Second that Emotion

AUCKLAND, Today: NZ indie Federation has launched a new division – called The Lab – which aims to fuse human emotion into marketing technology, optimising martech investment and “communicating with ‘heart’ to customers”.

Federation ceo Sharon Henderson said: “Emotion-based communication has become the lightning rod for genuine engagement with customers, yet in many instances technology is still acting as a barrier to genuine brand-consumer connection. 

“In launching The Lab, we’re providing marketers across all sectors with the specialist consultancy resources they need to optimise their martech and deliver emotion-based experiences across all customer touchpoints. 

“The Lab team have developed proprietary tech tools and strategic processes that make it easier to find, get, keep, and grow customers in a way that completely aligns with a brand’s purpose and behaviour.

“We’re fusing emotion-based thinking and decision-making into everything from performance marketing campaigns through to e-commerce and customer growth programmes.”

The Lab managing partner Elizabeth Beatty said: “In a nutshell, we’re operationalising human emotion. We’re at a point in marketing history where data and technology are poised to decode human behaviour like never before. The Lab’s focus on customer emotion and human responses will help to drive exponential value from 1:1 contextual marketing in both B2C and B2B, and in just about every sector – financial services, retail, telco, automotive, technology, government and more.”

“In a nutshell, we’re operationalising human emotion.”

Beatty is no stranger to a ‘customer-first focus’, having previously worked as head of Ogilvy Sydney’s specialist customer marketing agency, OgilvyOne, and as GM of FCB.

She said: “The biggest challenge for many brands right now is how to connect with customers in an increasingly complex landscape. There’s an infinite amount of media and content for people to consume and over 8000 different marketing automation tools on the market and all too often what we’re seeing is emotionless communication and unnecessary complexity getting in the way of what really matters – human-centric interactions with customers.

“Understanding emotional patterns and how they impact shopping behaviour and the time a customer spends engaging with a brand is the new gold for marketers. Brands of all sizes are focusing on how their products, services, promotions, ads, POS, and other touchpoints make customers feel. Emotions absolutely integral to customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty activity for both B2C and B2B marketing.”

Working alongside Beatty is business director Simon (‘Prof’) Velk, a martech communications platform specialist from London who has worked across Europe on clients including Toshiba, Zyxel, Lenovo and Sony.

The team is also joined by brand director Tabitha Harris, who worked on specialist martech creative projects in the UK for global brands, including British Airways and Danone.

The Lab is already working with Federation clients Pure Foods, True Honey Company and Asteron Life.

• www.federation.net.nz