A majority (87%) of Filipino respondents are willing to spend more on their telecom and media services if offered advanced personalized experiences. This is just one of the relevant findings in the study conducted by Coleman Parkes on behalf of Amdocs to understand the business landscape of communication service providers (CSP).
The six-market survey interviewed 3,600 consumers and 550 chief marketing officers (CMO) and direct reports, along with some deep conversations with CMOs in six countries in the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea.
The survey finds that consumers have become comfortable with the kind of personalization apps offer and this is what they are looking for in their CSPs. About 74% of respondents said they are “likely to switch providers for a customer experience that adapts to their changing needs.”
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Amdocs said that “this translates into millions of dollars of upselling opportunities for CSPs, as well as opportunities to attract millions of new consumers.”
“Today’s digital consumers keep evolving their benchmark experiences against the best apps and service experiences. All apps are a click away, so consumers do not distinguish between industries — the last best app you used sets your expectation benchmark for the next one,” said Gil Rosen, chief marketing officer at Amdocs.
Personalization
Even with the heightened awareness of data privacy issues, 75% of Filipino espondents to the survey said they are open to sharing more personal information if it would translate to a highly personalized experienced. The figure is higher than the APAC which stands at 66%.
“CSPs do not compete within their category; they compete against all apps and amazing experiences being provided every day by new and existing players,” Rosen said. “Even dating and gaming apps serve as a benchmark as well as the obvious suspects from the online shopping, banks or any other incumbent service providers — it creates the need for service providers to constantly strive to match those experiences.”
CMOs could easily find this information on personalization useful but faced with internal silos within the company prevents them from executing a more personalized campaign and experience for consumers.
Internal silos
According to the survey, nearly 75% (APAC-60% ) of CMOs in the Philippines believe a lack of senior stakeholder buy-in, resistance to change, and a belief that there is no need to further invest in advanced personalization, are hindering more comprehensive personalization efforts and impeding overall marketing objective of delivering compelling brand experience across all touchpoints.
Filipino CMOs are missing opportunities because they are too “cautious in leveraging consumer data to enhance their personalized products and service design efforts.”
But Rosen emphasized that even with little information — the ones voluntarily provided or essential in say, subscription — could assist CMOs in design personalized service that would benefit consumers.
There is also a disconnect between what CMOs thought the consumers want and what the consumers actually want. The survey saw that 70% of CMOs in the Philippines assume that consumers feel digital interactions are just a way to get more data about them, however, only 48% of consumers are concerned about it.
Data-driven
Amdocs said a highly personalized experience, leveraging consumer data, attracts consumers and will make them spend more.
One example is how consumers respond to e-commerce platforms. The survey found 62% of Filipino consumers want their CSPs to provide similar experiences to that of online shopping platforms with 87% of consumers are likely to spend more if they have a personalized experience that adapts to their changing preferences.
“Consumers want data-driven personalized experiences but will only share data with whom they trust,” the survey found. “More than 73% ( APAC-64%) of Filipino respondents want their service provider to deliver an advanced personalized experience, however, 74% of the Filipino respondents want their CSPs to be clearer and more honest with the personal data they are collecting and how they are using it.”
Technology and cultural barriers impede CMOs’ ability to design and offer highly personalized and seamless experiences: For most CMOs, money is not an issue, only 40% (APAC-32% ) of CMO respondents in the Philippines mention budget as the main barrier. 77% believe that technology is the main barrier. While a substantial amount of their marketing budget in 2021 will go into marketing technologies, less than 40% of marketers are using their advanced personalization Martech stacks effectively.