Industry demands more complaints

Two industry bodies have made the unprecedented step of urging brand owners to get more consumers to complain about direct and digital campaigns if they find them annoying.
According to research from The Future Foundation – backed by the DMA and the Fundraising Standards Board – effective complaints handling would enable brands to earn greater consumer trust and to increase marketing effectiveness.
The report, “Bringing complaints in from the cold: exploring the role of complaints for the future of one-to-one marketing”, indicates that although 65% of the UK public have had an issue with campaigns they received in the past year, just 16% have made a formal complaint.
The report’s author, Nick Chiarelli, director of Future Foundation, maintained the findings should be a boon for brands and marketers to gain greater insight into increasing marketing effectiveness and increasing consumer trust.
He added: “One-to-one marketing is highly effective at reaching consumers – sometimes too effective. As the research shows many people have made complaints about unwanted marketing contact, but have not been satisfied with the outcome. Many others have been deterred from doing so either because they don’t think it would make a difference or they don’t know who to complain to.
“Nine in 10 of the consumers we surveyed said that brands should make it easier for people to complain about their marketing. Marketers must now recognise the opportunity this presents. Brands have long understood the power of good complaints handling to build better relationships with their customers. People are now sharing their positive experiences with their social networks. To build greater consumer trust brands should encourage consumers to complain. This will certainly be of mutual benefit to brands and to consumers.”
The research indicates that over a third (36%) of consumers have made a formal complaint about receiving a telemarketing call, with just 13% having complained about a marketing email. Some 12% have complained about a piece of direct mail or an approach on the street, 11% about a marketing text and 10% have complained about doorstep approaches.
The majority (54%) of complaints are made to the brand responsible for making the marketing contact, with the rest made to industry regulators, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office, the Direct Marketing Commission, the Fundraising Standards Board and Ofcom, or to suppression organisations like the Telephone Preference Service and Mailing Preference Service. However, just 17% of those consumers who have made complaints say they were satisfied with the outcome.
Of the 55% of consumers who have never made a complaint, 34% said that this was because they “didn’t think that it would make any difference”, 30% said they didn’t know who to complain to, 19% said they didn’t know how to complain and 13% said they regarded the complaints process to be “too much hassle”.
Just 31% of people who have complained found the process to be “easy”. The report’s authors cite this as an opportunity for brands to benefit from consumer advocacy.
The report also highlights the opportunity for brands to more closely monitor social media as an ‘early warning system’ that will help them gain a better understanding of their audience and consumer reactions to their communications.
Over three quarters (76%) of people that complained shared their experience with others and 54% did so in an online environment. Those that were happy with the outcome of their complaint were more likely to share their experience via social networks, with three in ten (30%) satisfied complainants posting about it online versus 23% dissatisfied complainants.
DMA executive director Chris Combemale said: “Earning consumer trust is now a commercial imperative for businesses to survive and thrive in today’s data-driven economy. This entails brands following the DMA Code and always putting the customer first when planning one-to-one marketing campaigns.
“Consumer complaints should be a welcome way for brands to understand where they have failed to meet the expectations of their customers. Doing so will ensure that one-to-one marketing is an exchange of value between businesses looking to prosper and customers looking to benefit.”