B2BMX2018

A brand transformation perspective Beyond the Pale Searching for strategically actionable insight 4 This irony and this inside-the-pale versus beyond-the-pale categorization provide an illuminating insight into how we view markets and how we draw their boundaries. Within the conversation shared by members of an industry or enterprise, value adheres to certain ideas, benefits and features. So, for example, in the financial services sector, "advice" is seen as a universally good and valuable thing. In telecommunications, "connection" is seen the same way. This is, put simply, part of a shared industry worldview. Now apply the same thinking to your customers. Some customers might indeed be your most loyal, profitable, high volume and favorite ones. Likely, they are also the ones who self-select to participate in your marketing research efforts. They are, in short, your idealized models of a customer. Cognitively speaking, they are akin to your "Viking." But what if—within the same landscape, but beyond the pale—others see the world differently? What if there are potential customers who, for a variety of reasons, do not share a worldview that aligns with your industry? If that should be the case, then the products, customer experiences, brand positioning and messaging of your firm and your competitors too will be weakly aligned with these people. Who then will be the most likely group to jump to a substitute solution when one comes along to meet their needs? For example, consider the way Charles Schwab disrupted the financial services business by launching what was initially an "advice-free" online brokerage. This achievement has been widely discussed as a technology disruption, 4 but it is also an example of acting on a strategic segmentation insight. For a substantial group of investors, advice is, at best, a mixed bag. Schwab targeted customers beyond the pale and disrupted a whole industry. This example hints at the possibility that the potential to disrupt, rather than be disrupted, may have quite a bit to do with the structure of your customer insight. 4 Or as Philip Evans would describe it in Blown to Bits, a "deconstruction." From strategically actionable insight into action Market leaders find themselves moving from the proverbial rock to a hard place. Rock side, we all know that almost any product's killer feature can be quickly duplicated and neutralized, even in the most technologically advanced categories, just at a time when global markets are narrowing the advantage of patent protection. So it's understandable that leading organizations are shifting their emphasis to the area of customer-experience design. Yet in the direction of the hard place, it's these same organizations who are coming to the realization that, in their own words, "We are data rich and insight poor." So where is the opportunity for real differentia- tion? This is precisely the reason for strategically actionable insight: to inform the creation of resonant customer experiences. Developing a strategically actionable view of your customers is synonymous with gaining a competitively distinct understanding of people. As we shift our perspective from products and technology to people and experiences, strategically actionable insight becomes the foundation for creating relevant, resonant engagements between your customers and your brand. ...the potential to disrupt, rather than be disrupted, may have quite a bit to do with the structure of your customer insight.

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