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Working in marketing, particularly on extensive projects like the renovation of Cerba HealthCare Italia’s medical centers, introduces new challenges and opportunities. The project spans over 400 facilities nationwide, aiming not just to promote services traditionally, but to ensure patients receive excellent care in environments connected with the latest digital technology. This digital element enhances the seamless integration of physical and online spaces, exemplified by the use of a digital assistant, Voilà, for straightforward online booking processes. The article delves into modern retail strategies as discussed in the book “Redefining Retail” by Giuseppe Stigliano and Philip Kotler. This book provides insights into refreshing business models with a focus on sustainability and diversity and outlines ten crucial principles for integrating physical, digital, and virtual customer experiences. The article also explores the concepts of Optichannel versus Omnichannel approaches, and the expanded three-dimensional customer journey including physical, digital, and virtual spaces.
Working in marketing continually presents new challenges, stimuli, and opportunities, especially when involved in extensive projects like the one I am fortunate to be part of: the renovation of Cerba HealthCare Italia’s medical centers, a network boasting over 400 facilities nationwide.
At Cerba HealthCare, our aim is not to promote a product or service in the traditional sense. Instead, we strive to provide accurate and useful results to enhance everyone’s health, with a mission to ensure patients receive excellent services in comfortable, well-maintained environments managed by qualified, helpful, and knowledgeable staff. In this vision, the patient is at the heart of a unique ecosystem where digital technology serves as a vital bridge in retail between the physical and online worlds, ensuring a seamless experience accessible to all generations.
For example, if you want to schedule a medical appointment for sports fitness certification, you simply open WhatsApp, chat with Voilà, which guides you through an easy and fast booking process, and then visit the center where a sports doctor sees you at the appointed time in a comfortable, modern, and meticulously detailed environment. Voilà is a digital assistant powered by artificial intelligence designed to simplify an activity—online booking—that could otherwise be managed online. This represents a step forward in making a service more accessible and straightforward.
Redefining retail
With this background, the reasons behind my interest in the book “Redefining Retail” by Giuseppe Stigliano and Philip Kotler, spanning about 300 pages and available from January 22, 2024, should be much clearer. In this work, Prof. Philip Kotler and Dr. Giuseppe Stigliano share their insights on modern retail and branding, presenting strategies to refresh business models with a focus on sustainability and diversity, and to navigate the digital landscape. The book outlines ten crucial principles for businesses of all sizes and discusses integrating physical, digital, and virtual customer experiences. It is an ideal read for a broad audience, from managers to students, serving as a guide to the rapidly evolving retail sector.
Redefining Retail excels in clarifying and applying complex concepts in practical ways. This book not only addresses the current challenges of retail, exacerbated by the rise of e-commerce but also opens new perspectives on how these concepts can be transferred to the healthcare sector and beyond. We are entering the post-digital era, meaning we operate simultaneously in both physical and digital worlds.
Optichannel vs. Omnichannel
The book discusses emerging themes such as Optichannel versus Omnichannel and the new three-dimensional customer journey, representing significant evolutions in understanding and approaching consumer behavior. While omnichannel refers to a brand’s presence across all possible channels to ensure broad accessibility, optichannel goes further, focusing on relevant and well-managed touchpoints. This approach does not merely aim to be everywhere but strategically present where it matters most to customers. This requires a deep analysis of data to understand which channels are most effective in engaging consumers and providing them with a personalized and valuable experience.
The New Three-Dimensional Customer Journey
Traditionally, the customer journey was viewed as a linear sequence of stages through physical and digital spaces. Stigliano introduces a third axis: the virtual. This expands our understanding of the customer path, adding a layer of complexity but also opportunity. Optimizing across three axes means that companies must not only consider how customers move between physical spaces and digital platforms but also how they interact with virtual environments, such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and immersive digital spaces. This requires continuous innovation and the adoption of new technologies to create engaging and personalized customer experiences across all three domains.
We have already seen this aspect in Marketing 6.0, the future is immersive especially in reference to Generations Z and Alpha. This concept is also extended to other generations, which are increasingly becoming more figital.
Be Ambidextrous
I’ll spoil one of the ten BEs from the book that struck me the most, as I am ambidextrous in many things and left-handed in writing. The importance of being ambidextrous, metaphorically speaking, involves the ability to effectively manage and simultaneously juggle diverse, often opposing activities or skills. This concept, often discussed in relation to the corporate world and leadership, is based on the idea that success in a complex and rapidly changing environment crucially depends on leveraging both established and innovative approaches.
This flexibility is key to standing out in a competitive market, seeking that “purple cow” outside of the traditional blue ocean.
Change is the only constant in life—inevitable but manageable. “Change is the Only Constant” is not just the provocative title of the introduction to a revolutionary work, but also a mantra for those of us living in the dynamic world of marketing. This phrase captures the essence of a reality we all face: the inevitability of change. Two years ago, we delved into this theme in the book “Change Marketing“, where we explored embracing change not just as an inevitability but as an opportunity.
Change pervades every aspect of our lives, both professional and personal. In the context of marketing, it becomes not just an opportunity for innovation but also a moment to strengthen our connection with the audience.
Listening, understanding, anticipating, and guiding change have become fundamental pillars for those working in marketing too.