Martin Hayward asks – is your life valuable?

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Martin Hayward, Founder of HAYWARD Strategy and Futures, considers how customers are feeling about the data trail they are creating – and whether they’re starting to expect something in return…

Consumers are getting used to the idea that the data they leave lying around as they go about their daily business is valuable. It started with the grocers and their loyalty schemes who quickly established that data about what you buy to eat is worth between 1% and 2% of the amount you spend.

We are now beginning to enter the next phase of the monetisation of customer data. It is impossible to lead a normal life today and not create data as almost everything we do involves some form of digital trail, described by the Information Commissioner as an ‘electronic footprint’. Increasingly the marketing community is seeing the value of this data for segmentation, targeting and communication purposes.

The big question is whether the consumer will also expect to be rewarded for these other data trails about their lives. The answer is almost certainly yes, and the marketing community needs to get used to the idea that consumers will increasingly demand some form of share in the value of their data.

New models such as FourSquare are already arriving, rewarding consumers in some way for being where they are. Nectar in their alliance with Yahoo reward consumers for simply searching online.

Thinking of just some of the other data streams that the modern consumer is – often unwittingly – creating…

• Who they talk to
• Which media they consume
• The profile of their spending
• Which routes they travel
• Which shops/malls they enter
• How much electricity they use
• How much rubbish they throw out

…it’s clear from this that there is potential for an unprecedented level of insight into the modern consumer’s life.

 

This insight is hugely valuable to marketers but, to ensure that the consumer, and government, allows that data to be used, now is the time to establish that there is an open, fair and mutually beneficial exchange of value.

Tomorrow’s trusted brands will tell their customers what they know, explain what they use it for and share the value with them.

At its simplest, we are moving from a world of doing things to customers, to doing things with them.

Image: xedos4, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Posted: March 22nd, 2011 | Author: maddie.york | Filed under: Customer Champions | Tags: data, foursquare, martin hayward, Nectar, privacy, rewards, yahoo | Leave a Comment »

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