FROM IDEAS
TO ACTION
Why Marketers Must Evolve Great
Brand Stories into Stellar Experiences
for Customers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
02 Overview
03 The Experience Evolution
08 Marketing, Take the Wheel
09 Designing the Experience
11 From Evolution to Revolution
OVERVIEW
If ever there were a profession it to life through stellar storytelling. the difference between the brands
suffering from motion sickness, it’s That’s still comfortably within the that commit to serving customers first
marketing. Upheaval from a sea of realm of expectations for marketing’s and foremost verses those that only
constant change is truly the new responsibilities. But there’s more want to sell products.
norm. Sure footing is a thing of the looming on the horizon and we’re
past. As we look to deliver value picking up speed fast. The emotions people feel when they
within our organizations, we find interact with a brand is the emotion
that our arms need to span greater Marketers must take our deep they attach to the brand. Happy. Sad.
breadths and depths. First we thought understanding of customers and use Frustrated. Relieved. It’s the sum
alignment with sales was big. Then that to take action to drive revenue. of digital, social and face-to-face
we took on technology. Now we see In this case, it means opening connections that determine whether
another progression as conversations up our arms to embrace all the someone becomes a customer and
expand into creating experiences for experiences that customers have how long they stay. It’s no longer
customers. It’s no longer enough to with our brand. From awareness to enough to tell the story of why a
tell the story of the good you deliver. customer retention, from sales to brand is different. It’s time to put
Now, brands have to pony up on that service – the interactions that people ideas into action and organize around
expectation at every touchpoint with have are prime considerations in creating stellar experiences that
uber relevant experiences. every marketing channel. Reviews of a are separate and distinct from the
company’s performance trump claims products and services that we sell.
We’ve seen great companies make in high-priced advertisements. This This must be our core strategy for
the transition from traditional creates brand value – not just product creating and growing the value of
marketing into content and bring value – reach and awareness. This is brands.
02
THE EXPERIENCE EVOLUTION
“Turn and face the strange … ch-ch-changes.”
— David Bowie
Where do you begin? Wherever you are in your marketing journey today. If you’re smart and want to stay
employable, you’ve already come to the realization that your role has changed drastically over the last few years.
The 20 percent of marketers who think their job will basically stay the same through 2020 have their heads in the sand.
Don’t be one of them.
Traditional marketing Xerox reported stellar
Since the dawn of marketing winning the lottery or surviving a results from one of their
companies have been selling in a plane crash than getting someone
seemingly sensible way: Trumpet to click on a banner ad. This has led
content marketing programs
features and benefits, advertise to the sensational growth of content aimed at connecting with
prices, argue the value prop and, of marketing over the last 10 years. The decision makers in their top
course, location, location, location. idea is that content, not just products,
30 accounts.
It’s what Michigan State University solves problems. Building trust earlier
professor Edmund Jerome McCarthy by helping people solve problems
They partnered with Forbes
summarized in 1960 with his idea of leads to deeper relationships that
to create a magazine that
the Marketing Mix, which we know drive greater revenue and loyalty.
delivered relevant business tips.
as the classic 4 Ps of marketing –
A phenomenal 70 percent of
product, price, place and promotion. Relevancy is key here, and when
targeted companies interacted
While revolutionary at the time, the that happens results are far beyond
with the microsite, growing
4 Ps are woefully outdated in today’s what brands experienced with
readership 300-400 percent over
digital world where pushing products traditional marketing. When Julie
anything they had experienced in
does more to push audiences away Fleischer served as the director of
previous email campaigns. They
than it does to attract them. data, content, and media for Kraft
added 20,000 new contacts to
Food Group, her team realized
their subscription base, generated
Classic marketing tactics won’t go four times the ROI using content
more than 1,000 scheduled
away completely, and that’s OK. marketing than with traditional
appointments and turned up a
They do, however, need to adjust for marketing investments. This is why
whopping $1.3 billion in pipeline
today’s digital world. Marketers must businesses are shifting more of their
revenue.
bring classic tactics under a more marketing budget toward content
integrated strategy that connects marketing. Research on content
Source: TopRank Marketing
all functions of the business. That’s marketing trends for 2016 from the
where many marketers still fall short. Content Marketing Institute shows
that the best B2B marketers commit
Content marketing 42 percent of their budget to content
Consumers took hold of the marketing and B2C dedicates 32
traditional world of marketing. They percent. That’s up 5 percent and
skip TV commercials and ignore 7 percent respectively from the
magazine ads. The odds are higher previous year.
of getting struck by lightning,
04
Brand storytelling “The story-making process
Storytelling isn’t a selling tool, but over time. And they have themes.
rather a way to build relationships The same must be true for story’s
enables us to simplify complex
with customers and passionate function in marketing. Brands information
supporters over time. A strong brand that make themselves the hero of
into the core essence of
story conveys the type of value the story waste opportunities to
delivered and helps audiences become relevant to their audience. understanding.”
easily remember what that is. It’s Customers’ worlds revolve around
an important aspect of content the customer, not what a brand sells. — Y. Gabriel
marketing that’s usually overlooked Companies need to evolve stories Storytelling in Organizations
or not done well. Storytelling is that help customers identify their
particularly important in complex B2B problems, find a solution and help
buying decisions that involve dozens their wishes come true in the end.
of people over several years. It’s how
you move beyond talking about what It’s only through a solid storytelling
you sell (products and services) and foundation instilled within an
talk about the difference you make in organizational culture that companies
the lives of your audience. can springboard into creating stellar
experiences for customers. But
Stories have characters – heroes, there’s a stark contrast between
villains and mentors. They have a the stories brands tell and the
setting. They have plots that unfold experiences they create.
05
Customer experience
One of the reasons marketers have a hard time shifting into an experience
mindset is because they don’t understand the totality of what they need to
think about. Marketing automation brought the spotlight on moving prospects
through a buying process. But customers don’t care where they are in your
organization’s structure. They care about the interactions they have with your
brand. Instead of demand gen and MQLs/SQLs, marketers need to bridge
silos and create rich experiences for customers that make them want to come
back for more content that’s valuable, entertaining and inspires continual
engagement.
More and more, the customer experience is seen as the major competitive
differentiator in every industry. By consistently delivering personal and
memorable experiences, companies can create a distinct offering that
engages customers and creates advocates and loyalists.
“Customers equate brands
with experiences. From Accenture points out this growing trend in their report, 2015 B2B Customer
customer service to the digital Experience. While “we’re B2B” has been a scapegoat for performance, B2B
companies are being impacted by expectations that customers bring from the
journey to retail ambiance, B2C world. This is why…
our association with a brand
is based on how it makes us 86 percent
of B2B executives consider the customer experience provided during sales
feel.”
and service interactions to be very important.
— Forbes writer Daniel Newman 41 percent
Forbes put the customer experience at the top of their list of strategic priorities.
79 percent
are convinced that a differentiated sales and service customer experience has
a direct effect on business results.
78 percent
believe it provides a competitive advantage.
06
This is something that global customers the most - a talent drought.
manufacturing company Emerson Realizing that without an infusion
understands. CMO Kathy Button Bell of young talent, both Emerson and
and her team put market research its customer base would struggle
front and center in understanding to bring new ideas and innovation
customer needs and expectations. to the industry. This 125-year old
By beginning everything with engineering-driven company saw that
market research and development it needed to take a deep dive into
– what Button Bell calls “Stage how it was perceived by engineering
Gate Zero”- she took the voice of graduates who were being wooed
the customer (VOC) and backed it with the likes of Netflix, Apple and
up to research and development, other companies more enticing than
the beginning of everything the Emerson. It also needed to entice “As customers get savvier,
company creates and delivers. This more talent into engineering majors especially in B2B, they look for
wasn’t marketing looking to improve and keep them in the profession.
things like efficiency, productivity
marketing’s performance. It was
marketing driving how the company To connect with a younger and cost savings because
performs by putting the experience generation, Button Bell partnered financial demands are stringent.
of their customers first and then with internet star Hank Green. A
relevant, wildly popular ‘Geek-Chic’
If you can make doing business
understanding how to drive value
around their needs. celebrity, Green and his brother easier for your customers, you’re
started a video blog in 2007 called golden.”
Button Bell knew the stickler with Vlogbrothers. Today, their YouTube
many B2B companies is that they wait channel has more than 2 million
— Kathy Button Bell
until stage five or six – when they’ve subscribers. Together, Button Bell
started producing a product – before and Green launched Emerson’s CMO, Emerson
showing it to customers and asking #IloveSTEM (science, technology,
for feedback. But that’s too late. At engineering and math) initiative
Emerson, she wanted to instill VOC which sought to inspire and empower
into the earliest stages of product the next generation of engineers by
development for a more innovative connecting science to technological The [Link]/IloveSTEM site
approach to delivering stellar advances and modern convenience. goes beyond storytelling and delivers
experiences to customers. Many a content-driven experience that
of the answers to their customers’ “Future innovators who will be brings a science-loving community
problems weren’t product-focused our employees, our customers together. Students use the video-
anymore. For example, customers and business leaders need STEM rich site to understand concepts
may want a single invoice for a education today,” Button Bell said. they study in class. Teachers draw on
complex bundle of products and “Emerson’s STEM focus is influencing it to support one-on-one learning.
solutions or a way for Emerson to the company’s marketing and Adults use it because topics are fun,
deliver better service. recruiting efforts, and this first-of- covering everything from origami-
its-kind campaign for the company inspired pop-up shelters to closing
Button Bell then took a step back for is designed to entertain and inspire the gender gap in tech to recharging
a bigger perspective to understand current engineers as well as a future an iPhone using fire.
what challenged Emerson’s generation of business people.”
07
MARKETING, TAKE THE WHEEL
“86 percent of CMOs and senior marketing execs believe they will own
the end-to-end customer experience by 2020.”
— The Economist Intelligence Unit
Just because B2B executives believe important, how that manifests is social conversations, constantly tweak
customer experience is the top changing greatly. The Economist their understanding of customer
differentiator, doesn’t mean they Intelligence Unit points this out in voice and roll out content strategies.
know what to do. Accenture’s report their report The Rise of the Marketer: Marketing is the storyteller, the
also highlighted executives’ declining Driving Engagement, Experience and market research arm and often
confidence in their ability to deliver Revenue. The customer experience is the face of the company. We’re
a differentiated experience for seen as key to competitive advantage. the promise makers around what
customers – dropping by 8 percent in Because of that, marketers have, by customers expect and we must
a single year to reach 32 percent in default, expanded into managing also train the promise keepers –
2015. customer experiences. But over the our employees – to deliver stellar
next three to five years, 75 percent of experiences. Marketers are tech-
Part of the angst is no clear picture of marketers say they will be responsible savvy and well-rounded. It’s the only
leadership; not every company had for the end-to-end experience group that touches everyone across
a dedicated customer experience over the customer’s lifetime. the organization, and its purpose
team. That’s where marketing steps in. is to grow audiences and create
Engagement, typically, was measured This only makes sense. Marketers differentiating experiences.
around brand love. While that’s still get their hands dirty in data, monitor
08
DESIGNING THE EXPERIENCE
When it comes down to it, orchestrating experiences for customers isn’t easy,
but it’s certainly doable. Companies that move beyond content marketing and
storytelling do so by starting with the following process:
Work from the outside in.
Most brands start from the inside and work their way out. What’s the branding
platform for our company and then how do I get that message out to as
many people as possible. This is backwards. Before you can create a great
experience, you have to put the customer first. That means you have to
work from the outside in – start with what matters most to your customers
and reverse engineer that into the product or service you deliver. Instead
of forcing what you sell onto your audience, start with what matters most to
your customers – efficiency, minimized risk, business growth, etc. – and work
backward into how to solve these problems. Along the way, you may find
brilliant ways to tweak what you sell and differentiate your company from
everyone else in the marketplace.
Second that emotion.
Start with the experience you want to create — put yourself in the customer’s
shoes — and what emotion are you trying to counter? If they’re feeling angst
and fear, then your experience must deliver confidence and peace of mind.
Keep empathy for your customers front and center as you work backwards.
Collaborate across departments.
Marketing may be driving the customer experience, but the best insights
and perspectives come from across the organization. You wouldn’t develop
and launch a product without involvement from research and development,
finance, IT and so forth. Don’t do it with an experience, either.
09
Let function trump form.
Look at the purpose of the experience. Let go of the temptation to let your
product or service drive the story, and instead examine and evaluate the
needs of your customer first. This should dictate the content and not the other
way around.
Be agile.
Smart marketing in this day and age requires a release-and-adjust approach.
Customers and markets change, and not everything you try will resonate.
Those who are willing to pivot will win the day.
Listen up.
To truly dial in your approach, get feedback. Your sales team may be your best
eyes and ears on the ground, and of course, the voice of the customer is the
one that matters most. Social media can be a great tool here, as can face-to-
face meetings during which listening, not talking or defending, is front and
center.
Measure what matters.
We’re looking for metrics that show the progression from meaningful
experiences toward valuable contributions to the business. Set your goal
using this framework: Contribution + Time Frame + Constraint. An example
goal would be to increase qualified leads by 10% in 6 months with only a 5%
budget increase. Now, work backwards from the number of leads and cost per
lead to understand how many email or blog subscribers it took to get there
(along with other indicators) plus what you learn from seeing the content that
your audience actually likes, what they download and what they register for.
10
FROM EVOLUTION TO REVOLUTION
Modern marketing is all about creating contextually relevant experiences for customers. Customers move at different
speeds and across different devices. Buyers are smarter and better informed. They have greater expectations for
tailored solutions and how their suppliers serve them.
Companies that get content-driven experiences right rally advocates and evangelists to their brand. They convert loyal
customers and let the voice of the customer influence everything from how the company sells to what it sells. Learning
how to evolve from traditional marketing to content marketing to brand storytelling and then content-driven customer
experiences has never been more critical to the livelihood of a brand.
ABOUT TYPE A COMMUNICATIONS
Since 2001, Carla Johnson has helped marketers unlock, nurture and
strengthen their storytelling muscle so they can create delightful customer
experiences. As President of Type A Communications, she works as a
trusted advisor at the highest level of blue-chip brands to establish open
conversations, instill creative confidence and inspire an environment of
receptivity that develops highly prized teams and stellar business results. Carla
has worked with companies that include American Express, Dell, Emerson,
Motorola Solutions, Mercedes Benz, Western Union and the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers on how to tap into a wellspring of ideas and unveil new ways to
bring their brand stories alive in fun and captivating ways.
Recognized as one of the top 20 influencers in content marketing, one of the
CARLA JOHNSON top 25 in B2B marketing and one of the Top 50 Women in Marketing. Carla’s
latest book, Experiences: The 7th Era of Marketing, teaches marketers how
to develop, manage and lead the creation of valuable experiences in their
organizations. Carla serves as the Vice Chair on the Executive Board of the
Business Marketing Association (a division of the ANA). She previously served
as the Vice President of Thought Leadership. Carla consults, speaks and trains
on customer experience, brand storytelling, content marketing and creativity.
Dig deeper at [Link].
17588 Gypsum Court
Denver, CO 80134
O: 011.720.344.0987
M: 011.720.219.3062
Carla@[Link]
@CarlaJohnson
[Link]/in/carlajohnson