The power of missions created using Zero Party Data.

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Bringing together creativity and insight, data and technology to design experiences that meet - or better exceed - the expectations of each of us is now more important than ever before. 

The role of the brand in the moment is shifting as we turn to the brands we trust to support us as we complete missions - grabbing a quick, tasty lunch; changing the lightbulb in the bedroom; finding the perfect movie for a cosy Friday evening on the sofa - in our daily lives. 

As a brand with a defined purpose, the challenge you face is to provide the people you serve with reasons to engage in the moment and in the context of their lived experience. You need to deliver a touch that could result in a purchase - but equally the result could be a smile, a sense of connectedness or memorable time spent with loved ones.

By identifying which missions are important and understanding the role of individual touchpoints, brands can flex their offering to target relevant groups - supporting them to complete key missions. 

In retail as we approach Christmas, this isn’t necessarily difficult and we’re already seeing organisations such as Amazon make use of mission-based marketing to drive early spend. 

Amazon is warning its customers that they need to shop early this year to avoid a (so far fictional) delivery backlog. However, for other sectors and for retail post the festive season this becomes much harder - particularly with the threat of lockdown post New Year looming large.

So how is it possible to tap into these missions? For many organisations, the key will be Zero-Party data.

OK, so you’re just getting comfortable with the concept of First Party Data, it’s true value and the need to collect it. But Zero Party Data - defined as any data that a customer proactively and deliberately shares with a brand - is, we argue different and critically important.

For the purist, Zero and First party data are one and the same and technically, they’d be right. First Party Data talks about data collected that enables a transaction (your name, address and postcode, permission status).

We believe that Zero Party data is different in both intent and purpose. For us, a focus on Zero Party Data means a greater focus on the Customer Experience, touch points and value in the moment. 

When we talk about Zero Party Data we mean data offered-up by individuals as part of a deeper, more prolonged value-exchange with a trusted brand. It includes lifestyle preferences, wish lists, dream destinations, interests and passions - all shared proactively in return for a deeper, richer, more relevant and more rewarding experience.

So, a focus on Zero Party Data means a focus on relationships, long-term value and relevance; creativity, experience and service design. We need to design experiences in which data capture is a part of the end-to-end experience and delivers a benefit RATHER than expecting me to sit and fill-in a meaningless, and often arduous form before we’ve done anything.

In the build up to GDPR there was much attention paid to Preference Centres. Typically an area within an online profile where we can control communication preferences - the functional opting into direct mail, but out of SMS and email etc...etc...etc. They have proved to be a successful way for brands to ensure that they remain GDPR compliant. But Preference Centres (and please, let’s find a better, more human way to refer to them) can and should be used for so much more than channel selection. They can be used to add layers of context to find out exactly what a customer is or isn’t interested in.

This means that we can personalise to a far higher degree than has previously been possible giving Marketers, Product and Service Designers information on individual customer needs, interests and, importantly, intent. 

Blending Zero and First Party data to describe behaviour over time creates a powerful data set. It gives us access to a new creative raw material and a future of rich, deep and mutually rewarding relationships with brands.

Having this level of data means that it is possible to understand individual journeys which when taken together can be used to identify missions which in turn can be woven into experiences. 

For instance, working with a global fast food restaurant in China, we increased incremental frequency by encouraging the guests to visit restaurants more often. Rather than looking for meaningful patterns in what lapsed guests had bought and comparing them to active guests we analysed the Zero and First Party data. 

This meant that we could deliver super relevant messages that connected with individual guest’s missions – rather than selling a burger or a coffee – we were communicating ease, convenience and value. And it worked! Reactivation of customers soared by 136 percent and incremental revenue increased threefold.

This approach shows the power of targeting the right customers, at the right time, through the right channel – which of course, has been the aim of direct marketing since it was first conceived back in the 50s.

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