Digital transformation is a term used extensively across industries and departments on a global scale. But how can marketers rise above the noise and focus on digitally disrupting to enrich brand engagement and customer loyalty?

For many marketers, digital is the key to keeping their brand relevant and staying connected with customers. In truth, it’s the customers that are the innovators, but they need the brands to show them the way. That’s the job of the marketing department - to identify and capture this latent desire, intensifying brand experiences with a digital layer.

It’s often hard to identify how and why this might work. A fantastic example of how digital can truly disrupt a sector is Lush, producers and retailers of fresh handmade natural cosmetics. Lush has significantly enhanced its brand over the past year, transformed through digital channels. But how did they do it?

Up until earlier this year, Lush’s strong brand personality was only visible in store. The online channel was growing steadily but it needed to ensure that the digital store was enhancing and supporting the strong physical branding.

In a short amount of time, Lush was able to develop a web site that replicates the in-store experience as closely as possible. There are certain senses, such as smell, that can’t be simulated in the digital space, so the Lush digital team focused on producing beautiful photography of every product and ingredient. Instead of touch and testing, Lush makes excellent use of video to show the product in action.

Clever retailers are using digital to create unique encounters that transcend the in store experiences. Lush gives its online customers a wonderful layer of content on the commerce experience, by focusing on the stories and facts behind each ingredient and product. This level of education means that customers really understand the product they’re buying.

The UK site has launched Lush Kitchen, an innovative online area where new batch of products are invented daily. These products, pushed via the web site and social media, are selling well beyond expectations. This is because the concept and delivery is so good and, you could say, surpasses the in-store experience. Lush has created a new breed of brand enthusiasts, repeatedly purchasing each day.

So what lessons can we all learn from Lush? We think the following elements should be followed or considered by brands embarking on a digital transformation project:

  • Understand your why. As Simon Sineck says, truly understand your purpose, your cause, your beliefs and why your organisation exists. Customers don’t just buy Lush’s products, they buy why Lush produces those products.

  • Get senior level buy-in. If the senior team can see the future as digital, they will be fully committed to bringing their ‘why’ alive in everything both online and offline. Communicating effectively with the senior team will help this process.

  • Push boundaries. Brands need to keep pushing themselves to do better and not settle for good enough. Keep driving your digital vision forward and always ask what you can be doing better.

  • Be afraid. And love it. As the saying goes “do something every day that terrifies you”. There’s a thin line between stupidity and bravery, but you won’t reach the stars by playing it safe. Investing time and money in a project, and persuading others to do the same, isn’t easy.

  • Achieve agile. Things will change during the course of a project, whether that’s the environment or ideas that have developed or changed. Go with it and be flexible. Respond to those changes and be prepared to take a step back and look at a new way of navigating the programme. Don’t block innovation or solutions with rigid processes.

  • Organise for success. To complement this agility, organisations need to structure their organisation for success. This might mean moving teams next to each other for better collaboration. Resource your teams with the tools they need to better do their jobs, such as reporting structures and organisational support. You need to make the mundane easy to facilitate creativity and success.

For many organisations, transforming the digital landscape within the business is often a brave move. Brands don’t necessarily have to be the first to embrace digital transformation, but in order to outdo; they need to be the best.

 

By Maria McCann, Field Marketing Manager at Acquia. 

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