This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas proved that consumer expectations of brands have evolved. They’ve always demanded the latest products and technologies, but they also want instant brand engagement and service.

It’s a lucrative market, but competition is fierce. The brands able to use data to understand consumer needs and add value will stand out. But how to do that?

The value of data

The answer lies in customer data. Everyone who interacts with a brand, be it on or offline, creates valuable sources of data that can be used to deliver experiential and personalised marketing.

The true value of data is only just being recognised. The European Commission’s VP for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip said that without data, the bloc will not make the most of AI, high-performance computing and other tech advances. Pushing a common data space in the EU, they believe, will stimulate growth. It’s because of this that consumer electronics brands – amongst others – are now viewing their consumer data as a new form of sustainable asset.

Using data to drive change

Brands who are able to connect, unify and aggregate their consumer data will be most successful. Data is the fuel that lets them identify and understand their consumers and help develop content and products to fit.

But there is a nuance to this. Brands must ensure they have the right holistic data and martech infrastructure in place across the business to prevent data being trapped in siloes. The solution to unlock this is to connect all available data sources. Without this single view, it’s hard to drive value from martech investments – DMP, CDP or CMS are only as good as the data fuelling them.

Identity resolution is another key dimension. This involves identifying individuals online and offline, known and anonymous. Combining these helps create a marketing ecosystem based purely focused on customer experience.

How it works in practice

Epson is one example of a company which has increased the lifetime value of customers and prevent ineffective marketing spend by developing a unified view of them.

Consolidating data from 15 sources enabled Epson to recognise customers globally, create clean records and target more intelligently. They have actionable data, enabling consistent customer communication, to enrich the customer experience.

To drive growth and value through data, brands must bring together siloed business units and define a unified customer data strategy across the customer journey and then, as importantly act upon it.

Transforming consumer electronics with data

The benefits of implementing a considered data strategy can be transformational across an organisation.

Smarter use of data leads to better growth, retention and revenue. A study by the Aberdeen Group revealed that consumer electronics companies with strong omnichannel strategies experienced an average 9.5% YOY increase in annual revenue compared to rivals.

With new tech, rapid shifts in consumer expectation and growth – UK households have already estimated to have spent £10.8bn on smart devices in 2019 according to PwC – there’s no better time for brands to focus their consumer electronics data strategy than now.

  

Written by Andrew Hooper, Business Development Director at Acxiom. 

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