What exactly is the Customer Genome?
Here is an initial overview from a 2016 article in The Drum based on work done by Accenture:
According to Jeriad Zoghby, Personalization Lead at Accenture Interactive, the genome technology excels is in its ability to “imprint” a customer’s DNA and go into not just more depth, but width as well. Looking at the map of a customer’s DNA leads to much more meaningful insight than the “you bought this, you might like this” or “you bought this, other people bought this” conundrum facing marketers.
“My DNA defines who I am. The idea of the customer genome is the DNA that defines my preferences, passions and needs — things that decide why I choose things,” said Zoghby. “If you took every interaction and exploded it into its DNA, the DNA is actually the product DNA — that goes beyond its title or its product name. Every (marketing) email has DNA, for example. Subject lines, offers, products that were recommended, creative in the background for the imaging or messaging.”
Using baby shampoo as an example, Zoghby outlined how the genome process reveals itself.
“Every time you buy it, view it, consume it — it would then type to your genome — in different ways, because viewing a product is not the same as committing to buying it,” explained Zoghby. “When I’m viewing it I’m putting in my wish list, I’m voting with my time. But when I vote with my dollars by buying it I’m saying, ‘Yeah, I buy Burt’s Bees baby shampoo.’ Same thing for dish detergent, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, whatever, we start to see the common attributes that are starting to form there whether it’s about organics, whether it’s about certain scents, hypo-allergenic, Burt’s Bees, whatever. This is true across anything.”
Here is more from Michael Buckley, Accenture, written in 2016:
Customer genomes – the detailed digital DNA of customers – are the next generation of market and customer segmentation that organisations need to consider in order to keep up with evolving customer needs. Customer genomes focus on using traditional data (such as demographics, purchase history and loyalty programs), alternate data (from sources such as social media profiles and community-based data) and derived data (including insights describing an individual obtained from analysis of the selected data sets) to create digital DNA that includes the information every organisation should know about each of their customers.
This organically derived data includes distinctive markers that organisations can apply to create targeted approaches to high-value customers and prospects. By effectively leveraging all of this data, organisations can evolve from personalisation to hyperpersonalisation of data, which is tailored to each individual customer.
Put simply, the Customer Genome provides a distinctive digitally encoded representation of a customer. It allows us to compare different customers, predict what a specific customer is likely to do next and create personalised experiences. The innovation I want to discuss next is the idea of a Best Customer Genome.
Tomorrow: Becoming Chief Profitability Officer (Part 5)
