As you can see from Jeremiah's post below, our 2009 Marketing Forum is up and running in Orlando, Florida,  with Shar VonBoskirk kicking off proceedings with (after lifting the audience with a resounding rendition of “M I C K E Y M O U S E!” – well, they are at the Disney Resort!) a keynote addressing how marketers affected by the recession, across the globe, need to treat their online planning and strategy teams as core parts of their business planning, taking account of the advantages of more accountable marketing channels. She urged marketers not to be stifled by the idea that a recession is a bad time to innovate; on the contrary, as interactive marketing channels continue to grow strongly, now is a great time to take innovative steps to reach consumers across online channels, with far less risk than many marketers perceive.

More experts from the likes of Microsoft, Starbucks and iProspect take the stage on Friday to share their insights into how to get the best value out of interactive marketing in a recession.

The Forum is being held in the US, but the recession is an equal reality in Europe, and European marketers are faced with the same challenges – how to get the best out of their marketing spend, how to take advantage of the flexibility and measurability of interactive channels, and how to best reach and talk to consumers also feeling the bite of the downturn. Marketers struggle with understanding how they can identify key consumers in their European target countries, what technologies to use to reach them, and how to innovate, say using social media, to make a brand stand out from the crowd?

We at Forrester talk to hundreds of European clients a year about these, and other, marketing problems. For example. we have recently worked with a major European online brand about repositioning the brand in the light of consumer’s changing online behaviours, looking at both consumer behaviour data from our own Consumer Technographics surveys as well as strategic insight into how consumers use online content, and how they research/buy products online.

If you are a marketer looking for help with such issues, please do reach out to me here at rjennings@forrester.co.uk. We have analysts in Europe, the US and Asia, ready to help.

 

Participate In Our Research

Want to see how your Interactive Marketing budget plan compares with that of your peers?  Interested to see if you have the same view of Social Media as others in your role?  We're conducting a survey of Interactive Marketers and we need your help!  If you know about your company's Interactive Marketing or Social Media strategies, please take our short survey!

In exchange for your participation, we offer the following:

Your choice of one of three complimentary research pieces immediately upon your completion.

A spreadsheet with the aggregate results when the research is complete.

A copy of the research based on the data we collect.

The survey is quick (10 to 15 minutes), we only publish responses in aggregate, and we respect your privacy.  We'll be running it until the end of the year, but please take the survey as soon as possible.  Feel free to spread the word to your colleagues and peers as well!

If you have any questions, please contact me directly:  tcummings@forrester.com

Thanks!

Tom Cummings
Researcher, Interactive Marketing
tcummings@forrester.com

P.S. This is a separate survey from the Customer Reference Survey by Laura Ramos and Merv Adrian that is posted below.  If you've already participated in that one, you are more than welcome to participate in this one, and vice versa!

Reebok's "Run Easy" Creates A Movement, Not A Campaign

Reebok and its agency Carat shared the details of their "Run Easy" campaign -- a multichannel effort to create a movement in running.

The situation: Reebok has strong brand recognition, but a much smaller share of sales than competitors.  Reebok wanted to create a perception that running was for everyone, not just for the elite, a very different message than competitive positioning.  Reebok also believed that to do this well, they needed to create a *movement* around running.  It wouldn't work to try to motivate people around running just with a few outbound campaigns.

The approach: Creating a movement is different than creating a campaign.  In fact, Reebok used an approach somewhat contrary to how traditional media efforts are developed.  They seeded their market with the "run easy" idea in advance of a large media blitz.  Then they used media to further interest in the idea and enroll people in the movement.  And last they spread the message through in-person events and viral elements in order to drive participation and encourage the community to spread the word on Reebok's behalf.

From my perspective the primary lessons to take away from Reebok's effort, are:

1) To think differently about how you use available media.  Even if you aren't able to adopt alot of new tools, shaking up how you use your existing arsenal can make a huge difference.  In this case, Reebok used television after the word was already out around "run easy."  Instead of announcing a new brand identity, television confirmed that "run easy" was a serious movement and directed people who were interested to destinations where they could learn more.

2) Involve your audience in your media plan.  You've heard Forrester talk already about "ceding control of your brand to your customer."  This example shows where Reebok actually ceded control of what media and what messages they used to the people who were participating in their movement.  Reebok's users created valuable marketing tools like running maps, testimonials, images of them and their friends running easy.  And Reebok users determined what media Reebok should use.  Reebok bought on and offline properties based on how and where their users RAN, not just how they consumed media.

BIMA Event Yields Some Exceptional IM Examples

I'm just back from the Fourth Annual Cross Media Forum put on by BIMA, the Boston Interactive Media Association, a MITX organization.  I thought the depth of content from the event was exceptional.  It included:

• A keynote by Nick Johnson, the VP of Digital Multimedia Sales for NBC Universal.  Nick spoke about NBC's success with the Beijing Olympics.
• A panel featuring four case studies:
  1) Reebok -- Creating a Movement In Running,
  Keith Lusby, VP Global Client DIrector, Carat
  Eugene Buono, Creative Director, Carat
  Dan Wiseman, Reebok Performance Marketing, Reebok
  2) National Grid 2008 "Power of Action" Campaign
  Drayton Martin, SVP Group Account Director, Mullen
  Gina Romani Preziosa, VP, Associate Director Digital Media, Mullen
  Edward Watz, Manager, Internal Communication, National Grid
  3) Liberty Mutual, The Responsibility Project
  Seb Maitra, SVP Group Media Director, Hill Holiday
  Neal Hughlett, VP Creative Director, Hill Holiday
  4) Re-launch of Tufts Mediacal Center
  Brooke Tyson Hynes, VP, Public Affairs and communications, Tufts Medical Center
  Cindy McKnight, Director, Contact planning, PARTNERS+simons.

I came out of the event feeling quite proud of the work going on from local agencies.  These cases had some great examples of integrated marketing and most leveraged social media tools to really foster community as the primary part of the campaign.  I'm going to write up the specifics of each of the cases in subsequent blog posts just to dedicate some deserving attention to each one.

Interactive Marketing Maturity Research

[Posted by Shar VanBoskirk]

I’m launching a quant study to fuel two pieces of research: 1) The first is focused on identifying the levels of maturity among interactive marketers across industries. When finished this report will define the different interactive marketing maturity levels, the characteristics of firms at each level, and also present a roadmap for growing from lower to higher levels of maturity; and 2) The Interactive Marketing Channels To Watch in 2008. This piece is an update to our annual study examining which interactive tools marketers are using, piloting or planning to pilot in 2008. We’d love your input on this study. If you or one of your colleagues is involved with interactive channels (e.g. email marketing, search marketing, display ads, social networking, blogs, widgets, mobile) we would love your input in our research. Take the survey here. We’ll send you a copy of the research when it becomes available. Thanks in advance for your contribution!

Omniture continues to extend its execution capabilities

Omniture acquires yet another solution to complement a growing application set for interactive marketers. Last week Omniture announced that it was acquiring Offermatica. I can’t say that I am surprised by the announcement. Omniture had signaled its intent to aggressively pursue its vision of an integrated solution for online marketing with its acquisitions of Touch Clarity and the announcements of SearchCenter and the Genesis platform in the last year. At that time we thought it was a good idea but Omniture needed to – 1)integrate multiple acquisitions 2) handle a large and growing network of partners and 3) learn to compete in new markets. While these imperatives remain true today, two additional themes become particularly relevant. The need to: 1) harmonize the platform around one single data collection and optimization engine and 2) convince the partner network that they intend to collaborate on integrating their tools. The second theme is particularly challenging – What signals is Omniture sending its burgeoning partner network when it cherry picks point solutions like Offermatica? How do they execute an aggressive acquisition plan while nurturing relationships with other innovative optimization and online marketing partners? Their chances of succeeding as a online suite will depend on their ability to rationalize the redundant technologies and extend their solutions organically and through the partner network.

Tags: interactive marketing, optimization :: Add to del.icio.us

What North American banks can learn from Europe

Cliff Condon, Head of Research for Forrester's Marketing & Strategy cohort, gave Finance Forum attendees an eye-opening look into European online banking trends.  Cliff happens to be the perfect person to deliver this cross-cultural perspective, originally from Boston and having lived in Amsterdam for the past seven years, working in the financial services industry on both sides of the Atlantic.  His charge to the audience:  benchmark globally, differentiate locally.

Europe's leading innovators are ahead of the game in three areas:

• Online experiences.  In particular, Northern Europe has higher adoption of online banking vs. Southern Europe.  Postbank (DE) and Nationwide (UK) are both providing more information to customers which enhances their experience.
• Mobile strategies.  No surprise here; 85% of Europeans own a mobile phone.  First Direct (UK) and Rabobank (NL) are using SMS to deliver timely, relevant information and reduce operating expenses.
• Cross-channel integration.  Trends similar to the US here for online research and offline transacting.  Danske Bank (DK) and ABN-AMRO (NL) offer online tools and functionality that support more valuable in-branch experiences.  These banks have also taken steps online to humanize the digital experience.

It's clear that companies need to look for innovation not only outside their industry, but also across the world.  Global best practices are the perfect way to differentiate a local offering.

Customer Advocacy 2007: USAA wins again

This morning at Forrester's Finance Forum, Bill Doyle released the results of how consumers rate their financial institutions on customer advocacy:

"the perception that a firm does what's best for its customers, not just the firm's bottom line."

Why does customer advocacy matter? Our research shows that it's the strongest predictor of future purchase intent - even more so than customer satisfaction.

For the fourth straight year, USAA has finished with the highest rating in our research.  Insurers in general did well as a group; large banks languish in the bottom third of the list.  The full report shows where 52 other brands ended up; I recently published a case study on USAA's culture as well.

Fidelity Investments: Moving beyond customer satisfaction

Fidelity Brokerage Company has over $1,900,000,000,000 $1,770,000,000,000 in assets under management administration.  With success like that, you can imagine they've learned a thing or two about customer service.  But some of the best insight from today's Q&A session between Bill Doyle and Ellyn McColgan was where Fidelity is moving beyond customer satisfaction:  customer success.

What is customer success?  Not being satisfied with how well you did yesterday and looking in the opposite direction:  thinking about how an individual can reach a goal.  Success is not only a number but also a series of choices and Fidelity intends to help customers make the next best choice at each step along the way.  For example, you call in and want to open an IRA.  They should ask if you have a 401(k) at work - and if you're taking advantage of any employer match.  If so, after you've maximized that option, then opening an IRA is your next best choice.

In Ellyn's view, most consumers are setting goals with four big factors in mind:  buying a house, educating children, planning for retirement, and taking care of elderly parents.  Starting with investors and offering products to help them make next best decisions on the way means customer success, both for the individual and the company.

Looking forward, Ellyn sees 3 major changes for the brokerage industry in the next 10 years:

- Fee structures change to account for "de-cumulation," i.e. distribution of wealth
- Globalization - wealth is increasingly created outside of the U.S.
- Entitlements - system needs to change or else there won't be money left to invest in anything.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Fidelity media relations for the fact checks, as noted above.

Turning Customer Experience Into A Competitive Weapon

Bruce Temkin delivered this morning's opening keynote at Forrester's Finance Forum in New York.  New Forrester research with American Banker indicates that 97% of banking executives indicate that focusing on customer experience is important to competitiveness over the next three years.

A great way to think about customer experience (CXP)?  It's a production, just like a movie.  Successful firms practice "experienced-based differentiation" based on three key areas.

1. Obsess about customer needs, not product features.  For example, Disney mobile and Best Buy's Geek Squad.
2. Reinforce brands with every interaction, not just communications.  I.e. make promises and keep promises.  For example, Westpac Bank.
3. Treat customer experience as a competence, not a function.  E.g. Pret A Manger's manager hiring process.  Dell's call center monitoring.  British Telecom's front line immersion.

So how do you get started?  Take the experience-based differentiation self-test.  Consider hiring a Chief Customer Officer.  Start a customer listening/VOC program.