Electric Vehicle (EVs) sales in the UK increased by 180% in 2020 compared to the previous year, meaning EV’s now account for 6.6% of the overall UK car market (Autocar, 2021). The adoption of EVs has been on an upward trajectory since 2010, however, the sharp increase in sales over the past year can be attributed to three main factors:

• A more environmentally conscious public. CACI’s Covid-19 national surveys have identified that consumers are thinking more ethically.
• Significant investment from automotive firms into EVs and the infrastructure needed to support the transformation.
• Government legislation placing a ban of sales on new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

The combination of the three factors above means that the industry is going through a dramatic transformation. However, the implications of EVs have a further reach than just the automotive sector as, at the end of the day, people use vehicles to get to places.

CACI conducted a survey with the objective of understanding firstly, the general perception of EV’s and secondly, how the adoption of a new technology will influence the way people interact with places.

Despite significant improvements made to battery ranges, 59% of survey respondents cited limited range as the main disadvantage of driving an EV. Combining this with the fact that EV owners are now having to wait +30 mins to charge up their car, electric vehicle owners are now having to “think ahead” and plan in order to mitigate the risk of running out of battery.

This is an important factor for the property sector to consider when developing short, and long-term strategies as consumer behaviour will be influenced as a result of the automotive industry’s transformation. The data behind the survey supported this viewpoint with 55% of all respondents stating that they would visit a specific location if they provided an EV charging point. 

Whilst the data suggests there is a future opportunity to capitalise on, the data also strongly supports the theory that there is a present opportunity for landlords. When looking at those who currently own an EV, those willing to change their behaviour based on the supply of charging points then increased to 91%.

This means that retailers and landlords can win over new consumers by placing charging points at their sites, allowing EV drivers the convenience of charging up whilst shopping. Furthermore, for those who benefit from an affluent catchment, this opportunity is enhanced as Affluent Achievers and Rising Prosperity Acorn groups are most likely to be to changing where they shop based on the supply of charging points.

It is also important to look at the role of service stations given that EV drivers are now going to have to wait upwards of 30 minutes to charge their car up. Consequently, service stations may need investment to accommodate for different usage patterns considering the longer dwell periods. However, in the short term there may be an opportunity for retail and shopping parks to leverage their environments and target EV drivers passing by. This goes on the principle that the environment will play a more important role if drivers are having to stop for longer periods of time to charge their car up.

However, whilst the most immediate opportunities are within retail, residential properties and offices also need to take into consideration these implications.

With the speed at which EVs are now being adopted, whereby 53% of respondents stated that they will buy an EV within the next five years, landlords need to question if their sites have the infrastructure in place to support the adoption of Electric Vehicles.

If not, they risk lower rates of return as their assets depreciate at a faster rate due to the development becoming obsolete and outdated.

For further information about Electric Vehicles and CACI’s EV survey, please get in touch.

Rapid growth in Electric Vehicle (EVs) sales in recent years (180% YoY in 2020), aided by strict government emissions targets for 2030 and substantial investment from automotive manufacturers, suggests that UK consumers are all set to go along for the electrified ride. However, even as EVs now account for 6.6%* of the overall UK car market (Autocar 2021) and, 9% of our recent survey audience already own one, the gap between the perception and the reality of owning and driving an EV will need to be bridged before they become an automatic consideration. In order to capitalise on the increasing demand for EVs, companies in the automotive sector – whether manufacturer, service or utility provider – need to be able to identify and address the unique concerns of different consumer audiences.

In our previous blog “Understanding Differing Consumer Attitudes on the path to EV adoption ”, we explored how attitudes to EVs differ amongst CACI’s Acorn  classifications of the UK Population. However, going electric is more of a lifestyle change than simply buying your next car and factors such as battery size and range, where you live and, the availability of charging infrastructure are all key considerations. Our survey allows us to compare the perceptions of those who don’t yet own an EV with those who do, so how does the reality of going electric live up to the promise (or threat)?

There was little separating owners from non-owners when it came to the key advantages of driving an EV, suggesting that manufacturers and advocates have done a good job of selling the dream.

*Includes sales of battery electric vehicles only, excludes plug in hybrids.

While only 28% of owners highlighted lower servicing costs as a benefit (compared to 33% of non-owners), this was reversed when it came to fuel/charging costs, which 71% of owners see as a benefit (compared to 69%).

The biggest discrepancy in response, related to EVs producing less noise pollution. Only 41% of non-owners recognised this as a benefit, whereas 59% of owners enjoyed the quieter ride their EV gave them (and those around them).

Non-owners tended to be more sceptical of the disadvantages of owning an EV, perhaps as a result of negative press and a limited understanding of their mobility requirements. Take range anxiety, or concern that an electric battery won’t provide enough charge for drivers to get from A to B without needing to stop for an extended period to recharge. 55% of non-owners were concerned by range and when coupled with worries over the number of public charge points (62%), it all sounds very doom and gloom.

But compare that with the perceptions of owners, where only 36% worry about running out of charge and 40% about the access to public charge points and it does start to sound more manageable. Generally, today’s EVs can cover a range between 150-300 miles and the latest Zapmap figures (April 2021) show there are more than 23k public charge devices at almost 15k locations in the UK.

Whether owners or not, respondents across all Acorn categories believe the biggest advantage of an EV is the reduced air pollution. And while cost of purchase is still a concern, it should be addressed as more EVs enter the market and second-hand vehicles become available. Knowing which benefits to promote and how to ease the concerns around perceived disadvantages is critical to delivering the right messages to the right audiences.

At CACI, we’re helping our clients to drive the electric revolution

Whether using an off-the-shelf customer segmentation like Acorn, a bespoke approach based on first party data alone or a hybrid solution combining elements of both, driving engagement from your audience will depend on your content and messaging. It’s clear that individual motivations for purchasing an EV will need to be exploited, while more importantly, concerns regarding owning one, will need to be addressed head-on.

It’s widely agreed that the purchase consideration period for an EV is substantially longer than for a new petrol or diesel model. So, it’s important to be able to identify which purchase phase an individual is in – awareness, consideration, purchase – to understand what information and content they’ll need to progress through what could be a longer journey than normal. To do that, CACI creates detailed contact strategies that allow brands to nurture their audiences until they’re ready to convert.

We worked closely with EDF Energy to identify which of their customers might already own or be likely to purchase an EV. By using CACI’s Acorn data and TGI profiles, overlaid onto their customer segments, we were able to design and deploy a series of highly targeted campaigns to upsell their EV tariffs.

More recently, our Data Science team have created a ‘propensity to buy EV’ model that has enabled Mazda to target the best audiences for their new all-electric MX-30. Through our Strategic Consulting and Campaign Engagement teams, we have delivered tailored campaigns and engaging content to the best audiences.

The innovative approach taken by CACI to launch our pivotal model, particularly the impressive use of data in forming the customer journey, has led to results that speak for themselves.

James Crouch, Customer Insight/Digital Transformation Manager, Mazda

Speak to us if you have any questions or want to learn more about our survey results.

Segmentation in marketing isn’t a new concept. But as big data gets bigger, many marketers are only nowSegmentation in marketing isn’t a new concept. But as big data gets bigger, many marketers are only now realising the benefits of defining customer groups and developing the right engagement strategy.

At CACI, we’ve never been busier, building segmentations for clients across all kinds of sectors – retail, charity, travel, financial services, leisure, and utilities.

If you’re thinking about building or commissioning your own segmentation, there are a number of important factors to consider before going ahead.

How do I choose a segmentation model?

There are several ways segmentation can help your business. Typically, our clients use segmentation to:

• understand their customers better;
• increase customer engagement;
• improve targeting and personalisation;
• inform product development;
• help position products or brands;
• and size their market.

It’s worth noting that some segmentation objectives can work against others.

For example, if your primary goal is to inform product or proposition development, then a needs-based or attitudinal segmentation may be the most relevant. But this type of research-based segmentation can often be challenging to map onto a customer database, making it difficult to be used for direct targeting.

It’s why you need to be clear about exactly why you’re segmenting, including how the data will be used, by whom, and in what context.

Before starting any segmentation exercise, ask yourself these key questions:

1. What are your objectives? Get a clear understanding of how you want the segmentation to help your business to achieve its goals. Remember that a segmentation can’t always do it all.
2. Who will use it and how? It’s vital to recognise each way you want to use the segmentation, to inform how it’s created. For example, consider whether segments need to be coded onto your customer database, or whether your media planners will need to build segment-tailored campaigns.
3. Is your project owner empowered to make decisions? Conflicting objectives or opinions over a segmentation’s purpose, or its application, mean it’s important to have a project owner who’s able to prioritise and make key decisions.
4. What data is available? You can build a segmentation based on all kinds of data – attitudes to purchase, transactional history and email engagement, geography, demographics or lifestyle characteristics. The key is to choose the data that best meets your overall objectives. And remember, anything you don’t use in your segmentation build can still be used to profile your segments once they’re created – giving you a clearer picture of each group.

Begin your segmentation journey on the right foot       

Even before you start making decisions, it’s important to get the right information, and define what success will look like. For example, in our client work, we talk to key stakeholders using the four questions above. And only then do we start to design and build a segmentation.

Here are our three top tips to begin your segmentation journey:

1. Have a core purpose – that’s clearly linked to your overall business objectives. Having a clear view of what you want to achieve is the cornerstone of a successful build.
2. Ask whether segmentation is the best option – a reality check never hurts. We’re big fans of segmentation, but there may be another option which fits your business objectives.
3. Think about what your users need – understanding each way your segmentation will be used. This will inform how the segmentation should be created and what data you’ll need to do it.

Customer segmentation: it’s all in the planning

The key to a truly useful customer segmentation is good planning.

The more data you have at your disposal, the more options you have. And that makes it all the more important to think clearly about what kind of segmentation you really need.

If you’d like to learn more about segmentation, or would like to talk about your own customer strategy needs, get in touch with one of our experts.

It’s hard to know the current population, let alone predict populations accurately for 2050 and beyond.  Yet that’s what many of our clients are required to do for long-term planning.

As we flagged in our recent round-table on the challenges of population forecasting, the government are currently using two different estimates of the ‘current’ population to present the latest Covid vaccination rates. This explains why the English national rate is higher than any of the regions – a mathematically impossibility raised in a recent edition of Radio 4’s “More or Less” podcast.

This is why it’s important to start from a consistent and robust estimate of the current year population by age and gender that users can rely on, at a local level.  Something that CACI achieve using a proven methodology respected by JICPOPS, the Joint Industry Committee for Population Standards, at Postcode Sector level.

We then model it right down to the unit postcode level needed by our many clients that rely on us for an accurate understanding, not just of population numbers, but also their demographic and lifestyle characteristics.

Building on this solid base we project forward nationally as far as 2069 using a consistent set of inputs at a granular geographic level to give credible and affordable ready-made local forecasts. Inevitably the uncertainty of forecasts increases as we look further forward in the crystal ball and we offer custom solutions to our clients seeking to tackle forecasting in areas of greater uncertainty using bespoke inputs.

An uncertain future

But, despite increasing computer power and open data access, it is getting harder to forecast over long-term horizons.  The following are just a few of the challenges faced building forecasts based on today’s uncertainty.

It’s been 10 years since the last Census gave us a solid population base, and many don’t realise we have a long wait until the 2021 Census can feed the latest forecasts. And whilst the ONS reports a great response rate, there may be local nuances resulting from capturing the data during a pandemic.

The jury is still out on where Brexit will level out on the nation’s migration patterns and even climate change could start to impact where people can, or want, to live within current planning horizons – potentially reshaping local populations from a complex mix of local and international movements.

This is before we even think about the unknows from potential changes in planning policies that have moved up the agenda only this week following the Chesham and Amersham by-election.

And then there is the uncertainty from Covid.  This week it was widely reported that UK deaths exceeded births for the first time in 40 years and sadly we know that death rates in specific age and demographic groups have far exceeded long-term patterns, making trend-based forecasting harder.

But will Covid also cause long-term change in local populations in other ways?

Will university cities become a thing of the past, now that lectures have moved online?  Will families seek to support their older relatives closer to home after the challenges seen in the care sector?  Is the ‘race for space’ out of our cities here for the long-term or will people have to return to work in the office despite our survey revealing that most want to return less than 3 days a week.

In short, there’s a lot of uncertainty.  And you can be certain that any of these trends will vary locally and by demographic group.

Our use of mobile data and surveys during Covid has revealed clear insights into the behaviours of consumers during the different stages of the pandemic that can support decision-making into the uncertain future.

I’d love to discuss how we can support you in creating future scenario models using our data. Please get in touch and we can discuss your challenges in more detail.

Paul Langston Associate Partner | Communities & Government plangston@caci.co.uk

The market for Electric Vehicles is growing consistently – of that there can be no doubt. But market statistics only tell one part of the story.  While we are clearly on a path towards mass EV adoption there are still many different opinions about electrification – some see advantages, while others perceive disadvantages – and consumers will weigh up these views differently as they make their decision about whether to purchase an Electric Vehicle.

Our survey suggested that many consumers are thinking positively about Electric Vehicles.  42% of respondents said that it was likely that their next car would be an EV, with 64% of those suggesting this purchase would happen within the next 2 years.  But this level of engagement is not consistent across all consumer groups.  In order to bring more consumers on board it is necessary to understand more about the attitudes and concerns of certain groups in order to realise the potential within them.  Because it is when we overlay the survey results with Acorn (CACI’s powerful classification of UK consumers) that we see some fascinating results.

For instance, the survey identified that Affluent Achievers (the wealthiest household group) who perhaps would have been considered a core market for EV’s are only marginally more likely to say they will buy an EV as their next car (48%). This is because when we drill-down into this category we find that affluence is not the only issue – age plays a significant part too.  The older, affluent groups within this category (specifically the Group called Mature Money) are far less likely to say they will purchase an EV next (42%) than the slightly younger “Executive Wealth” (51%).

Ask why, and it appears that Mature Money still consider battery range a key obstacle, despite their being more likely to make shorter trips. Importantly, unlike other Acorn Categories, both Executive Wealth and Mature Money are not particularly concerned about the provision of public charging points – probably due to the likelihood of living in a detached house where they could place a private charging point. But it is definitively range anxiety that is most pressing for the older more affluent groups.

This is a prime example of how the market can accelerate the adoption of EV’s among these consumers, allaying their concerns about range and amplifying the convenience factor (and reassurance) of charging at home.  Furthermore, these consumers are financially savvy, the survey shows they recognise the long-term savings on cost-of-ownership that EVs bring so these factors need to be amplified with these groups to get them on board.

With EVs it’s clear that the car buyers of the future may not be the same as the car-buyers of the past.  Rising Prosperity (younger professionals, often living in metropolitan environments) show the greatest inclination to purchase an EV (12% above the average). Interestingly, these consumers have not previously shown much interest in car ownership, preferring instead to use other mobility solutions (e.g. public transport or taxis).

One factor that has been identified through CACI’s wider research is how the spread of Covid-19 has resulted in these consumers looking towards private mobility solutions in the attempt to avoid public transport. As a result, they seek the benefits of private vehicle ownership without compromising their concerns for the environment.

However, despite being engaged in the idea of owning an EV, they appear unwilling to commit as they are more likely to wait 2 years or more before purchasing an EV. Price-point is clearly a big issue for this group, with higher living costs and relatively low disposable income, they are more likely than any other Acorn Category to admit that price is their main barrier to entry. Moreover, this group are likely to be living in urban high-rise flats or terraced accommodation so may not have the luxury of private charging points. This is identified in the survey as they are most likely to suggest that a lack of public charge points as the main barrier. In all areas of life convenience is key for this Acorn Category, so while they may be less phased about issues to do with range, they are put off by the perceived inconveniences of lack of access to a charge point (private or public). As a result, the market needs to do more than just offer an affordable range of EV’s.  Investment in public charging infrastructure, ensuring it is accessible and convenient (encouraging further investment where development is still lagging) will be crucial for getting these groups on board.

The final Acorn Category we focus on here is Comfortable Communities – characterised mainly by middle-affluent households. If EV ownership is to hit the “mainstream”, then surely these are Groups where adoption needs to increase the most.  The survey indicates many variations in attitudes across this Category, although price is a common theme in their perceived disadvantages and barriers.  Particularly interesting is the observation that respondents coming from the Groups that are characterised by rural populations are still reluctant to view EVs as a viable mobility solution.

Only 36% say it is likely that their next car will be an EV and 67% specifically quote range as a disadvantage.  While these rural Groups do acknowledge the economic advantages of ownership and recognise the convenience of private charging, they also see a lack public charge points as a significant barrier to ownership.  Furthermore, it is within this Category you will find the highest likelihood of consumers stating that it is the lack of an established second-hand market for EVs that is putting them off.  Therefore, while there are undoubtedly challenges in attracting these consumers to EV usage in the short-to-medium-term, the long-term prognosis looks good, particularly once the second-hand market for EVs becomes more established.

These results of this survey are fascinating and show that public perceptions of EV ownership are driven by consumers’ age, lifestage, affluence and where in the country they live.  Government and industry initiatives to accelerate the rate of EV adoption need to be aware of the nuances and differences in consumer opinions and ensure that each concern is addressed appropriately as the industry looks to make the next big leap in EV adoption.

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions or want to learn more about our survey results.

Discover whether you have a source of insight you can rely on for business decision-making or if you need to address inaccuracies in your data sources with an identity resolution project

An error-free, up-to-date and de-duplicated Single Customer View is the holy grail to deliver exceptional, personalised customer experiences. It’s also vital so you can analyse customer behaviour and campaign performance continually, evolving and adapting them to sustain performance.

Of course, it’s not a simple aspiration for a modern, competitive and fast-growing business. With multiple data sources in a range of systems and repositories, real-time data flowing in and out and an array of customer channels, you have your work cut out.

The rewards of getting the Single Customer View right are compelling – truly personalised marketing, exceptional customer engagement and loyalty that deliver great campaign ROI, revenues and profits. With a deep understanding of what your customers want and need, driven by highly relevant engagement and analysis of customer behaviour and propensities, you’ll have the insight to design and deliver what your customers want ahead of your competitors.

Without an accurate Single Customer View, it’s impossible to achieve that level of sustained performance. Errors in data create a lack of trust, both within the business and with your customers and audiences who are on the receiving end of poorly targeted campaigns. Campaign planning becomes subjective rather than data-led, while customers turn to competitors who can deliver the experiences and information they want in a timely and relevant way.

FOUR CRUCIAL QUESTIONS

You need a positive answer to all four of these questions about your Single Customer View, if you want it to be a reliable and effective source of decision-making insight:

1. Does it hold unique, real-time customer records?
2. Is all the data clean, reliable and standardised, with matched addresses?
3. Does it bring together customer data from every online and offline source in your organisation?
4. Is it scalable for future needs?

Not many organisations can answer all four questions with a resounding yes. If you have any doubt about the integrity of your Single Customer View, or if you don’t have one that you can rely on, you need to take action quickly.

To make it easier and quicker to fix or establish your Single Customer View, CACI’s specialist data team has developed the ResolvID application. It’s a powerful tool to create a trustworthy source of customer data for reliable analysis. It resolves data from disparate sources – including your CRM, e-commerce and finance systems as well as offline data and mobile apps. You can use the accurate and unified outputs with confidence for analytics and data science, campaign activation, BI and reporting.

If you’d like to find out more about how ResolvID can help you clean up your Single Customer View so you can deliver high performance campaigns and analytics that are trusted by everyone in the business, get in touch with our team.

Get your PII data under control to help mitigate the risk of reputational damage and financial penalties.

Organisations need to be able to demonstrate that they know where all the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) they hold is located and how it’s linked to specific individuals. If you work in a highly regulated sector, the demands and penalties here will be particularly stringent. Obligations may vary by territory, and even between US states. In the UK and Europe, GDPR regulations apply to any data controller.

Identity resolution is a key discipline for responsible organisations who collect data from more than one source about individuals who engage with them or provide personal information of any kind. It means being able to gather all PII data from across a range of systems about an individual. A consistent identity resolution process is the only way you can be sure that you are delivering marketing experiences and engagement in a responsible and compliant manner.

YOU NEED A FULL REVIEW OF DATA IN YOUR DIVERSE SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE AND TOOLS

Compliance is made harder because even if you use the latest digital campaign delivery platforms, you’ll likely have a number of legacy systems, a diverse estate of software and some cloud-based tools in the mix. Somehow, you have to resolve identities across all of these.

The first step is to assess the risk – you need to examine all the data you hold across the organisation and make sense of it. This is a challenge, because your data will be fragmented and the quality will vary. You’ll need a thorough and systematic approach that takes in finance, CRM and e-commerce systems, to address:

• Accurate data capture and storage
• Duplication of data and customer records
• Data validity and standardisation
• Maintenance of data and recency of updates
• Data understanding

With a complete and accurate assessment of the quality and completeness of your data, you can look to improve your data collection, storage and identity resolution processes to avoid non-compliance in the future.

Tackling identity resolution for data compliance across your organisation is a daunting task. CACI’s experts have developed the ResolvID application to help customers with complex data and system estates to manage identity resolution reliably.

ResolvID can bring together data from multiple sources, standardise and cleanse it then report on it to reveal issues that need tackling. It’s ideal for managing compliance risk and mitigating against fines and reputational damage. It also provides the consistent, unified customer data you need to deliver successful personalisation and differentiated customer experiences, for revenue and customer growth.

If you’d like to find out more about harnessing ResolvID to assess and tackle your compliance issues, get in touch with our specialist data team.

HOW IDENTITY RESOLUTION ENABLES ADVANCED PERSONALISATION IN BIG DATA ENVIRONMENTS

Most organisations have plenty of data. The issue is not how much you have, it’s what you can do with it. You may be sitting on a goldmine of data insight, but you can’t use it to refine personalised communications and marketing unless you can connect it with the digital platforms and tools that will deliver the personalisation.

Tackling this challenge is key to success in a world where consumers are increasingly intolerant of content and approaches that aren’t directly relevant to them. You need to use all the information you have to create unified identities that can inform personalised customer experiences, if you want to compete effectively.

The problem becomes more acute if you are using a data lake as the primary store of customer data. The concept and architecture of data lakes do not lend themselves to the enforced structure, maintenance and standardised logging that good identity resolution requires. At the opposite end of the spectrum, more traditional data warehouses can lack the structure or ability to capture and use large quantities of digital data which can form the backbone of modern identity resolution. These platforms may also be difficult to integrate with other MarTech and AdTech.

TACKLING IDENTITY RESOLUTION IN DATA LAKES

If you work in a big data environment, you may struggle to identify unique customers. It can be risky to rely on insights developed from data lakes, because they have no enforced structure at the point of data capture. This makes it challenging to define a customer view in a consistent manner, with all data points incorporated.

CACI’s identity resolution application ResolvID has a smart way of tackling this problem. It takes in all potentially identifiable information as it’s loaded into the data lake and continues to iterate and develop the customer picture over time. It adds up small quantities of data from sources including transactions, ClickStream data and geolocation to build the identity of a customer. The structure of the customer is defined within the platform: ResolvId makes its keys available for use within any and all resources.

TACKLING IDENTITY RESOLUTION IN DATA WAREHOUSES

If your organisation uses enterprise or operational data warehouses, it can be difficult to connect the finance, CRM and order data held within them directly with digital customer data platforms (CDPs) that serve web, automated marketing and mobile app content.

CDPs maintain digital identifiers, but they need a single customer identifier to truly connect the business with digital channels. Because of the complex nature of data held in the data warehouse, it can be challenging to resolve to an individual’s identity.

Using ResolvID as a middle layer, you can create a unified identity and identity graph that can work in both environments. It connects the systems to enable rapid deployment, unlocking value in your data for personalised campaigns. You’ll achieve a single view of the customer and can report crucial unified measures such as lifetime value.

Read the previous blog to find out factors to consider in delivering personalised content and marketing that fuel sales and retention in competitive consumer markets. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss identity resolution in your big data environment with one of our campaign data experts.

Your customers and prospects want and expect you to communicate with them as individuals. It’s a very natural human desire – no-one wants to feel like they’re just a data point.

Today’s sophisticated data management and campaign delivery technology makes this possible in theory. But effective personalised communication has become more complex in recent times because of the challenges of identity resolution.

Identity resolution has always been important. It means matching identities across different touchpoints to create a unified profile for every customer. The advent of GDPR intensified the need to use identity resolution to manage data preferences robustly across channels and media, to comply with data protection laws.

But legal compliance is only one reason for the extreme complexity of the identity resolution challenge today. For marketing personalisation and for analytics, you need an accurate view of an individual, so you can always communicate with them in context of who they are and what matters to them.

We need to be able to resolve identities better, faster and more efficiently across a much greater amount of data to keep pace with competitive pressures and market demands.

CONSUMERS ARE UNFORGIVING

Your customers are ever more demanding – they want and expect to know about the right products and services at the right time and to be served content that’s relevant to their current preferences. 63% of customers say they will stop using companies who deliver poor individual marketing, according to data cited by the Forbes CMO network.

DIGITAL BEHAVIOUR IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING

There’s an ever-growing number of channels enabling consumer engagement with brands. Consumers also have more devices. They use them to graze across a range of channels and media – frequently their interactions are superficial and transient. They no longer adopt a consistent pattern of behaviour, nor do they always log in or identify themselves directly when they view content.

YOU CAN’T RELY ON THIRD PARTY COOKIES

The third-party cookie is on its way out. That makes it harder to connect interactions through online advertising on third party sites. First party data is becoming more important, and it must be accurately resolved with other sources.

SOPHISTICATED TECH CAN OVERREACH YOUR CAPABILITIES

Technology is at hand to help and many vendors are pushing their solutions. These are based on complex data science and may include visualisations, digital reporting platforms and next best action platforms. Many are excellent tools, but you need to bring your data together in a consistent, de-duplicated way before you can obtain value from them.

THERE ARE SHADES OF GREY IN DIGITAL IDENTITIES

In the previous digital era, identity resolution was relatively simple – you either knew or did not know who a person was. But it’s no longer black and white. You can also personalise and understand preferences without knowing exactly who the individual is, learning about them through behaviour and touchpoints.

These factors all create obstacles to delivering the personalised content and marketing that fuel sales and retention in competitive consumer markets.

Organisations need to upweight their data science and marketing analytics expertise to deal with the ever-evolving challenges of identity resolution and get the best value and differentiation from their digital marketing campaign tools and tech.

Increasingly, clients are asking CACI to step in as an expert third party resource to tackle these challenges, using the purpose-build ResolvID solution.

CACI is a frontrunner in identity resolution and has pioneered innovative ways to consolidate customer data since the issue first arose. We started with matching services based on name, surname, address. Today, we have built far beyond that expertise to create ResolvID, a real time API-driven product that learns as it resolves a wide range of different data sets. It can also address digital applications where there may be no first party identifiers, instead using IP addresses and device IDs.

Our next blog will be to find out exactly how identity resolution supports advanced personalisation, compliance and accurate analytics, and why this is crucial for your success in today’s digital marketplace. Or get in touch if you’d like to discuss how we can help you tackle the challenges of identity resolution in your customer data.

THE TURNSTILES ARE OPEN: IT’S TIME FOR INTEGRATED CONSUMER DATA INSIGHT TO LEAP JUMP ON BOARD THE RETAIL LOGISTICS MERRY-GO-ROUND, IN SUPPORT OF EVERY FUNCTION

The explosion of e-commerce in the last nine months is putting fulfilment networks under huge strain. The Covid pandemic has accelerated consumer behaviour by five years in just a few months.

Retail and logistics thinking needs to speed up to the same pace. That’s a tall order for systems, processes and strategies that have evolved gradually over a long period in separate business functions.

Because the pressure for change comes from consumers, the key is to apply historic and predictive consumer data to B2B systems. At the moment, that doesn’t happen consistently throughout the retail fulfilment cycle. Until now, comprehensive, integrated consumer and commercial data analytics have not been available for cross-functional use.

WHO OWNS CONSUMER DATA INSIGHT IN YOUR ORGANISATION?

Today, consumer data tends to reside within the retail and marketing team. It isn’t shared with decision-makers in logistics, supply chain and location planning. They plan their provision and services based on historic performance and their own forecasting models.

Traditionally, consumer data is used at the front end of the retail supply chain. Brands and stores analyse consumer needs and channel preferences to determine their ranges, product specification, pricing, channel mix, positioning and advertising messages. Customer data is readily available from epos and e-commerce tracking to inform procurement, product design and marketing.

Most successful retailers have a strong and established capability to use their own data, supplemented with external market research, to predict and meet consumer demand and trends. this means they can consistently source, stock and market the right goods in their physical and virtual shopfronts throughout the year.

That’s a big tick in the box for the retail, marketing, digital and store operations teams. But what happens next? The process of getting the goods to the customer is handled by the logistics and supply chain team. Do they have the same foresight into customer demand in terms of fulfilment, so the whole process is completed seamlessly for customers?

PROFIT IS A COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Customer data staying in the retail silo has an impact on profitability. Procurement mark-up netted against retail operations costs may hit the profit target for products, categories and ranges. But fulfilment and logistics can cancel that out if stockholding isn’t optimised in the right locations or the pricing of universal consumer delivery methods is out of kilter with the real cost of supply.

The logistics team is also crucial in delivering an excellent end-to-end customer experience. Their work is often longer-term, because changing warehouse locations and bringing physical stores online is usually slower than specifying and sourcing a new consumer product.

This is an area where costs and efficiency are often harder to measure and understand as they build up across the operation. There’s a big opportunity to save money and improve performance with end-to-end analysis.

Defining consumer demand in different regions and types of logistics catchment is key for location planners to optimise the use of their existing sites and networks and to determine new store and depot locations.

The final mile has long been recognised as the most expensive part of the fulfilment process. But in fact, the final metre is even more critical. Understanding the exact nature of the address you’re delivering to makes a big impact on costs. The difference between a semi-detached house with easy parking on the driveway and a top floor flat on a red route can be ten minutes or more in courier time and efficiency.

UNDERSTANDING REGIONAL DIFFERENCES SUPPORTS FULFILMENT PROFIT AND EFFICIENCY

The same insights should influence the choices of delivery method that retailers offer to e-commerce consumers. Flat fees for postal or courier delivery may be profitable for sending a small item via the Royal Mail, first class. The same fee doesn’t necessarily cover the cost of transporting a bulky item from a warehouse on the southern coast of England to a domestic address in the Scottish Highlands, using a lorry to move it between depots and an overnight courier for the final leg of the journey.

Logistics managers need to understand likely consumer demand at the same time as retail buyers, in order to feed in accurate costs and make provision for responsive fulfilment. And they need to understand it regionally as well as nationally. It’s this information that allows logistics providers and clients alike to manage and measure the effectiveness of their third party logistics (3PL) activity. As client, you can use this data insight to challenge or work with your 3PL to improve efficiency, for everyone’s benefit.

Profitability is everyone’s responsibility in the retail supply process, from marketing right through to end user fulfilment, whether that’s at store or on the doorstep. Strategic and tactical decisions in all these functions need to be informed by the same consumer data insight. It’s a continuous loop of demand and supply that needs data to flow consistently around, reflecting real-time change so that every department can work to the same demand patterns.

THE MERRY-GO-ROUND IS SPINNING: WE CAN HELP YOU JUMP ABOARD

How do you intervene, given the perpetual motion of this carousel of demand and supply? It’s spinning ever faster with the twin pressures of fast-changing consumer habits and fiercer competition. Where can you jump on to the merry-go-round to set the data flow in motion throughout your retail supply process?

At CACI, we have a unique capability to help you jump aboard and infuse consumer data insight into every function in the retail supply continuum. understanding customer behaviour and preferences is crucial at every stage. 

By aggregating small gains throughout the fulfilment process, you stand to make big savings.

We can help you drive value out of data and insight across every business area. From store network strategy to digital channel management, from warehouse optimisation to route planning, we can empower your retail business to deliver goods to consumers rapidly, profitably and competitively across the UK and globally.

We can help make your entire network more efficient and responsive – from stock availability to final metre delivery. Talk to us about driving competitive advantage and supporting sustainable retail growth in the fast-changing world of 2021 and beyond.

Looking back at 2020 and we can clearly see that some sectors experienced a lot of pain while others have thrived and grew hugely in demand. A black swan event like a pandemic could not have been predicted, but even before that a shift to online shopping was gaining momentum for years.

Last year businesses that were digitally native have fared a lot better than those that relied purely on the physical presence in neighbourhoods and high streets. In Grocery we have seen propped up demand across the board with the unfortunate shut down of the leisure sector, but online delivery and local convenience channels have done especially well.

Food box delivery concept is driven by three big trends in grocery sector, a demand for convenient solutions, personalisation and being able to transact online. This offering has been a part of the grocery channel for a while but has really showed how uniquely valuable it is in 2020.

Our recent consumer survey suggests that in 2020 16.5% of respondents ordered a food delivery box and 56% of those who use food boxes order at least fortnightly. Operators that were able to scale up the delivery infrastructure won big in 2020, gaining that initial share of the market.

We can now see how the competition in the space is intensifying, food box delivery operators are working hard on differentiating the offer and capturing the desired section of the market. Food box delivery services are now serving a variety of consumer needs, from routine grocery top ups, to value boxes, to unique dining in experiences.

2021 has already seen Morrison’s move into this space with £30 food box offer targeting families, Booths launching its ‘Let’s Cook’ boxes and Parsley Box securing over £5.2m to expand and target baby boomers.

It is clear that food box delivery services will keep growing in importance in 2021. from our recent shopper survey, we know that 18% of customers plan to use food delivery boxes more in the next 12 months with this jumping to a quite extraordinary 31% in London showing the regional variation in demand for food boxes.

It should be acknowledged that different shopper types have different demands and criteria of choice when it comes to choosing whether to use a food box and who to purchase from.

For example, the grocery shopper type Families on a Budget who are larger families with multiple, often younger, children living at home plan to use more delivery boxes going forward than the UK average. They typically shop at retailers such as Morrison’s, Asda and Iceland so Morrison’s new family food box offering will have great appeal to these shopper types.

In contrast younger, affluent shoppers are seeking health-conscious choices and inspiration in their decision to purchase a food box leaning to brands such as Mindful Chef to fulfil this mission.

Three challenges for the food box delivery sector to solve in 2021

The pandemic has undoubtedly caused a surge in demand as we seek alternative ways of both treating ourselves whilst restaurants are closed and getting our groceries whilst supermarket visits are kept to a minimum.

In fact, 38% of those ordering food delivery boxes said one of the main reasons for doing so was to avoid going to the supermarket. The next 6-12 months will be crucial for companies looking to grow a loyal customer base to emerge as a larger sector at the end of the pandemic.

As the risk factors of supermarkets begin to decrease food box delivery companies will need to tackle a number of obstacles to remain successful. Here are the three main areas to focus on to drive further growth in the sector in 2021:

Laser focus on customers

Customers desire personalisation and food box delivery companies are in a unique position where they can engage with customers and really understand what ingredients they like or dislike and manage the future interactions better. Real brand growth happens when new customers are added to the brand.

Finding new customers and knowing how to tailor your communications will be the winning recipe. But before finding new customers it is important to understand who exactly your current customers are, where else they shop, what brands they like and what is important to them.

Utilising the right technology to stand out and deliver intuitive customer experience

The world of customer data platforms and CRM systems is ever changing and to be at the top, companies need to upgrade and stay relevant. Modern solutions allow you to manage the customer data in real time, analyse campaign impact and code up new customers as soon as they have made a first purchase or inquiry.

Customers stumble across different parts of the journey, for example not checking out at the last moment or not finding the right product or promotion. It is important to have a tailored communication stream with those customers to convert them in to the first sale while keeping the acquisition costs low and to ensure the repeat purchase happens.

Keeping delivery costs low and serving customers in the most effective manner

Saving money and time on the very expensive logistics side of the business will allow for great ROI and ability to direct funds to customer acquisition and loyalty building. Effective route planning, holding the best-in-class datasets on addresses and providing precise instructions to delivery drivers will be one of the factors that differentiate the market leaders with runner ups.

Food box delivery is an extremely exciting space to be in and the market cap of this sector is expected to grow, however, like in any growing sector it attracts new entrants and the attention of large retailers and FMCG players.

Competition intensifies and with more than 20 players in the market some consolidation is imminent. At CACI we can help tackle the big three challenges that are now in front of the sector, building a strong customer understanding and growing organically through customer acquisition, getting the most out of complex data platforms and saving time and costs on logistics.

If you are interested in tackling the above challenges and outcompeting in the crowded space, please get in touch as we have developed unique solutions to unlock growth in the sector.

As online betting and gaming grows in popularity, so does the exposure.

Exposure from customer safety (or exploitation), exposure from regulators and exposure from competition. Which leads to the fundamental question

How can operators continue to grow player value whilst navigating the consistent challenges around safer gambling, fierce market competition and regulatory compliance?

We have taken on these factors and explored the challenges (both existing and future) and opportunities they present, along with providing suggestions on how they can be most effectively anticipated and managed.

To address these challenges requires a combined approach based on strategy, data and technology – incorporating cutting edge technologies including central decisioning engines, marketing attribution models, data modelling, machine learning and AI-driven recommendations.

Within our whitepaper, CACI make 4 key predictions that will have big impacts on the future of betting and gaming, and how operators can ensure they anticipate the changes to turn these into big opportunities.

Find out how Covid-19 could change the marketing landscape, what extra factors to consider in the future of responsible gambling and how central decisioning might be the answer to a progressively more complex environment.

Download ‘The Future of Betting and Gaming’ CACI whitepaper today

Understanding Data

To Judge the Reliability of Community Insight and analysis reports, it’s vital to understand the difference between the types of data they’re based on.

Data is a valuable resource for public service providers who want to understand the communities they serve and provide the most effective communication and support to meet their needs. For Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), analysis of information about residents, the local area, types of incidents and causes can help make protection and prevention services even more effective.

But not all data is equal. How do you know whether it is up-to-date and accurate? Does it cover every household and area? What is missing? It could make a big difference to the effectiveness of decision-making and service provision if the information you’re relying on is old, doesn’t include everything you need or is not detailed and specific enough.

In this blog we explain what different types of data are, so you know how and when to use and trust them. Understanding of the pros and cons of each type of data will give you a strong foundation for building a blended data approach that allows for a greater level of insight than ever before.

Open Data

This data is official and since it’s on the Open Government Licence, free. There are limitations: sources are rarely measured at low-level geographies, and they can be several years out of date. It’s several years since the last census: it’s almost certain that new homes been built and parts of the community have changed in that time.

Open data sources, such as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Home Office, are ideal for building a top-level picture of your communities. But it doesn’t provide a detailed and complete view. At best, the data is usually presented at Output Area level (around 100 households.) This means at-risk residents can be hidden – not ideal when you’re trying to target limited resources towards those who need it most.

Open data is an important starting point. But it’s seldom fit for purpose in its raw form. It needs to be blended with other, complementary data sources.

Administrative Data

This is the data you collect internally. Its value lies in its uniqueness to your FRS. Everything you collect, from Home Safety Visit data to fire incident information, is specific to your community, which means it’s highly relevant and frequently updated.

There are some limitations. Not every resident within the community interacts with your service, so there are many people and households you have no data for. People at future risk may be excluded. Sharing administrative data between departments and colleagues is often subject to strict governance regulations which can make it harder to use. Your compliance or legal team will need to check that data is being used in a way that’s compatible with the purposes it was collected for.

Your own administrative data provides a detailed snapshot of part of your community. In conjunction with open data, segmentation and other commercial sources, it has the potential to provide a deeper level of insight.

Commercial Data

Commercial datasets draw from a variety of frequently updated sources to paint a picture of your community today. Commercial data allows for easy segmentation at a household and postcode level, for a detailed level of information. You get a deeper understanding of lifestyle and demographic characteristics right across your community.

Information from a commercial dataset provides scale and granularity. It can offer insight that open and administrative data lacks, revealing factors such as online activity, engagement, channel preferences, behavioural and lifestyle characteristics.

You have to pay for commercial datasets. So you’ll want to be sure you’re getting value for money. Check that the data is up-to-date, regularly refreshed and doesn’t exclude any part of your community. Find out how detailed the coverage is: do you get information by postcode or household?

Health and Wellbeing Data

For FRS, it’s valuable to know about the health and wellbeing status of community members, in order to prioritise the most vulnerable and at-risk residents for home safety visits.

Wellbeing segmentation is a commercial dataset that’s unique to CACI. It gives insight into potential factors which may lead to an increase in certain residents being more at risk or vulnerable. This means your FRS can effectively allocate resources for community outreach and service provision.

The CACI health and wellbeing dataset helps you identify residents who are elderly, socially isolated or have health dependencies at household level.

Postcode and Household Data

Postcode segmentation reflects the mix of people within a postcode and so focuses on describing the very local neighbourhood. For a FRS, postcode segmentation can identify the types and frequency of fires that happen in a given area, helping to inform general preventative initiatives.

Household segmentation places more emphasis on individual household attributes such as tenure, family structure and lifestage. This level of segmentation helps your FRS identify individual, at-risk people in otherwise safe postcodes. It’s this specific analysis that gives you visibility of all residents and helps you engage with them in effective ways tailored to their needs and capabilities.

If you’d like to find out more about blending different types of data to achieve the focused level of insight that your FRS needs for prevention, engagement and protection, click here to talk to CACI’s FRS data team.

Different Strokes For Different Folks

There are so many media and channels you can use to get your vital messages across. Communicating and engaging effectively means picking the right ones for the people you need to reach.

Identifying different capabilities, characteristics and preferences among your residents is important, if you want to be sure you’re reaching people with information they need. Using data from a range of sources, you can produce reports that help you understand the needs of different households and segments in your community, so you can confidently choose the best communication and outreach methods.

Of course, you have to work to a budget to produce and deliver content. Going online can help cut costs compared to printing, postage or face to face events. Online content can be easier to update and adapt to meet changing needs. And under the current constraints of the pandemic, when face to face engagement is difficult, it’s tempting to go all-digital.

But as every FRS colleague knows, not every resident is digitally connected. Some of the most vulnerable people in your community will not have access to social media, the internet or email, or their digital capabilities may be limited without support.

Modern FRS organisation use a wide range of communications channels and media: each has strengths and weaknesses for different audience types and may work better for certain types of messaging, campaigns and content:

Digital Media

Direct contact channels: email, text messaging, chat facilities (website chat, direct messaging on social media)

Broadcast channels: social media posts (Facebook, twitter, Instagram), online community groups (Facebook), webinars and community conferences (YouTube, Zoom or other broadcast platforms)

Digital content: Infographics, data visualisations, video, podcasts, vlogs, blogs

Traditional Media

Public channels: local papers (articles, paid ads, interviews), local radio (ads, phone-ins, interviews), community exhibitions, empty shop window displays, posters, presentations (community events, schools, community organisations)

Direct delivery (mail or door drop): regular or one-off newsletters, personally addressed letters, generic leaflets, generic letters, flyers, postcards

Telephone: outbound phone campaigns, phone helplines

The immediacy, ease of use and interactive nature of digital communication is a good fit for many people in your community who are used to using mobile phones, tablets or computers for everyday transactions and communication. The challenge is to identify those people who are excluded from those channels and make sure that you direct traditional alternatives to their individual households.

Blended data insight can help you to do this [hyperlink to blog or paper]. Working with CACI’s local government and FRS data specialists, you can accurately identify households and groups that don’t have access to digital channels. You can profile residents to reveal who is likely to respond well to particular types of communication that match their habits and preferences.

By targeting the right media and activities to the right people, you can ensure that safety and protection messages get through where they’re most needed. You’ll get better value from communication budgets with campaigns targeted by segment rather than using door drops or mailings for blanket coverage.

There’s more information about communications methods and segmenting community audiences on the Local Government Association’s Comms Hub.

Get in touch with CACI’s FRS data specialists for help and advice on community segmentation and channel selection.

The Impact of the Pandemic

Discover how the impact of the pandemic and lockdown have changed the protection and prevention needs of individuals and households.

The Covid-19 era has brought far-reaching changes to citizens and communities all over the UK. Constraints on going out, changes to working patterns and the after-effects of illness and isolation have made a big difference to people’s behaviour and habits.

For FRS organisations, this is important. It means that proven engagement and communication channels may no longer be effective, so your vital messages don’t get to the people who need them. It means that people are spending more time in their homes and using them for different activities, potentially changing their risk profiles. It means that people may be physically and mentally more vulnerable to fire and emergency incidents.

We’ve Highlighted 5 FRS Actiities to Review in Context of 2021’s Still-Evolving Pandemic Situation

1. Home Safety Visits (Safe & Well)

Historically, these have played a pivotal role in reaching people who are most at risk of being victims of residential fires. With constraints on non-essential contact, your FRS may already have had to reduce this programme. But more people are spending time in their homes, so the importance of providing advice and checking smoke alarms is greater than ever.

Recommendation: Assess alternative communication channels for providing Home Safety Advice – social media and online communications may be effective for some households. For those who digitally excluded, prioritise the most vulnerable and at risk households to visit in a Covid-safe manner.

2. Awareness-Raising Events

Speaker events in schools, workplaces, residential homes and at community events and clubs are excellent ways to engage with different sections of the community, from youngsters to business owners or people for whom English is not a first language. These presentations and sessions in familiar and trusted settings help get across messages about safety and behaviour to reduce fire risks. Group events and meetings are currently prohibited and unlikely to resume in full for some time.

Recommendation: These groups and organisations may well be using alternative channels and communications to stay in contact with their members. Offer them suitable content to include. For example, an online FRS assembly for your community secondary schools or a list of safety tips to insert in the newsletter delivered door to door by a faith community.

3. Community Displays

With libraries and community centres either closed or restricting access in lockdown and beyond, there’s no opportunity to mount FRS displays and campaign information that used to be seen by many. Using vacant shop units is less effective, with high street footfall greatly reduced.

Recommendation: Essential retailers such as local shops or supermarkets may have community noticeboards where you can share important messages or posters which will be seen as customers pass by. Local papers and TV channels may be prepared to publicise your campaigns, if you highlight the challenges and risks that lockdown has brought to FRS and the efforts you’re making to stay engaged to save lives.

4. Digital Campaigns and Communication

Digital channels are a lifeline in the pandemic. Many households have improved their connection and understanding of technology, using video platforms like Zoom or Teams for the first time, for work, education and social contact. Consumers who use social media and stream content are doing it more than ever, while confined to their homes. But digital channels are not accessible to everyone – it’s important not to rely on them completely.

Recommendation: Understanding digital engagement is key to effective communication with residents. In pandemic circumstances, you need to know how to engage vulnerable and at-risk groups who may not be digitally connected. They may need doorstep engagement or paper-based information. The challenge is to identify digitally excluded households and target them with appropriate FRS outreach, while making the most of more cost-effective digital methods for those who can access it easily.

5. At-Risk Household Profiling

Poor health and social isolation are factors which can increase the potential risk of fatality or injury when a fire occurs. Identifying residents with increased vulnerability helps to make risk scoring and household profiling more accurate and effective.

Recommendation: Review your profiling to keep it up to date, reflecting the effects of illness, bereavement and incapacity caused by the Covid pandemic. Make sure you know where your most vulnerable households are in 2021: use all sources of local and commercial data to keep at-risk lists up to date and know where support and protection from FRS is most needed in your community.

Blended data insight can help you identify the changing profiles and prevention and protection needs of households in your community in 2021. Get in touch with CACI’s FRS data specialists for help and advice on community segmentation and channel selection.

Covid has brought unprecedented changes to our day to day lives and our behaviour. This in turn is having a huge impact on the charity sector and their ability to fundraise, a vital part of their operations. Some of these key challenges that charities are facing currently are:

• Not being able to host fundraising events
• Loss of income from mass participation events
• Charity shops being closed
• Lower footfall on high streets and transport hubs
• Economic impacts on income

At CACI we have been exploring the impact of Covid on people’s behaviour and we took a look at what this meant for charities and how they can overcome these challenges.

CHANGED PRIORITIES

One of the more unusual impacts in people’s changed behaviour is the up-turn in their priorities when engaging with brands. Whilst Covid-19 safety measures have risen to be the number one priority, regardless of demographics, this was not the only change to the ranking. With a reduction in spending resulting from lockdown, two key aspects have risen to the fore in people’s priorities:

• Ethics of Brands
• Sustainability/Green

This is a key factor for charities as it shows that despite the hardships that many of the population is currently facing, there is a general desire to ensure money spent is done so with ethical and sustainable brands. This is particularly key for charities that have online stores as there is clearly an appetite for this kind of spending, so it is imperative to be reaching out to supporters with this message.

FINANCIAL SITUATIONS

Consideration of changes in income and financial status is imperative, but whilst Covid is having an impact on all, the effect of this is not the same across the board.

Using CACI’s Fresco segmentation, we have been able to look at survey respondents changed financial situations. The groups that are seeing an increased disposable income tend to be some of the younger segments that are early in their careers and have been able to successfully work from home. This is a key group to look at, as they aren’t the typical audience for charities to target as they usually have low levels of disposable income.

DIGITAL ADOPTERS

With face to face fundraising coming to an abrupt stop back in March, digital channels messaging for brand awareness and fundraising initiatives became a key strategy overnight. Since lockdown was imposed, we have seen that 53% of people are now expecting to engage more online. Breaking this down further, we can see that 23% will look to make online a priority going forwards, whereas 35% will only use online over physical when absolutely essential.

What is most important to consider in these statistics, is that it is older generations, typically adverse to using digital channels, that have now become more digitally savvy and more comfortable making payments online. As a key demographic for many charities, this is a key consideration in future fundraising strategy.

THE FUTURE OF FACE TO FACE FUNDRAISING

As restrictions have been eased and the tier system has been implemented, we have seen a rise in movement in the local community – whilst people are not moving in the same way that they were before lockdown, we can see that people are moving about and interacting more in their local community. This is key to consider when planning face to face fundraising strategies as the local high street is a more powerful location than before.

DISCUSSION

One of the key themes that was discussed is the importance in using data to understand what is changing in charity audiences. Whilst there have been some obvious changes with the loss of face to face fundraising and community events being cancelled or postponed, some of the changes in supporter behaviour are more subtle and being able to understand and react to these is crucial.

Some of the other key discussion points were:

• Many charities are seeing an increase in digital donations – it’s key to understand who these donors are an ensure their retention and more importantly to continue to engage them.
• Older donors are getting help from younger family members to donate online.
• Direct mail and DRTV are proving successful – people are responding to the needs of charities, but data is needed to understand who and why.
• Using value exchange and digital campaigns to attract a younger base of new supporters.
• At this point in the year, looking forwards is essential – what does a fundraising strategy look like in 2021 with the lingering effects of lockdown and the tier system in place?
• Improve online retail to recoup losses from retail spaces.
• Retention of donors will be key for stability moving forwards.
• Some charities have already started looking at younger demographics that have more disposable income than previously and engagement strategies here.
• An unexpected bonus is that Covid has given space for internal transformative changes to come about quickly – for example, removing the reliance on particular channels such as face to face.

WHAT’S NEXT?

If any of these points resonate, and if you’d like to understand more about how CACI can support your charity to overcome this challenging time through data, marketing technology and insight please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Look out for our next blog on how charities can find and support the new vulnerable.

Understanding demand is a key challenge for the water industry as it is a stepping stone in helping solve several puzzles such as distribution, understanding leakage, and helping customers reduce their water use. With some areas of the UK having low meter penetration, and standard meters only being read annually or even less frequently; demographic data is a key aspect in modelling demand to meet these challenges.

Recently, CACI ran a roundtable discussion on all things demand to understand how companies are tackling demand forecasting currently, and what innovations are being explored for the future. We ran the roundtable in conjunction with Anglian Water to share the work they are currently doing in this area, and Badger Meter who were part of the winning team at the recent “Innovate East” Hackathon.

USING DATA TO UNDERSTAND DEMAND – ADAM GRAY, ANGLIAN WATER

Anglian Water is one of the largest geographic water regions, spanning the East of England from Grimsby to Basildon. Unusually, Anglian has a 90% penetration of meters across their region.

One of the biggest challenges currently facing Anglian Water, as one of the driest areas in the UK, is climate change.  The increased risk of drought and predicted reduction in rainfall for the region is a huge concern for the demand of water.

Another major challenge that Anglian is tackling is the continually increasing population growth in the area. Located to the north and east of London, Anglian Water’s region contains 3 of the 5 fastest growing towns in England – Peterborough, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes. This means that in some areas the population could grow by more than 28% by 2045, again causing a huge increase in water demand.

To help tackle these challenges, it’s important to accurately understand the level of demand and therefore be able to calculate and tackle leakage in the area. To do this, Anglian use three main work streams:

• First, the survey of domestic consumption (SodCon) for which Anglian has 2,000 domestic customers on flow meters, collecting data every 15 minutes. CACI’s geodemographic segmentation Acorn is used to ensure a representative sample of customers have the flow meters.
• Secondly, for customers that are metered annually, Acorn is applied in conjunction with CACI’s Household Occupancy data to calculate the average daily consumption.
• Thirdly, Anglian has approximately 17,000 customers on smart meters which collect hourly data. Acorn is applied to this data to again sort them into cohorts to build corresponding models.

The importance of smart meters in an area that is being increasingly challenged in terms of demand cannot be understated. Anglian has a programme in place to get 70% of their customers upgraded to smart meters by 2030, in order to further improve their understanding of how customers use water and plan for future local demand. Acorn will again be used in supporting the build of these models and to help quantify the day-to-day demand in areas that aren’t smart metered.

In addition, the smart meter data is a game-changer in terms of the understanding, modelling and reporting of leakage in a way that Anglian hasn’t been able to do before.

HELPING CUSTOMER SAVE WATER (AND MONEY) – ANNA CRISP, ANGLIAN WATER AND MICHAEL DAVIES, BADGER METER

At the beginning of September, Anglian Water along with Welsh Water and SES Water hosted the event ‘Innovate East’ – a two-week event focussed on innovation in the water industry. As part of the event, a data hack was held to explore what insights and actions could be driven from smart meter data.

The hack had the challenge statement of ‘Helping customers save water (and money)’ and teams were given Anglian’s smart meter data, along with occupancy data and CACI’s Household Acorn data to find innovative ways to approach and answer the challenge.

Using the above statement on the level of water reduction that is being targeted, Michael and the team approached this challenge with the focus on reducing customers waste use of water.

The first step in their approach was to answer the question – what is considered to be ‘excess use’? The team took raw data from a two-person household to look at an average day’s typical water use. From this, they were able to match behaviours to peaks on the graph as can be seen in the image below.

You can see that the activities with high levels of consumption, but low levels of frequency, can be identified as water being wasted and are the activities that are key to target to reduce water use.

By understanding the different ‘excess use’ patterns of different Acorn groups, this information can then be used to create personalised communications to customers to help them better understand their waste habits and to encourage them to consider alternative options. For example, being able to suggest a variable flush to reduce excessive water being used by toilet systems.

The team then proposed an app, ‘Pipedream’, to demonstrate how this would work. Using best practice from the energy industry as a guide, customers would be able to download the app and visualise their daily consumption against a set reduction target. The team also proposed adding options to demonstrate the change in water usage when different activities were chosen. For example, what happens to their water use if they decide to switch to baths instead of showers. This can then link into a reward scheme to encourage users in better water saving habits.

HOW ARE WATER COMPANIES APPROACHING THE CHALLENGE OF DEMAND MODELLING AND INNOVATION?

The roundtables also included discussion from representatives from other water companies sharing their views, examples of best practice and innovative ideas for future approaches to reducing consumption.

Points raised ranged from the importance of understanding the potentially contradictory view that larger households are naturally more water efficient than single person households (and how this can lead to flaws in using Per Capita Consumption (PCC) rather than Per Household Consumption (PHC) in demand calculations), to examples of how quality and timely communications have been proven to reduce water use.

Naturally conversations turned to Covid 19 and the clear evidence of changing behaviours and local demand, and potential ways in which this can be modelled and evidenced.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Look out for our next roundtable in the series which will be focussed on understanding the impact that Covid has had on financial vulnerability in the water sector.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you want to hear more!

APIs are not new news; they’ve been around for 20 years and have grown exponentially.

From powering ecommerce, social platforms and Cloud applications they have become ubiquitous since the explosion of smart phones. They improve integration and automation, leading to better services and innovation, saving time and money – linking both internal and external systems.

With 83% of respondents to The State of API Integration Report 2020 believing API integration is now a critical part of their strategy and 43% seeing a direct increase in revenue it is clear that this is the direction of travel for most organisations.

Added to this, the desire for most brands to provide a more personalised and seamless experience to their customers with 66% of consumers stating that content, that is not personalised, would stop them from making a purchase, real-time information is more important than ever.

To facilitate these real time business requirements, we have made our suite of demographic products available via our API, enabling organisations to access real-time insight about their customers directly into their marketing tech, consumer databases or websites.

The API enables you to code up new customer records instantaneously for immediate onboarding as well as providing insight across digital applications for content personalisation and messaging. With our API you will have the ability to improve business decision-making and user experience whilst achieving personalisation at scale.

THE BENEFITS OF A REAL-TIME API

CACI have taken the Acorn, Ocean and Fresco data products and made them available via our real time API. This allows for the coding of an individual instantaneously, and can change the use cases and application of the products. Here are just some of the benefits our clients are experiencing with CACI’s Demographic Data API.

– Immediate onboarding

Many organisations use CACI’s data products such as Ocean, Acorn and Fresco to plan the customer journey a new customer will follow as they onboard them. Understanding your audience’s affluence, lifestage, and lifestyle can make a big difference when creating tailored messaging and customer engagement strategies, by providing a view of the products your customer may be interested in, in the future. It is particularly important to get this right during the onboarding process as getting it wrong can affect the way a new customer perceives your organisation.

Knowing this additional insight at the start of the relationship can be immensely helpful, from knowing whether they are a Rising Metropolitan who may be interested in getting on the property ladder to an Asset Rich Grey who is planning for life enhancing expenditure or saving for their grandchildren, messaging can be adapted accordingly.

Similarly, if you are a leisure organisation, you might want to understand which shows your customers might be interested in attending in the future; adding CACI’s data can provide the insight you need to predict this while you build up a picture of their transaction habits.

– Siloed data

Another benefit of using the API is that it can assist organisations with myriads of siloed legacy systems containing customer information. It can be complex and expensive to pull data that is sitting on a marketing database, using the API can be a quick and efficient way to provide marketeers access to key pieces of information that drive their marketing communications programmes.

– Website and Email Personalisation

Identifying customers when they appear on your website enables you to serve tailored page content immediately, based on customer characteristics. Adding insight to a customer or prospect in a logged in environment or when they enter their postcode on a web form, enables instant journey planning and content personalisation.

For example, on a grocer’s website, a Successful Surbubs family will be looking for different products than someone who falls into the Student Life Group. Adding this colour to individuals, means that you can personalise content and create appropriate digital journeys which are dynamically adapted as they browse.

– Geo location

Additionally, at the point of placing a home delivery order, appending the geo location of the property can immediately assist in planning the delivery logistics, as well as helping drivers identify properties when on route, especially when it is dark or they are delivering in rural locations.

– Quote journey analytics

A number of our clients are interested in understanding the types of customers who drop out of the funnel during the quote process, compared to those that go on to convert. By adding key demographic, lifestyle or your own segment information to a record as it goes through the quote process, enables you to improve the effectiveness of your digital journey planning. Understanding whether a prospect might need additional reassurance or if they are more likely to be driven by price could affect the conversion path each customer follows.

– Providing insight to sales, customer service or chatbots

We also support our clients with bespoke APIs. For example, one organisation has a bespoke API system built by CACI, which provides real time insight to their inbound call handling teams for both sales and customer service applications, This allows for tailored scripts to be followed dependent on the customer segment.

With studies showing that it is likely 85% of customer interactions will be handled without a human in the future, providing demographic information in real time can provide different routes for chatbots to follow.

BEGIN YOUR REAL-TIME DATA JOURNEY

With the world moving to more automated ways of dealing with data and consumers expecting things to happen in real time, being able to understand your customers or prospects immediately can make a huge difference to the customer journey, maximising the revenue opportunities available to you.

You can discover more about CACI’s suite of consumer data products here, or to speak to one of our data experts and gain a better understanding of how you can integrate these products in real-time with your CRM system, websites and call centres, please get in touch.

As a philosophical question, you probably have a fairly good grasp of the answer when it comes to your own life.

However, the way businesses see us is patchy at best. Duplicated, incomplete, inaccurate data that is spread around systems creates an issue when it comes to generating an accurate profile of who an individual customer is.

When I consider my own data, I use multiple email addresses, have seen my surname spelt multiple ways, and use Dave and David interchangeably. My postal address can be written in endless ways depending on the input form used. It’s messy data.

Businesses will store this data across finance, operational, CRM and sales systems. You may notice this when you phone a call centre and are asked for policy numbers, order tracking codes, or some other identifier. It becomes more transparent that your records are split across systems and teams when that request is followed by “ah, I’ll need to transfer you to another team in that case…”.

It’s not just the data I provide either. Brands are tracking website visits, the content we consume, our social media interactions, and how we use their mobile apps. This tracking information can then be combined with my first-party data. This opens up further insight into my interests and intentions.

For example, if I’ve just purchased a product and start reading the returns policy on the company’s website, it should be obvious that I’m not happy and considering a refund. Brands that can use this data will retain customers, reduce services costs, and ultimately win share of wallet.

For customer focussed brands, Identity Resolution unlocks real benefits:

• Advanced Personalisation: Utilising the full 360-degree view of customer data to serve personalised messaging across channels
• Compliance: Ability to gather all PII data from across systems on the individual and to ensure responsible marketing in regulated industries
• Improved Service: Less “screen switching” during customer interactions and the ability to pre-empt service problems
• Accurate Analytics: Taking account of full customer data set to accurately measure loyalty or predict propensity to take certain action

Failure to get the full picture of who your customer is will lead to issues in making better business decisions that reach a customer. As the old-adage goes, garbage in, garbage out. We can’t expect our marketing to be optimal if it’s only utilising a small percentage of the data available.

To find out more information on Getting Started with Identity Resolution.

If you’d like to find out more about CACI’s real-time ResolvID service for identity resolution, get in touch.

Covid-19 has meant that 2020 has been a challenging year for all sectors. With a lack of historical data to forward forecast the impact on consumers and their behaviour, there is no way to know what impact this will have on regulatory and business objectives.

For the water sector, this has been particularly challenging. Water companies have spent years building demand and leakage models to ensure that they are as accurate as possible.  With a significant shift in working patterns and individuals furloughed, working from home or made redundant; household consumption has increased dramatically, with a significant drop in non-household use.

On top of this, the UK saw a record breaking dry and sunny spring across the UK, quickly following the wettest February on record – adding further complicating factors to demand models.

Furthermore, UKWIR are working with the water sector to develop a strategy to “achieve zero customers in water poverty by 2030”.  With more customers at risk of becoming financially vulnerable, especially with the furlough scheme due to end this month nd further redundancies on the horizon, understanding which customers are at risk and how you can protect them is more important than ever.

Recently, CACI ran a roundtable to explore this latter point in detail and discuss how water companies can understand vulnerable customers and address water poverty.

We addressed this in 4 key areas:

• Understanding those that are at risk of becoming financially vulnerable, pre-Covid
• Using CACI’s movement of people reports to understand who is moving vs pre-Covid levels
• Understanding how this movement compares to demographic groups
• What water companies are doing to support vulnerable customers

UNDERSTANDING THOSE THAT ARE AT RISK OF BECOMING FINANCIALLY VULNERABLE, PRE-COVID

In January, CACI released Vulnerability Indicators to support organisations in understanding customers who are at risk of vulnerability from a financial and digital perspective.  The purpose of these indicators is to ensure that organisations are supporting those on lower incomes with appropriate tariffs and ensuring that those that can’t (or won’t) access services digitally are able to access services.

The Financial Indicators include the below attributes, as well as a combined score:

The Financial Indicators include the below attributes, as well as a combined score:

• Basic Bank Account
• Disposable Income
• Young Dependents
• Financial Situation
• Likely to Borrow
• Minimum Payments on Credit Card
• Equivalised Income
• Has a Loan
• No Savings or Investments
• No Pension
• Distance to Bank Branch

The Digital Indicators include (as well as a combined score):

• Broadband Access/Speed
• Does not Have Mobile
• Does not Buy Online
• Does not Use Internet
• Online Finance
• “Computers Confuse Me”

USING CACI’S MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE DATA TO UNDERSTAND WHO IS MOVING VS PRE-COVID LEVELS

CACI has been running regular research surveys to a nationally representative sample on an ongoing basis, to see how consumer behaviour is changing. In terms of the latest movement, this is currently sitting at around 74% of pre-Covid movement, with decreased movement following the introduction of the tiered system in the UK:

UNDERSTANDING HOW THIS MOVEMENT COMPARES TO DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS

When comparing this to Acorn Demographics, movement is highly correlated to affluence, as you can see from this chart below. During Peak Lockdown the lower affluence groups were moving more than the national average (the black line in the chart below).  These groups are highly correlated to those working in the “essential” category, such as Care Workers and Retail Workers:

Compared to the more affluent, who were moving less frequently than the national average (the black line).  This is highly correlated to those that are “Office Workers” so are more likely to be able to work easily from home:

In addition, when we compliment this further with the research we are running, we can see that although the number of those on furlough is reducing, 33% of those on furlough believe they are at risk of losing their job, with 25% of people having less disposable income vs pre-pandemic:

WHAT WATER COMPANIES ARE DOING TO SUPPORT VULNERABLE CUSTOMERS

During the roundtable, we discussed a number of key areas that the attendees are focused on, to support customers:

• A desire to be more proactive, rather than reactive and use data intelligently to understand those that are at risk. Some organisations are already using demographic, behavioural and contact centre data to understand vulnerable customers and how to support them – others are struggling to make sense of a very busy data world.
• Consider partnering with organisations where consumers may go if they have not been financially vulnerable before. Linking with organisations such as Citizens Advice is a good place to start.
• Some organisations where data is not easy to access are looking to partner with other utility companies to present a united front for consumers to access support.
• Using additional channels such as Social Media and Press Releases partnered with National Debtline is a good way to reach audiences who may be at risk of becoming vulnerable in the future.
• Also using direct channels such as pro-active emails to promote PSR and alternative ways to pay so you’re directly speaking to all customers (you can of course personalise this using CACI’s segmentations!)

WHAT’S NEXT?

Our next blog will be focussed on the impact of Covid on demand forecasting, following a recent roundtable we ran with Anglian Water and Badger Meter.

Following our next Roundtable on “Identifying the New Wave of Vulnerability” we’ll be releasing the key thoughts and findings.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you want to hear more!

CACI is focussed on doing amazing things with data. For that reason, I’m really pleased to announce that through certifications and client case studies, we’ve achieved an official Select Partnership level with Snowflake.

Our clients have always relied on CACI to combine complex and large data sets to improve their business. Whether we’re bringing together data from across multiple brands and systems to build a 360-degree view of customer data, or analysing anonymous data from the UK’s major banks and lenders, we have expertise that brands can trust.

Snowflake is a cloud-based data platform that is gaining significant traction with CTOs. Snowflake is also one the fastest growing tech companies in the world and recently went public with a $60bn valuation.

Through its unique technology, Snowflake can power critical real-time use cases for CMOs and achieve improved time to value. Jon Ede who leads CACI’s Snowflake practice said:

“I’ve built more SCVS and CDPS in my career than I wish to count. A lot of the functionality that a modern platform needs to deliver is out the box with snowflake, allowing for a CMO to cut down on the upfront implementation time and deliver value sooner. As a technologist who has spent most of their career working in marketing, I see immediate benefits of snowflake to a CMO.“

CACI and Snowflake for CMOs

CACI and Snowflake combined bring together a cutting-edge data platform with expertise in delivering customer marketing solutions.

As already demonstrated with our real-time Customer Personalisation Platform architecture that is built on Snowflake, CACI is developing answers for real CMO needs.

CACI has also integrated our identity resolution services into Snowflake, enabling marketers to bring together multiple data sets and, in real-time, combine duplicates. Improving the accuracy of reporting, attribution, and campaign selection.

Get in touch

Should you need help with your customer and marketing needs, get in touch with us.

At this recent Laing Buisson hosted event it was clear from the wise words of Daya Thayan, CEO at Kingsley Healthcare, that data is now critical to almost every aspect of running a successful social care business.

Daya eloquently and passionately outlined how, despite the challenges of this year, Kingsley are investing in their five-year vision to substantially expand their care home network.  Kingsley, along with many of our clients, are seeing that new, higher quality, purpose-built homes are increasingly attractive in the current market, and offering an opportunity for growth.

Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI mirrored Daya’s view of the market.   He clearly demonstrated how, despite inevitable drops in the planning pipeline for Care Homes at the height of lockdown, the sector is proving more robust than many sectors, and back on an encouraging upward trajectory.

Tom’s evidence was based on big data, sourced from Barbour ABI’s rigorous monitoring of planning applications.   Similarly, Daya’s search for his new sites is underpinned by data.  To give him confidence in the potential of the local markets for the long-term of his investments.

Recently at CACI we’ve also been using seriously big data sets, derived from Mobile Apps, to understand how different Acorn demographic groups have responded to the various stages of the pandemic.  Actual and potential applications of this data in the care sector include:

• Demonstrating how care workers were more vulnerable to the virus when it was at its height
• Prioritising the opening-up of care homes to visitors based on weekly movement levels in the local community
• Planning local healthcare responses based on understanding current and potential future movement behaviours
• Understanding the true catchment of care homes to support local marketing and communications.

Mobile App data is a recent addition to our existing big data sets that describe the lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours of the UK population.

Daya, Tom, Laing Buisson and I all have access to different datasets.  They are all part of a jigsaw.  And when they all come together they have the potential to form a wonderful picture that helps to meet the needs and wants of customers and, in turn maximise, business returns.

Daya and Kingsley may be more data-savvy than some providers in the sector, but most organisations are also gaining bigger data sets on their customers and enquiries. Through your customer databases and CRM systems you know who your customer are, where they live and what products and services they need.  Also, by tracking this data over the Covid period, you can understand how customers and their needs are changing.

By linking this wealth of information with big market datasets you can really understand the nuances in the individuals behind this data. When harnessed successfully these data driven insights can help you to:

• Open profitable sites – where your key targets want to live
• Align products and services to meet their wants and needs
• Increase your occupancy with cost-effective targeting using the right message and media.

All combining to improve your performance and customer satisfaction.

Are you, like many in the sector, looking to new properties, products, services or operating models to reflect the current market?  If so, you would be wise to start to put the jigsaw together for your business – and make the most of the data you hold and the powerful big datasets that complete the rest of the picture.

Boris Johnson has issued a call to arms with “the most radical reforms to our planning system since the second world war.” “Build, build, build”; the message is as clear as the slogan. The UK is cutting the red tape surrounding residential development to allow quicker planning and to open up more unused or underused space to be developed into residential property. Not only this but the announcement of an increased £450million for The Home Building Fund creates an exciting prospect to see SME’s gain further support to build new homes.

An increase in supply is needed but through our use of analysis, our unique data sources and models CACI has been aware for a while that the “Field of dreams strategy” (build it and they will come) is no longer a suitable model. In fact, what is needed are developments that address the needs of the population at a localised level; needs assessed and measured against local population demographics. Although the new reforms that open up unused or underutilised space to transfer into residential should in theory address the supply issue, looking into the past few years of development I have good reason to be sceptical.

Below I will be addressing some of the key problems and solutions that all developers large or small should be planning and preparing for especially due to the uncertain times ahead:

• Understanding the catchment that your development will pull from, and who is likely to move to your location to inform what you build.
• Using a diverse source of data to set smart prices and rent based on demand rather than supply.
• How to get your development in front of the people most likely to move there and understand what messages resonate with them.

WHO WILL ACTUALLY MOVE TO YOUR DEVELOPMENT AND WHAT DO THEY WANT?

Tolga Necar, managing consultant at CACI, has profiled and Acorn coded new build houses across London and provided the following insight “50% of all New Build houses in London were Acorn Profiled as “City Sophisticates”; a group that accounts for just 25% of the London population. It is clear why these are an attractive target for developers; they are high earners and they are mobile (they are 67% more likely to move in a given year than the average person). But this oversupply of new builds means that each development is fighting for the same slice of the same pie; whilst other demographics across the spectrum are missed. Indeed, in London there are 49% more non-City Sophisticates movers than City Sophisticate movers so targeting just one narrow set of potential customers misses the substantial opportunity in winning with the 140,000 households from other demographic groups that will move.”

With this in mind it is no wonder that in London alone there was a value of £1 billion properties built but not sold last year. CACI is enabling developers to understand local demand by using our innovative catchment model to identify local demand and ultimately create an accurate correlation between the people likely to move and what they are actually looking for in a property across the UK. This in turn is successfully mitigating future risk and increasing profit margins for developers by increasing the volume of sales and occupancy on completion.

SETTING SMART PRICES AND RENT BASED ON DEMAND RATHER THAN SUPPLY

The margin for error has increased significantly this year and will do for years to come as the financial, societal situation and knock on effects of a pandemic are affecting individual households. Creating an accurate picture of affordability has been important but is now a necessity in a consumer led crisis. As a young private renter, I have witnessed first-hand the effect even the slightest difference in price can have on the decision of choosing between properties that on the surface are almost identical.

In 2019 Shelter conducted a study that found that almost half of working renters are only one paycheque away from losing their home. Carry that forward into 2020 with an increase in redundancy and lower salaries, the problem grows significantly. So why are we still so focused on pricing rental and sales on the supply rather than the demand? Within our models and analysis CACI has built in our product ‘Paycheck’ which is a dataset that provides consistent and reliable gross household income estimates from all sources including earnings, benefits and investments. We have also advanced this process to also look at disposable income which identifies: Income tax and national insurance, mortgage and rents, council tax, utilities, water bills and structural insurance, food and clothing costs, childcare, student loans and pension contributions and travel to work costs. This allows us to paint a more accurate picture of what your tenants and buyers can actually afford rather than what you expect they can afford or should be paying.

A more robust approach to affordability is not only important for the tenant but for the landlord/developer as competition for customers increases. With an expected increase in SME’s and a more diverse portfolio of developers it is important to make sure that you understand the customers in more detail than your competitors from a local to national level.

ENGAGE AND LOCATE THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO MITIGATE RISK

With new rental accommodation concepts hitting the market and increasing residential content in our feeds it is harder to stand out than ever. Unfortunately, blogs, brochures and videos are not going to make an impact if you don’t know where to market them or how to engage with your consumers. For years retailers and brands have been utilising location intelligence into their marketing so why aren’t developers? With the emergence of build to rent driving the property industries new concepts and features in a home, I would argue that properties in the private residential sector are as much a lifestyle choice as a roof over your head. So how do you know the difference between who is looking for a rental property with a gym and a balcony compared to a young family looking to invest in their first home. More importantly how do you find them?

Combining multiple variables to identify your target market is a great way of identifying the perfect consumer for your new developments. By understanding financials, lifestyle choices and lifestage we can understand who we should be targeting. CACI uses our unique datasets that are geocoded to enable marketers to do this in the same way we would identify the right location to develop in.

Once areas with a higher density of these consumers is identified we then need to drill down into their lifestyle choices and media preferences to engage with them. This doesn’t mean “are they online or offline?” but really understanding what they are looking for. It could be price, local amenities, on site facilities, location or all of the above. CACI understands there is a direct correlation between where people work, play and live so all must be considered when creating content for this particular set of customers. Once motivations are understood and the correct content is created CACI can then apply variables to not only understand who has a higher propensity to engage with certain content or media preferences but who is more likely to respond to that content.

From a household to postcode level of geography we can then locate the people who have a far higher propensity to engage and ultimately view your developments.

CONCLUSION

More houses need to be built to meet demand. Not understanding localised demand and affordability has been the Achilles’ heel of the residential market for a number of years. Where there is a high supply of housing that doesn’t fully meet the needs of the local demand, it has become increasingly difficult to sell them to investors or customers. A higher level of competition and supply has also made it difficult to reach and engage with the desired target market causing developers to fluctuate price or miss out on opportunity as the right customers are not seeing the marketing messages.

CACI understands people and place and in doing so can enable developers to build the right homes, in the right location, at the right price for the right people. Our new residential model can mitigate risk and increase the value of your developments at any point in the development cycle from first identifying a site all the way through to marketing and letting/selling the individual units.

In response to the ongoing situation and the ever-present housing crisis across the UK we will be releasing a white paper on residential movers and where to find them. For more information get in touch at twilson@caci.co.uk

PConsider how many emails you get in a day. Even in the aftermath of GDPR, we bet it’s still a lot. Increasingly, people have very little time to read even the most important emails they receive.

So as a marketer, it’s vital to make the most of that tiny window. And personalisation is key to delivering content that a recipient will actually read – it’s no coincidence that one client we spoke to noticed an 18% uplift in revenue when sending more targeted messages.

When it comes to advanced email automation techniques, the best brands all have one thing in common: they use personalisation creatively, to make their campaigns more relevant, and meet customers’ increasing expectations.

PERSONALISATION: THE ONLY WAY TO CUT THROUGH THE NOISE

For the best performing organisations, personalisation goes way beyond the basic “first name in the subject line”. They use it to:

• Relate to their audience through personal preferences
• Deliver better customer experiences
• Reduce churn and drive loyalty
• Increase revenues

Personalisation doesn’t have to be complicated. For many time-sensitive communications, it can be as simple as ensuring you have the right information, at the right time, and aimed at the right person.

But it does rely on adhering to four rules, which every successful campaign needs to follow.

1 – Personalise From The Start

If you’ve overcome the first and most important hurdle of getting a subscriber to open your email, that’s great. But the bad news is the work is far from over.

There’s no point personalising the content near the end of your email, if your customer won’t get that far. You need to grab their attention by putting your most relevant and personalised content first. Or else they simply won’t read any further.

Just like you’d optimise your website structure, you need to ensure your most interesting and relevant information and CTAs – for that individual – are right at the top of the page. That way, you maximise the chance they’ll start to scroll down.

One client told us this simple structure change far outperformed any variations they tested in their email’s content or offers.

2 – Design Matters

For many leading brands, emails are a continuation of their website’s design. And having images with the same dimensions makes it easier to set up many personalisation options.

What’s more, by linking module copy and images from your website to your emails, the chances of making mistakes within an email is greatly reduced.

But it’s important to strike a balance: something that looks good, but that’s also very functional – and that the majority of email clients can handle.

And don’t forget to test how your design works across a wide range of devices. What works on a wide PC monitor may become fiddly and difficult on a small mobile screen.

Speaking of testing…

3 – Test And Learn. Constantly.

From big module structure changes, to minor colour or CTA tweaks, the importance of constantly testing what works can’t be overstated.

It’s the quickest and most accurate way to understand what individual customers like, and the reason why most major brands have transferred what they’ve learned from years of website testing over to their emails.

But one of the most important pieces of advice leading email marketers gave us is to not be afraid to fail.

Remember, a failure against the control is still a success, so long as you learn from it.

4 – The Future Is Real-Time Personalisation

For some leading organisations, real-time personalisation software like Liveclicker has proven a valuable asset.

We talked to one of our clients who uses Liveclicker on millions of emails each year. They said: “With real-time email changes, we have the ability to change time-limited offers or swap-out events that have sold out depending on when the email is opened. It puts us at an immediate competitive advantage.”

Especially if your inventory changes regularly, this may be something you need to seriously consider to stay competitive.

And if you want to take it that step further, AI – the ability to use machine learning that learns from subscriber behaviour to tailor the content of an email, where it’s placed, and in what style – is likely to be a game-changer surprisingly soon.

ADVANCED EMAIL AUTOMATION: LEADING BRANDS’ SECRET WEAPON

There’s no denying it, successful email marketing is hard. And as the number of emails increases – and customers have even less time to read even the most important messages in their inboxes – it’s only getting harder.

Every person on your database will cost you money to lose. So it’s critical you encourage them to stay and respond to what you’re sending.

Highly personalised and targeted emails – which are constantly optimised though a process of test-and-learn – are your best chance to help maintain and grow your database.

Your customers will not only thank you, but you’ll notice the results.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

tells you how you can overcome key challenges when it comes to delivering personalised customer experiences.

If you want to find out more about the amazing things we do with data, then feel free to get in touch.

What Do We Know?

Data and intelligence has always been used by local government to better understand residents and communities as well as inform decision making associated with the prioritisation of resources and the delivery of services to meet need.

Although the Coronavirus pandemic has brought people together and promoted a feeling of community cohesion, it has also put issues within our communities including deprivation, social exclusion and health inequalities under a microscope. It is here where up-to-date insight is crucial if we are to tackle these challenges now and in the future.

If we take a look at the review of disparities in risk and outcomes published by Public Health England it outlines a variety of factors – many of which we’ve been aware of for some time – such as age, gender and deprivation where the virus has been felt the most.

It found that the largest disparity was by age, where people 80 years or over were seventy times more likely to die as a result of COVID-19 than those under 40. These disparities exist after taking ethnicity, deprivation and region into account, however do not account for the effect of comorbidities or occupation, which may explain some of the differences.

Areas of disadvantage and deprivation also have a much higher diagnosis and death rates than those living in more affluent areas. The mortality rates from COVID-19 in the most deprived areas were more than double the least deprived areas, irrespective of gender. These results demonstrate that there is greater inequality in death rates, due to COVID-19, than in previous years.

Although age, gender and deprivation feature heavily in this report, the analysis also shows that members of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. People of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Other Asian, Caribbean and Other Black ethnicity have between 10 and 50% higher risk of death when compared to White British. And people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death than people of White British ethnicity.

Talking on ITV News (04.06.20), the NHS Chief Executive, Sir Simon Stevens said “There are very deep-seated inequalities in this country and coronavirus has shone a very stark spotlight on those. We can see that different groups, different communities are affected unequally by this terrible pandemic and that is going to have to act as a major spur to some very profound changes in the months and years to come”.

We have also seen an increase in those more financially vulnerable groups who have been affected by furlough, cuts to pay and redundancies as lockdown has progressed. Many of the people who have found themselves in these situations have turned to the benefits system and charities for help and support. This is supported by the Trussell Trust who have reported an 89% increase in need for emergency food parcels during April 2020 compared to the same month last year, which includes a 107% rise in parcels given to children. Furthermore; 48% of the increase in emergency food distributed from food banks is due to people reporting a fall in income from work or benefits.

Whilst these challenges may seem like a big mountain to climb and our recovery a long way off, data and intelligence is a key part of our roadmap out of lockdown and recovery.

How Can Data Help Support The Response Best?

Often, the first port of call for public sector organisations is Government data (Open Data) available via the Office for National Statistics (ONS), NHS Digital and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). These are official sources and, since it’s on the Open Government Licence, free to use. But there are limitations: although a variety of demographic, health and income related data may be available these sources are rarely measured at low-level geographies and can be several years out of date.

Administrative data held by local authorities provides an understanding of residents who have made use of their services. Cross-referencing different databases can also help to give a more detailed picture of people who use more than one service. It’s a uniquely detailed source of data not available to commercial organisations.

In isolation, Open and Administrative Data only provides a snapshot of the bigger picture, preventing organisations fully understanding communities to be able to prioritise and deliver services to meet demand particularly in these unprecedented times.

As well as its scale, the beauty of commercial data is that it’s constantly refreshed. The data is kept up-to-date, and in some cases, real-time. This brings together digital activity and behaviours, postcode and household-level granularity and the ability to segment community groups to discover their needs.

It is for this reason that using a blend of data sources is so important, particularly when tackling something as big as COVID-19.

Furthermore; we are living through unprecedented times and this was recognised by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock who tweeted “Public information: GDPR does not inhibit use of data for coronavirus response. GDPR has a clause excepting work in the overwhelming public interest. No one should constrain work on responding to coronavirus due to data protection laws.”

In April, CACI launched its COVID-19 local government data initiative with the aim of giving free access to up-to-date data and intelligence to local authorities. This insight has provided a detailed understanding of the demographic, lifestyle, behavioural and health characteristics of local residents, particularly those at-risk and vulnerable groups (over 70s and those who need to shield with underlying health issues) identified by the Government at the beginning of lockdown.

Many authorities who have been actively making use of data and intelligence to support their COVID-19 response and now recovery have typically benefited from the following;

• Deliver relevant support to those disadvantaged residents who are financially vulnerable and those who face acute hardship
• Better insight about those who are shielding
• Understanding changes to those residents claiming benefits
• Assessing increases in demand for specific services
• Develop and implement communications and engagement based on preference
• Prioritising the delivery of food parcels
• Underpinning Council’ emergency response and recovery plans

In order to be able to understand the true effects of the coronavirus, data and intelligence about our communities will be crucial to support this Country’s move from response to recovery.

The Public Sector has faced significant cuts to funding because of austerity and the coronavirus pandemic has amplified this. In order to be able to deliver services to the at-risk and vulnerable members of our communities with limited budget and resources Council’s must make use of data and intelligence in a blended way.

To find out more about what this means for your residents and how we can help you better understand the communities you serve you can contact us now.