In our visit to the National Retail Federation’s Big Show last month, we had the opportunity to hear Ginni Rometty, the CEO of IBM, discuss the technological trends that are shaping the future of retail.

Thanks to the explosion of new data, the business landscape is shifting. Rometty sees data as the world’s vast new natural resource. She describes how big data and changing expectations are intersecting with a confluence of major technological shifts—cloud computing, analytics, social, and mobile—to fundamentally reshape commerce.

Following Rometty’s remarks, she and Terry Lundgren, Chairman, President, and CEO of Macy’s, engage in an in-depth dialogue on the implications of these shifts for retailers everywhere with Macys promo code.

If you’re interested, you can watch this thought-provoking talk here.

You understand that the game of modern business isn’t won by capturing the next transaction. You’re passed that. Now you’re learning how to relate to your customers.

Look at any of your personal relationships to see how difficult relating to another human being can be. Here, you’re tasked with relating to a customer—someone you don’t know and probably will never know personally. This challenge is so formidable it dissuades many business leaders from even trying.

The task of relating is made easier by knowledge and understanding. You may not get to meet all of your customers face to face, but the better you understand who they are, the easier it is to relate to them through every interaction they have with your brand.

So we begin our journey with customer intelligence. We often start in the obvious places: market and consumer research.

Understanding the Outer Life of Your Customers

We acquire a lot of data on our customers’ purchasing behavior: their likes and dislikes, their social groups, their web habits, and a host of other easily trackable forms of “big data.” We come to know their age, income level, level of education, occupation, marital status, how many kids they have, and where they go to dinner on Friday nights.

All of this information is useful, and in the hands of a competent marketer, this data can be used to help win market share in the short term. But does it really help you relate to your customers? Is it enough to forge a meaningful bond? Unlikely.

Customer intelligence starts with knowledge of our customers’ outer worlds (all of the metrics listed above). But forming a meaningful relationship with our customers require us to go deeper—to probe the hearts and minds of the people we are trying to serve.

Exploring Your Customers’ Subconscious Mind

True “consumer insights” reveal what’s below the surface. To explore the inner lives of our customers we must ask a different set of questions, including:

• How do our customers feel about us?

• What do they believe we stand for?

• What do they value above all else?

• What are their hopes and dreams?

• What are the dominant images they associate with us?

• What needs are they striving to meet? How can we help them meet those needs?

• What tensions are they wrestling with each day? How can we help resolve these tensions?

Try answering these questions for yourself and for someone close to you to appreciate the complexities of our inner lives. These are not easy questions to answer and yet this is the task of today’s inspired business leaders looking to know their customers.

Forging into this arena is certainly not for everyone. You might have to let go of many cherished beliefs about your customers. You might come to realize how little you know about the people who give your business existence—the very lifeblood of your enterprise.

But if you’re brave, if you dare to discover, and if you’re excited about the possibilities this new customer intelligence can bring to your business, give us a ring. We love helping businesses see their customers as human beings rather than statistics. It’s why we exist to serve you.

Building analytic muscle to learn about your customers is a top priority for today’s outperforming chief executives. Big data is an unquestionably powerful tool to improve your knowledge about your customers.

Many executives are talking about “big data” these days. Another popular term associated with big data is “consumer insights.” The implication seems to be that statistics garnered through massive consumer data will yield consumer insights. Not necessarily.

Genuine insight is a deep, intuitive understanding into a person or group of people. IBM’s SPSS and other exciting technologies provide us with tremendous analytical prowess. But they don’t tap into our intuition. And they can’t interpret the meaning behind the numbers.

To truly unearth consumer insights we must go deeper than analytical tools can go. We must access our shared humanity—our deeper nature—that binds us together as human beings. We must endeavor to peer into the hearts, minds, and souls of our customers if we are to mine for authentic consumer insights.

I know, this might sound a little too “soft” or abstract; it might sound like a lot of work too. But it’s meaningful work that translates to hard results. It helps us connect more deeply with the lifeblood of our businesses—our cherished customers. It can also influence our company’s culture as it too is made up of human beings with dreams, feelings, desires, and needs.

There’s another unspoken reward that comes from taking a humanistic approach to customer intelligence: In endeavoring to understand your customers as individual human beings you may learn a thing or two about yourself.

Analytics is a tool, not an answer. Get genuinely curious about learning about your customers. Connect with our shared humanity. It will bring your consumer insights to life.

Couldn’t make it to this year’s National Retail Federation’s Big Show in New York City? No problem.

The keynote opened with SAP’s SVP of Retail Business Unit Lori Mitchell-Keller’s discussion of the millennials and how the new socially-conscious consumer has been wired since birth and is comfortably connected through social media.

In their keynote address, marketing strategist BJ Bueno explains the vital role core values plays in today’s business. He highlights three humanistic core values that are trending high among successful enterprises like Google, Coca-Cola, and many others: compassion, joy, and optimism.

Life is good CEO Bert Jacobs shares the inspiring story of how his $100 million lifestyle brand came into being and the ten core values that drive their business.

Watch BJ Bueno and Bert Jacob’s keynote address on NRF’s website >>

Recorded at Retail’s BIG Show on January 14, 2014.

In walking the massive floors of the National Retail Federation’s Big Show in Jacob Javits Center last week, we noticed the same themes and language echoed throughout the great halls of exhibitors serving the retail industry: analytics, big data, and other research tools—services and technologies for improving your customer intelligence in an effort to better compete and serve your customers.

With retail’s major shift toward statistical analysis and improvement of data-gathering technologies is important, its easy to arrive at the belief that all business decisions need not be made, but rather analyzed.

This important shift toward objective data and statistical analysis isn’t just happening in the retail industry but virtually every field of knowledge and inquiry. And this, ultimately, is a good thing. The more reliable objective data we have, the more accurate knowledge we have. The more accurate data CEOs have about their customers, their competition, and the overall marketplace, the better informed decisions they can make.

Armed with big data, chief executives have a powerful form of intelligence to access and mine in their pursuit of market dominance, brand loyalty, improved ROI, and greater profitability. What better way to become obsessed and knowledgeable about your customers than to have access to reports that highlight customer interests, activities, perceptions, behaviors, and beliefs associated with your brand.

The Dark Side of Consumer Research

All good things, however, can be taken to extremes. Objective data and statistics is one form of information. It is the kind of information technology can provide as well as the kind our logical, rational minds love. But we (and our customers) are not purely rational beings.

Humans often behave irrationally and any customer intelligence that doesn’t address our irrational side is incomplete and can lead us astray. And with raw analytics alone it is difficult to penetrate our customer’s psyche, to mine the unconscious motivations and less rational aspects of our customers.

This means that we can’t exclusively rely on technology to inform us about customers and markets. We need to tap into our innate human faculties as well.

The Missing Ingredient in Consumer Intelligence

Intuition and feelings are doorways to our customer’s irrational perspectives. When we learn to access these functions in ourselves, big data and market research can become an empowering servant instead of a dominating master.

Big data needs human assistance. We must learn to access our left brain (logic and reason) AND our right brain (intuition and non-rational) in our interpretation of consumer data.

Then, magic can happen. Statistics begin to dance and our customers come to life; our understanding of them (and perhaps even ourselves) finds new ground.

The Future of Market Research

Our experience shows us that CEOs who adopt a more humanistic understanding of their customers will become better leaders of their organizations and will be better equipped to interpret the massive amount of data companies will continue to generate about their customers.

These well-informed chief executives will lead their business to market dominance by better addressing the needs of their customers and their employees. They will be able to make superior decisions and spot consumer trends before their competitors.

We’ll discuss ways humanistic psychology suggests we can open up to these non-rational functions in an upcoming post.

Marketing thought leader BJ Bueno and CEO Dave Ratner reveal the advertising and marketing secrets for independent retailers at this year’s NRF Big Show Convention & Expo.

New York City, NY (PRWEB) January 09, 2014

Where do independent retailers go to get inspiration and knowledge for growing their retail businesses? Thousands of independent retailers will be attending the 2014 National Retail Federation Conference and Expo at Jacob Javits Center in New York City from January 12th to the 15th.

Marketing speaker, author, and founder of The Cult Branding Company, BJ Bueno, will share the stage with President and CEO of Dave’s Soda & Pet City, Dave Ratner, to illuminate the strategies and methods independent retailers can use to improve sales, customer loyalty, and profitability in their dynamic breakout session, “How to Advertise and Market Your Retail Business.”

As a loyalty expert and marketing consultant to major retail brands like Kohl’s Department Stores and Scheels, Bueno will share how focusing on your customer’s wants and needs is the secret behind explosive market growth. “Independent retailers can compete with large big box retailers if they invest in better understanding their target customers and finding creative ways to better meet their needs,” Bueno says.

A seasoned entrepreneur with almost four decades of retail experience, Ratner will share how independent retailers can use simple and cost effective methods to achieve consistent sales growth.

In this practical session, Bueno and Ratner will share the ten most effective ways to spend advertising dollars and how to create an amazing in-store retail experience that keep customers coming back.

In their keynote address, BJ Bueno and Bert Jacobs share insights on how CEOs can use core values to grow their retail businesses.

New York City, NY (PRWEB) January 08, 2014

Where do the nation’s top CEOs of major retail businesses go to share their experiences and gain new marketing insights? The National Retail Federation (NRF) is hosting their annual convention, “Retail’s Big Show,” at Jacob Javits Center in New York City from January 12th to 15th.

Marketing thought leader, author, and founder of The Cult Branding Company, BJ Bueno, hosts an exciting keynote address, joined to the stage by CEO and cofounder of the successful lifestyle brand Life is good, Bert Jacobs.

Today’s retailers must work hard to understand the subconscious motivations and needs of their customers. In their engaging talk, “Optimism, Compassion, and Joy: How Selling the Right Mindset Can Grow Your Brand,” Bueno and Jacobs will illuminate how knowledge of a brand’s company culture and core values can provide an effective approach to attracting more customers.

“Companies that consciously identify their organization’s core values,” explains loyalty expert BJ Bueno, “have an easier time projecting those values into their marketing strategies as well as the overall retail experience. This strategic focus helps clarify branding initiatives and to attract more loyal customers who are in alignment with what the organization stands for.”

Attendees will learn how to bring a thriving positive energy to their brand experience from one of today’s most optimistic brands, Life is good. Bert Jacobs will share his experiences and insights on building a multinational retail brand from the ground up with a simple affirming message.