A Millennial

Customer

Alexandru Ibi Andrei

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A Millennial Perspective of

the Customer Experience Marathon

Alexandru Ibi Andrei

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Table of Content

07 What about
them?
success stories

08 Trends
in CX 18 Nike

10 Millennial X
Project 20 Apple

24 Personal
Opinion 22 Levi’s
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“There’s no such thing as bad weather just bad clothing”
Thomas Burberry

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What about them?
W hen we speak about
millennials, age is not
as important as behaviour. It
seems that no one can agree
on a specific age group for
millennials, but everyone
seems to highlight specific
aspects when it comes to
their consumer behaviour
and how they reshape to-
day’s society.
We live in the Participation
economy – The millennial
generation wants to be a key
player in the brand’s activi-
ty. From the product design
to the customer journey, or
the shopping experience, the
millennial consumer is pro-
actively willing to contribute
to the process.
As pointed out by Jess and
Christie Garton in “Marketing
to Millennials”, compared to
1980, the digital era allows
consumers to share their
impressions regarding an
interaction with a brand to
a much larger scale than
their close friends, work
colleagues or neighbours.
Social media platforms en-
able millennial consumers
to actively influence the rep-
utation of a brand.
Nowadays, the generations Y
and Z expect an omnichan-
nel communication path
during their customer jour-
ney. These consumers ex-
pect their brands to be easily
reachable – not only in their
brick & mortar stores, but
also in the online environ-
ment.
Jacqueline Anderson (Prod-
uct Development at J.D.
Power and Associates) said
“millennials are a very open
generation, and a great re-
source for brands, as co-cre-
ation is the second nature for
them. If you’re facing a chal-
lenge as a brand, reach out.”
Samuel Adams’ Beer
CrowdCraft Project
The participation behaviour
of millennials can be ob-
served in a marketing cam-
paign launched by Samuel
Adams’ Beer in 2012. The
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American brewer decided to
start a 100% crowd-sourced
beer project using social
media platforms where us-
ers could choose (by vote) all
the different elements of the
new beer from colour, body,
malt, hops, yeast, to clarity.
The buzz created on social
media was huge and the
campaign was a success.
The crowd-sourced beer was
launched at a music festival
in Austin, Texas and was on
tap in select bars throughout
Austin and at the Samuel
Adams Boston Brewery.
This shows brands that
millennials can be a strong
asset within the product de-
velopment process if used
wisely.
Trends
Investing in customer experi-
ence is a challenge, which not
many companies seem to be
ready to take, as it represents
a long shot with not so many
short-term rewards. Investing
in customer experience requires
courage, vision and patience.
The list below will present the
four trends I believe will make a
difference in terms of customer
experience in the years to come.
Artificial Intelligence and Cog-
nitive Capabilities
From feedback analysis to con-
tent management software or
real-time in-store footprint ana-
lytics, AI is the big star in today’s
world. In a highly competitive
environment, where it is no
longer just about the fittest, but
about the fastest, the capability
of analysing and adapting to the
latest business challenges is
imperious.
U nilever CEO, Paul Polman, announced on his
first day of work in 2009 that benchmarks
should be made based on the customer experi-
ence and not on the stock market. Polman said
“Put your money elsewhere if you don’t “buy into
this long-term value-creation model, which is eq-
uitable, which is shared, which is sustainable.”
Omnichannel Integration Let’s say that while commut-
ing, a potential customer sees
The line between offline and on- a billboard informing him that
line stores must become less his favourite brand of footwear
and less visible and brands offers a 25% discount for a spe-
should work on integrating their cific range of shoes if purchased
mobile, online and in-store plat- online. Our consumer will im-
forms to offer the consumers no mediately google the info he was
obstacles during their customer just exposed to. He or she will go
journey. The consumer must be to the website, choose the shoe
targeted with a constant mes- colour and size and finalise the
sage across every touch point. purchase. During this customer
Companies usually forget how journey, the potential customer
easily a potential customer can encountered 3 touch points. If
be lost due to lack of consistency the company has a strong omni-
in the marketing campaign. channel integration, this journey
should not last more than 3 to 5
minutes. In order for this to hap-
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pen, the company should have Top Management Approach Move from consumer behaviour
done the following: the message
on the billboard was a response
of masses to consumer be-
Management should increase
to the lack of sales of that spe- their attention to the importance haviour of the individual
cific range of shoes in the stores of the customer experience,
from that specific area; when the which should no longer be seen This evolution started already
consumer googled the informa- as a secondary pillar of the mar- and if in the past it was hard to
tion, the company’s strong SEO keting department or the oper- have a personal description of
& SEM will prompt the results in ational department. Many com- each of your consumers, now-
the hot area of the Google heat panies have had a head start adays AI and automation tools
map; the landing page should because they understood this make it easy for a retailer to
not take the potential consumer and decided to bring along the offer super-targeted marketing
to the home page or to the prod- CMO, the COO and the CCO (Chief content to its consumers. Fur-
uct list section of the website but Customer Officer). thermore, this complex data
to the filtered list of the discount- should not be limited to the on-
ed shoes. line environment, but applied to
the real world as well.
It is more like when you drive
on a highway and you pass by
multiple direction signs…. Lon-
don: 20 miles left…. London: 15
miles left…. Northampton: 10
miles left. As soon as the signs
become inconsistent, your first
reaction will be to either stop or
turn left to exit the highway as
you might think that this will not
get you to London anymore.

Furthermore, it is not just the

front-of-house that requires
integration. The supply chain
capabilities highly influence the
final customer experience and
a consumer should be able to
return the product anytime,
through any channel and with no
restrictions regarding the place
the product was bought from.

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Millennial X
The stores included in the study: Nike, Apple, Tommy
Hilfiger, Levi’s, Hollister, Zara, H&M, Bershka, JD Sports,
Guess, GAP and Top Shop.

Market Research

T he purpose of this proj-

ect is to try to under-
stand and analyse the UK
Mobile App Integration

retail sector from the mil-

lennial generation’s point
of view. We know that mil-
lennials represent a crucial
No
Apple
target audience for retailers, H&M
Levi’s
Zara
however hard to reach. By Guess

Yes
Bershka
analysing the customer ex- TopShop
JD Sports
perience from the millennial Hollister
Tommy Hilfiger
perspective and highlighting Nike
the pros and cons of each GAP

customer journey, we aim

to provide a feasible solution
for each unsatisfactory touch
point.
Back in November 2017, a
team of millennials was sent
to Oxford Street, London, to
analyse and compare the in-
store customer experience
and the omnichannel inte-
gration of 12 famous brands.
The contributors recorded
and rated every touch point
of their customer journey
using an online survey. The
data collected was converted
into useful insights, which
were used in the following
infographics.
Data was collected on
30/11/2017 during off-peak
times in stores located on
Oxford Street and Regent
Street, London. Scores were
given based on the contrib-
utor’s personal experience
and information provided
by stores assistants/store
managers.
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We analysed various aspects
connected with the in-store
customer experience –
from the impact of the store
branding to the store navi-
gation.
We focused predominantly
on the retailers’ omnichan-
nel integration and we were
surprised to see the differ-
ence in resources that re-
tailers are allocating for their
omnichannel integration.
The primary aspects our re-
spondents evaluated when
entering a store were the
branding of the store, the
ambience, the store navi-
gation and the product ar-
rangement. We can see on
the next page how the prod-
uct arrangement influenced
the experience of the re-
spondents. The classification
was made by marking the
customer experience from
1 to 5.
We can observe that gener-
ally, there is a constant cor-
relation between the aspects
presented below. They show
us the interdependency of
different elements which
enhance a customer expe-
rience.

Branding

Ambience/Vibe

Store Navigation

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Omnichannel Integration of Retailers
During the study, we anal-
ysed the omnichannel inte-
gration of the brick & mortar
stores our respondents visit-
ed. Representing a complex
sector by itself, the study
analysed the omnichannel
integration from both the
Sales Assistant
is able to:
customer and sales assis-
tant perspective. The aspect
we focused on were the sup-
ply chain capabilities, as they
represent a strong pillar of a
successful customer experi-
ence.
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We asked sales assistants
and store managers the fol-
lowing questions:
Can you check the product
availability in-store?
Can you have the product
delivered to the customer’s
preferred location?
Can you check the product
availability in another store?
Can you reserve the product
in another store?
Can you have the product
delivered from one store to
another?
Customer is
able to:
Is there a Click & Collect op- and prestigious experience,
tion? while Guess proved to be
more of a mass, fash-fash-
Our biggest winners were ion retailer.
Levi’s and TopShop and we
were unpleasantly surprised
by the low level of omni-
channel integration offered
by Guess.
By comparing two afford-
able-luxury brands, we con-
cluded that Tommy Hilfiger
offered a more authentic
available for Customers
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As mentioned before, the
study confirmed that there
is a visible link between the
product arrangement, the
store navigation and the
ambience. It is reasonable to
conclude that the following
brands, Nike, Apple, Tommy,
and Levi’s, invested visible
financial and human re-
Product Arrangement Impact
on Ambience
Product Arrangement Impact
on Store Navigation
sources in their store design
in order to offer a great
journey to their customers.
At the other end of the top,
TopShop, a brand which goal
is to appeal to millennials,
failed to impress our mil-
lennials respondents with
its crowded sections and
confusing store navigation
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experience. It is reasonably
to conclude that millennials
expect to find a minimalist
and simple store design
which offers them enough
personal space and the
ability to move and explore
the products without feeling
constrained by the crowd.
Key Findings
Last but not least, our findings highlighted the following:

• Only 3 out of 12 stores allow customers to return the products via

courier or 3rd party collection point after purchasing it from the store.

• No store allows the customer to have the product delivered from one
store to another.

• No store offers the option to pay for items you selected in the store
and have them delivered at home. Only 3 stores have the option to order
online in the store, with the help of a sales assistant.

• There is a strong connection between the product arrangement and

the customer experience in a brick & mortar store.

• 17% of the stores included in the survey did not offer a Mobile App for
their customers while 71% of in-store shoppers who use smartphones for
research say their device has become more important for their in-store
experience. (source: Google via DialogTech.com)

• 81.4% of our respondents would shop online after visiting the store.

• Omnichannel customer engagement strategies retain on average 89%

of their customers, compared to 33% for companies with weak omni-
channel customer engagement strategy. (source: Aberdeen Group via
OneReach.com)

• Most retailers seized the opportunity and developed advanced mobile

apps for improving the experience for their customers. Even if multi-plat-
form navigation is still the norm, “mobile only” is on the rise. In 2017,
smartphones had a 61.9% market share leaving Tablets and Desktop with
8.8% and 29.3%, respectively. Nevertheless, Apps account for over 80% of
the mobile time. (source: comScore, 2018)

Data collected on 30/11/2017 based on a sample of 4 contributors, age 20-22 years old. Data was collected during the off-peak time in stores located on Oxford Street
and Regent Street, London, UK. Scores were given based on the contributor’s personal experience and information provided by stores assistants/stores managers.
All information presented in the study may not reflect the real picture of the market and it was not conducted by a professional team of researchers. Content is subject
to copyright and must not be used for commercial purpose.

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Success Stories
Recognizing how important it is to offer a great customer
experience and, in the same time, how difficult it may seem
to be above the benchmark, I decided to present three use
cases of three different companies which created impres-
sive positive results for both customers and brands in terms
of customer experience. I believe that in a world where the
digital element strengthens more than ever the competition
between brands, the ability to actively attract the millennial
customers is an ace in the hole.

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 Nike is using loyalty programme to
enhance the customer experience

Apple offers great customer experience

by eliminating the checkout queues

Levi’s is making a comeback by

exploring the participation framework

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Nike
A ccording to Forbes, the
American giant is the
world’s most valuable sports
brand. With a market value
of $71bn, $19bn of which is
estimated to be brand value,
there is a big pressure on the
CCO to deliver top level cus-
tomer experience.
As announced at its Investor
Day in October 2017, Nike
is focusing more on grow-
ing and selling to members
following their consum-
er-direct offensive strategy.
Nike’s research reveals that
on average, their 100 million
members spend approx-
imately three times more
than guest customers on
their website.
NikePlus Unlocks is the lat-
est solution from Nike to
increase the customer expe-
rience among its members.
According to their website
“NIKEPLUS membership
unlocks new benefits to in-
spire and reward athlets”.
It is 5 times more
expensive to attract a new
customer than it is to retain
an existing customer
The NikePlus Unlocks fea-
ture is available within the
official Nike app and its
main goal is to provide per-
sonalized promotions and a
refreshed exclusive shop to
its members based on their
personal interests and goals.
Furthermore, the more ac-
tive the member is, the more
he gets rewarded - “Whether
you run more miles through
the Nike Run Club (NRC)
app or do five new strength
routines in the Nike Training
Club (NTC) app this month,
every time you stride or rep,
your physical achievements
trigger rewards.” Here we
can see that the omnichan-
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nel integration represented
an important pillar of this
new loyalty program. Data
from NRC app and NTC app
will be simultaneously col-
lected by the main Nike App
to reward the members
with perks like personalized
T-shirts or free Apple Music
playlists.
Experts suggest that the new
loyalty program will boost
Nike’s sales numbers, how-
ever it may not be immedi-
ately obvious.
“I don’t think it’s going to
be a visceral kind of thing,”
Powell said. “But I think that
Nike’s interest is in adding
greater value to their loy-
alty program, so the more
incentives they can create,
it gives them more positive
momentum.” – Matt Pow-
ell (Sports Industry Analyst,
NPD Group)
The new loyalty feature will
allow Nike to collect more
customer behaviour data.
This will be imperative in
delivering more targeted
and personalized content or
promotions to its end con-
sumers, which will positively
affect the company’s sales.
Nike knew what it was doing
when it decided to bet on a
customer-focused loyalty
programme. The following
statistics should highlight
why a B2C company should
build their customer experi-
ence strategy with a loyalty
programme in mind:
According to Accenture,
loyalty programmes are
soaring: 77% of consumers
participate in a retail loyalty
programme, 46% have joined
a hotel programme, and 40% are going to consider pur-
are part of an airline pro- chasing.
gramme.
Considering all these facts, it
It is five times more expen- is worth asking why approx-
sive to attract a new custom- imately 80% of companies
er than it is to retain an ex- spend less than 30% of their
isting customer. Also, loyal time and budget on custom-
customers spend statistical- er retention-focused mes-
ly 67% more than new ones. saging and content.
Last but not least, a study by
Wunderman discovered that
79% of consumers agreed
that brands should show
that they understand and
care about them before they
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Apple
W hen it comes to
obsessed customer
experience advocates, Steve
Jobs was definitely one of
them. His philosophy was
easy to understand and it
was shared with his people
all the time: “You’ve got to
start with the customer
experience and work back
toward the technology - not
the other way around.”
While most of tech com-
panies were designing prod-
ucts to offer great perfor-
mance for their end-clients,
Apple decided to design
products to offer a great
customer experience for its
end-clients.
In order to reflect their
products reputation, Apple’s
customer experience
must be on high standards
throughout the whole cus-
tomer journey. Every touch
point is carefully polished
and prepared to interact
with Apple customers - es-
pecially during the in-store
experience.
Apple heads the world’s
most valuable brands of
2017 at $170 billion
There should be no surprise
when we say that Apple has
one of the most impressive
brick & mortar stores and
its minimalistic design
is now a signature of the
Steve Jobs’ baby. However,
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there are some interesting
facts hidden behind all that
aluminium, glass and wood
in their stores.
The iconic store experience
was designed by Eight
Inc, a design studio Steve
Jobs approached with the
mission to create a new
shop experience. Wilhelm
Oekl, the person who led the
team, said that his goal was
to make people feel a sense
of connection when they get
into the store.
In San Francisco for exam-
ple, Apple even removed the
word “store” from its retail
location calling it simply
“Apple Union Square”. Ev-
erything is done on behalf of
a more personal and unique
customer experience.
The first thing you will see
when you get into an Apple
store is a 6k video wall
and a viewing area called
“The Forum”. In this area,
Apple hosts activities such
as events, workshops and
meetings between con-
sumers and developers or
editors from Apple’s App
Store.
The product display area
brings some innovations as
well. The Apple products are
displayed across minimalist
large wood tables with no
signage between them. The
store is designed as much
for browsing and watching,
as it is for trying and buying
the products.
Apple understood that a
long queue in front of a
checkout counter is very
dangerous for the customer
experience and their sales.
By perfecting the mobile
checkout experience, the
customer can pay anywhere
in an Apple store, without
having to go to the checkout
counter. There are no shop
assistants or cashiers any-
more, but Apple Specialists
and Apple Experts, who
will welcome you, help you
to choose the right prod-
uct, and to complete the
payment for the product. In
this way, Apple offers better
personal experience for its
customers and it eliminates
the danger of a customer
Companies with extremely
strong omnichannel
customer engagement
score a 9.5% year-over-year
increase in annual revenue.
changing his mind between
the moment he picks the
product and the moment he
finalises the purchase at the
checkout counter.
In a time where the eCom-
merce is systematically de-
21
feating the brick and mortar
stores, the industry should
accept that only by fully un-
derstanding the nowadays
customer behaviour and by
designing the stores with
the customer experience in
mind, they will keep a high
in-store footprint. Further-
more, the brands started to
realize that the omnichannel
integration is the future of
retail. This is observed when
we look at the numbers
- companies with extreme-
ly strong omnichannel
customer engagement
score a 9.5% year-over-year
increase in annual revenue,
compared with the 3.4% of
companies which have weak
omnichannel customer
engagement.
Levi’s
W ith a history start-
ing in 1850, the San
Francisco based company
decided to change the world
in 1873 when the blue jeans
were born. In 1872, Levi
Strauss received a letter
from Jacob Davis, one of his
customers, who proposed a
revolutionary way of making
trousers. He argued that
by using rivets at points of
strain, it will make the pants
to last longer. Jacob wanted
to patent this idea but with
no financial resource, he
needed a business partner
to start off the idea. Levi was
enthusiastic about the idea
and this is how the iconic
blue jeans were born.
You might say that such an
old and traditional brand
cannot keep pace with the
industry speed nowadays.
However, Levi’s is not acting
its age when it comes to
customer experience.
Brands must permanently
adapt to the next generation
Levi’s failed to
recognize and adapt to the
90’s and 00’s generations.
to remain relevant. Levi’s
got it right for a long time,
but unfortunately, they failed
to resonate with the cultural
revolution in the 90s and
00s. Sales have been going
down since the 90’s when
the competitor landscape
has become more aggres-
sive.
Fortunately, Levi’s did some
work and it seems that
they are back on the track
with a very positive answer
from the current genera-
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tion. James Curleigh, the
executive vice president and
the president of the Levi’s,
Dockers, Signature by Levi
Strauss & Co. and Denizen
brands, admits at NRF 2018
that the company lost some
loyal customers in the previ-
ous years and now they are
trying to bring them back.
“It is about our fans and
giving them a reason to
continue to love us,” he said,
adding the brand has been
hard at work luring back
fans who left. “It’s exciting
as we are getting those fans
back,” he said.
He also highlighted how im-
portant it is to pay attention
to the consumer behaviour
of your target audience.
“It’s very important to con-
nect with your new genera-
tion of fans, thinking beyond
a pair of jeans and creating
a plan for the consumer to
wear Levi’s,” he said.
A
s soon as you get into a
Levi’s store you see that
the authenticity and the cul-
ture of the Levi’s are present
in every inch square of the
store. The brand engage-
ment, both in the online and
brick & mortar stores, is on
high levels because Levi’s
understood that millennials
are willing to get close to a
brand which shows authen-
ticity and an active interest
in enhancing their customer
experience.

This new area of the store

offers a full range of custo-
misation services,
allowing customers to fully
personalize their jeans from
choosing the fabric colour
or the shape of the rivets
to adding patches, studs or
collectable pins. Last but not
least, the Levi’s Tailor Shop
offers a special set of mono-
gramming and embroidery
options which creates
a unique and authentic
connection between the con-
sumer and the brand.
Unlike the classic loyalty
programmes which are a
direct approach for increas-
ing the customer retention,
the Levi’s Tailor Shop and to the active consumer is
especially the embroidery the one which is driving
service is generating cus- up the sales and not the
tomer loyalty using a more one addressed to passive
subtle approach where consumers who do not want
the emotional factor is the interaction with the brand.
dominant one.
Even if Levi’s failed to
recognize and adapt to the
90’s and 00’s generations, it
seems that they are more
than ready to clutch the
millennial segment. Levi’s
customer experience strate-
gy is focused on making the
consumer part of the prod-
uct development process
- not only the receiver of the
end unchangeable product.
The participation economy
is the key in today’s highly
competitive market. Levi’s
realizes that a customer ex-
perience strategy addressed

23
Personal Opinion
T his white paper was
created to present the
opinion of a future mar-
keter and actual consumer
regarding the importance
of the customer experience
factor within the strategy of
a brand.
My personal belief is that the
customer experience will
become a central pillar as
important as marketing or
supply chain and it will no
longer act as a component
feature of those two, how-
ever, it will be perceived as a
distinct element.
Failing in adapting and antic-
ipating this natural evolution
will affect not only sales but
also the reputation of a com-
pany itself as shoppers will
aim to shop wherever their
flexibility is not restrained.
Millennials accustomed to
have a lot of flexibility in
this digital era. Want to play
a song? You don’t buy a CD
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anymore. Just open Spotify
and a worldwide music li-
brary is one click/tap away.
Want to see the latest mov-
ie with your favourite actor?
You don’t have to go to the
cinema or buy a DVD any-
more. Just go to Netflix and
play it. Not there? Switch to
Amazon Prime… The op-
tions are unlimited nowa-
days.
Having all this online free-
dom, the millennials are
expecting the companies to
replicate this experience in
the brick and mortar world.
Also, they foresee to proper
integration between the on-
line and offline world where
the barrier between these
two becomes less visible day
after day.
After analysing the customer
behaviour and the industry
capabilities, I found a gap
in the customer experience
cycle which I believe it can
increase both — client sat-
isfaction and revenue if ap-
plied correctly.
Most of the brands offer now
the famous Click & Collect
option. However, few to none
have tried the other way
around. In a world where the
consumers want to have as
much freedom and flexibility
as possible, Pick in store &
Deliver home has big chanc-
es in increasing the footprint
of the store and their sales.
According to a PWC study, in
2017 the majority of custom-
ers (51%) still preferred to
buy clothing and footwear in
the store while 40% preferred
to shop online. It seems that
the shoppers still prefer to
touch and feel when it comes
to finalising the purchase re-
garding their outfit, however,
we do have to consider that
40% represents a big seg-
ment of consumers.
around the store. However, it
In a consumer survey con- seems to me that the retail-
ducted by Retail Dive on 1010 ers fail to see the opportunity
US respondents, the results of having a Pick in Store &
concluded, as expected, Deliver Home. Most of them
that consumers are prefer- do not have such an option
ring the online environment available for the customers
mainly because of the ease and the few ones who have
it, do not promote it to their
customers. As I said before,
According to a PWC I believe that approaching
study, 51% of consumers this opportunity with a wise
strategy will not only result
prefer to shop in store in a better customer experi-
ence but also it will increase
and effectiveness of online the footprint and the sales of
shopping. the store.
There are two main pain
points which do not exist in
the online world but custom-
ers who prefer brick & mor-
tar stores experience them:
the long and never-ending
queues as well as the fact
that they have to carry all
the purchased clothes home
and, most of the time, to re-
serve the rest of the day for
doing this. When planning a
shopping day, the consumer
usually expects to end up
with lots of bags which might
become an obstacle if the in-
dividual would like to start
any other activity - having a
walk in the park, dinner and
so on.
The queue issue was already
approached by Apple, which
eliminated the checkout
counters and replaced them Alexandru Ibi Andrei
with mobile cashiers all alexandru.ibi@gmail.com
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Sources
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Pictures and images (Images may be subject to copyright):

unsplash.com
ibm.com
levi.com
nike.com
interiordesignshop.net

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 Alexandru Ibi Andrei alexandru.ibi@gmail.com

alexandruibi 0044 (0) 747 988 6492

March 2018

Copyright © 2018 by Alexandru-Ibi Andrei

You must not rely on the information in this white paper as an alternative to business/market research advice from an appropriately qualified professional. If you have
any specific questions about any business/market research matter you should consult an appropriately qualified professional. We accept no responsibility for the
content or accuracy of such content nor do we make any representations by virtue of the contents as available herein. This white paper is created solely for non-com-
mercial and informational purposes and the access is granted strictly for personal use. Contents included in this page, such as text, graphics, logos, icons, images,
data compilations, information and such othe materials constitute the property of the author or third parties. All content on this page is protected under applicable
copyright laws.

All rights reserved. This white paper or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the
publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Parts of this white paper were created using solutions.

27
A Millennial Perspective of
the Customer Experience Marathon
How important is the CX nowadays?

This white paper was created to present the opinion of a future marketer and
actual consumer regarding the importance of the customer experience factor
within the strategy of a brand. Recognizing that this topic is a complex one,
I tried (I hope decently) to summarize the characteristics of the millennial gen-
eration, the trends of the industry and to present three successful use cases of
brands which were well inspired to invest in their customer experience area.

Furthermore, I included an experimental market research conducted while

I was in my internship at IBM in the Watson Customer Engagement business
unit. It is important to acknowledge that this was a team-work for which I have
to thank Isabel Hill, Chiara Poliak and Gedvis Gvalda for their great inputs.

Finally, I concluded the white paper with a personal opinion which is meant
to summarise the importance of the customer experience in a digital world.

This project was never meant to be a scientific piece of work but a subjective
opinion from a millennial perspective.

Copyright © 2018 by Alexandru-Ibi Andrei

You must not rely on the information in this white paper as an alternative to business/market research advice from an appropriately qualified professional. If you have any specific questions about any
business/market research matter you should consult an appropriately qualified professional. We accept no responsibility for the content or accuracy of such content nor do we make any representations by
virtue of the contents as available herein. This white paper is created solely for non-commercial and informational purposes and the access is granted strictly for personal use. Contents included in this page,
such as text, graphics, logos, icons, images, data compilations, information and such othe materials constitutes the property of the author or third parties. All content on this page is protected under applicable
copyright laws.

All rights reserved. This white paper or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief
quotations in a book review.

Parts of this white paper were created using solutions.

28