<div>Consumer centric technologies like digital and social media have over the years resulted in consumers driving business instead of the other way round. That means companies have to re-evaluate their traditional business models, to adapt to the new reality of 'consumer-driven' business models and completely re-think their marketing and product mix strategies. The slowdown added to the list of a marketer's worries. In a discussion with <em>Businessworld's </em><strong>Prasad Sangameshwaran</strong>, <strong>Antoine De Riedmatten</strong>, global industry leader, consumer business for leading consultancy Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, talks about the growing influence of the CFO, how it's impacting marketing decisions and how companies are leveraging more from their loyal customers. Excerpts:<br /><strong><br />Have marketers behaved any differently in the latest bout of a slowdown?</strong><br />Marketers have been under huge pressure from CFOs. This in itself is a significant departure from the past. The role of the CFO has grown in terms of helping to make the choice of investment, because companies acknowledge that because of a slowdown they cannot do everything. Recently people from Google were telling me that they get more and more requests from companies for measuring the ROI on their digital advertising and not about mere statistics on traffic to the site. <br /><br />More and more marketers are being compelled to make a business case to justify their marketing spends on any medium. They have to measure and maybe they are not better at measurement as their focus is mainly on concept and ideas. But now they have been compelled to focus on ROI. India has a big advantage here as businesses here have traditionally kept a tight leash on finances; they are often focused on profits and cash flows. That will help in the world of today.<br /><br /><strong>Apart from CFOs taking active interest even in marketing decisions, are marketers also playing their game any differently? </strong><br />There are other changes. One is that we are seeing more collaboration between consumer goods companies and retailers in developing products jointly that will be exclusively sold by the retailer. We are also seeing that food retailers are also entering the cellular services business and banking services to stay connected with the youth. Companies are moving away from their traditional core competence. They don't see themselves as just retailers but as someone who can reach millions of customers. And if you can reach so many consumers who trust your brand, the thought seems to be, why not sell them other services. <br /><br /><strong>But that would require additional marketing investments…</strong><br />Yes, that's a risk. But margins are different from one business and another so usually the new business has better margins than the traditional business. Also they think of loyalty programmes as an asset and find different ways of catering to their loyal customers. <br /><br />Loyalty programmes are key as retailers have the most information. That's ultimately what everyone is fighting for, knowing what's in the mind of the customer. <br /><br /><strong>What are some of the key concerns of CMOs?</strong><br />There are several concerns. One is on how to use the social networks. The ones who have tried to control it have lost. For the CMO it's a challenge. The problem is again on how to measure the impact of what you are doing in social media.<br /><br />Another area is to find out the influence of mobile phone on retail. Actual purchases using mobile phones are small and will remain small. But the question is how does a mobile phone impact the way consumers shop in the future. For example mobile phones aid consumers at several points, when you are hunting for the nearest store, or when you are at the store and comparing prices with other outlets. The very fact you have a smartphone makes you a different consumer from those who do not own a smartphone. Smartphone consumers get more information through their phones, which is valuable and shall change the way marketers need to talk to them.</div>
