The customer-centric value chain

I’ve just come across an interesting HBR article talking about how taking a customer centric approach to product creation led Nintendo to steal market share AND make profit.

The article, albeit about Nintendo, makes some interesting points. What I found worthwhile highlighting was the point about designing for customer experience being about relevance rather than frills, which ties in with our philosophy of developing creative solutions that are relevant to a brief, rather than innovating for innovation’s sake.

“Another way of thinking about this is that a customer experience approach provides for a “right-sized” solution. By being obsessed with what customers truly need, Southwest Airlines eschews many of the frills that drive up competitors’ costs, instead focusing on a few key areas that deliver the greatest satisfaction. Nintendo realized that additional spend on graphics and processor speed wouldn’t return proportional satisfaction for their audience.”

As we continue to adopt a research-led approach, the importance of campaign analysis and optimisation to help us understand what adverts and placements are right for candidates, will continue to grow. And this insight should be continuous; not just at the start of a campaign, but during its lifetime: this understanding is just as relevant for the Creative and Digital teams, as it is for Client Services and Solutions.