Pleased to Meet You

Pleased to meet you:
How different customers prefer
very different channels
Professor Hugh Wilson, Dr Emma Macdonald and Dr Charles Randall
Maggs Reader
Lifestyle Junky
Andy Barrak
Astute Alpha
Natalie Mall
Social Shopper

2
...SAS looks beyond the
norm to find remarkable
trends and behaviours that
we didn’t know existed...
“
”Jackie Clayton
Head of Nectar Insight
Contents
Great conversations 4
Meet your customers: 8
Lifestyle Junky 10
Astute Alpha 14
Internet Investigator 18
Dedicated Fan 22
Social Shopper 26
Detached Introvert 30
Implications for marketing teams 34
SAS and MESH Planning 38

3
encourages marketers to be far more
imaginative about the channel mix,
offers, and creative approach they take
as they seek to improve the relevance
and impact of their marketing.
SAS has worked with Professor
Hugh Wilson of Cranfield School of
Management and market research
agency MESH Planning to look into
this issue. We are delighted to share
the results of our research project
with you – certain that you will find
them as insightful, informative and,
at times, surprising as we have.
The SAS®
approach
Relevance and impact are at the heart
of great marketing conversations.
It is critical for marketing departments
to understand how today’s demanding
customers respond to marketing
communications: their relevance
and impact. Marketing does not
have the desired impact unless it is
relevant to the consumer. And the only
way a marketer can be certain of a
message’s relevance to the audience
is if they can measure the impact.
Customer insight improves the
relevance and impact of marketing
campaigns and brings greater rigour
to the marketing function. It also
SAS is the leader in
business analytics
software and services.
Since 1976 SAS has
been giving companies
around the world
THE POWER TO KNOW®
Richard Kellett
Marketing Director, SAS UK

4
Great conversations
Have our customers stopped listening to us?
They feel bombarded by irrelevant
sales pitches. And it’s got worse.
Our IT colleagues keep on
inventing new types of arrow for
us to fire at our poor overloaded
customers. No wonder they just
focus on building better shields.
But what if they felt they were
in a great conversation with us?
Maybe they’d open up. Easy in
the old world of a single point
of contact – a store owner or a
salesperson. Far more difficult in
today’s multichannel environment.
But it can be done. And companies
who hold great conversations with
their customers get great results.
Great conversations share
three features. Firstly, they’re
individualised. Rather like being
bought a birthday present, we expect
the firm to know us well, to consider
with care what we might appreciate
and to deliver their message in a
way which doesn’t put us out. When
this happens, it feels like service,
not being sold to. So it’s no surprise
that whether the medium is loyalty
mailings, branch visits or the firm’s
website, individualised offers can
increase conversion rates vastly.
Secondly, great conversations
are dynamic. That is, rather than
delivering our pre-prepared speech,
we listen to the customer and
respond appropriately. Scripted out
of all humanity, call centre staff can
feel about as responsive as a brick.
And from stores to sales meetings,
if the talking brochure on legs once
worked, it works no longer – after all,
if it’s straight information we’re after,
we can Google it in our own time
from a source we find authoritative.
A real-time response means real-time
insight, but it also means empowering
front-line staff to do their best for
the customer, not controlling them.
Thirdly, great conversations are
authentic. We can smell the firm’s
remuneration scheme a mile off.
We crave honest advice. And when
we don’t get it, in a Web 2.0 world,
our network soon knows about it.
Firms which obsess about improving
the customer’s world find that
financials look after themselves.
In short, great conversations are
relevant, and as a result they’re
impactful. But relevance means
different things to different people.
Whether the medium is loyalty mailings, branch
visits or the firm’s website, individualised offers can
increase conversion rates vastly.

5
Some of us want the firm to make all
the running: ask us some questions,
make a recommendation and we’ll do
what we’re told. Others might want
to be intimately involved in creative
design for the next generation
products. Or we might rely on our
trusted peer-to-peer network for
advice on what to do. The firm needs
to be geared up to build relationships
with each of these very different
styles of engagement, and more.
A starting-point is to understand
these different sorts of customer in
order to consider how we should
best craft great conversations with
each. The research reported in this
white paper describes six different
customer segments we discovered,
and how they deal with the firm
across the multichannel environment.
We then face the challenge of
re-engineering the marketing and
sales organisation to respond well
when the customer wants to talk
to us, rather than obsessing about
the next ‘campaign’. Marketing
has come a long way since Mad
Men, but having left one shore
long behind, the land ahead still
sometimes feels a distant haze. We
end the white paper with a look at
the competences we will require
in the marketing – or customer
response – function of tomorrow.
Companies who hold
great conversations
with their customers
get great results.
Hugh Wilson
MA (Oxon)
DipCompSci (Cantab) PhD
Cranfield School of Management
Hugh Wilson is Professor of
Strategic Marketing and Director
of the Customer Management
Forum at Cranfield School of
Management. An influential
author, speaker and consultant
in marketing and IT, Hugh is
listed in the Chartered Institute of
Marketing’s global ‘Guru Gallery’
of ‘the 50 leading marketing
thinkers alive today’.
His latest book, Marketing Plans
7e (with Malcolm McDonald),
was published in April 2011.

6
About the research
How do you find out what the customer
really thinks about marketing?
We wanted to understand how
different customers interact with
different channels, and how
effective the multichannel strategies
adopted by different sectors were.
We couldn’t hope to study every
possible sector, so we focussed
on those that we felt were both
extremely significant to customers,
and also had quite different customer
relationship needs. So for this study
we decided to focus on five sectors:
• Banking
• Mobile network providers
• Healthcare providers
• Supermarkets
• Soft drinks
The best source of the information
on the impact of interactions had
to be the customers themselves.
We engaged innovative marketing
research agency MESH Planning
to help us. MESH Planning has
developed an entirely new way
of understanding how people
connect with brands, called
Experience Tracking. They capture
customers’ experiences wherever
and whenever they happen.
Experience Tracking uses a
combination of real-time response
through text messaging, online
diaries and more traditional
questionnaires, to unearth new
insight on the ways customers
are connecting with brands.
MESH recruited a panel of over 500
volunteers to log every significant
interaction they experienced with
their main provider in each of the
five sectors, during a four-week
period in early 2011. Whenever
interactions occurred they sent
a text (SMS) message capturing
four pieces of information:
• Who the interaction was with
• The channel through which
it occurred
• How relevant it was to the recipient
• And the impact on their perception
of the brand

7
From this information we used
SAS’ statistical capabilities to
look for patterns in how different
customers interact with the various
companies. We were able to identify
a number of distinct behavioural
segments. These are described in
the next section of this report.
Every encounter is registered for:
Brand
Channel
Relevance
Impact

8
1Segment one:
Lifestyle Junky
4Segment four:
Dedicated Fan
6Segment six:
Detached Introvert
2Segment two:
Astute Alpha
3Segment three:
Internet Investigator
5Segment five:
Social Shopper

9
Meet your customers
Distinctive segments were
generated based on the behaviour
of the participants: how frequently
they encounter TV, in-store,
online, word-of-mouth, etc.
We identified nine distinct segments.
Three of these were quite small and
difficult to describe with confidence.
However, the six main segments
provided us with an eye-opening
insight into customer’s lives, and
how they viewed and reacted to
their many different encounters with
organisations in multiple sectors.
Based on our analysis we built
up a distinct picture of each
segment. These pictures led
us to name the segments:
• Lifestyle Junky
• Astute Alpha
• Internet Investigator
• Dedicated Fan
• Social Shopper
• Detached Introvert
Over the next few pages we will
profile each type of customer, what
they look like, what they respond to,
and the implications for marketers
keen to engage with them.
Charles Randall
PhD
SAS UK
Charles Randall is Solutions
Marketing Manager for SAS UK
where he combines the twin roles
of active analytical marketing
practitioner, with being a writer
and spokesperson for SAS UK
on the application of advanced
analytics to business problems.

10
Female
(60%)
Has children
(+15%)
Younger
(64% under 40)
Likes shopping
(+6%)
Least environmentally aware
(-10%)
Segment one:
Lifestyle Junky
1

Margaret (Maggs) Reader
in the KNOW
About
I’m a married mum from Kent who
loves her kids to bits. Spend my time
taking care of the family and home
while also working part time as a
teaching assistant.
Love having a good old chin-wag
with the girls and flicking through the
weekly mags to check out the latest
fashion and gossip!
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Friends (94)
I’m thirsty - bottle of water or pop? Silly question…Always cola!
45 minutes ago via iPhone – Like – Comment
Mike Bennett Not setting a good example for the kids! ;) x
32 minutes ago – Like
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Just heard about latest cuts to our local hospital. Think it’s time to consider
private, just can’t rely on the NHS these days :(
3 hours ago – Like – Comment
Margaret (Maggs) Reader is going to Monthly coffee and catch-up
Yesterday at 19.39 – Like – Comment
Doesn’t Rihanna look great in the new gossip mag? I so love her new hair!
Hmm, one of the big four have got some good deals on at the moment,
free calls to everyone on that network so might switch when contract’s up.
Yesterday at 12.52 via iPhone – Like – Comment
Emma Richards At last, now we can goss for longer! Do it!
Yesterday at 14.11 – Like
Write a comment...
Just been into the supermarket and picked up a few essentials for dinner
tonight. I know it’s a bit cheaper at the big store but too inconvenient to
travel across town and it’s always busier there. Or am I just being lazy? LOL
Monday at 17.22 via iPhone – Like – Comment
2 people like this.
PJ You should shop online – ultimate in being lazy!
Monday at 22.12 – Like
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Emma Richards
PJ
Tanya Howard
Post Photo Link Video
Ruth Cook
Amy Cameron
Andy Barrak

12
The Lifestyle Junky
Profile
The most responsive segment, she
enjoys being communicated with via
most channels (except call centres).
She is a heavy consumer of
magazines, newspapers and text
messages. She enjoys brochures
particularly if they look like magazines
and she will read the leaflets you put
through her door.
One of the happiest segments,
but being accepted by others is
very important to her. She is an
aspirational materialist and is not
a greenie. She likes shopping,
particularly in order to ‘keep up with
the Joneses’.
The Lifestyle Junky tends to be
young, urban and female. She is
from the segment most likely to have
postgraduate qualifications but tends
to work part time or manage the home.
The rest of her time she devotes to her
family, as children feature strongly in
her life.
Engaging her
Magazines and lifestyle-oriented
mailings – and indeed outbound
SMS communications – appeal to
this segment. She enjoys shopping
and point of sale activities appeal
to her. By contrast, she doesn’t
enjoy call centre interactions.
Communications strategies should
tap into belonging needs.
Her engagement with brands is
likely to extend into the online realm
and lifestyle-oriented online
communications will appeal. She is
an active participant in online social
communities (such as MumsNet).
This segment is the most proactive
online sharer and therefore
opportunities should be provided for
her to voice her opinions, particularly
given her positive attitude towards
brands and marketing in general.
Appeal to her aspirations and give her a voice

13
Key statistics
per cent of sample channel preferenceencounters per week
7.15
tv
using
online
newspaper
other
9%
magazine advert
awareness vs average
7.4x
newspaper advert
2x
0
– +
+8% 0
– +
-36%
response to all
forms of marketing
response to
sponsorship

14
2Segment two:
Astute Alpha
Male
(59%)
Unmarried
(+7%)
Graduate
(+12%)
Confident complainers
(+5%)
Likely to have new tech
(+14%)

Andy Barrak
in the KNOW
About
Sussex dweller but earn my crust
working in the city. Net result – busy
and single! You’ll probably find me at
my computer or on my phone – for
work and play.
Great lover of technology especially
my phone. Really despise sales calls,
being hurried, bad service and anyone
ripping me off. Grrr!
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Friends (148)
Andy Barrak
Took me 20 minutes to get out of the car park due to traffic at from the
superstore. *Sigh!*
3 minutes ago via Android – Like – Comment
Andy Barrak
Annoyed – why wouldn’t the checkout supervisor take my £50 note?
Sunday at 12.43 via Android – Like – Comment
Vicky Alvez I’ll take it!
Sunday at 14.55 – Like
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Frank Watson
Vincent Choi
Vicky Alvez
Andy Barrak
Called bank to correct a standing order. Good to talk to a native English
speaker rather than someone working to a script with no latitude for deviation.
Wednesday at 10.11 via Android – Like – Comment
Priya Singh haha! I remember when you lost it on the
phone the last time. You were not a happy chappy!
Wednesday at 11.05 – Like
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Andy Barrak
Got called by the mobile company – don’t like them wasting my time with
sales I haven’t enquired about. When I need something, I’ll call you!
1 hour ago via Android – Like – Comment
Andy Barrak > Richard Chorley
Guess what? That £300 MP3 dock I’ve been harping on about for the past
6 months has just gone on sale. Once again, it was worth waiting…
Frank Watson > Andy Barrak
Thoughts on the new hand held? Or what about the new Android?
My mobile’s on the verge of packing it in…
Andy Barrak
Why are the best deals always on things I don’t normally want?
Monday at 13.03 via Android – Like – Comment
Andy Barrak was at London City Airport with 2 others.
Saturday at 21.02 via Android – Like – Comment
James Groves
Esther Roberts
Margaret Reader

16
The Astute Alpha
Profile
He wants to know about brands
when HE wants to – and not before.
He is not responsive to uninvited
outbound communications although
he is not averse to well-targeted
mailings. His preferred contact with a
firm is through face-to-face outlets,
online, and particularly call centres.
He is demanding and is happy to
complain (loudly) if his expectations
are not met. He is savvy about
marketing and will seek the best
deals. Technologically sophisticated
he is an early adopter and others
come to him for advice.
Predominately male, members of
this segment are well educated and
in employment.
Domestic issues are not a priority as
this segment is less likely to be in a
stable relationship or have children.
Engaging him
Don’t expect a relationship – he’s not
really into commitment – more a
marriage of convenience. He prides
himself on his well informed decisions,
so positive magazine reviews carry
enormous weight with him.
Don’t give him cause to complain;
give him good products and efficient
service. But if he does complain
then make sure you handle him
respectfully and efficiently.
Because the price needs to be right,
don’t waste money on outbound
communications. Instead, gear
yourself up for efficient inbound
response online and in call centres.
Provide efficient service and in-bound sales

17
Key statistics
0.4x
6.25
using
in store
tv
online
other
14%
call centre
5.3x
newspaper advert
0
– +
-25%
0
– +
+34%
response to
radio
response to
magazine

18
3Segment three:
Internet Investigator
Female
(70%)
Married
(+20%)
Happiest with life
(+9%)
Likely to turn online
for recommendations
(+11%)
Least loyal to brands
(-7%)

Peter Joiner likes this.
Diana Hunt
in the KNOW
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About
Life’s great. With a fantastic house,
kids, loads of friends, and a loving
husband, what more could I ask for?
I don’t normally like gimmicks, but
I love my new Tablet. I can find
everything I want on the internet whilst
juggling my busy life as a mum.
Friends (173)
Amanda Rooke
Peter Joiner
Laurie Patterson
Lucy Fryer
Natalie Mall
Darren Glassborrow
Diana Hunt
Was reading in an online newspaper about how the chairman of my bank is
having a 6 million pound bonus. Think it is outrageous that bankers are
having this sort of bonus.
2 hours ago via iPad – Like – Comment
Diana Hunt
Just got this e-mail from my supermarket with recipes for keeping kids
interested during half term and a competition. Thought I’d share the link.
Monday at 19:20 – Like – Comment
Diana Hunt
Just back from hospital. Was dealt with by a really nice nurse who
was lovely.
Yesterday at 11:42 – Like – Comment
Laurie Patterson Are you going to the meeting to discuss
the future of the Primary care trusts?
Write a comment...
Diana Hunt
Received a call from my bank whilst we were in the middle of our tea. They
were trying to sell me something but wanted my date of birth and mother’s
maiden name….Unbelievable!!!!
Monday at 19:13 – Like – Comment
Amanda Rooke You’d think they were doing you a favour!
Write a comment...
Diana Hunt
I was in the hairdressers and I was chatting to the stylist. She was saying
how much she likes her supermarket and I told her all about my problem in
mine last week.
Wednesday at 14:09 via iPad – Like – Comment
Diana Hunt
I was browsing posts on a voucher site and I saw the cola logo. I followed
the link to the website. I had a browse of the website, but to be honest it
looks like a lot of hassle for a few points. I did like that you can earn points
towards cinema.
Wednesday at 18:56 – Like – Comment

20
The Internet Investigator
Profile
The Internet Investigators are the
most avid online users, internet
shopping, researching products,
and are frequent users of expert
recommendation sites. However,
they don’t just rely on the internet,
and will turn to friends and family
for their views. They are very media
aware, particularly devoted radio
listeners, but are old enough to have
developed a somewhat jaded attitude
towards marketing.
They are not of the texting generation
but do talk via online and real world
channels. They are technologically
savvy but less price sensitive than
most. Happy to pay for quality and
willing to invest in the future, they are
most likely to rely on private
healthcare. This segment is the most
satisfied with life.
This segment is older but exhibits
no gender bias. They are almost
certainly married and quite likely
to have children living at home.
This segment tends to be found in
the North.
Engaging him or her
To engage with this segment your
brand needs to have an effective web
presence, including full feature
specifications. Your brand must be
visible and positively perceived in
online forums. There is no need to
emphasise price, rather focus on
quality and future proofing for
themselves and their family.
For outbound communications radio
is an effective media, but you will
reach them through most channels.
No nonsense honest information
works better than clever gimmicks
which will be viewed dimly.
Provide rich online product information
including peer and expert review

21
Key statistics
1.8x
10.2
tv
using
online
radio
other
5%
conversation
2.7x
online
0
– +
-7% 0
– +
-40%
response to
all marketing
response to
SMS

22
4Segment four:
Dedicated Fan
Male
(65%)
Graduate
(+17%)
Children
(+17%)
Unlikely to turn online
for recommendations
(-17%)
Expects further
communication
from a company
(+5%)
Most environmentally aware
(+9%)
Likely to turn to
friends for advice
(+9%)

Peter Joiner
in the KNOW
About
Northerner, happily married, 2 kids,
partner in small firm of surveyors.
Hates shopping – I let the missus take
care of that! I honestly couldn’t tell you
the price of a pint of milk!
Like to hear what people say but
officially cynical about global warming.
It be right chilly ‘oop North!
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Friends (92)
Peter Joiner
Quiet lie-in with the wife out with the kids doing the shopping – happy days!
3 minutes ago via Blackberry – Like – Comment
Suresh Patel > Peter Joiner
Got the motor fixed last weekend. Thanks again for the recommendation.
6 minutes ago – Like – Comment
Jon Mahoney
Suresh Patel
Harry Patterson
Peter Joiner
Price of petrol is shocking, even at the supermarkets. Thought they’d be
using their clout to bring it down!
Yesterday at 15.16 via Blackberry – Like – Comment
Jon Mahoney Agree. We are being totally ripped off at
the pumps!
Write a comment...
Peter Joiner > Harry Patterson
Harry, you’re good with technical things. What do you know about
TVs? Want a new one for the bedroom…nothing too big. What would
£400 get me?
Yesterday at 18.40 – Like – Comment – See friendship
Jon Mahoney Suggest you get an LED. You can get a nice
one for around £200, no need to spend more than that.
Head to the electronic shop on the high street, speak to
Geoff – a mate of mine. He’ll sort you out.
Write a comment...
Peter Joiner Nice one mate.
Peter Joiner
Haha! Saw ad of a man asking his wife not to do the big weekly shop, there
was better things to do with his time. That’s me!
Thursday at 18.36 – Like – Comment
Sarah Bell LOL!
Thursday at 18.51 – Like
Matt Naysmith like this.
Peter Joiner It’s true. She likes shopping, I don’t. Everybody
wins!
Thursday at 18.58 – Like
Lucy Fryer
Matt Naysmith
Tom Reade

24
The Dedicated Fan
Profile
He notices brands through all offline
channels but the only one that
strongly engages him is sponsorship;
the rest leave him feeling less than
impressed. He is a real world guy
who doesn’t like to waste time online.
A dedicated fan, he has a passion
that may be: a sport, a team, films,
books, or other hobby. Through these
activities he has built up a large
social network which he turns to for
advice when he needs it. He
delegates the shopping to his wife
and technology decisions to his
mates. He can’t be bothered to shop
for price. He keeps his life simple.
Unsurprisingly this segment is
predominantly male and older.
He lives in a stable household with
spouse and children present.
He almost certainly works and is
reasonably well off. Whilst Dedicated
Fans can be found all over the
country, they are particularly
concentrated in the Midlands.
Engaging him
Sponsor his favourite team or hobby
– sponsorship is the most pervasive
and persuasive touchpoint for this
segment. If you want to contact him
through other channels, then use
promotions linked to his team or hobby
to generate a positive association.
Make his life easier by selling to his
wife as he detests shopping. Ignore
his moans about price because he
can’t be bothered to act on them.
Other ways of reaching him are by
incentivising recommendations from
his offline mates and through trusted
affiliates such as his sports team.
Sponsor his team and don’t bother with price incentives

25
Key statistics
3.5x
14.4
tv
using
newspaper
in store
other
4%
sponsorship
above the line
0
– +
-20%
0
– +
-17%
response to
shopping
response to
online
15x

26
5Segment five:
Social Shopper
Female
(59%)
Loyal to brands
(+3%)
Uninterested in follow
on communication
(-5%)
Unlikely to
have new tech
(-9%)

Natalie (Nata) Mall
in the KNOW
About
I’m young at heart, if not in body!
A bit of a social butterfly, you’ll
probably see me about town either
doing the weekly shop or catching
up with my friends.
Known to love a bargain and firm
believer in keeping it simple. Oh, and
don’t ask me about computers or
anything whizzy, I won’t have a clue!
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Friends (242)
Natalie (Nata) Mall
Opened the post & got £3 clubcard vouchers & extra points coupons - very
handy. Very glad to receive it & make the most of the points.
38 minutes ago – Like – Comment
Natalie (Nata) Mall
Got a very high phone bill even though I hadn’t used all my free minutes or
texts. Charge for looking at my emails was £16. Can this be right?
Natalie (Nata) Mall
We get a lot of advertising from the bank, which is a total waste of trees.
I just wish they’d actually send me something I need, like a better rate on
my ISA or a nice new credit card offer!
Friday at 15.12 – Like – Comment
Mary Swann I’m furious with our bank - although they
know my financial situation at present is not good, they
continue to exacerbate the situation with unrealistic bank
charges for meagre overdraws of 0.79p with £25 charges.
Monday at 22.12 – Like
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Jenny Underhill
Mary Swann
Annette Pringle
Natalie (Nata) Mall
Received bank statement, three sheets of paper where one would do nicely,
and well over a week out of date!
Natalie (Nata) Mall is going to Spa Weekend with 2 others.
Bob Pringle Liz, I don’t think you have internet included in
your price plan.
Write a comment...
Annette Pringle I received a leaflet through the door, it was
an A4 size leaflet with four pages of in-store offers!
2 hours ago at 12.58 – Like
Write a comment...
5 people like this.
Natalie (Nata) Mall Really? I thought I did…but then again I
can never be sure when it comes to my phone. I’m so
useless with technology, it’s a miracle I even managed to
read my emails in the first place!
Jack Goodall
Angie Berry
Andrea Walter

28
The Social Shopper
Profile
The Social Shopper is the heaviest
SMS and online channel user.
She is the heaviest user of mailing
and one of the most active in-store
shoppers. She enjoys shopping
and responds positively to the
in-store experience. This segment
is one of the most positively
disposed to online channels and
also to receiving word of mouth
recommendations. Online, she looks
for other people’s opinions but
doesn’t share hers as much.
She is the second most price-
conscious segment and is
moderately green. She has the
lowest self-perceived technological
sophistication of all segments.
This segment is more likely to be
female and over 40 years. They are
less likely to have children at home, but
remain the main household shopper.
Engaging her
She will respond to mailed incentives
and is probably an active loyalty card
member. An active CRM programme
delivering visible incremental benefits
is needed to retain her as she is
prepared to switch for better value.
She is a consumer of social media
discussions of brands, although she
won’t be driving them. Combining
these traits, she is a natural for social
incentives such as Groupon.
Provide incentives and make recommendations available

29
Key statistics
1.8x
8.35
using
tv
online
in store
other
23%
SMS
2x
online
0
– +
+24%
0
– +
-19%
response to
conversation
response to
newspaper

30
6Segment six:
Detached Introvert
Least satisfied with life
(-6%)
Non-graduate
(+8%)
Lowest brand identification
(-3%)

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32
The Detached Introvert
Profile
This is the least online of the
segments and even in the offline
world they are not particularly
engaged with brands. Touchpoints
are likely to be those they come
across anyway such as TV, in-store
and newspapers. They really don’t
like being mailed to. They rarely
discuss brands with others and they
only make contact with firms when
they have to.
This segment is disconnected not
only from marketing, but from life in
general. An introvert, they prefer to
rely on their own abilities to master
new technology rather than asking for
help. They are the least satisfied with
their lives.
This segment has a very slight male
bias but pulls members equally from
all walks of life. As a consequence
there are no strong demographic
markers to distinguish them from the
average customer. For many this is a
natural response to over-marketing.
Engaging him or her
This segment appreciates the small
things in retail / service spaces –
products in stock, cheques cleared on
time, appointments easily made and
kept. For outbound communications
use TV as it is a relatively engaging
channel for this segment. On no
account send them outbound mail.
So ensure that the retail experience is
a positive one and use courtesy calls
to routinely check if they need any
help with a product.
Deliver strong in-store experiences
and don’t contact by mail

33
Key statistics
0.3x
2.7
using
tv
in store
online
other
38%
above the line
0.5x
below the line
0
– +
-22%
0
– +
+0.2%
response to
direct mail
response to
advertising

34
Implications for marketing teams
Introduction
These segments are strikingly
different in how they relate to
companies. They share one
characteristic, however. They want
to wear the trousers. To let us know
when they need us. And they expect
us to be ready and waiting when
we’re called upon. And meanwhile,
to listen more than we speak.
This is not the marketing of common
parlance, in which our customers
meekly respond to our stimuli
like Pavlov’s dogs. It’s far more
interesting. Far more heterogeneous.
It requires much action, but to adapt
the martial metaphor of the marketing
campaign, the commands come
from the customer and the acting
is internally directed. Ramping up
the organisation to deal with this
empowered customer requires
attention on several fronts.
Structure and rewards
We know that the customer touches
multiple channels in their journey
with us: researching our brand on the
web, consulting friends on Facebook,
calling us, meeting our staff, getting
service through Twitter. And as
this research makes plain, these
multichannel journeys vary greatly
between segments. But somehow,
our organisational structure hasn’t
noticed. Channel silos compete to
keep the customer, at whatever cost
to the relationship and the bottom
line. Rewards focus on the value
we get, not the value we deliver.
There is no perfect structure. It’s
difficult to pack a complex world
into one or two dimensions of
an organisational chart. But
just as a thought experiment:
what if we organised around the
customer? Charged people with
looking after customers holistically
irrespective of product, channel
or stage in the buying cycle?
Rewarded people around the
health of the whole relationship?
Quite absurd, of course...
Insight and analytics
In the research we discovered
that certain behaviours were more
common among men than women,
or among younger rather than
older people. But there are plenty
of exceptions. There are Internet
Investigators that are young men
and Astute Alphas who are mature
women. Customers differ on their
multichannel preferences, not
according to our easy demographics.
The only way we can hope to put
someone into the right category
and treat them appropriately
is by looking for the clues they
leave behind every time they
interact with our organisations.
To do this we will need to develop
a nervous system that reaches out
beyond marketing into every single
customer facing department, from retail
stores to accounts receivable. As the
information flows in, we can build up
an institutional memory of that person,
their likes, dislikes, what channel or
promotions they responded to.
Interpreting this falls to marketing’s
analytical cortex. The people,
methods, and systems that will
trawl through the data for us to find
the patterns and anomalies that
allow you to treat each customer
as an individual and offer them
a conversation, their way.
One other point. The segments we
have described vary greatly in
their price sensitivity, their cost of
marketing, and their cost to serve
– in short, in their lifetime value to
the firm. Our customers may have
taken charge of the conversation,
but in our responses we still need
to be mindful of the need to ensure
that the relationship works for both
parties. Knowing what we have put
into the relationship and what we
can expect to get out of it may steer
our own choices – whether this is a
relationship we would wish to nurture
and invest in, one which we are happy
to continue provided we can steer the
customer to low-cost channels, or
one we feel comfortable allowing to
fade. This requires further customer
insight, along with conscious
strategic choices about who to serve.
Execution
As the customer takes control of
the relationship we need to be
ready for them. Nothing irritated our
respondents more than when the
right hand did not appear to know
what the left was doing. We need
to be able to continue the same
conversation that may have started
in a TV advert as the customer
moves online and then in-store. We
need to be just as confident in our
ability to provide a consistent,

35
individualised experience across
channels as we are in our execution
capability within a single channel.
People
Dealing with all these diverse
segments requires every ounce of
emotional intelligence that the human
brain and heart can provide. On stage
in customer-facing roles, we need
people. We need to hire for attitude
and train for skills. We need to
empower them to do their best for
the customer, arming them with
individualised insight but encouraging
them to add to this technology the
gift of warm, human contact.
Backstage, we need some other
skills, too. Joining up the customer
journey across some seriously
complex channel chains requires
process people: bright, reliable,
tenacious, technologically skilled,
and naturally collaborative.
Leadership
When we reflect on the organisations
that most impress us in their
ability to adapt to today’s complex
multichannel world, there is another
common thread. Every one has a top
team member – typically the CEO,
though it can be another high-profile
executive – who is unremittingly
passionate about putting the
customer first. Simplifying this
complexity. Making it easy for the
customer to combine channels as
they feel the need – a signpost here,
a helping hand there. Underpinning
the inevitable complexities of
multiple products, channels and
functions with the bedrock of a
shared paradigm: we do what it
takes to help the customer. Trusting
that reputation and enthusiasm
will do the rest. They don’t lead
through mission statements but
through stories, symbols and,
above all, personal example.
The Chief Marketing Officer
of tomorrow
We cannot pretend that holding
relevant, impactful conversations
with such diverse customers is in any
way easy. It requires the coordination
of an intricately entwined set of
resources across marketing, sales,
service, channel partners, IT and
HR, not to speak of strategy and
finance. We can only observe that
the marketing leaders who seem to
keep their sense of direction in this
complex world do so with the help
of the same compass: an unerring
focus on the customer through both
formal and informal insight processes.
We hope that this white paper has
added a little to your understanding
of the customer of tomorrow.
Emma Macdonald
MBus(Research) PhD
Cranfield School of Management
Emma K Macdonald is Senior
Research Fellow in Marketing,
Deputy Director of the MSc in
Strategic Marketing and principal
researcher of the Cranfield
Customer Management Forum.
Emma’s current research interests
include customer experience,
engagement and empowerment.
In particular she is investigating
the role of customers in value
co-creation and assessment, and
in developing new techniques for
assessing customer experience in
real time.

36
Research Methodology
Experience Tracking
An Experience Tracker uses a
combination of real time response
through text messaging, online diaries
and questionnaires, to unearth new
insight on the ways people connect
with brands. There are typically 3 key
stages of data collection in MESH
Planning’s Experience Tracker.
Data collection
Stage 1: Legacy brand
health questionnaire
A 15 minute questionnaire which
collects data on people’s usage,
loyalty and opinions about
relevant brands and advertising.
This questionnaire is similar to a
traditional brand tracking study and
provides benchmarks against which
to evaluate the rest of the data.
Stage 2: Real-time
experience tracking
For the next four weeks participants
are asked to text whenever they see,
hear or experience anything to do
with one of the brands of interest.
Using their mobile phone they send
a code which has four components:
1 BRAND: Which brand was it?
2 OCCASION: Where did you
see, hear or experience it?
3 IMPACT: How did it make
you feel about the brand?
4 RELEVANCE: How
well did it contribute
to your aims with
the brand?
Each participant has access to an
online diary. Reminders pop into
the diary every other day. Here the
participant can elaborate on the
experiences they’ve had, such as why
an experience has been positively or
negatively received. Throughout the
study period, participants are also
emailed a daily satisfaction question
and a weekly ‘critical incident’
question for each brand.
Stage 3: Future brand
direction questionnaire
At the end of the period we ask
participants their views again
to see how they have changed.
Further attitudinal measures are
captured relating to consumer
behaviours, psychographics,
and environmentalism.
Analysis
Stage 4: Identification of
behavioural clusters
A technique called Cluster Analysis
was used to group individuals
according to their frequency of
encountering certain types of
channels, such as in-store, online
and TV. The cluster analysis
identified six large segments
(and three tiny segments) with
unique patterns of behaviour.
Cluster analysis is a statistical
technique which places objects
into groups such that the objects
in a given cluster tend to be similar
to each other and dissimilar to
the objects in other clusters.
The specific technique used
was SAS 9.1 K-Means Cluster
Analysis (with FastClus).
Stage 5: Channel preference mapping
A channel preference map was
created for each cluster mapping
reach, impact and relevance of each
channel type. The map takes the
form of a bubble chart. The size of
the bubble shows the reach of that
channel – i.e. how many participants
report an encounter of that kind. The
two axes of the chart show impact
and relevance. As you can see in the
bubble chart for the Lifestyle Junky
segment, the in-store channel has
high reach for this segment (i.e. a
large bubble), AND it is a channel with
high perceived quality both in terms
of impact and relevance. The Lifestyle
Junky segment also has a high
preference for mobile phone texting.

37
Stage 6: Attitudinal overlay
The attitudinal data collected
during Stage 3 was overlaid
on the behavioural clusters
developed in Stage 4 to build up
a psychographic profile of their
attitudes. This picture was enhanced
by a review of the qualitative data
collected as part of the diary
component of experience tracker.
Fiona Blades
CEO MESH Planning
Fiona set up MESH in 2006
following a career as a marketing
manager and advertising planning
director. In 2007 she was listed
in the entrepreneurs section of
Research Magazine’s ’50 Faces
to Watch.’ Fiona is a frequent
speaker at industry events, both
official and fringe.
Stage 7: Demographic characteristics
Clusters were also profiled based
on their demographics including
age, gender, family stage and socio-
economic status. The demographic
analysis of each cluster was adjusted
to reflect the demographic profile
of the general UK population. This
was particularly the case with
gender where we needed to correct
an approximately 2:1 female bias
amongst study participants.

38
Appendix
SAS is the leader in business
analytics software and services,
and the largest independent vendor
in the business analytics market.
We offer the broadest portfolio of
Customer Intelligence solutions
in the market place. These
solutions allow companies to:
Deepen Customer Insight: manage
customer data and understand the
behaviour patterns of your best and
worst customers. Insight into your
customers’ attitudes, behaviour,
profitability and risk, allows you
to make smarter decisions for
your marketing organisation.
Choreograph Customer Interaction:
the ability to choreograph a
comprehensive, multi-channel
marketing communication strategy
and optimise every resource to
effectively achieve your goals
and maximise your ROI.
Continuously Improve Marketing
Performance: with scorecards,
reporting and underlying analytical
capabilities that provide visibility
of your marketing process and
the resulting performance.
This is why companies like
Nectar, John Lewis Partnership
and Confused.com power their
marketing with SAS® Customer
Intelligence solutions. And, why
the leading analyst organisations
consistently place SAS so highly not
just in analytics, but across all the
key capabilities needed to deliver
effective multichannel marketing.
Through innovation SAS helps
customers at more than 50,000 sites
improve performance and deliver
value by making better decisions
faster. Since 1976 SAS has been
giving customers around the world
THE POWER TO KNOW®.
www.sas.com/uk
MESH Planning was founded in
2006 by Fiona Blades and Stephen
Phillips, and became the most
awarded agency within 2 years.
‘The Experience Tracker’ is MESH’s
revolutionary way for advertisers to
measure all consumer interactions
with their brands in real-time.
The innovation allows brands to
comprehensively track how, when
and via which channels they interact
with consumers, the immediacy
of the reporting ensuring accuracy
and overcoming the perennial
issue of post-rationalisation.
MESH Planning is part of the 38th
Floor Group, which also includes
Spring Research and Tuned In,
a lifestyle research agency.
www.meshplanning.com

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