GfK Forms Brand and Customer Experience Practice

GfK is integrating elements of its brand, communication, satisfaction and loyalty research into a new global practice, Brand and Customer Experience, and has appointed Helen Zeitoun to head it up.

The company says consumers 'experience brands holistically - from mass advertising and consumer reviews, to individual transactions and consumption experiences, to lifelong loyalty' - and that successful brands must focus on continuity to deepen relationships and engage, acquire and retain their custom.

The new practice aims to help marketing professionals understand and manage this relationship and will make use of innovations in social biometrics, digital sciences and advanced ROI models. 'Our focus' says Zeitoun, 'is on the sensorial, intuitive, emotional, social and deliberative dimensions of how people experience brands.'

Debbie Pruent, Member of the GfK Management Board, says Zeitoun has been at the forefront of GfK's thought leadership and innovation in both Brand and Loyalty research' for more than twenty years.

Zeitoun says research must evolve to reflect a new 'experience and relationship economy', bringing in 'modern and sensitive ways to capture experience relationships, better predict behavior and be more accurate in ROI approaches.'

Web site: www.gfk.com .