The Challenge
Google APAC’s CRM team relied heavily on centrally provided journeys and assets, and lacked specialist CRM support. The programme wasn’t built around how consumers were upgrading their devices in APAC – but how the Global team saw the average consumer across the world.
Tasked with reviewing journeys for the Japan market, it quickly became clear the messaging was not aligned with consumer needs. Priorities around key update features were different, in-store smartphone purchases were the norm over e-commerce, and the referral programme did not reflect local cultural sensitivities.
Our Approach
We started with a full CRM audit.
First, we reviewed onboarding and lifecycle programmes to understand how journeys, audiences and templates were performing. We then combined it with market research into smartphone buying behaviour to uncover what drives upgrades.
Then we rebuilt the journey strategy:
- New onboarding programmes tailored to the device customers were upgrading from
- A ‘Rest of Life’ lifecycle programme responding to engagement signals and sentiment
- Redesigned email templates to improve clarity and effectiveness
To drive greater engagement, we introduced AMP-powered interactive emails that brought richer experiences into the inbox. Users could configure devices, explore hotspots and engage with parallax-style content directly within the email, reducing friction between discovery and purchase.
The Impact
CRM journeys were instantly more relevant from the first interaction, and stayed relevant long after onboarding.
Interactive emails encouraged users to actively explore products in the inbox instead of passively scrolling, while the new lifecycle structure responded to customer sentiment and engagement signals, tightening the relationship between brand and consumer.
The result was a CRM programme designed around real behaviour, not just centrally supplied templates, which were then adapted and rolled out to other markets in APAC.
Real-world takeaway
Great CRM doesn’t usher customers from one place to another; it understands where they are in their journey and meets them there.
