Shift From Transactional Marketing to Brand Experiences to Drive Results

You likely remember when TV commercials were the only way to define a brand: George Clooney sipped Nespresso, two cavemen saved money with GEICO, and a bunny marched for Energizer.

But with every passing year, brand discovery has shifted to new and innovative channels. More than any other, your branding relies on your product detail pages (PDPs). Engaging brand experiences are not only a defining part of your PDPs; they're your differentiator — how your band stands out on the digital shelf.

A recent webinar featured experts from Accenture Interactive: Jeriad Zoghby, global consumer goods and services lead, and Rochelle Adams, North American product information management (PIM) and digital asset management (DAM) capability lead. They outlined the tools and architecture needed to manage engaging product experiences.

"Eighty-four percent of consumers who bought a name-brand product on Amazon in the last three months recalled their product detail pages, compared to only 28% of those same consumers recalling a television commercial for that product," said Zoghby.

Consumers start most shopping journeys with a search bar, and your brand must be able to deliver the information they need to make buying decisions wherever they ultimately decide to shop. Gain their insights on how to move from transactional marketing to brand experiences to drive results.

Understand the 'New Normal' of Commerce

There has been a lot of discussion about the “new normal” recently, but this isn’t just referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers are continually adapting their habits to their surrounding environments more agilely than they once had.

These changes are not only connected to the pandemic but also relate to sustainable business practices, social movements, and the increasingly blurred lines between industries. These outside forces have caused the mass adoption of digital channels. Consumers recall PDPs more than commercials.

When consumers were asked which of the three main pieces of product content (i.e., digital assets, product descriptions, and reviews) they remembered most, digital assets proved most memorable. Creating best-in-class digital assets is crucial in making the best brand experiences.

These changing behaviors will last well beyond the pandemic and other changes in the macro-environment.

The Impact of Retail Reinvention

Retail has changed significantly in the past few years. Once defined by curated shopping experiences at big-box retailers, digital landscapes have now shifted those retailers into ecommerce marketplaces.

The retailer has become a mall, and brands can set up their store within the retailer’s marketplace. Product curation has been dissolved and replaced by the search bar.

Three significant impacts have come about from these new industry shifts:

1. A shift in responsibilities: Brands are now in charge of how they present themselves on the retailer marketplace. They manage their digital shelves, offer digital promotions, and handle customer service. Brands take on more accountability for consumer-level sales performance and brand experiences.
2. A shift in digital shelf ownership: The consumer owns their digital shelf — not the retailer. From typing something into the search bar to seeing what others are searching for, demand now defines the evolving ecosystem. This approach empowers brands and consumers with real-time access to new and evolving market trends.
3. A rapidly growing burden: The continual fragmentation of brand experiences across the digital commerce landscape creates a long-term demand for a scalable solution.

Get Product Content Experiences Right

Utilizing the branding that once defined commercials and other traditional ads can help create engaging brand experiences on the digital shelf.

Nespresso, for example, includes George Clooney in its PDPs, in its digital assets, on its social media, and everywhere its products exist. Creating an omnichannel experience will build up your branding instead of forgetting it exists.

Therefore, the content employed is your differentiator. You wouldn’t stock physical shelves with products that lack packaging, prices, or information. Your content must be consistent, engaging, and convince customers to choose you.

Brands have to focus on product experience pages online and brand experiences in stores. Highlight the value and legacy of your products and brands. Showcase the features and benefits of your products. A digital storefront shouldn’t just be a list of the brand’s catalog.

Build Scalable Architecture

As ecommerce expands, brands are increasingly coming across challenges in managing their digital channels. Consolidating their solutions is vital in the current landscape.

Brands shouldn’t have multiple PIM solutions for different retailers, and PIM and DAM shouldn’t be siloed from each other. Cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions can create a single source of truth and increase speed to market and create efficiency in optimizations to product content.

CommerceXM Fuels Lasting Growth

There are critical considerations for rolling out a commerce experience management (CommerceXM) platform globally. Brands must define the products they sell. It sounds simple, but clean data and a full understanding of the product lifecycle are paramount.

Change marketing and change management are crucial to getting everyone on the same page with any new solution. Run and operate a model that defines the roles and accountability of PIM. Technology setup and rollout must be built on an enterprise data model that’s scalable.

Finally, no architecture is complete without analytics. Insights into your product and content performance across the digital landscape will enable your team to optimize your digital shelf regularly.

The digital landscape changes daily, and teams must swiftly optimize any product content to maximize potential on the digital shelf.

Watch our on-demand webinar, “How to Shift from Transactional Marketing to Brand Experiences,” to hear more from these experts on how to drive results on the digital shelf.