Week 1

Reading: Made to Engage

Great example of how engaging with the customers has taken over listening to the customers/voice of customers concept used in traditional marketing. Gives really good examples of how engagement with the customers can help sales and increase profitability for the company. The new concept of augmented reality (for example what google glass offers) opens doors for brands to engage more with customers. Some of the companies like Blippar.com are the front runners and they are already tapping on to such concept and luring brands to Blip their videos and Ads.

Retail and Services industry have always been the target for the concept of engaging with the customers. We now see that happening even with banking industry where banks are trying to do more and more with respect to engaging with the customers. Retail banks are taking clue from retail industry to provide an experience to the customers based on the customers journey. There is more focus on online banking and increased focus on studying customer's journey to get to online banking site. Usually a customer would start of with readung news, shopping on Amazon, checking emails and then perhaps get to online banking site. The financial institutions are realizing that the customers journey needs to be seemless and hence presenting orthodox websites might make it less engaging and hence banks needs to look at experience of customers on sites like Amazon and compare against that. Hence to engage customers more there is stress on enhancing experience and providing "remarkable" concepts which leaves an image of the brand in the minds of the customers.