Unlocking Customer Value

Beo Thai

Hi everyone, welcome back to MARK344 Marketing Strategy & Innovation. Dr. Beo Thai here—and today we're going right into the heart of customer value. This idea, honestly, it links up so many strands from what we've discussed already—think back to Week 5 when we covered brand positioning, and Week 4 where we looked at those big strategic decisions. So what does “customer value” actually mean? Well, formally, it’s this concept called the value proposition, which is really about what you, your brand, your company, promise to deliver. But it’s not just about what you want to offer. It’s about what your target customers genuinely care about. So, that whole idea of customer perceived value—CPV—is basically a trade-off in the consumer’s mind: “What do I get for what I give up?” Benefits versus sacrifices. Now, let me ground this with a classic Aussie example—Telstra. They position themselves as not just a premium service in terms of price, but also as a trusted brand with reliability and national reach. That’s their value proposition at work, and it plays into how customers perceive whether Telstra’s benefits—coverage, trust—are worth what they pay. I always think back to when I was running my little café in Da Nang. We were just another place until we actually repositioned ourselves for tourists—those who wanted a unique vibe but also international-standard coffee. That shift, built on understanding what value meant to this new segment, truly transformed us. So value proposition and positioning? They’re intertwined. They shape those big marketing decisions, right down to who you target and how you speak to them.

Beo Thai

Now, let’s crack open the Smith and Colgate model. Maybe you’ve seen the diagram—there are four big types of customer value. First is functional or instrumental value. That’s basically: Does it work? Is it reliable? That’s why Bunnings is all about "low prices are just the beginning" but also having everything you need for that weekend project—heavy, practical stuff, fast. Then we’ve got experiential or hedonistic value—which is all about feelings or emotional experience. If you step into a Mecca store, you know it’s not just about buying skincare. It’s the lighting, the samples, the giant beauty carousel—incredible sensory experience, honestly. Third, symbolic or expressive value: Vegemite is the classic here. You eat Vegemite, it’s like saying, “I’m Aussie.” The meaning goes way beyond taste, right? And lastly, cost or sacrifice value: this is where you want the biggest bang for your buck—like Kmart, where affordability and practical value are everything. Brands pick and emphasise different value types depending on their market and even when consumer expectations shift. Young shoppers? Sometimes more experiential, sometimes price-focused depending on trends. And in a downturn, even luxury brands might find themselves leaning into cost value or practical benefits instead of just the “feel good” stuff. So, it’s not one-size-fits-all! Brands need to keep checking in—what do their customers value right now, and how do they adapt as tastes, tech, and budgets change?

Beo Thai

Here’s where it gets a little more strategic. The customer value creation mix is, well, like an upgraded marketing mix. It starts by reviewing what your customers actually value—so, not just assuming, but really figuring it out. First step: identify those values, right? Then, look honestly at how well you're delivering them. Some organisations are great on price, but maybe terrible on service. Others are awesome at experience, but expensive or hard to access. You've got to be brutally honest here. Next, dig into the “why”—what are you doing that makes customers stick, or run for your competitor? And always look forward; keep scanning for what those customers will want next, not just what they liked last year. Let’s bring in Coles. Years back, Coles was basically just cheap groceries—price, price, price. But that shifted. They leaned into health, sustainability, better service. Now, it's less “just cheap” and more “we've got absolutely everything—good for you, for the planet, for your family.” So, the value creation mix combines product strategies, comms, and delivery in a kind of matrix, always iterating based on honest, ongoing reviews.

Beo Thai

Let’s shift into touchpoints and journey mapping, because—honestly—this is where modern brands win or lose. Customer journey mapping is about documenting where, when, and how your customer actually interacts with you, both online and offline. Now, as the Retail Doctor Group pointed out, 54% of Australian retailers are actively investing in this—it’s just that important. Why? Because real competitive advantage is built on experiences that feel personal, seamless, and surprise-free in a good way. Take Myer: they used journey maps to spot frustration points, then revamped checkout processes and support. Result? Big boost in customer satisfaction. Or Bunnings again—they nail omnichannel. It doesn’t matter if you’re online, in the app, or wandering those huge aisles—you get the same helpful, practical experience. One subtle thing—owned versus unowned touchpoints. These days, customers control the narrative through social media, peer reviews, word-of-mouth. Retailers used to own most of the journey; now, customers do. That’s where the real conversation is happening. So brands need to tune in, not just shout out. If you’re not mapping your journey, you’re missing huge opportunities to fix friction and convert frustration into loyalty.

Beo Thai

Okay, it’s time to get concrete. Strategies for value creation break into—forming the core product and then building around it with augmented features, brand layers, pricing, and how you actually deliver it. Local example—Aesop. It's not just about skincare; it’s about design, ritual, and even the little paper bags. That’s premium brand management at play. Flight Centre? Their big thing is distribution—making travel feel like it’s accessible everywhere, blending digital and physical for reach. Think too about product management: you’ve got your core—what you can’t compromise on—then you think, “What else can we layer on to delight, surprise, or reassure?” When it comes to digital, brands mature in stages. First, just experimenting—testing the water, small spend, lots of learning. Then, building—tracking engagement, building communities. Finally, the evolved stage where digital is core, with serious budget and advanced analytics. Personally, with my own little Da Nang business, experimenting with simple digital touchpoints—social, chat, visitor feedback—let me interact with a new set of customers and grow a loyal group who weren’t just one-off tourists. The takeaway is: wherever you’re at, you need to keep building on your digital touchpoints, because that’s where those future loyal segments emerge.

Beo Thai

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty: mapping and actually prioritising those touchpoints. The journey starts with mapping—listing every single interaction a customer could have—before, during, and after purchase. Don’t forget indirect touchpoints too, like online reviews or friend recommendations. The next step is to set expectations for each touchpoint—what does the customer expect, and what actually happens? For example, think about booking a mortgage or buying from an online shop. So many stages! Miss even one, and you've lost trust or created stress. You need to figure out which touchpoints really drive loyalty or matter most—evaluation and triage, basically, because you can’t fix everything at once. For a quick activity, think about the last time you booked a Qantas flight—website, emails, phone support, airport kiosks, the actual flight, app notifications afterward... Where did value shine, and where did it fall down? By zooming into those highs and lows, you get a roadmap to improve what counts. The point is, mapping isn’t just a fluffy marketing exercise—it’s an operational tool for driving consistency, smoothing friction, and turning transactions into relationships.

Beo Thai

Now, before we wrap up, we have to wrestle with the tough stuff: ethics, privacy, and power. Let’s take the big supermarkets—Woolies and Coles. Over 75% of grocery retail is locked up by just these two, which lets them dictate terms to suppliers and, by extension, to customers. On the one hand, this can mean lower prices and higher standards. But on the flipside, it can stifle innovation, limit choice, and create real imbalances. And as brands go digital, the stakes rise. Every move you make online—shopping, searching, clicking—generates data points. A lot of value is created by mining that data for personalisation, but it can easily slide into surveillance. People want their needs met, but not at the cost of privacy—or being profiled invisibly by cookies or location trackers. Where’s the line between helpfulness and intrusion? Legally, we're kind of behind—regulations often lag the tech. Ethically, it’s about transparency, consent, and not abusing asymmetric power. Whether you’re a start-up or a mega-retailer, you have to ask: “Are we collecting data to create value for the customer, or just for ourselves?” That’s the challenge of our era. Okay, that’s a lot to chew on! Thanks for listening, and keep these questions in mind—because these debates aren’t ending anytime soon, and we’ll be building on them later in the series.