The Customer is Always Right: Asda Expands their Customer Panel

With the economy sinking almost by the minute, grocery stores everywhere are on the lookout for new ways to retain current customers and even steal a few away from the competition. As with many major corporations, part of this process is creating a brand image of being responsive to customer needs. Asda is attempting to adopt this image by expanding their shopper panel to win the war of the grocery brands.

Asda already has a shopper panel, but in a bold branding move they are expanding it as well as expending its sphere of influence. This combined with a generous profit sharing measure for panel members gives the grocery market a consumer friendly image and nice logo design that will make the competition green with envy. If there is anything better than sharing one’s opinion, it’s being richly compensated for it. The website is also going to be expanded to offer a variety of options for every Asda shopper.

How is getting customer feedback a branding move? First, it creates an impression that the company in question truly cares about their customers’ needs and wants. The name of Asda’s 18,000 member panel promotes this image: ‘Chosen by you’. Panel members have good incentive to share their ideas, with a new ‘Bright Ideas’ reward system that will literally pay these informers up to five percent of Asda’s profits from their tips. This gives the public the impression that Asda is the type of company that wants to share their success with others, a very positive brand indeed.

Second, when armed with this valuable information about shopper preferences, it is easy to steer the store and the company brand in ways that customers will find agreeable. If you are contemplating a rebranding move, opening a customer panel may give your valuable information about what type of brand modifications will be the most advantageous. In Asda’s case, customers can vote on new products, which will ensure that there is a market for the item in question. Treating your store like a season of Pop Idol is a new move, but it is likely to be a positive one as it will increase the audience’s feeling of ownership.

This new customer panel is not just a good branding move, it is a good business move as well. Providing what the customer wants increases sales while reducing the number of people you lose to rival businesses. Panel members will not just be able to offer feedback; they can also request new products, vote on the styles of clothing to be carried by the store, and even watch webcams of the company headquarters and manufacturing plants. This last aspect promotes not just a brand image of customer responsiveness, but also of openness and honesty.

Does your company need to improve its image? If so, a customer panel may be just what the branding consultant ordered. Not only is this an excellent source of information, it makes customers feel that you care about them. Everyone likes to feel that their opinion is valued, and this is one powerful way you can be your target audience’s friend.