Asa Andersson
Verified Expert in Marketing
Digital Marketing Expert
Malmö, Sweden
Toptal member since February 7, 2023
Asa launched her consulting practice after a 20-year global career as a marketing strategist, CX expert, and executive leader. Specializing in customer experience for brands like Publicis Sapient, IKEA, Du, Pandora, and Bang & Olufsen, she has led complex CX transformations, optimized customer journeys, and achieved business goals. Asa's deep expertise in data-driven CX, UX, and marketing fueled her move to independent consulting, driving impactful results for clients.
Project Highlights
Certification Highlights
Expertise
- CX Strategy
- Growth Strategy
- Innovation Strategy
- Omnichannel Marketing
- Thought Leadership
Work Experience
Omnichannel Customer Experience (CX) Strategist
Svenska Spel
- Collaborated with the leadership group to build an omnichannel customer experience (CX) strategy from attraction to retention.
- Integrated diverse data sources to identify the key drivers of organizational goals.
- Developed strategies to align customer experience with financial objectives by leveraging Qualtrics for measurement and analysis.
Executive CX Strategist
IKEA
- Headed the CX transformation and omnichannel marketing strategy for IKEA Clean Energy Services as a CX consultant, driving the development of new value propositions and enhancing the customer journey for Solar Services.
- Upscaled senior stakeholders through a 4-week program focused on executing customer experience and marketing strategies to solve customer problems effectively.
- Advised on business and customer experience measurement, including net promoter score (NPS), to align with business and customer goals, improving marketing outcomes.
- Created personas and empathy maps to uncover omnichannel insights and identify customer needs and gaps. This work informed solutions aimed at effectively attracting, converting, and retaining customers.
- Developed service designs and detailed service blueprints to map out and optimize customer journeys, ensuring seamless integration across touchpoints and enhancing the effectiveness of attract, convert, and retain strategies.
- Transformed a global campaign into tailored omnichannel communication strategies, ensuring consistent messaging and engagement across all platforms.
- Oversaw the gathering of customer insights and translated them into actionable strategies for all marketing initiatives.
CXO
The Outcome Store
- Served as a global consultant and advised senior stakeholders on digital business transformation by enhancing customer experience and integrating strategic marketing initiatives.
- Headed innovation labs that empowered brands to identify their most impactful customer moments and translate those insights into actionable marketing strategies, driving measurable improvements throughout the customer journey.
- Conducted educational innovation labs to upskill senior stakeholders in customer experience, focusing on translating insights into measurable marketing impact and improvements.
Global Experience Director
Publicis Sapient
- Spearheaded all experience in the Nordic region with a team of over 25 experienced strategists, UX and UI designers, and creative directors in four offices in Malmö, Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Copenhagen.
- Collaborated with large corporate clients such as Bang & Olufsen, Pandora, and Tetra Pak. Led teams and managed accounts for Novartis, Pfizer, and Volvo.
- Established a new innovation lab for the Publicis Group and successfully led it for a major client alongside the team.
Head of Experience
Du
- Headed the comprehensive experience transformation of all Du channels and services, achieving remarkable results. Boosted conversion rates by 40% with the introduction of a new upsell feature on the app.
- Revamped the UX and design of our 7,000-page website, reducing the bounce rate by 70% and significantly improving experience KPIs. Led both B2B and B2C efforts.
- Implemented a data-driven approach, introducing experience KPIs, optimization, transactional net promoter score (tNPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and joint measurements to achieve both customer and business goals.
CX Consultant
IKEA
- Led the CX transformation of the new IKEA kitchen experience in an omnichannel setting as a consultant. Delivered a North Star strategy to serve 16 countries.
- Oversaw the customer experience strategy, service design, and UX strategy.
- Achieved significant uplift in agreed goals based on early results.
CX Advisor
Venture Cup
- Consulted, supported, and mentored a range of startups in the web, software, and media areas in 2015.
- Coached and educated teams on achieving digital business success.
- Acted as a CX advisor, supporting and mentoring startups on the most impactful customer moments in alignment with business goals.
Creative Director
Stabenfeldt
- Established several innovative digital business models.
- Hired and directed the digital team of user experience designers, user interface designers, and developers.
- Led ideation, creation, and implementation of digital products.
Creative Director
watAgame
- Led product design for a social and gaming site for girls, quickly establishing it as the leading digital platform for girls aged seven to 12 in the Nordics.
- Hired and trained a full team of user experience designers.
- Spearheaded creative direction, brand, and actual customer experience.
Product Designer
London Town
- Led all illustration and animation for our in-house animated movies.
- Illustrated and produced the stories to promote our hotel business.
- Designed for both website and print and produced the majority of the product concepts.
Product Designer
McCann London
- Hired as a consultant and worked on the Nescafé campaign.
- Designed banners and product pages and utilized illustration skills for storyboarding.
- Designed and animated numerous Flash banners for American Express and Nescafé.
Project History
Du Telecom
Spearheaded the creation of a complete omnichannel experience that exceeded targets by deeply understanding customer needs.
CUSTOMER PAIN POINTS
• To help the clients choose the right mobile plan, we matched plans to lifestyles and proactively suggested suitable options.
• To facilitate understanding data usage, we explained data in relatable terms (e.g., three hours on Instagram or two hours of streaming music), thus increasing data bundle purchases.
RESPONSIBILITIES
I aligned stakeholders toward a common vision through leadership. Also, I identified 20 customer opportunities and mapped them on the CX Journey. Finally, I created omnichannel features of:
• Proactive, personalized help via chatbot
• Contextual help center based on user data
• Display of previously viewed items for returning customers
• Product selector with personalized recommendations
• Mobile plans tailored to specific lifestyle interests
RESULTS
• Decreased a bounce rate by 85%.
• Reduced an exit rate by 44%.
• Increased overall sales by 30%.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
• Audit, innovation lab, product design
• Alignment of business goals
• Quantitative and qualitative research
• Segmentation identification
• Customer journeys and impact moments for new, returning, and existing customers steering all marketing activities
• UX exploration of all opportunities on all channels
Ikea Kitchen Experience
Identified 12 key improvement opportunities based on customer needs within the critical touch points of the kitchen customer journey, shaping marketing strategies, digital efforts, in-store experiences, and help center initiatives.
OBJECTIVE
Enhance Ikea’s global kitchen experience.
I led the CX strategy for Ikea’s global kitchen experience, focusing on omnichannel journey growth opportunities to drive both short- and long-term growth.
APPROACH
• Collaborated with the team at the Ikea Innovation Lab in Malmö.
• Led CX and Service Design, discovering improvement opportunities to drive impact toward the goal.
• Directed communication and digital experience efforts.
• Identified 12 high-impact opportunity areas during crucial moments in the kitchen customer journey.
• Prototyped solutions, establishing a North Star for the future kitchen experience.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
• Alignment of business goals
• In-depth qualitative research to gain customer insights
• Segmentation and persona alignment
• Collaborative design thinking workshops to address pain points and opportunities
• Service design and customer journey mapping
• Opportunity identification and prioritization based on impact
• Solution and experience design prototyping
RESULTS
• Defined a clear vision for the future kitchen experience at Ikea.
• Delivered impactful solutions rapidly through prototyping.
Ikea Clean Energy Services, Solar Panel, and Heat Pumps
Adopted an omnichannel perspective to identify 13 crucial customer moments, managed the IKEA team to uncover growth opportunities, set experience KPIs, and prioritized opportunities aligning with business goals.
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Conducted a deep dive into qualitative research to gain customer insights.
• Aligned segmentation and personas.
• Designed comprehensive service design and omnichannel customer journeys and blueprints.
• Facilitated collaborative design thinking workshops to address pain points and opportunities in the customer journey.
• Identified and prioritized opportunities that matter most to customers.
• Delivered six CX Up Scale programs for senior Ikea stakeholders, enhancing their understanding of CX principles.
PROGRAM COMPONENTS
• Alignment of business goals
• Qualitative research to gain customer insights
• Segmentation and persona alignment
• Service design and omnichannel customer journeys
• Collaborative design thinking workshops
• Opportunity identification and prioritization
• Solution and experience design prototyping
RESULT
• Improved the Solar Panel Journey successfully with a focus on customer-centric growth.
Education
Master's Degree in Interaction Design
Herefordshire College of Art and Design - Hereford, England, UK
National Diploma in Web Design
University of Lincoln - Lincoln, England, UK
Certifications
Harvard Leadership Program
Harvard University
Skills
Core
Omnichannel Marketing, B2C Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Brand Strategy, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing (SMM), Public Relations (PR), Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Marketing Leadership, Channel Strategy, Email Marketing, Marketing Analytics, Performance Marketing, SMS Marketing, A/B Testing, Product Marketing, Market Research & Analysis, Marketing Campaigns, Digital Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Strategic Marketing, Content Marketing Strategy, Ad Campaigns, Marketing Budget Management, Marketing Operations, Online Marketing, Google Ads, Funnel Optimization, Brand Marketing, Content Marketing, Copywriting, Writing & Editing, Marketing Technology (MarTech), Paid Advertising, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Platforms & Tools
Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Adobe Creative Suite, CRM Systems, Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), Content Management Systems (CMS)
Business Models
B2B
Technical
HTML
Other
Miro, MURAL, Figma, Qualitative Research, Quantitative Research, CX Strategy, Customer Insights, B2B Marketing, Customer Experience, Innovation Strategy, Project Consultancy, UX Analysis, Digital, UX Design, Workshops, Data, International Marketing Strategies, Thought Leadership, Web UX, Design, Growth Strategy, Loyalty Programs, Customer Retention, Conversion Rate, Digital Innovation, innovation consulting, Go-to-market Plans, Launch Strategy, Customer Acquisition, Growth Marketing, Startups, eCommerce, Content Optimization, Renewable Energy, Customer Journey, Journey Mapping, User Journeys, Survey Development & Analysis, Focus Groups, Business Development, Marketing Management, Microsoft Excel, Offline Marketing, Project Management, Partnership Management, Marketing Programs, Marketing Program Management, Event Marketing, Go-to-market Execution, Geotesting, Website Audits, Direct to Consumer (D2C), Pricing Strategy, Retail Sales, Cross-functional Collaboration, Positioning, Sales Enablement, Product Launch, Luxury Industry, MarTech Solutions, Healthcare, B2B Sales Management, Sales & CRM Platforms, Amazon, Shopify, Google AdSense, Illustration, Salesforce
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