The global pandemic has changed nearly everything for chief marketing officers, forcing them to scramble as consumers shift even more to online shopping. Meanwhile, CEOs are pressuring their marketing chiefs to find strategies for recovery.

Deeper understanding of customers enables organizations to successfully pivot new business models by recalibrating sales approaches, finding new revenue streams, and introducing new products and services.

Technology plays a role, of course, but it has to be used intentionally, with a new paradigm in mind. For instance, Concepcion Industrial Corporation, the leading provider of air conditioning solutions and refrigerators in the Philippines, is using customer experience software to support businesses in making decisions more nimbly.

CIC has been incredibly successful at striking the right balance, especially during this challenging year. The Philippines-based appliance distributor has managed to give customers what they need, when they need it, while creating new opportunities for business.

What’s helped CIC are the “five aces” that CMOs must establish in their companies while leveraging -- with intention -- critical emerging technologies to modernize their interactions.

The five aces are as follows.

First, adaptability. The world has changed but businesses still need to keep going, whether by finding new ways to reach cash-strapped households or helping customers visualize products from the comfort and safety of their homes. Marketing organizations must become comfortable with change.

Second, accountability. Businesses expect marketers to help deliver quantifiable business impact with the help of modern technology. As measurement of campaigns has become more sophisticated, CMOs must embrace accountability.

Next is authenticity. Modern marketers need to know and use data they collect from customers to engage them in highly personalized communications across their devices, print media and broadcast media, while understanding the context in which those messages are consumed.

Fourth, action. Customers expect companies they do business with to respond quickly and at all hours. Meeting them on their terms helps foster brand relationships.

Lastly, alignment. This doesn’t just mean coordination between sales and marketing; it also means aligning the organization so that customers’ needs dictate the businesses’ activities.

Experiences are everything -- we know they’re often more important than the product or service we’re delivering. Uncertainty and not knowing how the world will evolve creates a huge opportunity for marketers to define their companies.

There’s hard evidence behind the prescriptions. Eighty-three percent of 260 global CEOs surveyed by management consultancy McKinsey last year said they expect marketing to be a major driver for their companies’ growth. To act on this knowledge, marketing departments need to move faster, collaborate better, and focus more sharply on customers.

Yet McKinsey estimates making such changes can cut 10 percent to 30 percent of marketing costs, while adding 5 percent to 15 percent to sales growth. And about 23 percent of CEOs say marketing isn’t delivering on the growth agenda. Often, executives pour time into a few initiatives, “then grow frustrated when the promised value doesn’t appear,” according to the study.

CIC is using Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications to get a better understanding of its customers and consolidate sales, customer service and e-commerce systems with its back-office software. That’s helping the air conditioning and refrigeration company simplify online ordering, sell directly to consumers and forge new business models, such as renting cool air time “as a service,” rather than selling an appliance outright.

The Philippines-based appliance distributor had no place to sell its products for 90 days, as stores were closed nationwide. Manufacturing, distribution and most e-commerce stopped for three months during the pandemic’s height this year. CIC adapted by emphasizing products for kitchens tailored to people staying and cooking at home, and developing new ones for those who wanted a cool environment without the upfront cost.

In another instance, Filinvest Land, one of the leading property developers in the Philippines, is using Oracle Cloud Customer Experience Marketing to help its customers find their dream homes more quickly while giving a better digital experience to its customers.

The company is capturing data points during and after the sale of a house or condo to retain buyers it sells to over time. Filinvest is holding online house tours, inspecting properties by drone, and courting prospects to make sure the pipeline stays stocked after the pandemic ends. It shows how the company attuned to its customers’ needs, while adopting its behavior to stay authentic.

These are just a few fresh ideas that can be brought to life using the five aces and modern cloud technology to take a smarter approach to customer experience management, adopt new ways to overcome business challenges and invent new business models.

By Garrett Ilg
President of Oracle Corporation for Japan and Asia Pacific