As buyers make decisions through LLMs, Bobcat's Laura Ness Owens is focusing more on customer experience
Bobcat CMO Laura Ness Owens explains that customers are increasingly using LLMs to research products, bypassing traditional search and company websites. This shift is forcing the company to prioritize customer experience and reputation management to influence AI-generated results.
Why it matters
It illustrates a fundamental shift in the marketing funnel where AI models act as the primary gatekeepers for consumer purchasing decisions.
Laura Ness Owens, chief marketing officer at Bobcat, a manufacturer of compact construction and landscaping machines, said that she wants to meet customers where they are searching for information. Previously, the customer journey could start with search and the company's website, she said. "Today, many customers are going right to the large-language-models and saying, 'I want the right loader for me, to do this type of work', so they are skipping much of that research stage that we were able to guide." Owens says that product reviews, earned media, and dealer reviews factor into those LLM results. "You have to understand that the good, the bad, and the ugly are out there," she said. "It's pushed us to really focus greater on that customer experience." Read the original article on Business Insider
Focuses on business adaptation to technological shifts without ideological framing.
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