Xerox, an iconic global brand for years, isn’t resting on its laurels.
The company is using a new brand strategy to gain an even larger following because the opportunity exists, according to John Kennedy, Chief Marketing Officer, Xerox Corporation.
Kennedy talked to Loyalty360 about this significant shift in brand strategy.
What factors prompted this new brand strategy and how will it impact your customer base from an engagement/experience/simplicity factor?
- Despite already being recognized as a leading global brand (Interbrand 2014 Global Best Brands Study) we have a significant opportunity to increase our brand awareness, consideration, and advocacy – particularly on the services side of the business. It represents a gap in brand perception versus brand reality.
- That knowledge of the perception gap directly influenced the creation of a new brand strategy that defines what makes Xerox authentic, differentiates us from the competition, and makes us relevant to business and public sector leaders.
- So the new strategy and campaign idea, “Work Can Work Better,” is centered on a powerful belief that better unifies us – we believe that improving the flow of work is at the core of enterprise transformation and global progress. It puts us squarely in the center of work, technology, productivity, and efficiency conversations – right where we belong.
- In terms of customer engagement and experience, we’re very excited about the evolution of Xerox.com. For quite some time our web traffic wasn’t reflective of our revenue – particularly in that traffic on services pages lagged far behind other areas, despite those offerings generating more than half of our revenue. So we’ve set out to communicate and inspire through a uniquely Xerox user-centric digital experience–one that is more representative of our focus areas.
- While an entire re-launch of a website–including site design, experience and technology platform–is significant in its own right, we know that websites today are just containers for content that can live anywhere on the social web. An even bigger element to our digital strategy is our new content strategy.
- Practically speaking, we’re creating content that speaks directly to our customers, not about ourselves. And we’re doing it in part with bite-sized stories that make us relevant and easily understood.
What are your goals for this new strategy/customer engagement campaign?
- This strategy rollout–including the advertising campaign and web refresh–is the most ambitious integrated corporate marketing effort we’ve ever undertaken. We’ve tackled large campaign initiatives in the past, but never as extensive or integrated in all of the communication touch points, including TV, print, digital media, a new website experience, sponsorships, and other breakthrough interactive pieces we’ve yet to unveil. And perhaps most importantly, the new strategy isn’t just an advertising campaign or Web redesign – it’s a business asset that changes how the world sees us and how we engage with our clients and prospects.
- That said, our goal for this campaign is as follows:
- A shift in the way the world sees Xerox
- Growth in the way our clients and prospects respond to us and are more open to doing business with us
- Growth in the stature and contribution of the marketing and communications function as a result of having led this work.
What does customer loyalty mean to Xerox and has that definition evolved at all in recent years?
- We’re seeing a substantial shift in the nature of the problems our clients are having and the type of work we’re doing in response to these changing client needs. We’re seeing this trend in the services industry, in particular. Once defined by big outsourcing deals, services clients today are seeking specific solutions to specific business problems.
- Companies want partners that can fix today’s challenges and grow with them as they continue to tackle their greatest businesses challenges and process jams.
- We’re seeing this shift every day through our interactions with our clients. And we are positioned to guide our clients through as its right in our wheel house.