The Cost of Complexity

Thomas Müller, Global Director Customer Experience, Siegel+Gale 1

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Siegel+Gale is a global strategic branding firm.

About Siegel+Gale

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Our promise

We build world-class brands through elegantly simple, unexpectedly fresh strategies, stories and experiences.

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42 years 200+ people An Omnicom company 8 offices

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Pioneers for simplified customer experiences

EmblemHealth Cox United Airlines Mileage Plus

Quest IRS

+  An online survey among 6,152 consumers in 7 countries:

+  US N=1,027

UK N=1,000

+  Germany N=1,000

Mainland China N=999

India N=1,011

Dubai N=532

Saudi Arabia N=583

+  The sample was recruited to be representative of national demographic distributions in each country

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Global Brand Simplicity Index

Respondents were asked about: +  How simple or complex they feel their life is

–  How this has changed compared to 10 years ago

+  What are the benefits for them of a simpler life

+  Which industries contribute most/least to making their life simpler/more complex, including questions on:

–  Pain of interactions –  Ease of understanding of communications –  Transparency/honesty –  Care about their customers –  Innovation/freshness –  Usefulness

+  Which brands have the simplest or most complex communications and interactions in relation to their industry peers

–  Over 100 brands per country were rated –  Brands were selected to be a representative set of brands that in-country

respondents would be most likely to use or have experience of their services and/or communications

Questions we asked

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Simplicity is an important quality of life issue for people around the world

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Some of the brands in the lowest ranking industries have a lot to learn about simplicity

Lowest ranked global and regional industries

Note: The maximum score is 1,000. A score of 750 or better is excellent, from 749 to 601 is average and 600 or less is below average.

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Industry Global Brand Simplicity Score U.S. Brand Simplicity Score

Utilities 580 510

Banking 550 560

Credit card 430 260

Insurance 425 355

Many of the simplest global brands hail from the fast food and retail industries

11 Note: McDonald’s outranked Nokia with a raw score of 853.7 versus 853.5. KFC outranked Burger King with a score of 826.3 versus 825.7.

Seven of the top ten U.S. brands are food-centric—either fast food or retail

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United States Brand Simplicity Index

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Brands that fail to provide simpler communications and experience leave profits on the table

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More retail, dining/entertainment and media brands dominate the German landscape

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Germany Brand Simplicity Index

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Between 5% and 15% of German consumers are willing to pay more for simpler experiences and interactions.

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Simplicity pays

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Implications for brands

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What are the leading brands doing right in terms of simplicity?

+  Communicating directly, clearly and without jargon

+  Saving time with increased convenience and accessibility

+  Reducing stress by providing savings/value

+  Clarity and simplicity of interactions

+  Enabling consumers to get more from life: deeper relationships, easygoing lifestyles

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What are the low rated brands doing wrong?

+  Communicating in ways that are hard to understand and/or perceived as deceitful

+  Being perceived to intentionally overcharge

+  Being seen as niche or for too select an audience/poorly accessible

+  Being found difficult to interact with, having poor customer service experiences and/or hard-to-use interfaces

The 8 ingredients for Simplicity

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1. Understand audience needs

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2. Understand business needs

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Business decisions Legal/compliance Processing and delivery capabilities

+ Production capabilities and constraints

+ Integration of print and online channels

+ Data availability

3. Plan for alternative delivery channels Doctor’s report

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Patient report: iPhone

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4. Get the structure right – find your modules

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Combine your modules into recipes

One multi-purpose template covers 70% of taxpayer circumstances

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5. Write in plain language

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6. Leverage the power of information design

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Paying over time costs you more than paying in full. A $62 dinner could cost you:

After

Before

7. Test with consumers and refine

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8. Plan for customer experience governance

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Thank You!

+  Contact info: •  Email: tmueller@siegelgale.com •  Twitter: tmuellernyc •  Full report: http://www.siegelgale.com/gbsi

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