Rent the Runway and Glossier on Crafting Magical Customer Experiences

During the session amp8220The New Rules for a ConsumerLed Worldamp8221 hosted by Nick Brien chief executive officer Americas of Dentsu Aegis Network executives from the two directtoconsumer DTC companies went into detail on how they blend data and human touches to achieve both Maureen Sullivan chief operations officer of Rent the Runway and Ali Weiss senior vice president marketing at Glossier also discussed innovation retail presence and authenticityBrien kicked off the session with some levelsetting insights into the DTC market amp8220Obviouslyamp8221 he said amp8220the growth in the DTC market is remarkableamp8221 Along with todayamp8217s lower barriers to entry for DTC companies he added over the past nine years the US has experienced unprecedented growth amp8212 but more than 50 percent of the Fortune 500 have not generated growth over the past three years Brien suggested that a lack of women in the Csuites of many of those organizations is part of the problemUltimately though the success of todayamp8217s DTC companies comes down to their unique approach to winning engaging and retaining customersamp8220I have another interpretation of DTCamp8230amp8221 Brien said amp8220Thereamp8217s another dimensionamp8221 He described that dimension as a holistic way of doing business that includes the data fueling customer insights the total experience across customer touchpoints and the sense of community that many DTC brands create amp8220These businesses get very proximateamp8221 he addedAll of these elements are essential in marketing to customers who expect personalized experiences and may leave if companies donamp8217t deliver Brien pointed out that 80 percent of consumers are more likely to do business with brands that offer them a personalized experience and 52 percent will switch due to poor personalizationamp8220For those of us in the agency worldamp8230 are we doing enough to challenge the narrative of the coasts and middle America the red states and blue statesamp8230 Brien asked amp8220I wonder how well weamp8217re doing moving from classic demographics or descriptors to something more significant that allows us to get close to customers because thatamp8217s the reality in 2030amp8221Brien pointed out that the US will be the first mass multicultural democracy in the world that more and more consumers expect brands to stand for something and that they expect businesses to value them as an individual and a member of a community versus as simply a transactional buyer of productsWith all that in mind Brien asked Rent the Runwayamp8217s Sullivan and Glossieramp8217s Weiss how they balance brand and performanceamp8220Itamp8217s a natural classic conflictamp8230amp8221 Sullivan responded amp8220Do we care about brand or performance Guess what itamp8217s both and itamp8217s really hard and thereamp8217s constant navigation and tradeoffamp8221 In Rent the Runwayamp8217s case she added to be as disciplined as possible around the total customer experience the fashion retailer is amp8220datadriven everything amp8230 so we can measure the impact of everythingamp8221Glossier is passionate about measurement as well Weiss explained that the beauty company makes amp8220datadriven decisions around hearts and dollarsamp8221 to determine whether they need to make the tradeoffs between the twoBoth brands also share an affinity for gathering customer input Sullivan personally looks at every piece of app feedback to see whatamp8217s going right or wrong and to get a pulse on what customers are really saying She called it the perfect size focus group Rent the Runway also has a voiceofcustomer VOC Slack channel for about 200 employees Sullivan said it empowers them to champion the companyGlossier has a VOC Slack group with 2000 customers which allows them amp8220to talk to us and each otheramp8221 Weiss said Those conversations increase customersamp8217 likelihood to purchase and refer she addedDentsu Aegisamp8217s Brien surmised that these touchpoints help remove friction from the customer experience and ensure that itamp8217s seamlessSullivan pointed out that listening to Rent the Runwayamp8217s community allows the company to quickly pivot to meet customersamp8217 needs amp8220Referrals are our biggest customer driveramp8221 she said adding that 94 percent of customers come to them organically amp8220We feel grateful about having a community of customers that will do thatamp8221 So the fashion retailer wants to be responsive to their needs requests and expectationsCustomer listening enables both brands to uncover insights that inform their decisions about marketing product and strategy Rent the Runway for example shifted from simply amp8220renting ballgownsamp8221 to launching an industryfirst subscription clothing rental service based on responding to what amounted to an item on many customersamp8217 wish lists VOC also allows the company to share inventory data with its partners on what works and doesnamp8217t for its customers in response many of them are customizing items specifically for Rent the RunwayWeiss noted that Glossier has created a feedback loop that uses customer input to fuel product development for example which then drives further feedback She added that one of the biggest benefits of being an experience company is that the company can quickly gather and react to feedback on product experiences digital experiences and offline experiencesamp8220Magic is magic is magicamp8221 Sullivan interjected describing the Glossier retail experience amp8220Youamp8217re leading the way in how transformative the experience amp8230 can beamp8221Creating magical experiences often meansamp160blazing a new path they asserted amp8220A lot of it is not following the rulesamp8221 Sullivan said Back in 2011 when Rent the Runway launched reviews for instance partners were against it Today theyamp8217re amp8220addictedamp8221 to the insight Those reviews are also one of the biggest drivers of conversionamp8220The voice of the customer is now so much louder than the brands could ever beamp8221 Weiss said adding that the most effective marketing is word of mouthThatamp8217s why creating those magical experiences are so crucial to both brands Glossier doesnamp8217t want customers to amp8220grab and goamp8221 products from its stores for example the product amp8220should almost be a souvenir of the experienceamp8221 Weiss saidSullivan added amp8220We want to make a subscription to fashion easy amp8230 it has to be magical and insanely convenient every day or elseamp8221 So Rent the Runway will continue to innovate around making the customer experience amp8212 from rental to return amp8212 as amp8220seamless and magical as we want it to beamp8221Sullivan and Weiss agreed that technology enables their respective companies to scale authentic onetoone relationships One of the key aspects of that is their ability to use data to rethink and innovate their businesses while listening to and meeting customersamp8217 expectations amp8220Because we collect so much data on each piece of clothing people wearamp8221 Sullivan said amp8220we can create the ideal closet in the cloudamp8221Photo courtesy of Advertising WeekClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Rent the Runway and Glossier on Crafting Magical Customer Experiences

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