By David Eldridge

An era of social change is taking place, set to radically change the structure of British businesses. ‘Your Brand: At Risk or Ready for Growth?’, authored by Professor Michael Hulme, depicts this major social change in the way consumers listen to and engage with brands. Only 9 per cent of consumers surveyed in the report trust companies to act with their best interests in mind, which presents a huge danger to the credibility of brands.

The light at the end of the tunnel however, is that consumers that actively engage in the use of social media tend to feel more in control of relationships and more positive about their connection with organisations in general. A third (31 per cent UK and 35 per cent US) of respondents using social media believe that ‘companies are genuinely interested them’. The report calls for businesses to commit to a major investment in appropriate skills across every department to make the most of the opportunity that social media affords them. The analysis, mobilisation and interpretation of data, quite possibly in real-time, presents significant challenges to the existing skill sets of current employees.

The report also highlights the fact that many organisations still do not recognise the need to change, with 58 per cent of respondents believing that the lack of a social media strategy was due to the absence of board support. Although it is technology that has empowered the customer through the proliferation of internet and mobile devices, it is also technology that, combined with data collection, management and analysis technologies, allows businesses to respond to this social change and build new forms of more personal, individualised engagement.

The report breaks down the findings into three areas:

• Risk: No part of an organisation will remain untouched by the changing nature of consumer engagement. The individual is not interested in corporate structure; they merely wish to engage on their own terms with the brand product or service.

• Technology: Strategies need to be in place to develop joined up systems and databases that draw together all available customer data to enable analysis at the level of the individual, providing a transparent record of the customer, from marketing and targeting, through the sales and customer service experience.

• Skills: businesses will need to commit to a major investment in appropriate skills across every department, as analysing, mobilising and interpreting data, quite possibly in real-time, presents significant challenges to existing skill sets.

Traditional marketing is dead. To know and communicate to individuals, to a specific individual, should be the strategic and tactical goal of all brands and organisations. This will present the number one marketing and wider business challenge over the coming decade. The question is how quickly can brands evolve their marketing strategy? If brands are ready to increase marketing budgets let’s ensure that we focus that resource in the right places.

Below is a summary of the key statistics from the report, exploring some current attitudes towards brands and companies. The report surveyed a representative sample of 2,000 adults from the UK and US in early 2010.

• Today’s newly empowered consumers hold a deep rooted cynicism towards companies: 58% (62%UK and 54% US) of respondents felts that ‘companies are only interested in selling products and services to me, not necessarily the product or service that is right for me’.

• Only 5% (4% UK, 6% US) trusted advertising from organisations and 8% (9% UK, 6% US) trusted ‘what the company said about itself’.

• Only 9% (7%UK and 10%US) of consumers surveyed in the report trust companies to act with their best interests in mind.

• 33% (31% UK and 35% US) of respondents using social media believe that ‘companies are genuinely interested them’.

• 82% (78% UK, 86% US) expressed a positive interest in being involved by companies in developing products and services.

• Furthermore, 82% thought that being involved in the development of a product or service would make them more likely to tell others about the company.

• 81% of the sample saw the internet as the ‘first port of call’ to compare products or services.

• 75% (69% UK, 80% US) said it would have a positive impact on their experience as a customer if companies took the time to found out more about their needs. However only 17% (10% UK, 23% US) thought companies currently took note of what they said.

About the author

David Eldridge, CEO of Alterian, established his first software company in 1984 at the age of 14 to market his own software which won first prize in the BBC National Schools Software Competition. He attended the University of Salford where he gained a first class honors degree in Business and Management Studies. Following 4 years in several roles with Royal Dutch Shell Group, he then spent 4 years leading corporate development with GB Information Management before starting Alterian.

About Alterian

Alterian (LSE: ALN) enables organizations to create relevant, effective and engaging experiences with their customers and prospects through social, digital, and traditional marketing channels. Alterian’s Customer Engagement solutions are focused in four main areas: Social Media, Web Content Management, Email, and Campaign Management & Analytics.

Alterian technology is utilized either to address a specific marketing challenge or as part of an integrated marketing platform, with analytics and customer engagement with the individual at the heart of everything. Working alongside a rich ecosystem of partners, Alterian delivers its software as a service, or on premise. For more information about Alterian visit http://www.alterian.com or the Alterian blog at www.engagingtimes.com.