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McKinsey Quarterly

Customer Engagement

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

The consumer decision journey

June 2009—Consumers are moving outside the purchasing funnel—changing the way they research and buy your products. If your marketing hasn’t changed in response, it should.more

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

We’re all marketers now

July 2011—Engaging customers today requires commitment from the entire company—and a redefined marketing organization.more

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

Building brands in emerging markets

September 2012—Companies that harness word-of-mouth effects, emphasize in-store execution, and get their brands onto shoppers’ short lists for initial consideration are more likely to capture the loyalty of emerging-market consumers.more

Digital marketing

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

Demystifying social media

April 2012—As the marketing power of social media grows, it no longer makes sense to treat it as an experiment. Here’s how senior leaders can harness social media to shape consumer decision making in predictable ways.more

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Beyond paid media Marketings new vocabulary
article | McKinsey Quarterly

Beyond paid media: Marketing’s new vocabulary

November 2010—Changes to the way consumers perceive and absorb marketing messages will force marketers to change not only their thinking but also the way they allocate spending and organize operations.more

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A new way to measure word-of-mouth marketing
article | McKinsey Quarterly

A new way to measure word-of-mouth marketing

April 2010—Assessing its impact as well as its volume will help companies take better advantage of buzz.more

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Four ways to get more value from digital marketing
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Four ways to get more value from digital marketing

March 2010—Companies that make the deep strategic, organizational, and operational shifts required to become effective digital marketers can become more agile, more productive, and accelerate revenue growth.more

Emerging-market consumers

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

From oxcart to Wal-Mart: Four keys to reaching emerging-market consumers

October 2012—To get products to customers in emerging markets, global manufacturers need strategies for navigating both the traditional and the modern retail landscapes.more

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

Understanding social media in China

April 2012—The world’s largest social-media market is vastly different from its counterpart in the West. Yet the ingredients of a winning strategy are familiar.more

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

Meet the Chinese consumer of 2020

March 2012—Evolving economic profiles will continue to be the most important trend shaping the market.more

Capturing the worlds emerging middle class
article | McKinsey Quarterly

Capturing the world’s emerging middle class

July 2010—Multinational companies need new “scale at speed” approaches to penetrate the developing world’s increasingly prosperous consumer markets.more

Customer-service strategies

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

The human factor in service design

January 2012—Focus on the human side of customer service to make it psychologically savvy, economically sound, and easier to scale. more

Using behavioral science to improve the customer experience
article | McKinsey Quarterly

Using behavioral science to improve the customer experience

February 2010—By guiding the design of customer interactions, the principles of behavioral science offer a simple, low-cost route to improved customer satisfaction.more

Maintaining the customer experience
article | McKinsey Quarterly

Maintaining the customer experience

December 2008—Stinting on customer service is a common and sometimes costly response to tough economic times. By managing the customer experience more rigorously, companies can maintain quality while still saving money.more

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The ‘moment of truth’ in customer service

February 2006—Focus on the interactions that are important to customers—and on the way frontline employees handle those interactions.more

The evolution of marketing

Five no regrets moves for superior customer engagement
article | McKinsey Quarterly

Five ‘no regrets’ moves for superior customer engagement

July 2012—Customers are demanding very different kinds of relationships with companies. Here are some ways to jump-start customer engagement across your organization.more

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

Measuring marketing’s worth

May 2012—You can’t spend wisely unless you understand marketing’s full impact. Here are five questions executives should ask to help maximize the bang for their bucks.more

The evolving role of the CMO
article | McKinsey Quarterly

The evolving role of the CMO

August 2007—Many chief marketers still have narrowly defined roles that emphasize advertising, brand management, and market research. They will have to spread their wings.more

article | McKinsey Quarterly

Boosting returns on marketing investment

May 2005—Rules of thumb from the 1960s and '70s are losing their effectiveness. A more rigorous approach is required—one that treats marketing expenditures as investments.more

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article | McKinsey Quarterly

Making brand portfolios work

November 2004—Brands are proliferating rapidly. Companies must now bring them under control.more

article | McKinsey Quarterly

Better branding

November 2003—Marketers rely too much on intuition. The key to building brands more scientifically is to combine a forward-looking market segmentation with a better understanding of customers and a brand’s identity.more

Summary

For more than a decade, organizations have been rethinking how they reach customers increasingly empowered by information and options. In developed and emerging markets alike, managing this ongoing transition is becoming a company-wide imperative.