Havas CX India MD Prashant Tekwani decodes what modern consumers really crave from brand experiences

New Delhi: Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in every field in existence. However, brands have been advised not to use the technology as means-to-an-end. 

Prashant Tekwani, managing director, Havas CX India, stated in a conversation with BestMediaInfo that brands should use artificial intelligence for gaining inputs such as research purposes or categorisation of products or consumers, rather than using it for output such as designing a social media post or designing an entire website. Additionally, it is important to define the role of AI in the process of creativity and the consumer journey for brands.

Tekwani stated that human input for a brand trying to enhance its consumer experience also remains paramount. Surveys, research and data received from consumers have become important for brands to give direction to their consumer experience strategies.

“While AI can give a brand headway into a direction they want to go in, AI should not be the direction. At the end of the day, human output is paramount and it has to be a human who takes the final decision,” Tekwani highlighted. 

Community building has been an integral part of forming a brand as well as its customer experience. Tekwani stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, building a community was important and the sentiment of creating a community for the brand and giving back to the community remained strong. 

“During the pandemic, a lot of brands were struggling. One of the key learnings during that time was that the brand started building communities a lot more. We realised that every brand was taking extra steps to make sure that it was giving back to the community in different ways. However, over the last couple of years, there has been a shift in the community-building angle and the focus has shifted to emotional aspects of the consumer,” Tekwani opined.

However, over the last couple of years, other aspects of Indian consumers, like the emotional aspect, have caught the attention of brands, with the community-building angle taking a backseat.  

According to the X Index 2024 by Havas CX, approximately 59% of consumers have stopped buying from a particular brand because of one bad experience. Additionally, the report stated that the best-performing categories in terms of customer experience were automotive, technology, and beauty and healthcare, while the worst-performing categories were e-retail, financial services and insurance.

Tekwani emphasised that the brands that are being more personal to the consumers and giving back to the consumers are the brands that are winning and the emphasis on personalisation has come out as a key differentiating factor. Additionally, Indian consumers have started expecting functionality as a basic prerequisite for a brand, since a consumer is on a journey with many brands.

Brands, during the pandemic, created their data channels and ecosystems due to the scarcity of third-party cookies being disabled. Moreover, the consumer was also not in favour of sharing data. The data channels were made by the brands so that they would not have to shoot in the dark to get a consumer’s attention.  

“The customer’s expectation has changed over the last four years and so has the way of working of a brand. Certain things that were a delight four years ago are now functional. I feel that the brand has become more mature to start using data in the right direction and giving more value addition to the customers,” Tekwani mentioned.

The report further states that India stands out for its elevated focus on building personalised experiences. Indian consumers are demanding to be seen as individuals, not just wallets on legs. They want to partner with brands that value them and meaningfully show them, ‘what’s in it for me?’

Indians are comfortable sharing their data with the brands they associate with. However, there is a latent expectation that the brand respects their privacy and also provides personalised utility in exchange, the report added. 

With personalisation being an area of focus for brands, they must respect consumer privacy as well as the data provided by the consumers. Tekwani opined that a brand has to be mindful of the communication it initiates with its consumers. He further states that consumers want hyper-personalisation, so much so that it can become a norm soon.  

Havas CX used a methodology that looked at a new set of more holistic criteria attributes, including functional, emotional, personal, and collective factors, defining how brands can deliver the best CX to their consumers.  

As part of this, consumers were invited to rate twenty-three items defining the perception of the customer experience, as it is proposed to them by brands, from one to ten. 

These items range from functional indicators, which judge the brand based on efficiency and easy availability, while emotional indicators, which judge the brand on an enjoyable online and in-store experience or the brand often going beyond expectations.

The personal indicator judges the brand as being centred on a customer’s needs acknowledging and rewarding loyalty, while collective indicators judge a brand on making a consumer feel like a part of a certain community.

While there are many conversations surrounding the right usage of consumer data, the third-party platforms on which the brands are listed often do not provide the latter with the data received from consumers, which compels them to shoot in the dark, according to Tekwani. He emphasised that platforms and brands must work together to make the customer experience more holistic. 

Moreover, the top 10 brands listed in the Havas CX report, including Tata Motors, Kia, Apple, Samsung, and ITC, among others, have been extremely consistent in providing customers with a seamless experience, as per Tekwani.  

“Getting feedback from customers and taking action on the feedback is crucial for brands to improve their customer experience. However, it is equally paramount that they remain consistent in the pursuit of providing the best customer experience,” Tekwani concluded.