is calculated by algorithms which consider the distance, prices of similar journeys, and the current Uber price rate.

uber app

Uber uses an algorithmic approach to account for differences in supply and demand in different areas. when supply out-strips demand prices are low, when demand increases the algorithm drives up pricing to encourage more drivers out and optimise revenue. This is called ‘surge pricing’. When demand outstrips supply in a certain area, surge pricing is applied and the usual fare rate will be multiplied appropriately. Users will be notified of surge pricing on booking, and can cancel the trip if they do not want to pay the increased fare.

When a the taxi is booked, a temporary bridge is created between customer and driver data allowing them to make contact and see each other’s location. Once the journey is over and the transaction complete, the exchange of data ends.

Uber scaled rapidly through partnership, using the best experts in any one area ( eg Google Maps, or best checkout system, or best driver id check ) and focused their development on the unique pricing model that optimises pricing to reduce prices for customers, increase occupancy rate for drivers, and drive customer growth and frequency for UBER.

UBER is changing the model for transport in cities around the world, with loyal customers, drivers clamouring to become an UBER driver, and a system determined to continually drive down pricing and increase service levels.

UBER has already changed the way transport works in London, picking up an UBER for shorter and well as longer journeys. replacing the need for a car at all. The future looks good.

Blow Up Bedrooms….

lifestyle airbnb

Data Pulse #23

When a few programmers and bloggers bought some air-beds , built a website and offered an air-bed with a coffee on their floor during a particularly busy conference season in San Francisco, they didn’t think they’d be creating a dis intermediation business to rival Marriott or Intercontinental Hotels.

Airbnb is a lodging rental platform with headquarters in San Francisco, California.

airbnb has grown staggeringly quickly over the past half-dozen years. The mind-boggling numbers show its incredible popularity; 1.5million listings in 33,000 cities in 191 countries around the world have attracted 65million guests – and counting.

Last June the company was priced at $25.5billion (above hotel giant Marriott’s $20.90bn), and ranked the third most valuable start-up business in the world, behind transportation network company Uber ($51billion), and Xiaomi, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker ($46bn).

airbnb has used data to deliver against the brand purpose, tell the brand story and build the customer experience . “Experience the world like a local”

airbnb describes itself as a ‘community marketplace where guests can book spaces from hosts, connecting people who have space to spare with those who are looking for a place to stay.’ A super brand that is community led.

The hosts are business partners, and airbnb is led by what the business partners say, continually getting their opinion and gauging reaction to business challenges and opportunities. It quickly builds a sense of openness, trust and meaningful interacton to form a strong community.

Every year, some 5,000 hosts from more than 100 countries are invited to the company’s airbnb Open (the 2015 edition was held in Paris) and encouraged to talk about the nature of their work. It is a great opportunity to both connect with the hosts and understand how airbnb can help serve them better. It is also a good way to feel part of that broader global community and the local area.

airbnb ran an innovative campaign to engage not only hosts but visitors in the airbnb community. The One Less Stranger campaign – where 100,000 hosts woke up on New Year’s Day, 2015, to an email from airbnb’s founder Brian Chesky saying he had paid $10 into their bank account – was an instance when “full editorial control” was taken away from Airbnb. Brian wrote that we would like the hosts to do something to help someone else, and to meet someone new with that money, It was a $1million marketing campaign where we gave full editorial control to the hosts. Some people just pocketed the money, but the idea here is that you can allow people who are your biggest advocates to be your spokespersons, and do your marketing for you, on social media and word of mouth.

It all builds up to the goal that your brand is driven by community rather than people in a marketing department.

‘It’s far better to have 100 people love you than 100,000 people sort of like you.’

airbnb also use data to make a ever growing core of people love them . The platform has disrupted the traditional hotels industry by eliminating the middle man and connecting travellers directly with people who have space to offer. airbnb collects detailed data relating to how customers are using the platform and attributes much of its success to an ability to analyse and understand how to improve the service.

airbnb employs extensive A/B testing to score multiple configurations or designs of its website and apps. Different users will also be exposed to different ranking and recommendation algorithms – the variation they experience is then linked to their next actions – viewing patterns, bookings and ultimately reviews of their stay.

airbnb uses natural language processing to decipher users’ true feelings about their stay, finding this to be more accurate than simple star rankings (which, they hypothesise, are overinflated due to the personal contact between guest and host).

Must admit i was a little nervous using airbnb for the first time ,. Found a little room in deepest Shoreditch, better than the local Premier Inn and cheaper… but now i’m a convert

Data is Magic for Disney

disney Magic band

“advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”

Data Pulse #7

My god-daughter Rose Bolcato has just visited Disneyland Paris for her Birthday weekend over Easter. she loves the magic that is Disney. Disney is the place to take your kids ( both small and grown up ones like me). The Disney brand is all about “Magic” and it’s critical to tell that story consistently.

Disney has invested heavily in its new ‘MagicBand’ technology that delivers an enhanced, data-driven experience for guests at Disney World.

The MagicBand, containing an RFID chip and a radio, connects visitors to a network of sensors around the park. The band allows guests to open hotel doors without a key, enter theme parks, use FastPasses for rides, and make purchases without a card.

The only information stored in the band is an identifier – all other data is stored remotely in the cloud. The MagicBands, sensors and supporting systems generate a rich stream of live data: who is visiting which parks, which routes they use, which rides they are visit, when they visit, queue lengths, food purchased, meal times, shows attended, gifts bought, bathroom stops, time spent in hotel rooms and more. This information allows Disney’s analytics team to make data-driven decisions to optimise the park experience so that visitors have a longer, more enjoyable stay – and spend more while they are there.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat

data pulse #18

Transport for London (TfL) has a purpose to ensure easy transport around London. It attempted several times to create customer friendly apps to use all the data from Train, tube and bus journeys. It couldn’t integrate the data and make a user friendly front end, to deliver this benefit for customers on its own.

TfL was very clear on its own capabilities : Good at Civil Engineering and its Purpose: Keep London moving. Instead they took a different approach to deliver their commercial imperative: TfL made their live transport data available real-time through an open API for developers. So far over 5000 users have registered, and over 300 apps created using Open Data, The most famous is Citymapper

Citymapper has created a customer app where you can look real-time at transport options to get you A to B , ‘here to Work’, ‘Here to Home’ etc. via walking, cycling, car, bus, train and Tube. The app tells you how long the journey will take, when and when it leaves from, cost, changes required, and provides a route map. It even tells you when to get off the bus, and a friend when you’ll be arriving

Transport for London benefits from this by having access to rich data on the way people are travelling around London – they can improve their transport services for the capital based on these learnings.

London was the first city but Citymapper is now in 23 cities including Manchester, Paris, Hamburg, Berlin, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, New York Chicago, Mexico, SaoPaulo, Tokyo and Singapore. The same system is now used to provide journey times and options at Heathrow into London, real-time on screens in airport arrivals

TfL are also exporting their model to other cities in UK and internationally, starting with the new City mayors in Manchester?

how to make a c-store more Convenient

Data Pulse #711

7-11 seized an opportunity to use the existing technology that most of its shoppers already had in their hands as they entered the store, and it did it from a standing start using AGILE methodology like a baby learning to CRAWL, WALK, RUN

7-11 can now push real-time, rules-driven offers to customers through the 7-11 app.

The decision was made to launch a mobile app in efforts to deliver what the customer wants, when they want it, where they want it. Offers take account of rich data about the customer, both live and historic:

Real-time transactional: current basket, comms received, channel, geofencing

Real-time contextual: location, location temperature, time of day.

Historic modelling: transaction data, profile data, modelling scores.

Insights gained from feedback to offers over time is incorporated into business rules in a process of continuous refinement.

So, for example, on a cold morning, 7-Eleven might push hot drinks offers. At midday, some customers might receive offers for packaged lunches while others receive promotions on fresh foods. In the evening, lifestyle insights might be used to determine that some customers might be tempted by pizza and a DVD rental.

7-11 2

To build this capability, 7-Eleven is implementing a Crawl, Walk, Run process: essentially an AGILE approach to building a customer and data-led convenience store customer experience

Crawl: build the customer database, launch mobile app, introduce offers.
Walk: integrate self-reported data into profiles, feed segmentation and modeling into communication strategies, increase volume of membership, transactions and offers.
Run: launch programmatic loyalty (moving from offers to earned rewards), incorporate unstructured social/web data, advanced analytics, customer engagement.

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The app also features an Idea Hub, where engaged customers can offer suggestions for ways 7-Eleven might improve stores, the app, or any other part of its offer.

Creating C.I. from B.I. for Customers

British Gas

Data-Pulse #69

Using data- driven analytics and technology to create new services that improve the Customer Experience by creating CI (customer version of BI) has emerged recently:

British Gas and Southern California Electric:

The development of SMART meters has revolutionised the available data from Energy. British Gas connect multiple sources of data to display personal energy use in simple terms: not just kW usage per day/ hour but cost per day/hour, with comparisons to average houses in the area, all presented in easy to use tables and graphs.

British Gas Hive 2

It provides clear practical information that delivers “Informed Energy”. It tells me last week it cost £3 a day to heat my home, and if i turned the thermostat down by 2 degrees i would save £1 a day……. giving me control

California Electric have used variable and peak demand pricing in California to manage energy use in area where there are energy restrictions.

The creation of Hive by British Gas allows remote control of customers’ home central heating, again with an excellent customer experience, allows customers to run their home more efficiently. I can turn the heating on as I come home from work, or manage remotely my teenage daughter who has turned up the temperature before going out herself.

British Gas Hive

Hive will continue to develop as IoT connects more devices to create a House management system. your Fridge will be connected via IoT to electricity supply and it will automatically switch itself off in periods of low use ( night time ) when no energy is needed to maintain temperature.

Hive have just launched new products in the Hive product family:

Hive Active Plug to connect home electrical appliances via your phone. eg iron or hair straighteners or schedule lamps to turn on and off when on holiday
Hive window or Door Sensor: you can find out if a door is opened or closed when you are away from the house , they’ll tell you by sending an alert to your phone.
Hive Motions Sensor: extra peace of mind with small and sophisticated sensors sending alerts to your phone if movement spotted in your house.

british gas hive 1

Starbucks data driven mobile approach

starbucks

Starbucks have adopted a data driven mobile first approach to making the customer journey simpler and easier in its coffee shops world-wide.

Innovating and transforming the Customer experience by leveraging data-driven analytics and technology is critical for success in a 21st Century convenient foodservice retailer. 21% of Starbucks transactions are now completed via mobile … in store at the till using Apple Pay via app or using Starbucks Mobile Order and Pay . What’s more is Starbucks processes more than 6million Mobile Order and Pay transactions a month globally.

Mobile Order & Pay is available on iOS and Android . It’s a relatively new feature of the popular Starbucks mobile app that allows customers to place and pay for an order in advance of their visits and pick it up at a participating Starbucks location. Following successful launches in select US cities , mobile ordering is emerging as the fastest and easiest way for Starbucks customers to order ahead , then pay and pick up their purchases, providing on-the-go customers a simple and quick alternative to get their favourite coffee. Massive in USA and beginning to be trialled in UK,There’s a trial store on Tottenham Court Road.

The Mobile Order and Pay feature allows customers to choose a store from a (Google) map view , browse , select and customise drinks, view the estimated time the order will be ready and pre-pay the order. All within the Starbucks app, and integrated into the existing Starbucks app, and my-Starbucks Rewards loyalty programme. A simple easy way to sign up and earn Stars

Starbucks are leading the way as Tech leaders in convenience foodservice, using data and technology in a way that McDonald’s , Burger King and Dunkin’ Donuts will need to respond to rapidly if they want to respond to customer needs.

Defining your Brand Tone of Voice

digital

The language of a brand is really decided by two things: where you are looking to position your brand in the marketplace; and the personality that you choose to adopt.

Brand leaders speak with authority and surety. Their language focuses on stability, history and confidence.
Brand challengers speak with defiance. They seek to challenge the way things are so their language focuses on change, hope and (sometimes) revolution.
Cult brands focus on exclusivity – so their language is peppered with tribal terms.
Artisan brands focus on craft and attention to detail so their language tends to be quieter, more insular and focused on the work.
Budget brands often use language based on frugality (how much you save) or generosity (what you get).
Quality brands seek to be steady and trustworthy.

In all cases, the language you use as a brand is directly aligned with your value proposition because, of course, language is a very powerful way of capturing and expressing how you see yourselves as a brand and how you want others to think and talk about you.

Personality picks up on these points of view and defines them more specifically. This helps brands in busy and highly competitive markets to distinguish their brand where there may be several brands competing in or for a market position. Here are three of the most important ways to evoke personality through language:

Formality – the type of language that a brand uses is a strong indicator of the type of relationship it is looking to form with customers, and of how the brand sees the exchange between them and their consumer.
Dialect – every brand should seek to own language of its own; a way of talking about what it does and what it stands for that complements the visual identity and adds color and texture in terms of how the brand speaks. Don’t just speak the industry language.
Rhythm – every brand needs a speech pattern. It needs to speak at a certain speed, in particular ways, so that consumers consciously or sub-consciously ‘hear’ the brand’s voice in every interaction.

Once you know where you want to position your brand and you have established a personality that speaks to the strategy and distinguishes the brand from competitors, a really sensible next port of call is the frontline.

Speaking with colleagues is a highly effective way of gauging what customers are looking for in exchanges with the brand, what they like about how they interact now, and where they would like to see clear changes in the tone of communications. Start inside out . These insights should then be applied to content and structuring of information as well as to tone.

Too often brands fail to make all these changes. They develop a new tone of voice to sit alongside their visual identity but they only apply it to a slither of the interactions they have with consumers.

When a brand fails to carry its new voice through to all its touchpoints, it quickly muddies expectations and experiences. Customers expecting the brand to behave in a particular way find themselves being spoken with in a different, often conflicting, way elsewhere within the same brand.

Here’s my rule. A brand may speak in multiple languages – but it should look as much as possible to speak in one distinctive tone of voice everywhere.

Taking data into communities

nike plus

Similar to Strava, Nike+ Running is a fitness tracking app which measures and records running and cycling activity.

nike 1

While the playback of exercise data to users is considerably less detailed than Strava, Nike+ has committed more energy to connecting real world communities with Nike+ Run Clubs and Training Clubs. Run Clubs are for all kinds of runners, with different types of run – Long Run, Speed Run, Track Night and more – designed to help runners achieve their personal goals. Separate to the Running app, Nike+ Training provides over 100 workout routines catering to different needs: Get Lean, Get Toned, Get Strong etc. at beginner, advanced and intermediate levels. Users can share their workouts, see how their friends are doing with their own training programmes and give and receive messages of encouragement.

nike 2

The Nike Training Club puts on free exercise classes in city locations (typically parks and shops) and also feature in some paid-membership gyms. These classes bring together people of all types, regardless of ability.

Nike also stage real world events so that the digital community can become a physical community.

Mike and I both Run Hyde Park and run around the same time.

Nike+ invite us to a NIKE event in Hyde Park,

Data driven Foxes win

I have a confession: I am a Leicester City Fan. It started when I was 11 and went to Filbert Street watching Gary Lineker play. we were 2-0 up and I was hooked. We lost the game 6-2 and so began my love-hate relationship with The Foxes.

When the Premier League season began in August Leicester City were favourites for only one thing – relegation. They had only just survived the drop during the previous season and their manager had recently been sacked after a team scandal. To make matters worse, Leicester had appointed Claudio Ranieri as his replacement. The Italian was available after being fired as manager of the Greek national team following a humiliating loss to the Faroe Islands. Little wonder then, that at 5000-1, Leicester winning the Premier League was seen as more unlikely than the Second Coming of Christ by most British bookmakers. You could get better odds on Jeremy Corbyn winning Big Brother or Alex Ferguson winning Strictly.

If only I had Believed and Kept the Faith and placed the bet,

At the end of the season Leicester City have won the Premier League, with 2 games to go.

It is a remarkable story and one that marketers should pay special attention to based on 3 simple rules Ranieri applied:

Clear data-driven Diagnosis,
Distinctive Strategic Plan,
Strong Tactical Plan executed with Excellence.

Clear data-driven Diagnosis. In Ranieri’s initial days at Leicester he had arrived with some clear notions about how the team should play. He talked to the players and looked at all the data-driven analytics of the way they played, and realised they didn’t want to and couldn’t play the Italian system. I have great admiration for those who build new tactical systems, but I always thought the most important thing a good coach must do is to build the team around the characteristics of his players.

The secret to future marketing success is data-driven diagnosis. It’s crucial not to arrive with established strategic approaches and prior tactics already in place. Listen. Drill into the data to understand the picture. Understand the new brand, the organisation behind it and the consumers that buy it. You only ever get one chance to perform a proper diagnosis so take your time here. Look for good secondary data, study the brand history and do as much in-market ethnographic work as you can. Ranieri and Leicester City were using the latest data driven techniques to understand the strengths of each individual player and build a clear data driven diagnosis.

Distinctive strategic plan Ranieri quickly realised from his diagnosis that his new team was not exactly skilled in the art of possession football. Leicester’s starting eleven cost a total of £22m to assemble; that’s about half a Rooney. Ranieri realised he would not win anything if he tried to play the game like everyone else. Instead, he gave up on possession football and focused on his team’s overriding advantages – speed and an inherent work ethic. Typically, when a team wins in the Premier League they have on average 60% to 65% of the possession in matches. Leicester are winning each week, often by several goals, with as little as 35% possession. Rather than control games, they use their speed and tenacity to break quickly with lethal counter attacks.

The real lesson here is to listen hard to colleagues and customers, drilling into the data, genuinely studying the situation and your strengths and weaknesses to identify a clear and often distinctive way to win in the market. Who will we target? How will we win? How can we play the game differently from the rest? These are the great strategic questions that set the direction for brand success.

lcfc ranieri strategy

Strong Tactical Plan executed with excellence: Leicester play long ball football to allow fast breaks. They harry and hassle their opponents until they can win the ball and attack immediately. Their star players, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, are encouraged to push forward and await the counter attacks that inevitably result from Leicester’s pressing approach.

The tactical execution and the tools you use can only be applied after a clear strategic approach has been decided upon, and must be executed with excellence. Too many marketers are ready with tactical approaches but when you push them on the rationale for their execution it becomes apparent that the big strategic questions have simply not been asked.

Leicester have won the Premier League. the greatest turn around story.

Claudio Ranieri should also be Marketing Leader of the Season 2015-16

Global Bike to Work Day 10 May

Strava is launching the first Global Bike to Work Day Challenge on Tuesday May 10th, #CommutesCount. I’ll be cycling to work using Strava will you?

STRAVA: the fitness app gives users access to cycling and running performance data.This is using customers own data combined with Google maps and geo-location to create tools and reports for themselves, a sort of Business Intelligence (BI) for customers or CI.

Access is free initially but users can upgrade to Strava Premium for a small monthly fee with added features. Strava focuses clearly on creating a great customer experience with a really simple sign up, and starting to get going, easy to use maps, and showing routes. Users compete against their own personal best with friends or people they don’t know but run or ride the same routes as them.

Strava is a data company that collects members data and effectively aggregates anonomised data to improve the community and make a profit:

Strava Metro analyzes the millions of human-powered commutes uploaded to Strava every week, then partners with urban planners to improve city infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians using anonymized data.

strava cast of riders

Here’s how it all works:

DATA-DRIVEN BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN PLANNING

More than five million rides and runs are uploaded to Strava each week, and in cities, the majority of these activities are commutes. These activities have created trillions of data points on where people actually ride, run and walk in cities.

In 2014, Strava launched a data service called Strava Metro. Since then, Metro has worked with over 70 organizations around the world to understand how more than a half-million bicyclists and pedestrians choose to navigate through cities. Each of these organizations is using the anonymized data to understand the general flow of people across their streets over time.

With data like this, cities can better understand how people choose to interact with the network of roads, bike paths and intersections. The result is improved decision-making, smarter planning, safer streets and more people biking, running and walking.

Better data is a catalyst for change.

strava bike to work day

Check out earlier Blog on Strava:

https://andrewmann.me/2016/04/23/creating-communities-using-data-linked-by-fitness/

Hitchhikers Guide to Disintermediation

# Data Pulse 42

When I was a student at Durham University we’d walk up to the A.1 , stick out our thumbs and Hitch a ride south. Sometimes we waited for a long time, and sometimes we had a very odd ride, but we had time and little money.

I’ve just driven my daughter back to Bristol University and things have changed dramatically in the last 30 years.

Bla Bla Car is a digitally enabled ride-sharing network, connecting travellers who are making similar journeys so that they can save on travel costs and meet like-minded from trusted community of more than 20 million verified members. it’s a great example of understanding customers stories and then developing a brand story using data and digital that works for customers , fitting for them .

Drivers who want to offer a seat in their car submit the details of their journey online and set a price per passenger. Someone looking for a lift can then search the offered journeys and book a place. After meeting at an agreed point and completing the journey, the users then rate each other. The feedback system promotes trust within the community so that people can feel safe and secure when sharing a journey

A fast growing example of a community sharing organisation that brings together users with excess capacity for their capital investment (someones car) with a user who has a need for that excess capacity, at in improved value for money .

Quick in, quick out. I like

Vikden groceries

#data pulse # 41

Easy in and easy out are key elements of convenience retailing, and Robert Ilijason a 39 year old IT expert has used digital and data to create the first unstaffed convenience retailer in a remote part of Sweden.

It was a chaotic, late-night scramble to buy baby food with a screaming toddler in the back seat that gave Robert Ilijason the idea to open Sweden’s first unstaffed convenience store.

Home alone with his hungry son, Ilijason had dropped the last baby food jar on the floor, and had to drive 20 minutes from the small town of Viken in southern Sweden to find a supermarket that was open.

Now the 39-year-old IT specialist runs a 24-hour shop with no cashier.

Customers simply use their mobiles to unlock the door with a swipe of the finger and scan their purchases. All they need to do is to register for the service and download an app. They get charged for their purchases in a monthly invoice.

The shop has basics like milk, bread, sugar, canned food, nappies and other products that you expect to find in a small convenience store. It doesn’t have tobacco or medical drugs because of the risk of theft. Alcohol cannot be sold in convenience stores in Sweden.

“My ambition is to spread this idea to other villages and small towns,” said Ilijason. “It is incredible that no one has thought of his before.”

He hopes the savings of having no staff will help bring back small stores to the countryside, so you can have more distribution with longer opening hours in remote areas.

Ilijason receives deliveries at the shop and stacks products on the shelves. Then he lets the customers do the rest.

He has installed six surveillance cameras to discourage shoplifting in the 480-square-foot store. Also, he is alerted by a text message if the front door stays open for longer than eight seconds or if someone tries to break it open.

“I live nearby and can always run down here with a crowbar,” Ilijason said laughing, but added that hasn’t been necessary since the store opened in January.

A bigger challenge has been getting some of the elderly residents in Viken, a town of 4,200 people, to get the hang of the technology involved.

Tuve Nilsson, 75, said there were many more shops in the town when he moved here with his family in 1976. He welcomed Ilijason’s new store, saying it could be convenient for elderly people living alone.

“But if they can manage this (technology), I don’t know,” Nilsson said. “Sometimes I don’t understand it.”

Ilijason is considering other ways to unlock the door that wouldn’t require using an app. He’s ruled out face-recognition or fingerprint scanners, but is thinking of installing a credit card reader like some banks use. He’s also considering having one person man the store for a few hours a day to help customers who aren’t comfortable with modern technology.

Other customers loved the speed of the no-service store. Raymond Arvidsson, a friend of Ilijason’s, did his shopping in less than a minute.

“No queues,” he said, smiling. “Quick in, quick out. I like.”

Vicken sweden

Creating a data-driven delivery Service

data pulse #14

Data and technology can be used to make people’s lives easier, and continually tell the brand story to customers and colleagues. It can also be used to insert the brand story into customer’s own stories

Hate waiting in for a parcel ?

DPD delivery tracking now allows customers to track the van that will be delivering their package. The ability to view detailed delivery information – expected delivery time, queue number, the name of the driver and their precise location at any time – means customers have all of the information they need, visibility of the journey, and the most up to date expected arrival times.

dpd5

This allows us to more easily plan our day and make sure they are at home at the right time – DPD’s delivery service is augmented with an information service so it moves from just being like another courier to being informed delivery, using data to build a brand story that is consistently delivered. DPD looked at the customer journey and customer’s story and used data and technology to create a role for the brand.

Data and digital has been used to create an added value service building strategic and operational capability that is driving L4L growth. it started with a customer problem that could be solved by creating a new data-driven added value service, that was better for customers ( less waiting in), simpler for colleagues ( more deliveries right first time) and cheaper for dpd, ( less miles per parcel =£££)

data used to create story in many brands

Many other brands have made this same link of data and technology to give customers control in this way, be it Uber, Manchester Taxis. Retailers are also using it to improve internal effectiveness for customers: Asda supermarkets track their delivery lorries and let store colleagues know where and when they are arriving. this allows breaks to be scheduled and teams ready to receive, unload and refill the shelves just in time.

Another story of how data-driven customer thinking adds value.

Try this one as well:

Predictive analytics running shops

Data driven vision for Social Security in Bolanzo

data pulse #32

SMART sensors keep Italian seniors living at home

There have been significant step changes in Healthcare in the last few years through their use of predictive and algorithmic data , data segmentation and technology to solve organisational problems

Limited budgets and resources posed a challenge for the city of Bolanzo, with elderly citizens representing almost a quarter of the population and nearly 50% of social budget. With ongoing medical advances, greater numbers of the elderly are living longer and staying in their homes, often alone. The city wanted to ensure their safety and provide the required services, but needed a cost-effective way to know when people needed help.

bolzano 2

The city has implemented an advanced mesh-network of sensors that monitor the home environment – temperature, CO2, water leaks etc – of elderly citizens living alone. Remote interaction with medical professionals via touchscreen and mobile devices provides healthcare advice, saving trips to the doctor.

The technology will also alert ‘angels’ – friends or relatives of the user – if there is a problem, so they can provide assistance until the appropriate services arrive.

This enables social service and health staff to concentrate on people who really need a physical presence with them, while maintaining excellent quality of life for those in the monitoring programme.

If you’d like to checkout a short film that talks it through, here’s the link through to youtube