Customer, a Catalyst for Creativity

In her MFA Ex 2023 talk, Mim Haysom, CMO/EMG Brand & Marketing, Suncorp Group, shared how media can change consumer behaviour and deliver value beyond flogging a product.

How your client treats their customers will define the success of their business, she said. So, media practitioners need to become customer-obsessed – and use that obsession as a catalyst for creativity.

Here are the key insights from Haysom’s talk:

Change your view

Stop thinking about marketing as selling products. Instead, think about how you are going to deliver greater value to customers, and bring something bold, powerful and creative to market.

Get under the skin of what the customer really wants. What are their passions, concerns and expectations? Focus relentlessly on how you can over-deliver on those expectations.

Haysom used Suncorp’s One House campaign as an example. Their Queensland customers’ urgent need was to make their homes more resilient as they faced increasingly severe weather. One House gave them essential tools and information to make their homes stronger in the face of catastrophic weather events.

It makes good business sense

Global stats tell us customer-obsessed companies are more successful. They have better strike rates and better conversions, which lead to better new business growth. They’ve got happier customers with a higher NPS and retention.

Haysom said she would take this a step further and say that those companies that really leverage customer obsession and think about their customers as a catalyst for creativity deliver brand and media effectiveness.

Look to the data

Think beyond audience – think customer.

Use the data and behavioural insights at your fingertips to help your clients better understand their customer. Consider who the customer is, how they want to engage with a brand, what they want to hear about, and where. Use those data signals to fuel new insights and think about the total experience the customer will have of a brand throughout their journey.

You can watch the video of Mim Haysom’s MFA EX session here.