A note to any brand invading my inbox, send me something original and maybe I will carry on reading your email’s.

When I was a kid I used to get taken to asian fabric shops by my parents every other Saturday. As my parents were regular customers they used to have a bit of banter with the shop keepers who used to serve them complimentary chai and food.

You don’t exactly see this happening in John Lewis, but we may not be too far away from it now.

Brand owners are definitely trying to get closer to their clients as they’re understanding the benefits of WOM and client retention. WOM, Social Media and advanced CRM techniques seem to be at the top of every brief I see at the moment.

I believe we’re seeing this trend for a couple reasons, firstly the credit crunch! The cost of acquiring a new customer and educating them about your brand’s product offering is expensive in comparison to up-selling to existing customers.

Secondly brand owners are understanding the effectiveness of WOM coupled with good CRM. Good CRM = happy and loyal customers > happy and loyal customers tell their friends about good brands (the WOM bit) > friends end up buying from a brand they partially trust due to WOM recommendations.