e4m Adobe-TCS roundtable on Hyper Personalization of Consumer Experiences

A panel of industry experts discussed what hyper-personalisation meant to them, as well as their companies, and said it's the next natural step in the evolution of customer engagement

by exchange4media Staff
Published - Dec 4, 2021 2:29 PM | 5 min read

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Adobe and TCS held a lively roundtable on ‘Hyper-personalization: Creating Inclusive and Immersive CX’, which saw an enviable company of marketing leaders virtually confer on how companies can fully utilize the marketing buzzword that is ‘hyper-personalisation’ to best cater to their customers and drive their businesses.

The panel comprised of top CMO’s from the BFSI segment namely, Ajay Kakar- Chief Marketing Officer, Aditya Birla Capital; Aalok Bhan- Director and Chief Marketing Officer, Max Life Insurance; Aashish Walia- Chief Marketing Officer, IndiaFirst Life; Girish J Kalra- Chief Marketing Officer, Tata AIA; Ravi Santhanam - Chief Marketing Officer, HDFC Bank; Shoma Narayanan - Executive Director, Group Strategic Marketing & Communications, DBS Bank India; and Natarajan Baskaran (Basky)- Head, TCS Interactive- Adobe Business Unit at TCS. Sunder Madakshira- Head of Marketing, Adobe India acted as the moderator for the session.

The discussion examined the need for hyper-personalisation when it comes to catering to todays’ customer, no matter what the business, and the strategies companies can employ to ensure a complete 360 degree consumer experience, as well as the innovations that will drive its future and the entire 90 minutes of event duration was thoroughly engaging.

Madakshira kickstarted the session on what hyper-personalisation meant to them, as well as their companies, varied as they are in terms of both customer needs, and services provided. And while every marketing head agreed that hyper-personalisation was vital for businesses, there were a variety of ways they dealt with them.

Bhan of Max Life Insurance pointed out that hyper-personalisation was the next natural step in the evolution of customer engagement, and that in his line of work customer engagement and services have been among the most key areas, and that technology was playing an increasingly vital role in improving on those fronts.

He noted that while life insurance is an old business itself, companies that are providing customers with it have increasingly started using digital data and Artificial Intelligence to better understand consumer needs and desires and so be able to cater to them more efficiently.

Baskaran of TCS Interactive agreed that businesses today need to keep customers’ needs in the forefront, saying, “Hyper-personalisation is about always staying relevant to a client, no matter what the interaction, because that interaction will or will not lead to a next one. From selling products or services to enquiries or any other service one always has to be able to help the customer.”

Walia of IndiaFirst Life said that when it came to providing personalised digital experiences, companies needed to come up with ways to analyse data to figure out the benefits consumers were looking for so as to be able to provide content that would engage them best. He added, “We’ve found the best way to engage with customers and figure out what they want is to use a combination of digital tolls along with traditional ground work.”

Narayanan of DBS Bank India also spoke about the importance of reaching out to consumers in ways that are personal to them and connect with them, whether through cultural sensitivity or vernacular, noting, “Companies should nuance their messaging more based on the different audiences they're reaching out to, to create a continued interaction.”

The panellists also spoke about the strategies that they have utilised to acquire as well as retain customers and the innovations and products that would drive their respective industries in the future. And while many of the basic strategies of using data analytics to predict and thus serve customer requirements were common, there were several other interesting points made like getting rid of redundancies that detracted from customer engagement and providing personalised interactions as much as possible.

Kalra of Tata AIA said that companies needed to remove irritants from the process of acquiring clients, be it an excessive calling or the ease of navigating the digital site, so as to ensure delightful CX. He also spoke of the responsibility of the company in making sure they were offering products and services that were most relevant to them.

Kakar averred the same, saying “Don't take a product first approach to a consumer, but a consumer-first approach to a product, so that you always stay consumer-centric.” He explained that companies can use a variety of tools to provide content on products that are automatically relevant to them, so that they remain engaged and aware of the brand and be more inclined to reach out to them.

Santhanam of HDFC Bank noted how it had been a learning curve for all companies and with everything going increasingly digital, organizations needed high levels of dexterity and agility to keep up with the constant evolution of the market and the consumers’ needs and expectations.

The panel concluded that no matter the industry, hyper-personalisation is a necessity in today’s marketplace, as customers have come to expect personalisation in any goods and services they require as well as in the acquisition of it. As Santhanam observed, “Each conversation with the customer leads to the next, and that's how you gain and retain clients."