Elastic brands add real value to new categories. To stretch into growth, innovative, elastic brands do five things differently. Deepening consumer connection with personalised and meaningful experiences is one of five tenets of success for elastic brands. 

Successful elastic brands deepen consumer connection to build loyalty, maximise their market presence, and drive long-term growth through strategic insights and trend analysis. But the stretch does not need to be extreme. For example, Nike leveraged its reputation for high-quality athletic apparel and footwear into trend-focused tech and casual wear. This means elastic brands do not stray from their DNA. User-centricity must be built into your brand architecture, especially as brands and retailers continue to face ongoing market turbulence and heightened consumer expectations. 

The ability to deliver personalised experiences is one way to stretch into new spaces, driving conversions and long-term customer loyalty. And with “up to 95 per cent of buying decisions in some way influenced by our subconscious mind,” imagine the possibilities when personalisation strategies are built on advanced data analytics and rapid delivery. Brands and retailers can anticipate and fulfil consumer desires with meaningful hyper-personalised experiences. 

Personalisation drives performance and better customer outcomes

Personalised commerce embraces every touchpoint at the deepest engagement level, building stronger relationships and fostering customer loyalty and trust. It also allows brands to stand out in a sea of sameness – think a crowded category with generic marketing messages. Personalisation also demonstrates how your brand values your customers as individuals, thereby enhancing brand affinity and advocacy. And it provides valuable, real-time data-driven insights into consumer behaviour – critical for in-the-moment purchases or pivots. 

While data and analytics are at the heart of every personalisation strategy, digital technology enhancements have revolutionised brand and retail personalisation strategies. Personalisation has rapidly evolved from effective but limited-in-scale direct customer sales interactions like monograms to now capitalising on the wealth of personal information generated by the explosion in e-commerce, data-driven marketing, and rapid tech advances in AI and machine learning.  

The transformative impact of personalisation was clear in Coca-Cola's first-of-its-kind ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, which got its wings in Sydney in 2011. It sold more than 250 million named bottles and cans in Australia in a single  summer before reaching more than 70 countries. Pairing its iconic logo with popular names on its packaging resonated deeply with people by delivering a strong emotional connection that translated into strong sales and loyalty. 

As technology evolves, the personalisation potential is endless

Already technology advancements are amplifying customer engagement, increasing sales and revenue, improving customer retention, and enhancing data-driven decision-making for more informed decisions about product development, marketing, and inventory management. Many skincare and beauty brands are leading the way in leveraging the latest tech. For example, Skincredible By Sephora is Sephora’s exclusive, in-store, dermatologist-grade skin analysis device. It scans the skin’s surface to provide insights into a customer’s skin needs and offerspersonalised skincare recommendations. Customised experiences like this can drive sales and cultivate long-term relationships.  

Recommendation engines used by many e-commerce platforms leverage AI algorithms analysing customer data for highly personalised product recommendations tailored to preferences and previous buying behaviour. This makes it easier for customers to find products that meet their needs on the site, leading to higher conversion rates, engagement, and loyalty, and helping to increase customer lifetime value. The X-factor lies in the vast amounts of customer data revealing valuable insights into consumer behaviour, preferences, and trends.  

Personalised is most powerful in turning browsers into buyers 

A great personalised experience can become essential to someone’s life or shopping repertoire, and it has the potential to reshape not only a customer relationship but even a category. In fact, consumers now demand it.  

Circana’s comprehensive strategies ultimately drive growth and loyalty by delivering real-time analytics to measure and accelerate demand to stretch your brand to success.