Growth Starts With the Customer
Marketing is changing rapidly, but for Jess Myers, Chief Customer Officer at The Very Group, the starting point for growth remains remarkably simple: understand your customer.
In this episode of Growth Leaders, Jess shares her perspective on the fundamentals marketers need to hold onto as AI, technology and changing behaviours continue to disrupt the industry.
At the heart of that is creative storytelling. Jess believes marketing has lost some of its focus on the power of stories to create genuine connections between brands and customers – and argues that marketers should be doubling down on the craft rather than allowing it to become lost amongst new tools and trends.
The conversation also explores AI, which Jess sees as a significant opportunity for growth when used accurately and with a clear understanding of the business and its customers. For agencies, her advice is equally straightforward: strip away hierarchy and bureaucracy, get closer to the problem and work alongside clients to solve it.
Ultimately, Jess believes the fundamentals of marketing will endure regardless of how much disruption happens around them. Her advice to marketers is to understand how their business makes money, know where future growth will come from and connect that commercial opportunity with a deep understanding of the customers they need to reach.
Key takeaways
- Customer obsession should sit at the heart of growth. Understand who your customers are, where future customers will come from and what genuinely matters to them.
- Double down on creative storytelling. New technology may change how marketers work, but the ability to tell stories that connect brands with people remains fundamental.
- Understand how the business makes money. Exceptional marketers connect customer understanding and marketing activity directly to the commercial growth of the organisation.
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