How to Create Customer Loyalty that Lasts: Interview with: Krishna Kumar “KK” Santhanam, Managing Director, Additude, a sponsor company at the marcus evans CMO Asia Summit 2014, on making the most of the internet as a marketing tool.

1. How to Create Customer Loyalty that Lasts
Companies cannot evaluate the internet
as just another marketing channel
anymore.
How should marketing tactics be
applied to the social-web setting?
What mistakes do CMOs in Asia
make?
Interview with: Krishna Kumar “KK”
Santhanam, Managing Director,
Additude
“The biggest mistake that companies
make is evaluate the internet as just
another marketing channel,” according
to Krishna Kumar “KK” Santhanam,
Managing Director, Additude. “The
internet offers multiple touch point
opportunities to interact, get to know
and more importantly impress
customers. Only after a good communication channel is established with
customers can Chief Marketing
Officers (CMOs) create loyalty that
lasts,” he adds.
A new-media marketing agency,
Additude is a sponsor company at the
marcus evans CMO Asia Summit
2014, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
26 - 27 May.
What do companies operating in the
internet age need to know about
marketing in this environment?
The internet has permeated every
aspect of our lives. Unlike new media in
the past, such as TV or radio, the
internet as new media has not only
become the medium of entertainment
and information, but also an integral
part of our everyday life. If we are
travelling, we book tickets online. If we
want to buy some white goods, we
research the brands and products online
well before we find ourselves in front of
a salesperson struggling to outsmart us
with their limited knowledge on the
product while we educate them on the
pros and cons of their competitor’s
products.
A comprehensive analysis of touch
points for the product, media habits of
customers and typical purchase pattern
of consumers in the category need to be
analysed. For example, big ticketed
white goods and electronics are well
researched before being bought, while
fast-moving consumer goods are chosen
based on their price and brand equity.
What technologies do CMOs in Asia
underutilise?
Asia, unlike other markets, makes
efficient use of available technologies.
However, it seems that CMOs are not
planning for the inevitable smart phone
penetration happening in Asia anytime
soon.
The brands that plan and take
advantage of smart phones when they
become mainstream will have an
enormous advantage over the late
adapters.
The latter tend to have more loyalty
attached to them as they are personal
in most cases.
Therefore, “low propensity to loyalty”
products require multiple touch points
and a convincing proposition for every
product.
After analysing the touch points and
media habits, brands have to find a way
to access their social graph which will
help to get an intimate knowledge of
customers and make meaningful
communication. Having understood the
need to get this information, Additude
has devised a modern loyalty program
that captures the purchase data for any
participating brand at the point of
purchase. So we know the location, time
of purchase and which customer.
How can social media be utilised for
brand augmentation?
Social media is the only channel capable
of sourcing social data on our
customers. It needs to be used to
collect the intimate data about
customers and products for a better
communication with them. That will lead
to more loyal customers, which then
leads to better brand augmentation.
Knowledge of customer preferences and
purchase behaviours will pave the way
for a one-to-one communication channel
with customers, which helps create
loyalty that lasts.
Companies
cannot evaluate
the internet as
just another
marketing
channel
anymore

2. About the CMO Asia Summit 2014
The
Marketing
Network
–
marcus evans Summits group
delivers peer-to-peer information
on strategic matters, professional
trends
and
breakthrough
innovations.
This unique forum will take place at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur Hotel, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia, 26 - 27 May 2014. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or
trade show, this
exclusive meeting will bring together
esteemed
marketing
professionals and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking
event.
www.cmoasiasummit.com
Please note that the Summit is a
closed
number
business
of
event
participants
and
the
strictly
limited.
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About Additude
Additude is an international Digital Engagement company based in Australia, Hong Kong & India. It has successfully run large-scale
social media campaigns for many global FMCG brands and received awards. Additude specializes in technological solutions that
advance the marketing cause by collecting various purchase data, processing them through big data technology and providing
business intelligence and better customer engagements. Additude’s mission is to build direct meaningful relationship between the
customer and the brand.
www.additude.com.au
About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss
strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to
individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, case studies, roundtables and one-to-one business meetings.
For more information, please visit: www.marcusevans.com
Upcoming Events
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.cmoasiasummit.com/KKSanthanam