Brother expands into 7 additional markets using ratings and reviews

Brother International Europe is a global supplier of technology solutions. It helps businesses deliver greater productivity and efficiency through documentation, digitization, collaboration, and mobile work solutions. The company prides itself on its “At your side” policy, which means it places its customers first everywhere, every time. Not to mention, providing them with superior value by creating high-quality products and services. Brother International partners with Bazaarvoice to deliver on this promise to put customers and their voices first.

“We realize that the voice of the customer is absolutely crucial,” said Luc Godard, Head of European Marketing and CSR Officer at Brother. “It’s the most critical type of information that we can share and communicate to other customers.”

Getting lost in translation

Demand for Brother’s products has increased over the past few years (especially with work-from-home becoming a new norm), and the company has been expanding its presence across Europe over the recent years. Today, Brother has a presence in more than 30 countries in Europe.

During this expansion, the Brother team realized they needed a way to share customer experiences in several languages across all of the countries they have a presence in, and they knew Bazaarvoice could help. Brother uses Bazaarvoice’s translation services to make reviews transcend borders.

“Customers expect to read other customers’ recommendations no matter which language they are in, so reviews need to be accessible and translated,” said Godard. “It’s 10 times better to have 100 reviews about a product from different perspectives and backgrounds than just one review in someone’s native language. People see the credibility based on the volume of reviews and the diversity of the volume.”

Always put the customer first

Brother’s partnership with Bazaarvoice helps the brand understand more about its customers and their experience with Brother’s products. They’ve found that a lot of customers come to Brother’s website to research their products and services before buying, whether from Brother itself or one of their business partners.

Once the Bazaarvoice technology platform captures product reviews on behalf of Brother and channel partners, the content is moderated, syndicated, and displayed on partner sites. Brother also uses reviews as a way to engage with customers who leave feedback.

“If you demonstrate your intent and that you’re willing to support the customers who leave not-so-great reviews, it gives you more credibility. People were not born yesterday. They know that a 3-star review can always happen, but when you see a manufacturer respond to that review, it shows that they care. That has far more value than just all 5-star reviews,” said Godard.

10,000+ reviews across Europe and growing

Today, Brother has about 26,000 product reviews on its website, and that number is growing every month. It’s found that reviews create a more engaging experience for customers on the site. In fact, those who interact with reviews are twice as likely to click on the “Find a store” call-to-action, and they spend 3X longer on the site.

The Brother team also uses Bazaarvoice to capture actionable insights that help it to improve products and develop future strategies.

The company uses quotes from reviews in its social media posts and has seen impressive click-through rates when they do. In the future, Brother will further promote user testimonials from reviews in other marketing materials.

“The customer’s experience doesn’t stop when they simply purchase the product; it’s about the journey,” said Caroline Faulkner, Senior Digital Technical Coordinator at Brother. “When a customer owns one of our products, we hope that they will keep it for a long time, and whenever they decide to buy another one, we want to make sure we remain top of mind. Reviews and insights help us do that.”

The company also looks forward to continuing its relationship with Bazaarvoice and learning from other companies in our network.

“The range of the Bazaarvoice network has been helpful to us,” said Faulkner. “We get to hear from other companies at roundtables. Some have challenges that are very different from ours and some have challenges very similar to ours, but all of those conversations help us to evolve and grow.”

Learn more about how ratings and reviews help brands amplify the voice of the customer. Get started here.