With brands investing millions of pounds in customisation, you may think that consumers would be gagging to get personalised messages; not according to a new survey which claims half of UK consumers (46%) are not even aware of customisation choices available to them.
And the survey, conducted by Radius Global Market Research (Radius GMR), found that even when consumers are aware, brands are only getting their customisation efforts right less than a third of the time.
The sectors with the biggest opportunities to improve this experience are technology, entertainment and beauty; however even FMCG and financial services’ efforts are falling flat.
While US consumers enjoy relatively high levels of awareness of customisation options open to them (peaking at almost 75% awareness in under 35s), consumers in the UK remain uninformed of the choices (falling to 50% awareness among those who earn less than £40,000 a year).
The study suggests that marketers looking to customise the brand experience for consumers should look to loyalty programmes as a place to start. Loyalty programmes topped all other customisation methods, in every category, based on a combined measure of consumer interest (67% on average) and utilisation (58% on average).
Customisation should not equal proliferation, though, with 40% of consumers already feel that there are already too many options open to them. With only 30% of brands ‘getting it right’ from a consumer’s point of view, marketers should ensure that they are offering the right kind of customisation for their brand and communicate the value of it effectively, Radius GMR reckons.
However, consumers who are aware of customisation have a clear understanding of its potential benefits. Top of their list is being able to stay in the know about new products and services (48%). They also appreciate the convenience, such as less time spent shopping and making fewer trips to the shops (40%). Customisation is also seen as a way to reduce waste by receiving less of what they do not want or will not use (31%).
“Consumers are potentially very receptive to efforts to customise the brand experience,” said Radius Europe director Jeanette Vivier. “But if marketers don’t do the homework involved to provide and communicate highly relevant benefits to their specific audiences, they are unlikely to capitalise on the opportunity.”
