AI is not Your competitive advantage. Understanding your customers is.
Coffee & Commerce Episode 2
AI is changing content. But the biggest opportunity isn't simply producing more. It's understanding customers on a deeper level and using AI to turn those insights into better content.
“ Your content strategy is winning not because of AI, it's because it's customer first and then you're amplifying it with AI. ”
Jose CampilloHead of Content Strategy @ Zalando
Beyond speed and cost
The conversation around AI often focuses on doing things faster, cheaper and at scale. But the real opportunity for brands, starts with understanding their customers and the challenges they're trying to solve. This is where AI can create incremental value.
By combining customer insights and real-time trends, brands can move beyond traditional content strategies and discover opportunities they might not have recognised before.
Turning customer signals into action
At Zalando, this means actively listening to what's happening in the world, across the platform and within customer communities. These insights help shape more reactive campaigns that challenge traditional approaches to content.
The results speak for themselves: one campaign approach drove a 70% increase in Add to Wishlist activity and over 100% growth in brand followership. Demonstrating how responding to customer interests can create new opportunities for engagement and brand loyalty.
“ Technology is helping us to understand the customer to a different depth. ”
Ignacio Royo HernandezFashion Commercial Director at Zalando
Three steps for your brand to get started
Approach AI with a clear purpose, rather than adopting technology simply for the sake of it. Ignacio highlights three important steps for bringing AI into their content strategy:
Start with the problem. Identify the content challenges and opportunities within your organisation before deciding where AI fits in.
Connect the dots. Look at your customer data, signals and insights to understand where technology can help you unlock new opportunities and make your content more relevant.
Experiment and iterate. Build an experimentation roadmap that allows your team to test, learn, fail, succeed and continuously improve.
One product, two different stories
Imagine two customers looking for the same pair of jeans but experiencing completely different content: one sees them styled for the mountains and another paired with western boots in the city. The product stays the same, but the story changes to resonate with each customer. That's the potential of combining customer understanding, real-time data and AI.
AI is no longer just an opportunity to optimise content production. It's a way to better understand your customers, respond to their needs and unlock new commercial opportunities.
For brands, the next step is to start experimenting. Look beyond efficiency, identify where customer insights can inform your content strategy, and explore how AI can help you create more relevant experiences.
The brands that put their customers first will be better positioned to make the most of what AI has to offer.
All of this is best discussed over a coffee of course ☕️
