The Variance in Customer Experience addresses how the level of consistency or disparity in brand-related content, claims, offers, images and messages on web sites, collaterals, ads, merchandising displays, email, statement stuffers and bills, live events, in-store exchanges and contact center interactions affects customer perception and experience. Recognizing the challenges marketers face to consistently present, optimize and track the customer experience at every touch point across all types and avenues of communication and experiential events, the CMO Council has set out to catalog those critical points of interaction when corporate content meets customer experience.
To appraise the Variance in Customer Experience, the CMO Council developed an auditing tool and methodology for determining how well leading brand marketers capture, convey and reinforce their brand promise and value proposition across their channels, products, geographies, divisions, points of contact, service, corporate events and sponsorships. The scorecard and auditing tool served as the backbone to the first audit of major consumer brands, starting with 25 key constituents across financial services, retailers, travel and lodging, consumer packaged goods, consumer electronics, wireless services and media, sports and entertainment. Companies audited in this initiative were selected at random and are not associated with the program in any formal manner. However, the lessons learned from their assessments provide best practice insights into how to map, manage and adapt content touch points to maximize the customer experience.
