Marketing & Communications Briefs

Technology is forcing corporate executives to work harder than ever, so it’s important to understand that sometimes work commitments need to take a back seat. There’s a strong chance that colleagues (or you) are facing a personal crisis and it can be hard to know what to do to support them. Being there to support them in whatever way they need it is a good start.

Companies need to build a mechanism to gauge consumers’ preferences for causes and integrate that with a measurement framework across all stakeholders of an organization. Sumair Sayani, vice president at Nielsen and Consumer Dynamics co-Center leader, suggests what this model might look like.

Creativity is important to developing new ideas and opportunities, but certain corporate cultures can stifle it. Employees have a responsibility to exercise their own creativity for the benefit of themselves and the business. In communications, creativity should be nurtured in three areas in particular: writing, uncovering stories, and ideation. If companies want to promote new ideas and opportunities, being open to employees’ creativity is a good start.

Over the past three years, a rapidly increasing percentage of Fortune 500 companies have begun using Instagram to reach a younger audience adept at visual storytelling. Although LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter dominate in terms of active accounts among the Fortune 500, Instagram and fellow visual platform YouTube have moved quickly to occupy the rest of the top five. Companies need to be active on a range of social media technologies that includes visual platforms.

The cyber risk landscape is quickly evolving, but organizations are slow to catch up with the new threat landscape. Organizations are still organized to focus primarily on more traditional cyber risk management, are not updating their processes and policies or investing in tools and technologies to comprehensively address the latest and fastest-growing threats coming from digital and social media. Senior leadership and boards need to better understand the evolving cyber risk landscape.

Organizational change is hard for everyone, but opportunities often present themselves when there's turmoil. There are some simple tips that people facing change should remember, including avoiding catastrophic thinking and refraining from rushing to judgment. For all parties involved, communications are key. Communicate early and often and tell people everything you know.

Artificial Intelligence is the most effective method for engaging customers, fueling innovation, and accelerating personalized customer experiences. AI is a differentiator in the customer experience space because it can capture enormous amounts of data, analyze it quickly, and produce targeted, personalized experiences that engage consumers. Being able to deliver personalized, empathetic customer experiences quickly, will allow organizations to secure happier, more brand loyal customers.

Regulatory, structural, and behavioral challenges give companies an opportunity to differentiate themselves on customer experience. Enterprises in heavily regulated fields can differentiate by melding compliance into superior CX. For manufacturers, making the impact on the customer tangible for those far from direct customer contact creates opportunities for improved training and metrics. For retailers, competition for customer attention drives CX leaders to design for emotional connections.