Last week, Mintel Comperemedia took part in the Card Forum and Expo in Orlando, where the payments industry convened to share proven strategies that engage today’s consumer. Some of the top visionaries in the industry were on hand to share their expertise, including Comperemedia’s Andrew Davidson. Here are five key takeaways from the show.
The Moment of Influence
James McKelvey, Co-Founder of mobile payments company Square, described purchase data as “the largest opportunity ever” given its ability to predict intent. He also discussed the importance of “indoor location technology” (a fast-evolving technology that is allowing retailers to track shoppers’ physical movements along their aisles in unprecedented detail) which, given the range of options already being tested, looks to be the next big thing. The key in regards to indoor location technology is tapping into the “moment of influence” – Google rules advertising because it serves up relevant ads when you want them. Moving location indoors creates a new “moment of influence” and endless possibilities.
Co-brand Marketing 2.0
In an eight person mega-panel that included representatives from both the card issuing and network sides of the business, there was a general consensus that the co-brand market is heating up, in part because of the economic cycle, but also because a large number of 5-7 year contracts are expiring. Co-brand Marketing 2.0 reflects a new era of co-brand marketing that combines mobile as well as loyalty and is also integrated into the customer experience.
The Millennial Twitter Party
Chelsea Krost, the self-made “Millennial expert” who hosts her own TV and radio shows, addressed the decidedly non-Millennial audience and cautioned them to talk with Millennials rather than at them. Word-of-mouth is the key to marketing communication (a claim supported by Mintel findings) and user generated content, such as blogs, are highly influential. If a brand isn’t on Facebook or Twitter then it won’t be taken seriously. She made the point that Millennials are the most financially conservative generation since the Depression, echoing a point made by in a previous session by Jake Fuentes, Co-Founder/CEO of Level Money, who discussed money management for Millennials as a major opportunity for the financial services sector.
Intelligent Relevance
Andrew Davidson, SVP of Mintel Comperemedia, kicked off a panel by defining Marketing to a Segment of One as a hyper-personal, omnichannel experience. He illustrated this with a out-of-category example of innovative geolocation marketing. Carol Smith, SVP, Citibank, said that Marketing to a Segment of One was about creating a relationship and a dialogue with customers. Smith noted that, according Mintel Comperemedia-eDataSource, 80% of inbound emails are either deleted or ignored, but went on to explain that cadence doesn’t matter if the message is relevant. Manish Bharghava, SVP of Bank of America described how his bank was the first large issuer to align itself organizationally with its customer segments and that allowed it to look at the customer holistically and focus on the customer experience at every touch point.
The panel discussed how marketing relevance should be framed as “intelligent relevance” and Smith noted that intelligent relevance was not just about serving up offers but about understanding what is important for consumers. Paul Siegfried, VP of Fifth Third, added that it is about serving up the right message at the right time in the right place to meet the needs of that individual customer. This has become critical given that, according to Mintel Comperemedia’s Lifecycle Panel, consumers are “bombarded” with so many marketing communications on daily basis.
Redefined Commerce
Patricia Kemp, Venture Partner at Oak Investment Partners, spoke about how the payments industry is teeming with technology innovators, vastly and rapidly altering business as we know it. In order to stay relevant in the payments space she thinks that people need to understand how we spend, manage and borrow money. Issuers acknowledge that disruptions in the industry coupled with ever-more regulation are making interchange-funded rewards programs a commodities race. She ended the talk with a thought provoking question: “Is Uber a payments company or a next gen taxi company?”
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