Siegel+Gale’s Future of Branding roundtable series convenes marketing leaders across industries and around the globe to explore how the biggest challenges and emerging trends of today will impact brands tomorrow. On May 21, I welcomed a panel of five CMOs for the third in a series of conversations on brand leadership in the COVID-19 Era.

The panelists shared how they are responding to the crisis, whether it’s by confronting disruption with a clear brand purpose, championing collaboration to promote innovation or embracing humility to build brand equity and employee loyalty. In listening to these five CMOS, it is clear they are displaying tremendous fortitude in the decisions they are making today and the commitments they are forging for the years to come.

In closing, I posed the question, how do you envision the customer experience of 2022? And what is your commitment to ensuring that you’re on the forefront of that? Here’s what our panelists had to say.

When I look at eos’ customers, specifically our Gen Z and young millennial audience over the past months, I am awed by watching their creativity come to life online across social media platforms. Creative expression has empowered our consumers to live rich, vibrant lives while socially distancing at home.

I hope that the future means even more creative expression and originality, and consequently, a more inspired customer experience. I’m excited about leaning into the idea of creative expression among young people, and in particular, how it can translate to the digital and social world. We’re still working on it but, I’m excited to commit to creativity.

—Soyoung Kang, Chief Marketing Officer, eos

 

I foresee new safety and security protocols coming into play over the next couple of years. We’ve already been working on increasing security, health and safety, but I see those elements taking a more prominent place. I also anticipate more touchless experiences—from how fans enter and exit arenas to how we order and deliver food.

Since we can’t have fans in the building right now, we have the unique opportunity to blend creativity with technology to enhance the traditional hockey experience. For example, developing unique camera angles and introducing AR and VR will help expand our game beyond the hardcore fans. It will attract some of the more casual fans and allow them to experience our game in innovative new ways that will complement the live sports experience.

—Heidi Browning, EVP Chief Marketing Officer, National Hockey League

 

The banking experience of the future will be more digital, more experiential. I would also like to see deeper relationships than what exists at the moment. To achieve that, we have to commit to creating more opportunities where we can prosper together, not just as a community or a country or entire ecosystem; everyone has a stake in their game.

I would also like to see banking inspire more collaboration among people and businesses. Our role as marketers, especially in the financial services world, is how do we build trust, how do we make people more confident, and how do we create a sense of hope? There is a chance right now to create exciting solutions that can help us achieve a better tomorrow.

—Vikram Krishna, Executive Vice President, Head of Group Marketing & Customer Experience, Emirates NBD

 

I wholeheartedly believe that the public’s interest in awareness and health issues and investing in the resources, whether on the research side or patient care side, will increase as a result of what people have been experiencing COVID-19.

In terms of the patient experience, I think it will toggle between in-person and virtual.  Regardless of how smooth the video meeting go, people will still crave that in-person connection. We will commit to offering more options in the virtual space, not just to our potential fundraisers, but to patients and caregivers who cannot attend a conference or cannot make a visit due to a variety of constraints. We will find a way to provide those resources, but virtually.

—Lynn Godfrey, EVP, Chief Marketing Officer, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

 

We are going to see steady growth in telehealth in the future. Over the last few months, the way we receive patient visits has grown from a few hundred to 5,000 visits a day. Using this telehealth and other technology solutions, outpatient care—which was a trend even before this health crisis hit—will continue to be a trend where hospitals become the destination spots for complicated and complex care.

I hope that this crisis brings awareness and deep understanding of the need to continually invest in science and research so that it’s better valued, better supported and always on the forefront.

—Karen Wish, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Mount Sinai Health System

 

This is a biweekly series for brand-side senior marketers. To request an invitation visit events.siegelgale.com