Champions (UK) plc were amongst the line-up at a recent event on digital transformation within the fashion and ecommerce industries. A number of fellow marketing and retail industry professionals were also on the bill, sharing their expert insights on various aspects of this hyper competitive sector.
Hosted by software provider Diginius, the insightful afternoon featured presentations alongside ours from the likes of Influencer Matchmaker and VTEX.
Looking to the year ahead, presentations covered a number of hot topics including customer acquisition, influencer marketing, branding and unified commerce strategies, offering invaluable insight on how brands should approach each to begin the new year on a competitive edge.
Champions’ MD, Matt Hayes, explored the importance of building brand ‘love’, a concept instilled in a lot of what we do here at Champions. With Matt’s impressive track record of building digital marketing strategies for many successful brands, it was no wonder he was invited to share his expertise on the topic on such a significant stage.
He said; “But is brand love really a thing? The answer is yes. Over the years, we have seen certain brands excel in this area and now, thanks to building strong relationships with their consumers, the likes of Apple, Disney and LEGO have mastered brand love. Their consumers are truly invested in their brand and in turn, they have continued to dominate their markets.”
He went on to explain that 75% of buying experiences are based on emotion and swears by six key factors to create brand loyalty.
These steps include; exceeding the customer needs, building trust, setting trends, sharing values, elevating experiences and respecting your customer, whilst establishing the touchpoint theory for the brand.
“Once you identify and understand your customer touch points, you can create positive experiences that embrace all of the things needed to develop brand love. Whether it is over social media, on your website or through your after-care service, you can incorporate the six factors that make consumers fall in love with your brand, into your marketing strategy. Today, it’s no longer about people who ‘like’ your brand, it’s all about those who simply love it.”
This idea was reinforced by Amelia Neate who heads up Influencer Matchmaker, partnering brands with leading influencers across the world. Amelia introduced the idea of building a ‘brand tribe’ by means of influencer marketing, an area that is only growing in prominence and value and therefore a key approach for brands to consider in the years to come. On the concept of a brand tribe, Matt commented, “in simplest terms we work at looking and taking into consideration that we are all looking to belong to a tribe or tribe model.”
With clear expertise and experience in their respective fields, the speakers were able to confidently conclude that offering something special and personal to customers is how brands will stay relevant in times of constant change and uncertainty in the retail industry.
The diverse panel of professionals also highlighted the importance of sharing knowledge and the presence of some industry leaders in the room, encouraging support and insight, was great to see.
You can see more of what went down at the event in the video below.
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