Catering to the New Normal; the Evolving Landscape of DAM

Dan Cantorna Vice President of Data, Insights & Technology, Collinson Asia-Pacific

1. What are some of the major challenges and trends that have been impacting the Digital Asset Management space lately?

The events of the past two years have changed the nature of business and the way we interact with each other, both personally and professionally. Amidst remote work and limited personal interactions, many of us have moved online to stay connected; be that through our work, banking, shopping, or socializing. As customers pivot to new lifestyles and purchasing habits, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands to attract and manage long-term customer loyalty.

Many brands have had to rebuild relationships with their customers—collecting new data to get to know customers’ wants, needs, preferences, and expectations all over again. There is a growing need to initiate fresh interactions with customers and deliver up-to-date content, or offer new, more relevant rewards, to keep them engaged. To that end, investment in data analytics and a robust data management system has become more crucial now than ever before.

However, when it comes to achieving long-term customer loyalty, collecting data alone is not enough. It is equally necessary to streamline your data to achieve a single customer view across the organization, leverage the right segmentation tactics to identify your most valuable customers, and invest in personalization and enhanced digital experiences in order to create standout experiences for them—who in turn reward you with their loyalty. Doing so requires combining a human touch with data and analytical rigor, and taking an integrated, interconnected approach by building a seamless customer loyalty ecosystem.

2. What keeps you up at night when it comes to some of the major predicaments in the Digital Asset Management space?

Although the need for improved data management cannot be ignored by organizations in today’s challenging business environment, they often find themselves in a difficult position as their ability to leverage third party data sets is impeded by concerns around data protection. Consumers value their personal data and demand greater control over the kind of information that brands can have access to and how they use it. Also known as a fair value exchange. In the context of loyalty programs and customer relationships, this means that having a grasp of their owned first-party data to target customers is key for organizations to remain agile and relevant in the marketplace.

In market research carried out by Collinson, which covered 1,000 brands across Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, the majority—nearly 69 percent—of brands revealed that they had major concerns around customer churn as impending restrictions around accessing third party data will limit their ability to profile their customers and cater to their changing needs. Further, demands around businesses being able to react well in the digital context have been amplified by the pandemic, making it more important than ever for brands to have access to rich data sources to deliver trusted, personalized engagement for their customers. This is likely to become an ongoing and increasing challenge as the average number of data sources required to understand a customer and cater to their unique preferences is only going to grow in the near-term.

Organizations that wish to retain their competitive edge need to keenly consider cultivating their owned data sets, while being cognizant of what their consumers want: this way they can build their data strategies to include privacy by design from the outset. While this may be challenging, it allows brands to know their customers better, and in turn creates opportunities for them to reinvent the way they approach loyalty.

3. Can you tell us about the latest project that you have been working on and what are some of the technological and process elements that you leveraged to make the project successful?

Since the pandemic first hit, we have seen a higher number of redemptions for experiential rewards, such as wellbeing experiences and the development of new skills across our loyalty platforms. This ties back to our initiatives to deliver superior brand value for our customers by offering relevant, personalized experiences that cater to their individual interests.

At Collinson, we believe that in order to identify and retain your most loyal and valuable customers, it is essential to understand and reward their behaviors and preferences. The best approach to make this possible is to streamline your data to achieve a single customer view, which is ultimately a complete profile containing as much information on an individual as possible. This data can be leveraged to deliver relevant, engaging experiences that show you understand your customers, and in turn create deeper connections.

We have extended this into helping many brands in Asia-Pacific develop frameworks where they can build richer customer profiles that are complete and accurate to help them serve their customers better. In addition, Collinson has been involved in supporting the development and rebuilding of consent management systems and preference centers for brands across the region by advising them on the best practices to maintain an open, transparent, and value-adding interaction with their customers.

4. Which are some of the technological trends which excite you for the future of the Digital Asset Management space?

Looking to the future, the emergence of Web 3.0 presents a promising new avenue to reimagine the world of loyalty and replicate some of our physical experiences in an imagined world of virtual reality. The convergence of our physical and digital worlds has made it possible for brands to tokenize experiences using non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

This trend is rapidly gaining traction among brands in the loyalty space, and consequently the digital asset management space, as the ability to tokenize elements and assign intrinsic value to real-world items in the digital world by creating their virtual representations opens up a new channel of customer engagement for brands in sectors such as hospitality, luxury, art, and entertainment, among others. Brands are using NFTs to package up benefits and provide exclusive access to virtual experiences through tokenized unlocks or digital ownership of collectibles, as a way to reward customers for engaging with their brand, thereby increasing loyalty and even extending it into the digital world.

“Organizations that wish to retain their competitive edge need to keenly consider cultivating their owned data sets, while being cognizant of what their consumers want: this way they can build their data strategies to include privacy by design from the outset.”

As NFTs allow you to digitally create something uniquely identifiable that cannot be replaced or replicated, it is proving to be a game changer in digital asset management, as it can be tracked and traced back to each unique customer in a secure manner. This will likely create a tremendous opportunity for industries such as travel and hospitality that have been hit hard by Covid-19 restrictions, as this allows them to unlock value and create granular experiences for their customers in the digital world.

5. How can budding and evolving companies reach you for suggestions to streamline their business?

Collinson has been involved in creating frameworks for the progressive profiling of customers, as well as supporting the development and rebuilding of consent management systems and preference centers for brands in the Asia Pacific by advising them on the best practices to maintain an open, transparent, and value-adding interaction with their customers. We offer the full spectrum of skills in all areas, from planning to operation to evaluation—to ensure that the full life cycle of a customer loyalty ecosystem is being leveraged and managed as effectively as possible for each brand. We currently serve over 1,400 financial services and banking clients, 90+ airlines, and 20+ hotel groups, who in turn support 400 million customers worldwide.

However, while most businesses may have clear data goals that they wish to achieve, their strategy to reach these goals sometimes be misdirected, and that’s where we come in: to help brands respond to the data challenge by supporting them with the right tactics and steps required to achieve the goal. Contact Collinson today for support with creating lifetime loyalty amongst your most valuable customers.