How to save your brand in the digital age

In today’s digital world, the traditional four P’s of marketing do not take brands as far as they should. With the traditional focus on price, place, promotion and product, we miss out on a key element - customers.We lack adequate opportunities for two-way engagement with our customers and holistic digital transformation - and that’s why we at FutureMarketer conceptualised  a SAVE approach.Before we explore how the SAVE approach can help marketers, let’s look at our current marketing environment. There has been a drastic change in consumer behaviour over the past 20 years. This places new demands on how we market our brands. Today, traditional marketing models may be holding us back.  SAVE is a way for you to connect better with today’s digitally savvy customers who spend their time shopping online and visiting social media sites.So, what does SAVE stand for?Services:In today’s digital world, products have evolved into services. Products were previously developed to fit customers’ needs. But thanks to smartphones, tablets and now watches, people are seeking new sources of product information through apps and tools.Products are now defined by the services that they can digitally deliver to customers. Look at smartphones, for instance. Their value is further boosted by the multitude of services users can tap into. Knowing what service will propel your product can help you develop a product that customers will rely on and return to for years to come.Access:The success of e-commerce and m-commerce systems means that consumers are able to access your products 24/7.  Marketing is now about reaching people in a way that is convenient and useful to them.A great example of 24/7 access to products is Tesco’s virtual shop, ‘Homeplus’, in South Korea. This virtual experience revolved around getting people to download the Homeplus app before scanning the QR codes of the products they wanted from public Tesco posters. App users then paid for their orders online and scheduled time for home deliveries, all in one go.The download rate for the app crossed the 900,000 mark during that year alone, with a 130% increase in online sales! Tesco’s Homeplus division is now the number one online retail store in the country. Easy consumer access has never been such a powerful marketing tool, so why not consider altering your business model to maximise the accessibility of your products or services?Variable (pricing):You can see how the competition between m-commerce and e-commerce retailers such as Amazon, Flipkart and Alibaba has changed the entire pricing system. With prices fluctuating every second, customers now have more options and power when it comes to pricing. Pricing is now dependent on macro factors like the economy and stock market, as well as micro factors like an organisation’s website traffic and competitors’ deals.Are you familiar with the Dollar Shave Club’s pricing system? This personal grooming products delivery company follows a monthly subscription plan, based on the type of razors their customers want. Such companies prove that traditional pricing such as ‘price per unit’ is no longer relevant.Engagement: Lastly, the SAVE approach looks at the importance of ‘Engagement’. By engaging your customers through their preferred communication channels, you can establish a personal connection with them and improve customer loyalty. Location tracking - looking at your customers’ browsing or app usage patterns - even allows you to be where your customers are. This is a great way to make your brand both noticeable and reliable.You can see by now that tracking the interests of your customers and tactics of your competitors is at the heart of the SAVE approach.  This kind of vigilance only comes from a focus on providing solutions to customers. Having an agile, customer-centric approach like this will allow you to be innovative and responsive to the needs of your market.At the end of the day, brands should ask themselves: “How can I distribute content to my digitally savvy customers in the most effective way?” The answer is simple - figure out how to talk to your customers and keep at itThe writer is Taru Jain, founder & CEO of FutureMarketer.