Coming off the back of a recent award nomination last month, outsourced sales and marketing experts Source Marketing Direct are once again in the public domain – this time speaking out in praise of Harvey Nichols for acknowledging the importance of face-to-face interactions in marketing.
The luxury British department chain made a pledge recently to ‘make shopping fun again’, focusing on building better relationships with customers to increase store footfall. The firm’s Marketing and Creative Director Deb Bee claimed ‘technology isn’t killing retail – but it will if we think it can replace experiences and trust’, as she lauds the effect human interaction has in creating trust.
Source Marketing Direct, who focus on direct, face-to-face sales, believe more brands should follow suit, and ‘go back to basics’ with elements of their marketing – at least in terms of forging more personal and meaningful bonds with their consumers in-person.
“It’s great that Harvey Nichols are using big data for the right reasons – they’re setting a great example,” stated Source’s Managing Director Hector Montalvo. “By using it to gain a better understanding of what their customers want, they will be able to enhance their in-store experiences – especially as their Marketing Director understands the need for instilling more human interaction in their marketing endeavours.”
Montalvo is certain that Harvey Nichols aren’t the only department store who’ve fallen victim to a significant dip in consumer trust, and sees a future where more businesses will use face-to-face interactions to combat a digital saturated marketing mix.
It seems the Managing Director’s hope is that the publicised new strategy by Harvey Nichols will pave the way for other chains to adopt a more encompassing and multifaceted marketing approach – one that doesn’t have to compromise their commitment to more digital elements of innovative advertising.
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