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I need a list of B2C companies in the US with revenue over $100M/year that have prioritized customer-centric marketing as part of their C-level strategic direction.
Hello, and thanks for your question asking for a list of B2C companies in the US with revenue over $100M/year that have prioritized customer-centric marketing as part of their C-level strategic direction. I have found a list of 11 companies that fit this criteria. Below you will find a deep dive into my research, along with all the details as to how I came to this conclusion.
OVERVIEW
Most companies would agree that customer centricity is essential for the success of a business (73%). However only 9/10 would define their own business as customer centric. I have searched for information on companies who are focussed on this essential aspect of business.
I have found two lists by Vision Critical and Nano Rep which identify companies who are examples of successful businesses following a customer-centric model. These articles were both essential sources for constructing the list of 11 that you see below. I looked at all the companies identified by both lists, and have selected those that fit your criteria.
LIST
On black Friday 2015 REI closed all of its stores and launched their #OptOutside campaign where they encouraged employees and customers “to reconnect with family and friends”. They make around $2 billion in annual revenue and their CEO is Jerry Stritzke.
Company CEO Andy Clarke announced that Asda would not be participating in Black Friday in 2015 also. He said that his decision to do so was based on feedback from Asda customers who claim that "they don’t want to be held hostage to a day or two of sales." The company's annual revenue is $22.4 billion.
EA have developed a "comeback strategy" which is customer, or player, centric. They are listening toothier customers and making changes in line with what they want. CEO Andrew Wilson claims that in the past “We weren’t thinking about everything we were doing in the context of the player experience.” So now they are set to change that. The company generates $4.4 billion in annual revenue.
Recently Shake Shack have been seen to make changes based on customer feedback, improve store design and empower its employees. Employees are being trained "to make the “charitable assumption” when dealing with customer complaints." Their CEO is Randy Garutti, and their annual revenue is $230.5 million.
McDonald's is making a lot of changes based on the wants of their customers. They are letting us know that they have listened to feedback and as a result have made changes to the ingredients they use as well as their standards. Their CEO is Steve Easterbrook and their annual revenue is $24.6 billion.
Microsoft is undergoing a complete cultural overhaul. Company CEO Satya Nadella says that their new mission is customer centric, they are downplaying the importance of profit and focussing on aspects such as customer love. Their annual revenue is around $88.9 billion.
Facebook have made amendments to the social networking site which are focussed on using the platform to allow people to take care of each other. For example they launched the "safety check" feature shortly after the Paris attacks. The company's revenue is around $27.6 billion, and their CEO is Mark Zuckerberg.
Univision claims that they make new innovations based on the attitudes of their audience. The company is now thinking mobile-first to follow the wishes of their consumers and this has been shown to be successful for the company which is growing in popularity. The company CEO is Randy Falco, and their annual revenue is $2.9 billion.
Inuit is a company which has built its reputation on being customer-centric. They launched their “Design for Delight” campaign, which used the following 3 principles:
- Deep Customer Empathy – "Immerse yourself with customers to know them better than they know themselves. To understand what really matters to customers, you should watch them, talk with them, and put yourself in their shoes."
- Go Broad to Go Narrow – "Create options before making choices. There are lots of possible answers, so to get one great idea, you need to create lots. The first idea is rarely the best."
- Rapid Experiments with Customers – "Get customer feedback early and often to understand the pros and cons of options. Watching customers react to prototypes through trial and error is better than relying on our own opinions.”
Due to this initiative and others, Inuit has successfully built itself as a leader in customer-centricity. Their CEO is Brad Smith, and their revenue is $4.7 billion.
Amazon are another big company who are known for their customer-centric business model. Amazon have developed a “culture of metrics”, where they frequently put their products, website and customer service to the customer to test. Customer-centricity has become a philosophy for Amazon. There annual revenue is $117.6 billion, and their CEO is Jeffrey P. Bezos.
Finally, Hilton is a company who employ a number of Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions which enable them to collect and analyse customer feedback. This allows them to continually make adjustments to enable them to address the needs of their customers. The company makes around $2.5 billion in annual revenue, and their President and CEO is Christopher J. Nassetta.
CONCLUSION
Overall I have found that REI, Asda, EA, Shake Shack, McDonald's, Microsoft, Facebook, Univision, Amazon, Inuit and Hilton are companies who have customer-centric business models. For many of these companies, putting the customer first has always been part of their ethics and it is what they are known for. Others are changing their business model to change their company reputation for the better.
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