January has come and gone in a whirlwind leaving hibernating consumers smug from many a new resolution.

From Joe Wick'ing their diet, Red January'ing their exercise routine to folding like a pro...

if it can't stand up then you have failed.

For those not exposed to the new obsession Marie Kondo, author, decluttering master and Netflix star then where have you been?! Marie's method of finding the joy in your possessions has become a phenomenon, with increasing joy and decluttering becoming a focus how can you translate this to your marketing programmes? Where's the joy? Todays retail landscape is evolving rapidly with consumers shying away from big brands leading to the increase of more direct-to-consumer specialists with their lack of legacy tech, customer first approach and dynamic business models changing the way we shop forever.

Five years ago you wouldn't have believed you could get flowers through your letterbox, you would have brought a mattress without laying on it and glasses without trying them on first.

Today the barriers have been broken.

This new retail dynamic breeds challenges, consumers may not understand the business model and need help getting the right product.

With consumers confused and no retail point with friendly staff to help guide this is where good CRM comes into play.

What does good look like? - Give me a N , an E , an S and a T .....

A great example of good is Nest .

Their mission is to create a home that takes care of the people inside it and the world around it and their CRM programme underpins this ethos.

The monthly newsletter aim is to help customers get the best out of their products by providing product usage insight, tips and alerts.

Simple use of data portrayed well.

Data used intelligently creates great emails.

At home we have two Nest products and each month I get a similar message kept fresh by seasonal theming and content.

The December wrap up starts off giving an insight into how many leafs (energy saving temperatures) all customers have earned as well as aggregating the energy Nesters have saved...

general information but positioned in a catchy way.

Next section focuses on my smoke alarm pulling out key information on my product behaviour including battery health, alarms and safety checks.

Keeping me safe in the knowledge that my products are working well and when needed highlighting things clearly that I need to fix.

This last section focusing on our thermostat which I love as like most households we're trying to be more energy efficient.

This provides great insights to help with energy usage like trackers and reasons why energy usage has changed.In addition Nest encourages and celebrates the number of times I've gone eco with their leaf structure, tracking how eco friendly we are and including a comparison to other Nest users.

Simple and very effective.

Outside of this slick highly personal content, it would be great for Nest to drip feed seasonal information to help my home be more eco friendly with tips to use less energy which as an avid Nester I'd lap up.

Like this content? Keep an eye out over the next few month's as we'll be researching other great CRM programmes showcasing ways brands big and small can and should be talking to their consumers.

With a sea of beige in the inbox how can you connect with your consumers and forge a real relationship? Over the next few months we'll answer this very question.

Bex Highfield Marketing Manager