Two Delvinia Projects Win International Business Awards

Two websites enhanced by Delvinia’s design process have won International Stevie Awards in the 2011 International Business Awards. The creative refresh of the Canadian Opera Company’s website, www.coc.ca, won in the not-for-profit category and the redesign of Manulife Financial’s www.coverme.com won in the insurance category.

In both cases, Delvinia took a collaborative, customer-centric approach towards the projects, using its proprietary data and researching methods to understand its client’s customer behaviours and then developing new websites with a focus on richer visuals, interactivity and content.

“We’re here to help our clients respond to the opportunities that digital technologies bring to enhancing customer experiences,” says Delvinia CEO Adam Froman. “Digital platforms can create deeper connections between companies and their consumers. And, when you begin by listening to the voice of your customer, it makes for more rewarding experiences and greater results.”

When the Canadian Opera Company launched its new brand in early 2011, the organization called on Delvinia to complete a creative refresh of its website, which Delvinia initially designed in 2009. Based on the collection of more than two years of transactional data and behavioural insights from Delvinia’s proprietary AskingCanadians™ online research community, Delvinia redesigned the site to incorporate strategic improvements—like prominent links to purchase tickets and online subscriptions—rooted in customer behaviour.

Manulife Financial engaged Delvinia to redesign coverme.com in an effort to improve the customer experience provided through the company’s direct-to-consumer website. Delvinia designed a customer-centric experience while maintaining a product-oriented focus geared towards helping potential customers choose the appropriate insurance coverage. The strategy resulted in an increase in the number of online applications and requests for brochures and ultimately, increased conversions via the Internet. As the Internet has become an increasingly more significant channel for Manulife’s direct-to-consumer business, the enhancements continue to have an impact.

“We took a collaborative approach in both of these cases and we’re thrilled that the International Business Awards has recognized our work with the Canadian Opera Company and Manulife Financial by selecting these projects as Stevie Award winners,” says Delvinia President Steve Mast.

Recipients of International Stevie Award trophies were selected from more than 3,000 entries received from organizations and individuals in more than 40 nations. Honorees were determined through two rounds of judging by close to 200 professionals worldwide.

“Entries to the International Business Awards grew by more than 80 per cent this year, and that illustrates the increasing importance of the IBAs worldwide,” said Michael Gallagher, president of the Stevie Awards, presenters of the IBAs. “We congratulate all of the honorees, and we look forward to recognizing them for their achievements at our gala event in Abu Dhabi on 11 October.”

For more information, please see our Canadian Opera Company and Manulife Financial case studies.

New DIG Webinar Reveals Growing Influence of the Social Shopper

Understanding the digital behaviours of consumers is the focus of a new Delvinia Dig webinar being held at 2 p.m. ET on March 10.

Delvinia President Steve Mast and Amy Sullivan, V.P. of Customer Insight, will provide an overview of the Dig report, The Social Shopper: A Lens into the Future of Retail Experiences. Released on February 24, the report highlights seven major trends around consumer use of digital technology and examines what retailers and product manufacturers should be doing to court digitally-savvy shoppers.

Conducted through AskingCanadians™, the study reveals that digital experiences are not only a key component in the purchase process; but digitally-inclined shoppers are fast becoming the consumers of the future.

The data provides the following insights into consumer behaviour:

- 61 per cent of shoppers surveyed research products online prior to making a purchase. And, they do so at least 50 per cent of the time.

- 65 per cent of Canadian shoppers look for consumer reviews and recommendations while researching online, this is second only to price.

- One in five Canadian Smartphone owners use their phones to search for product recommendations while shopping.

- One third of Smartphone owners have used their phones to take pictures of a product while shopping.

To download The Social Shopper, visit www.delvinia.com/digreport. To RSVP for the webinar, visit https://delviniainter.webex.com/delviniainter/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=933639922.

Best Buy’s Online Retail Experience Blunder

Being the C.E.O. of a digital strategy and customer experience design firm, I am keenly aware of the ways in which organizations are adapting to the changing digital behaviours of their customers. Creating positive and consistent customer experiences is a cornerstone of the work we do for our clients at Delvinia.

Given our focus on designing positive brand experiences, the interaction I had with a customer service agent at Best Buy Canada this past weekend was not only surprising, but in fact unbelievable.

I recently purchased an item on the company’s Canadian website. A couple of days later I received an email saying that my order could not be processed until Best Buy received confirmation.

While I don’t generally worry about making online transactions on legitimate websites, I do understand Best Buy’s concern for fraudulent credit card purchases so I was accepting of this minor inconvenience.

However, this is where my acceptance ended.

I was out of town skiing with my family when I attempted to confirm my purchase. I called to confirm my order from my cell phone and was told the confirmation must be received from the phone number associated with my card, which in this case was my office line.

Obviously, I wasn’t going to be able to call from my office, so I called Best Buy’s general number and asked to speak to someone.

This is when things got even worse.

The agent informed me my only option was to call from the number registered with my credit card.  Unbelievable.

I even spoke to a supervisor and was told, “I’m sorry sir, this is our policy.”

So now a technology process had become a corporate policy that was undermining what was meant to be a seamless, customer-driven digital experience.

Was this Best Buy’s (a technology retailer no less) best effort in creating a positive digital retail experience for me?

So now I’m left with a decision, do I finalize the purchase from the office, or do I simply cancel it?

While I’m all for combating online credit card fraud, does it makes sense that Best Buy’s policy is so inflexible that they would put their customers in this position?