‘Wat are you Sincing about?’ Thoughts on Data vs. Empathy.
Today the digital ecosystem provides marketeers with a front-row seat to the unfolding of consumers’ lives. From our smartphones, laptops or cars, the banking, shopping and dating apps we use to the DNA tests received as Christmas presents and the fitbits that help us exercise, our lives are on display day in and day out. Our value as consumers now lies in the data we produce and the content we share.
The more content we create, the more companies learn about us. What we like or dislike, who our friends are, what we like to buy, when we are sad or happy, when we are feeling vulnerable or we are thinking about going on a diet. Yet, it seems that the more information companies gather on us through technology, the less time they actually spend on listening to the human. Despite the unfathomable amounts of data consumers generate daily there still seems to be a lack of understanding in regards to what consumers need or want.
In the realm of objectivity, predictability, algorithms and machine learning, communication between brands and customers is increasingly fragmented. People are unpredictable, with fluid identities, impulsive behaviours and powerful emotions. Data is not. Hard cold facts may be easily measured and successfully quantified, but empathy is what we need in marketing today. When we only listen to what data tells us, we run the risk of creating disingenuous and superficial digital experiences that will keep consumers at bay. Being able to design a great customer experience requires empathy, trust and ultimately an understanding of what makes us human. No machine or piece of software will be able to bring to the table the empathy needed to unravel the insights that will provide real value.
This is not to say that AI and machine learning do not provide brands and marketers with valuable information. But, we need to integrate humanity into the process of unpacking and understanding the insights machines offer us. Only people can understand the impulsivity and irrationality embedded in the decision-making process of humans. Ultimately, what makes us unique is our creativity and empathy, our sense of wonder and drive for establishing strong connections. And, while the digital environment has brought us a powerful and scalable path to growth, it has also removed much of the human-to-human interaction on the way. As customer experiences become increasingly digitized, the interaction element has become less human, less real. Instead of bringing people together we design processes that keep them at a distance. It seems, in the quest for ‘hyper-personalization’ we have replaced human interaction with chatbots and poorly designed automated customer service.
This has also contributed to a decline in true brand-to-customer connections. Brand loyalty comes from a true understanding of people’s emotions, experiences and intrinsic values. Great brands resonate with people because they focus on their audiences as individuals and understand why they behave in a certain way. For us, placing people at the core of marketing strategies means focusing on ways brands can communicate real, human experiences, while creating long-term relationships with their audiences. More than that, marketing should help open up new spaces for inclusion, as well as opportunities for community empowerment. This doesn’t mean that data, technology and people are opposing entities. Rather, they should be working symbiotically together to drive innovation across and within industries.
