eBusiness Weekly
Leslie Mupeti
A brand is any feature that distinguishes one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers, such as a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature (American Marketing Association).
A brand can be thought of as the concept or image that people have in mind when considering particular goods, services, and endeavours of a company, both practically (e.g., “the shoe is light-weight”) and emotionally.
If you stop to think about it, Nike doesn’t really market its product; it markets the feeling you get after buying it. You feel strong, vital, unstoppable, etc. Therefore, a brand is not just defined by its external attributes but also by the feelings that customers have for a business or its goods.
When a consumer is exposed to a name, a logo, a visual identity, or even a message, a combination of physical and emotional cues are released.
A brand will always be distinct compared to a product, which other market participants can easily copy. For instance, Coca-Cola and Pepsi taste very similar, but for some reason, some people have a stronger affinity for Coca-Cola while others favour Pepsi.
By building and defining a brand in consumers’ minds, branding is the process of giving a meaning to a particular organization, company, products, or services. By defining what this specific brand is and is not, businesses can help people quickly recognize and experience their brand and give them a reason to choose their products over those of the competition.
For a very long time, marketers have been concerned about artificial intelligence (AI). With the aforementioned brand definition in mind, there are several ways that AI can contribute to the development of an authentic brand experience. Fears of being completely automated out of a job or being confined by rigid analytics arise at the mere mention of AI entering marketing departments.
Despite their hesitation, marketers may find that using AI will help them connect with their customers on a deeper level. The newest advancement in technology, artificial intelligence is more than just that. Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is the application of intelligent algorithms to allow machines to carry out tasks that typically require human thought.
Naturally, AI is regarded as “the way of the future,” and it is anticipated that soon, all aspects of consumer experiences will be controlled by AI. Even though the advancement of AI has already altered how brand owners engage with their customers, there is still a long way to go. Unquestionably, the use of trademarks and branding strategies by an entity will be significantly impacted by the rise of AI.
Brand owners can now customise consumer experiences thanks to AI. Today, brand owners can offer individualized services like product recommendations, targeted advertising based on past searches or purchases, fitness training recommendations based on an individual’s activity and goals, and TV show recommendations based on other shows an individual has enjoyed.
AI and Customer Service
Personalization is the second term we hear when discussing AI in marketing, right after “advertising.” Businesses are clamouring for personalized experiences to become a norm for their marketing strategies. Without AI, you can’t provide the utopian personalized customer service.
Strong communication is a requirement for personalization. When it comes to offering purchase assistance, no brand can provide a personal human assistant to every customer.
AI chatbots and personal shop assistants are here to take the place of humans in the communication process. AI is already being used by brands to increase the interactivity of the shopping experience.
In addition to making product recommendations, it can analyse customer preferences faster than a human and develop amusing and engaging interactions. Consider Starbucks, which offers a virtual barista that customers can interact with to place orders by pressing a button. The brand was able to win audiences over with the enjoyable quiz-like interaction.
- Self-service
Customer self-service refers to the ability of customers to recognize and locate the assistance they require without relying on a customer service representative. If given the right tools and information, the majority of customers would choose to resolve problems on their own if given the choice. Self-service features will spread more widely as AI advances and gives customers the freedom to address issues on their own schedules.
- Machine learning
Fundamentally, machine learning is essential for processing and analysing huge data streams in order to find any useful insights. Machine learning in customer service can assist agents with predictive analytics to recognize frequent queries and answers. Even things that an agent might have overlooked in the communication can be caught by the technology. Additionally, chatbots and other AI tools can benefit from machine learning to adapt to a situation based on past outcomes and ultimately assist clients in self-serving problem solving.
- Sentiment and cutting-edge analytics
Today’s customer service teams are increasingly using sentiment analysis to examine and pinpoint how a customer feels. Some tools even have the ability to detect customer annoyance and alert a team leader or representative to step in and defuse the situation. Sentiment analysis can produce a more accurate and complete picture of customer satisfaction when used in conjunction with a voice of the customer tool. Sentiment analysis platforms are provided by vendors like Brandwatch, Hootsuite, NetBase and Sprout Social that proactively review customer feedback.
Speeding Up Response Times and Integrating With CRM Systems
CRM systems can be integrated with artificial intelligence to automatically complete tasks, saving priceless minutes from each customer support interaction. AI enables search functionality that directs agents to the information required to address customer queries, improving the customer experience and first contact resolution for voice interactions. This functionality is combined with chatbots and speech-to-text capabilities.
- Customer Wait Time Measurement
You can now measure customer wait times thanks to AI.
This is crucial for the service sector, like restaurants, where waiting in line (or using the drive-thru) has a significant financial impact. Historically, it has been challenging to track poor service on a large scale. You can gather useful information about each interaction using AI for computer vision.
