I considered naming this blog post An Interview with Frito-Lay CMO but after thinking about it, decided that Ram Krishnan is really talking about Customer Experience (CX). CMO interviewed Ram Krishnan about his views on marketing and data. His twitter handle is @ramalytics after all. Mr. Krishnan is all about the data in the marketing world but he emphasizes data for a purpose. Here’s a few quotes to make my point:
Customers want a two-way communication with brands
Consumers are quite willing to give up data as long as you add value back
when we brief for creative ideas, we’re always looking at how consumers are using technology and marry that up with the ideas we come up with right at the start. We don’t come up with an idea and then decide how we are going to demonstrate this idea. We make sure technology is informing the idea.
It starts with data. At PepsiCo North America, for the first time, we have aggregated every consumer touch point into one central data base. All of us are now making sure all those consumer touch points are going into one database. Each brand used to do its own thing. It just made no sense to keep all that siloed.
Wanting to make sure we don’t get outdated in how we talk to consumers; that we don’t hold beliefs and biases developed early in our careers and say, “That’s the way things were, and that’s the way things are going to be.” (In reference to a what’s keeping you up at night question)
Now if you read the entire article, you will see that it’s about how Frito-Lay is using data like never before in the marketing function. But the underlying purpose of meaningful customer experience drives the use of that data. That’s the whole idea behind Digital Transformation. If Customer Experience is the goal then technology must be an enabler. That’s the key. You don’t use technology for technology’s sake. You don’t transform just because you think you need to. You must start with a goal and that goal typically focuses on those who buy your goods or services.
If you do retain a focus on your customer experience then things like big data in the marketing world will become enablers. Now because I’m a geek, I’ll leave you with two things. The first is Mr. Krishnan’s last quote:
When I started my career, marketing used to be a creative function. Now, marketing is becoming a technical function. The marketers who will be successful–and the brands that will be successful–will make the leap from marketing as a creative function to being a technology discipline using data.
And of course a funny Doritos video.
