by Dave Cobban, Founding Partner at UNBRKBLE
Over the 35 years I’ve worked in Brand, Business, and Finance, in Europe, Asia- the Pacific, and the Americas, the question “What’s next?” is probably the most asked. Of course, I don’t have a crystal ball (unfortunately), so it’s hard to predict with 100% accuracy. But I do think I have a keen sense of the fundamentals and the ‘truths’ that I think will drive the future of commerce. Here’s what I see:
Commerce has shifted from being purely transactional to almost entirely relational. There has been a seismic shift in the way we build brands and conduct business. Paying an ever-increasing tax to the tech giants for a one-time connection with your own customers is untenable. The strongest brands build deeper and longer relationships by consistently solving meaningful customer problems. Recently, I found myself in a hitch looking for the latest addition to my record collection and was introduced to Vinyl Me Please, one of many online record clubs. They have managed to fulfill every music lover’s dream of building their own perfect record collection. How do they do it? By embedding expert recommendations with a ‘swap’ functionality that allows for just enough choice without being overwhelmed.
Empathize.
Deeper relationships with consumers are fueled by empathy. Too often, I am seeing how brands and advertisers are only focusing on the monetary aspect in the process of building lifetime value for their consumers. When what they should be doing is building a lifetime relationship with their customers. The best businesses build unbreakable bonds with their consumers that grow in value over time. American physical exercise tracking app - Strava, for example, on its mission to ‘build the world’s biggest team’, has recognized that communities can, if managed properly, become more engaging as they grow. Instead of monetizing member data, they protect it – thus prioritizing member privacy. They also recognize that not all new elements of the offering need to be at scale to succeed. They recognize it is just as important to create micro-magic-moments amongst niche member groups. My own running club in Portland – the Runaway Club – has just 139 members but we all know and support each other.
Consumer trust, loyalty, and fandom are built through connections at an emotional level. Empathy helps lay the foundation for unbreakable bonds. We need to think beyond linear customer acquisition to eliminate barriers and unlock reasons for customers to stay engaged. An excellent example is the Saudi Arabian food delivery that made history at Cannes Lions last year – becoming the first Saudi brand to bag a Grand Prix in the Creative Commerce category. Hunger Station uses eye-tracking on the phone to help indecisive customers let their subconscious choose their food, adding meaningful value through easier choices.
Engage.
There is a consumer backlash against brands and retailers who sacrifice empathy for efficiency. It’s true when they say that technology can be a double-edged sword - it can be as much a hindrance in the long term as it can be an opportunity in the short term. Try searching – ‘self-checkout backlash’ to see the furor. The future lies in technology helping employees meaningfully engage with customers.
Sephora has set the bar high by embedding flexible in-store online tools in its mobile app for consumers to engage with while shopping, generating a more fun and engaging ‘beauty experience’. They tie this into a loyalty program that rewards action creating a flywheel of engagement in the store and at home.
Unbreakable bonds are built with a flywheel of meaningful engagements. Prioritizing lifetime relationships over short-term gains means pursuing a unified customer experience that cancels out traditional organizational silos of a brand and the business, in the sense that marketing can be seen as a cost whilst business is seen as revenue-at-all-costs. The future of commerce will see marketing activities becoming self-sustaining and business experiences driving long-term engagement. Microsoft
Copilot is a great example of this. Either as a standalone paid service or integrated into Microsoft’s hardware and software, Copilot provided tech consumers with 365-day support for all their computing and productivity needs. But it is also an always-on marketing campaign that demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to caring for its customers. Now that’s brand love.
In image above: by Dave Cobban, Founding Partner at UNBRKBLE
Meaningful engagement comes from understanding customers’ needs. Truly understanding customer pain points and needs is the most powerful tool for identifying what they consider meaningful, revealing valuable opportunity spaces. Pivoting quickly to focus on what’s most important proves the brand is listening.
In my own business, Nike Adventure Club, we pivoted what started as a sustainable running subscription into a kids’ sneaker club. The most acute pain point to solve for parents was “kids growing fast and wrecking shoes”. In doing so, parents awarded the offering an 84 Net Promoter Score, and voluntary monthly churn was less than 5%.
Implement.
Confidence to launch new solutions is built step-by-step. The goal is to mitigate risk while increasing confidence in new solutions over time. Both brand and business managers must ask three fundamental questions in all their activities:
• Desirability: Is this something people want, need, or desire? Will they be engaged by it? Will they pay for it?
• Feasibility: Can we build it? What resources are required? Can we maintain it?
• Viability: Can we make money from it? Will it deliver margin? Is it sustainable?
To summarize, of course, the future of commerce will include incredible advances in technology, but those advances must be in the service of the fundamentals of human behaviors. If technology separates the brand from its customers, then in the long term the brand and business will fail. Think about simple truths of building a long-term relationship: Be kind, be thoughtful, listen to understand, be generous, be consistent but also flexible, and seek ways to demonstrate your commitment regularly. That’s how all of us try to behave with our loved ones. That’s how we should behave with our customers. If we do that, customers will reciprocate with their lifetime value.
The article was first published in Communicate's Issue 180 2024.
