Kroger, Mastercard, and UPS were among the global companies recognised by Qualtrics as 2022 Breakthrough Artists for integrating XM solutions in their strategic innovation management.
SAP-owned company and leading experience management specialist Qualtrics has recently revealed the latest winners of its annual Breakthrough Artists Award, which honours leading brands for embarking on experience transformation journeys amid the pandemic. The awardees that harnessed data to deliver breakthrough customer, employee, and brand experiences were given a custom-made Yamaha Revstar guitar designed by Qualtrics in partnership with Yamaha. The laser-etched guitar concept represents the Breakthrough Artists’ boldness and attention to detail in implementing the projects.
Kylan Lundeen, Chief Marketing Officer at Qualtrics, stated that the COVID-9 has irreversibly changed the way of work and business. Emphasising the winners’ feat to innovate to keep pace with the disruptions, he said:
“These individuals, their teams, and their companies not only adapted quickly to those changes by listening to what their customers and employees were thinking and feeling but also quickly implemented the changes that propelled their businesses forward. We’re incredibly proud of the work they’ve done to create breakthrough experiences for customers and employees.”
Winners Demonstrating Excellent Strategic Innovation Management
Mastercard: Customer Experience Breakthrough Artist
Faced with the challenges of poor data research and data silos that have led to a fragmented customer experience, Mastercard tapped Qualtrics to design a centralised CX solution to help the company gain in-depth customer insights, drive self-service, and nurture a culture that strongly values customer satisfaction.
In partnership with Qualtrics, the company developed a CX strategy for both of its B2B and B2C businesses to break down silos in the organisation and allow for enhanced flow of information, including data and customer feedback, for the department to take appropriate actions. The CX transformation strategy enabled MasterCard to increase the overall customer satisfaction (OSAT) for Billing by 11{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} and unified teams and resources through a single “center of excellence”.
“Over the past five years, the adoption of Qualtrics has blown up — and we’ve established ourselves as the industry experts within Mastercard. It’s the tool that folks now use if they need to run a quick survey or understand customer feedback,” Shonelle Price, Vice President, MasterCard.
Chobani: Product Experience Breakthrough Artist
As a leader in the yogurt-milk category in the US, Chobani heavily invests in R&D for product development as well as market research in the non-dairy milk category to uncover white-space opportunities. The manufacturer partnered with Qualtrics to conduct comprehensive research for its new oat milk product to better understand the non-dairy milk category, create tailor-fit messages to engage consumers and prioritise product options, including pricing and packaging.
“We wanted a concrete idea of customer needs — from where our concept was excelling, to where it could do better — not just for product optimization, but also to improve our messaging down the line,” shared Allison Masor, Senior Director of Insights at Chobani.
Leveraging the insights gathered with Qualtrics, Chobani was able to confidently and rapidly penetrate the oat milk category, achieved a whopping 222{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} year-on-year dollar growth for the category, and took on a 16.5{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} dollar share of the oat milk market.
Mercado Libre: Experience Management Breakthrough Artist
Mercado Libre (MELI) is a leading online marketplace and major host of the fintech ecosystem in Latin America, specifically in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, and Peru, driving over $2bn in revenue annually. In a bid to ramp up its business growth and customer-centricity commitment, MELI relied on Qualtrics to become a better informed and more responsive business partner to build end-to-end experiences.
MELI’s experience transformation journey encompasses customer, employee, and product innovations achieving 85{8bf2b29f36318f0ac46ab1cc03d7035abce669a1cea16c9ed62389a818fa22fd} employee engagement, the 4th position for the “Greatest Places to Work” in Latin America, and 15 point increase in NPS.
“It’s important that every candidate we interview has a positive experience, whether or not they get the job. These people are also our customers or will talk to family and friends who are customers. They might even take a different role down the line. Qualtrics has enabled us to identify and enrich the experiences we deliver,” Marina Seitun, People Experience Sr. Manager at Mercado Libre.
Patreon: Brand Experience Breakthrough Artist
A leading provider of business tools for content creators, Patreon tackled the hurdle of creators directly connecting to their fans. In partnership with Qualtrics, the company was able to eliminate intermediaries, uncover trends and demands and create unmatched experiences by analysing user data.
Leveraging Qualtrics BrandXM, Patreon was able to get deeper insights into market trends and drivers by region. The company’s strategic innovation management led to Patreon reaching more than 250,000 creators and achieving 10 point awareness growth in the US and 20 points in the UK.
“As we invest more in our product, we want to ensure creators and fans are at the forefront of innovation. With Qualtrics, we can keep a pulse on what their needs are and where the industry is going next,” Veronica Darrah, Market Research Manager at Patreon.
Kroger: Employee Experience Breakthrough Artist
Kroger, the third-largest employer and a leading grocer in the US, needed to capture regular feedback from its employees to continue on both employee and customer experiences improvement. Recommended by its People Analytics team, Kroger tapped Qualtrics to deliver strategic innovation management that allowed the company to gather employee insights at scale through surveys and rapidly employ appropriate actions.
Amidst the pandemic, Kroger was able to implement 30 policy and process changes based on the data gathered, achieve regular feedback from 500,000 employees, and increase the impacts of its DEI initiatives.
“Our people are our greatest asset. They’re interacting with customers and keeping our stores open and stocked, making their voice invaluable. With our focus on associate feedback, we’ve created a culture of listening that helps us take real action to improve the employee experience,” Rodney McMullen, Kroger CEO.
UPS: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Breakthrough Artist
Already equipped with an impressive employee experience strategy, leading shipping, supply chain management, and logistics company UPS wanted to elevate the company’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiative to drive best-in-class employee experience for its more than 534,000 employees worldwide.
Together with Qualtrics, the logistics company conducted comprehensive surveys to delve into employee sentiments, behaviours, and develop local solutions per geography. The experience transformation project resulted in UPS achieving a 10 point increase in employee recommendation and the creation of the ‘You belong at UPS’ initiative, which advocates a culture of equity, openness, creativity, belonging, and connectivity.
“Every employee, from the frontline to the office, has a place here. They’re welcomed, revered, and a part of the things we do. We wanted more capabilities to help unlock doors, take away resistance or friction, and understand how we can improve experiences to ensure employees continue to feel like they belong,” Charlene Thomas, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at UPS.
