Leveraging Customer Advocacy and Data Integration to Drive Growth - Puma's Success Story

In today’s ever-evolving world of marketing, brands face increasing challenges when it comes to acquiring and retaining customers. With rapidly changing customer behaviors, an explosion of new channels, and the rise of digital platforms, it has become crucial for companies to explore innovative strategies to reach their audiences, enhance customer loyalty, and maximize marketings efforts.

PUMA is the perfect example of a brand who has faced these increasing challenges head on to deliver highly satisfying experiences for their customers and stellar results for the business.

This case study explores how PUMA, a renowned global sports brand, collaborated with SAP Emarsys and Mention Me to improve CX and drive customer growth and revenue by harnessing the power of customer data and advocacy.

As customer acquisition costs continue to soar and long-term customer loyalty becomes more difficult to secure, PUMA sought to adapt its marketing approach to focus on retaining existing customers and building sustained relationships. The company recognized the importance of leveraging customer advocacy to fuel organic growth and expand its customer base. By partnering with Mention Me and utilizing SAP’s and SAP Emarsys’ technologies, PUMA sought to enhance customer lifetime value and incorporate more personalized, targeted marketing campaigns into their strategy.

PUMA’s partnership with Mention Me initially aimed to encourage repeat purchases and acquire new customers through referrals. The brand recognized that customers referred by friends were more likely to become loyal brand advocates. Leveraging Mention Me's referral platform and integrating it with SAP's Commerce Cloud, SAP Emarsys, and Customer Data Platform (CDP), PUMA was able to gain valuable insight into their customer’s behaviors and preferences.

PUMA’s strategic partnership with Mention Me and SAP Emarsys yielded several key benefits and impressive results:

• Enhanced Customer Loyalty: By leveraging customer advocacy, PUMA fostered greater brand loyalty and created a community of loyal customers. Acknowledging and rewarding customer referrals helped strengthen relationships and motivate customers to introduce their friends to the brand.
  
  
• Increased Customer Lifetime Value: Through personalized marketing campaigns and targeted messaging, PUMA maximized the lifetime value of its customers. The integration of customer data allowed the brand to identify valuable segments, customize communications, and drive additional revenue.
  
  
• Improved Marketing Efficiency: The collaboration with Mention Me and SAP Emarsys empowered PUMA to optimize its marketing efforts. By delivering relevant messages to the right customers at the right time through the right channels, PUMA achieved higher open rates, increased customer engagement, and improved overall marketing efficiency.
  
  
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Access to comprehensive customer data provided valuable insights into customer behaviors, preferences, and segmentation. This empowered PUMA to make more informed decisions, refine its marketing strategies, and adapt to evolving customer needs.

• Personalization at Scale: Delivering hyper-personalized experiences to a large customer base posed a significant challenge. PUMA had to leverage automation and AI-powered tools to deliver individualized messages and recommendations to customers efficiently, and at scale as their business grew.
  
  
• Change Management: Shifting from a traditional marketing approach to a data-driven, customer-centric strategy required internal alignment and change management. PUMA invested in training and upskilling its marketing teams to effectively leverage the new technologies and approaches

Implementing an integrated data-driven marketing approach was not without its challenges. Some of the key challenges faced by PUMA included:

• Data Integration: Consolidating customer data from multiple sources and platforms required careful planning and coordination. Ensuring data accuracy, privacy, and security were essential considerations throughout the integration process.

This collaboration enabled PUMA to track the long-term revenue generated from each customer, including the value generated specifically through referrals. This data-driven approach allowed PUMA to accurately tailor marketing communications to individual customers and deliver personalized experiences based on the customer’s stage of advocacy. By identifying loyal customers actively recommending the brand, PUMA could reward them, express gratitude, and provide tailored experiences that encouraged continued brand loyalty and customer advocacy.

By partnering with Mention Me and SAP Emarsys, PUMA successfully transformed its marketing approach, focusing on customer advocacy and leveraging data-driven insights.

Through this collaboration, PUMA improved customer loyalty, increased customer lifetime value, and optimized its marketing efforts — resulting in better results for the business, and most importantly, more satisfied customers.