Industry experts have been predicting that “campaigns” in the traditional sense are dead. Do you believe it? Well, maybe this OnMessage Minute will help you decide if they are right or wrong. Let’s start by dissecting what a traditional campaign looks like:
Campaigns … have a designated start and end date.
Campaigns … are managed solely by marketing.
Campaigns … are designed for specific channels (sometimes more than one).
Campaigns … consist of highly sequenced messages for specific customers.
Campaigns … determine message delivery timing / consumption.
Campaigns … are typically used for lead generation.
Now let’s look at the customer experience (CXP):
CXP … doesn’t have a start and stop date.
CXP … isn’t solely controlled by marketing.
CXP … takes place through channels the customer chooses.
CXP … includes any and all messages available to the customer.
CXP … allows customers to engage when and where they wish.
CXP … impacts acquisition, retention and loyalty.
The customer experience is a traditional campaign on steroids. It is more holistic, it is more immersive and more engaging than any campaign could ever be. Think of it this way. Compare what it took to get the Wright brothers plane off the ground (i.e. campaign) … to the number of people and moving parts that it takes to get a rocket into space (i.e. customer experience). From a complexity perspective, there is no comparison. That is why CMOs and business executives alike are being forced to rethink how they view messaging development, delivery and activation throughout the customer experience.
A recent McKinsey study revealed the number one trait of companies that succeed in delivering a superior customer experience is the ability to develop and deliver a clear, consistent corporate message. That’s why leading CMOs and executives are allocating significantly more time, resources and dollars to ensure messaging connectivity and continuity exists throughout the customer experience.
While a lot of things are changing in the world of marketing, one thing remains the same: companies still need to get their message out. It’s just that the process and methods by which the message is developed and delivered have grown significantly more complex. So maybe the campaign isn’t dead, it has simply come back to life as a much more difficult thing to manage. It’s taken the form of the customer experience and this requires an entirely different approach to messaging development and delivery across the enterprise. Leading CMOs and executives realize this and are making serious investments to ensure every corporate stakeholder that participates in the customer experience knows the entire story and plays their part in delivering a clear, compelling and consistent message in the market.
