Simon Ellacott, a Managing Consultant in our Marketing, Sales and Service practice looks at the rapid rise of social and interactive TV. Will this seismic change in television viewing behaviour be a blessing to the nation or a curse to us all?

 “Everyone says that social television will be big. I think it’s not going to be big — it’s going to be huge” – Ynon Kreiz, CEO Endemol group

Social TV, connected TV, media convergence, transmedia… a whole new lexicon is emerging to describe possibly the greatest change to our relationship with the television since it first caught us in it’s hypnotic glare. Television has had a profound impact on the lives of humankind so this is a pretty bold statement to make, but we’re talking about the fundamental transformation of the television from one-way transmission to two-way communication. The implications are staggering: the convergence of mass media, digital information and communications could become the dominant design for social interaction of our future. How do I intend to justify such outrageous hyperbole? Well strap yourself in folks because it’s already happening, and it’s happening fast: almost half (45%) of all British viewers already use social media whilst watching TV. It creates a huge increase in the potential for communities to instantly react to real time news and events – from the X-factor performances to public protests. Gil Scott-Heron may have cause to rethink, the Revolution might be televised after all….

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Filed under: Uncategorized by Simon Ellacott on February 6, 2012 | No Comments »

What happens when top managers in customer service from various industries come together for a 2-day brainstorming session to discuss the future of Digital Customer Service? Capgemini Consulting brought together customer service directors from leading global organisations  and put them with digital experts to take a look in to the future.

5 years ago, who would have predicted the worldwide success of social platforms such as Facebook and Linked In and the immense volumes of information and data exchanged via digital channels like Twitter and YouTube.  These developments will undoubtedly continue to accelerate and significantly alter the world of customer service. But where will this journey take us? What will be the key drivers of change in the next ten years? And what will customers demand from our organisations? Read more »

Filed under: Customer Engagement, Customer Understanding, Multi-channel by Scott Sinclair on January 30, 2012 | No Comments »

Many customer-facing executives look toward social networking as a means for attracting new customers, improving sales and building more intimate (and valuable) relationships with their customers. The concept is quite simple: bring the customer closer to you, and in turn they will become more frequent buyers, help you improve your products and even attract new customers for you.  But a recent study by ecommerce personalisation specialist Baynote noted that social networks had very little influence on how US consumers shopped during the 2011 Christmas shopping season.  So, what is it that marketers really want to achieve from a social network?

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Filed under: Customer Engagement, Customer Understanding, Social Networking by Jenna Paulat on January 23, 2012 | No Comments »

A friend of mine from across the pond recently mentioned Google Wallet in his Facebook status and I realised then that mobile-payments are on the tipping point of becoming mainstream.  I therefore wanted to spend some time exploring this exciting new technology and consider what needs to happen to tip it over the edge!

For the uninitiated, Google Wallet lets you store your credit card details on your mobile phone and uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to allow users to ‘wave’ their mobile at a Point of Sale device and have the relevant amount deducted.  Online purchases can also be made through the app.  Google Wallet has been live in the US since September 2011 with retailers like GAP, Macy’s and ToysRUs all offering relevant m-payment options.  Whilst this all sounds great, the launch was limited given that Google Wallet is only available on a small number of devices, through one mobile operator (Sprint, one of the US’ biggest) and currently supports only two types of card (MatsterCard and a Google prepaid card – not quite a full wallet just yet – although plans to bring Visa and AMEX are underfoot by all accounts). Read more »

Filed under: Customer Engagement by Jo Shipley on January 16, 2012 | No Comments »

So you’ve signed up the local gym, committed to going on a diet and decided that 2012 is the year you are going to sign up to twitter and understand what all this talk of digital transformation is about.

But, before we completely forget about 2011, let’s take a moment to reflect on what was hot on the customer experience blog, and make a prediction for customer experience in 2012. Below is our top 5 blogs based on number of views and it makes for some great insights. Read more »

Filed under: Customer Engagement, Digital Transformation, Gamification, Mobile, Multi-channel, Point of Views, Social Networking, Transformation by Scott Sinclair on January 9, 2012 | No Comments »

Remember those Find Your Old Classmates ads around the time of the dot-com boom? The sites behind those ads, like classmates.com, were really the first iteration of social networking sites. Back then, social networking was all about using the power of the internet to connect with people that you had lost touch with.

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Filed under: Customer Understanding, Digital Transformation, Social Networking by Scott Sinclair on December 19, 2011 | No Comments »

Every company, large or small, online or offline should have an online marketing strategy because if it is done well it’s a very cost effective way to engage with customers. Search engines such as Google process 87.8 billion searches a month making it clear that companies have to make the most of the online marketing landscape to capture this potential audience. Never has there been a time when companies can make a success of themselves so quickly and easily, but you have to adopt the right strategy for your business. There are three main avenues which I will cover and I will also touch upon the phenomena of mobile marketing, since smart phones are now outselling PCs and with Android seeing almost 500,000 activations per day, mobile will only become more relevant. Read more »

Filed under: Customer Engagement by Scott Sinclair on December 12, 2011 | No Comments »

Smartphones have become an integral part of life in recent years. With millions of applications at hand, people are no longer eager to shop the old way. The smartphone revolution thus calls for a change in the thinking of companies who want to expand their business. QR shopping, in particular, can result in a dynamic shift in sales and profits, if done properly.

We all know what traditional shopping is about. You visit a supermarket or grocery store and buy the required items. Online shopping has also become so common in recent years that it can also be included in the traditional shopping category. Read more »

Filed under: Customer Engagement, Digital Transformation, Disruption, Mobile, Social Networking by Zeeshan Idrees on December 5, 2011 | 5 Comments »

This week saw the launch of Sickweather: a new website which combines social networking with real-time intelligence reporting that intends to forecast the movement of illness. Similar to Doppler Radar scanning the skies for signs of bad weather, Sickweather scans social networks for symptoms of illness. Users are then able to check for the chance of sickness in a particular area as easily as they can check for the chance of storms. The commercial model for the website is built around trying to attract advertising income from pharmaceutical companies. Read more »

Filed under: Digital Transformation, Social Networking by Susanna Dale on November 28, 2011 | No Comments »

Filed under: Customer Engagement, Digital Transformation, Mobile by Wouter Sleyffers on November 21, 2011 | No Comments »