So Adele is back and she’s just as forlorn as ever. Love and loss is ground she’s covered extensively in the past. “Hello” adds to that canon.
I feel her pain. I love a certain clothing store. I want to think they love me too. But we’re a little estranged— just not on the same page.
Adele writes songs. I write blogs. Viva l’difference.
The other day I got a note from my fave retailer. Here it is.
I do love jeans. Maybe not these exact jeans if the picture is indicative of the audience, but I thought it was worth checking out.
So I hopped over to my retailer’s app. Here, I’ve registered my info, logged my purchases, and done a fair bit of browsing of late. Winter is coming.
Not sure what I expected. Maybe those Topman jeans in my size and a range of colors and fits. Maybe a feature on Jeans that crossed multiple brands. Sweaters or jackets that go with jeans would have been a good suggestive sell too.
What I was not expecting was this.
It doesn’t feel customized. It doesn’t feel personalized. It’s seasonably appropriate and does reflect past purchases, but other than that not too much to grab my attention. More importantly, it feels conclusively like it’s coming out of an entirely different marketing silo. CRM is one. That’s the email. The app is another. Doesn’t feel like they’re talking.
So now I feel like Adele. Like there’s a great distance between us, my retailer and me. But it’s a relationship worth working at. The store needs a unified view of the customer that engages me on my terms wherever I am, not theirs. It’s got to be dynamic, consistent and persistent. I need a new pair of jeans.
In the immortal words of Lionel Ritchie, “Hello. Is it me you’re looking for?”
If so, I’M RIGHT HERE.
Suggestions