Personalize
Helping factors include data-driven insights and investments in marketing technology. MacGregor is tight-lipped about the mix of solutions Amaysim has in its suite, calling it the telco’s “secret sauce,” despite publicly reporting the use of Twilio chipSalesforce Marketing Cloud, Adobe Experience Manager, Kapello, and Google Ads have been in the mix at Amaysim over the past few years.
MacGregor says the company has been relying heavily on its personalization program over the past year, supported by increased use of artificial intelligence.
“The benefit of having a good personalization engine is that it gives us a space to talk to consumers: it’s really important to look at what we’re not sending them,” he commented. “It’s not often phrased that way, but it’s one of the most important things. When you get stuff, hopefully it’s more relevant.
“Personalization is in everything, from how we interact with consumers who visit our website, what they see, how they see it, pop-ups, personalized communications, payments, the app, where they are in the lifecycle… It’s in all of our owned channels, and we’re trying to connect owned, earned and paid channels so that they’re all singing the same tune. It’s not about having different ‘brains’ trying to whip something up there – our goal is to bring it all together.”
AI-generated models help identify target audiences and customers, what they like, how they like to be served, preferences and scores, inferences from behaviors, and more.
““We’ve been using AI a lot, and it’s outperforming humans and what we’ve done before, against control groups and A/B tests,” MacGregor says, without providing specific numbers. “It’s outperforming and much better than our commercial offerings.”
“But there is also art and science. We know that when it comes to consumer behavior, when you launch a product for example, you have to create awareness. It comes down to combining the two – you can’t do one way or the other. That’s where marketers need to formulate the art and science to get the ratio right. The role of marketers is to look at the usage scenarios of these different components and think from the perspective of the customer and the company.”
All of this leads to what Nath describes as a “relentless insistence” on understanding who customers are, what they like, and what portfolios Amaiseem should be thinking about, building on, and working on.
“Are telcos weak in some customer experience services? I would say there are many examples, and we have seen many global telcos changing and adapting to be able to fight in the market based on customer experience, rather than just price,” he says. “Telcos have gone from being a commodity to being a friendly and customer-friendly operator. Those that haven’t – many have lost share and seen their position eroded over the years. Staying close to our customers is one of the things I have seen within Amaysim and it is one of our strongest muscles.
“We do our best to ensure we provide great value to our customers and great service.”
NBN Plan
Which brings us to the next product to hit the market: NBN services. This is a product that is more in line with the company’s business model and stands in stark contrast to previous efforts in adjacent areas such as utilities. Amaysim sold its energy arm to AGL in 2020. For less than the company’s purchase price. It also comes at a good time given the maturity of Australia’s national broadband network: more than eight in ten homes are now connected to the national broadband network.
“What we clearly realise is that we want to be at the heart of our business and around it. Our core business is about connecting people and homes and delivering a lot of value around that. So what can we do to make people happier, and stay longer? That’s why the NBN makes so much sense, in addition to selling devices,” Nath explains.
“As we move forward, we want to ensure that our core mobile services continue to grow; we build another pillar, invest in it and grow it; then we pick the next pillar, invest in it and grow it. If you look at how the NBN market has progressed to this point, we now have over 80 per cent of homes connected to the NBN. There is a huge opportunity to give consumers great value and service, and that is where Amaysim comes in – we are delivering freedom at affordable prices.
“We are seeing significant growth not only in the existing base, but through it. It is about spreading word of mouth to say that it is not just mobile, it is now the national broadband network. So, did you know that you can get your next iPhone from the Amaysim Devices portal? If not, why not?”
The proof is in the pudding, Nath points out, with Amaysim serving 108,000 of the 116,000 customers Optus announced in its last annual financial results.
“The importance of what we offer is to attract customers and drive growth. That’s what really excites us. I’m confident that over the next few quarters, we’ll be able to replicate the same success with the NBN as well,” he says.
Another trend that Amaysim sees as an opportunity to differentiate itself is eSIMs. In the entire cyberspace, nearly 40% of people now use services via digital SIMs only.
“It has become important for us to invest in this journey and customer experiences,” says Nath. “Again, it’s about what consumers are really looking for, where they shop, and where we can serve them best.
“We know that people still use multiple channels, for example. They might search and find the best thing online, then go to the supermarket and buy. That’s why we still offer a physical eSIM pack – that is, we say to anyone who is still unsure, go get a physical pack and we’ll help you set up the eSIM on your phone seamlessly.”
ESIMs also contribute to Amaysim’s ambitions to grow its direct-to-consumer online services. “ESIMs make switching easier, and we can deliver a great customer experience by controlling the entire user journey and experience. So it’s a big focus for us,” he adds.
