How to Transform Information Into Services
DATA COLLECTION IS A KEY ELEMENT FOR PERSONALIZING HEARING CARE, EXPLAINS ALUMNUS GIUSEPPE VIRONDA, AMPLIFON'S CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER. EVEN IN ONE SEGMENT, THAT OF SENIORS, WHICH IS ONLY APPARENTLY LESS DIGITIZED THAN THE OTHERS"There is always a moment in everyone's life when we discover that the world is wider and more varied than we imagined it. For me it was during the military draft visit, which when I was 18 was compulsory. We all have distortions in perception, cognitive biases, and today the data are a further tool to overcome them and guide choices with more depth.” Giuseppe Vironda, Amplifon's Chief Marketing Officer, with a degree in management engineering and an MBA from SDA, thus exemplifies one of the tangible benefits of leading business in the data age. “With data, the unexpected and chance are blunted,” continues the manager. “In their place, as the determining variables for success, are the ability to interpret numbers and behaviors and quickly translate them into action. The data supply chain is now democratized: information is acquired from all possible interactions and from here data scientists generate the insights that are made available to the organization to drive growth and innovation. This is how collective intelligence is freed and true empowerment is transferred to everyone, especially to those who experience the relationship in the store with customers every day.
On the operational level, how does the study of data drive innovation in Amplifon?
For Amplifon, data is the tool to provide a personalized hearing care experience and therefore really improve people's quality of life. By analyzing the data, for example, we study the correlations between the lifestyle and the audiological profile of our customers to propose the solution with the highest probability of success. Or we use algorithms to optimize the booking and planning of appointments, managing to profile customers and predict the duration of their visit, while increasing their satisfaction. Then there is the CRM activity in which, by working on micro segments, we can reduce the number of contacts with customers so as not to disturb them unnecessarily, communicating with them only truly relevant content.
What differences does the fact that yours is a senior target in terms of data collection, analysis and use?
Contrary to what one might think, ours is a very active target when it comes to digital touchpoints. We commissioned Ipsos to carry out a research on the over 55s which showed that, even in a country like Italy that does not shine for digitalization, 76% of seniors are inseparable from their smartphone and have a social profile. The campaigns we do on Facebook also have feedback comparable to those I supervised, for example, for Telcos. Rather, the distinctive feature of this target is the desire and the need to be supported in the first approach with the apps, and for this reason I consider a service that combines digital and attentive in-store assistance to be ideal. Finally, the senior target usually has more free time, offers more opportunities for knowledge, is more willing to provide information and more generous in doing so, especially after establishing a personaldialogue with our hearing care professionals based on trust, empathy, and competence.
From your point of view, what is the situation of the professional market of talent prepared for the processing and interpretation of data?
The disconnect between the demand of companies and the supply currently available is real: there are few profiles and high competition for them by the market. We are also looking for people who are not only capable of technical analysis, but of working in multifunctional teams that integrate design, retail and marketing experts. This is why we look more favorably to more rounded paths, which develop wide-ranging skills. Last but not least, passion for Amplifon’s purpose and a genuine interest in the customer are fundamental. The long-term partnership that we have inaugurated with the Amplifon Chair in Customer Science has precisely this goal, to create a strong bridge between the world of higher education and applied research and the new needs of companies.
What can be, in addition to the role of donor, the contribution of a company in this kind of initiatives? Why do you think the tradition of funding research is less common in Italy than in other countries?
I don't like making comparisons with different countries; in my experience, if a company has a clear will to build a talent pipeline and a strategic idea in this regard, the interaction with institutions and educational entities comes by itself. In short, an opportunity is found or created. However, I believe that the first step must be taken by companies rather than universities. This happens if companies have the attitude to keep challenging themselves. We at Amplifon think like a start-up that has 70 years of history, we are used to having agile working methods, horizontal leadership models, multidisciplinary teams and therefore we also want to have an innovative approach to training. In this phase we are defining together with Professor Gaia Rubera the research areas and the topics on which to engage the students: we will propose challenges based on real cases taken from our customers daily lives. All of this creates not just an exchange but a real relationship, and that's what we value.
SHORT BIO
From Turin, 44 years old, Giuseppe Vironda has been Amplifon's Chief Marketing Officer since 2020. Graduated in management engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin, he obtained an MBA from SDA in 2005 with an Exchange program at the Columbia School of Business in New York. "In my case, the experience of the Master came after three years of working in a consulting company," says Vironda. "My goal at that time was to strengthen managerial and leadership skills, but those years served me above all to understand what I really wanted to do, and that is to leave consulting to enter the world of companies and see projects born, grow, affect the market, and evolve. During the MBA I was also able to build a fundamental network of professional contacts but also of friends that is still a sounding board that I could not do without ". Vironda has alternated experiences in different sectors, covering, among others, the roles of Sales Strategy & Operations Manager in Google, in London, of Managing Director ho-mobile and Consumer Marketing Director in Vodafone, of COO in Credimi. “This variety is proving particularly valuable in my current role, in which I have direct responsibility for business growth in 26 countries and in a company like Amplifon that is over 70 years old but growing at the pace of a start-up”.
by Emanuele Elli
