I just returned from the Graph Expo show at McCormick Place in Chicago. First of all, you wouldn't know that the economy is "suffering". The place was packed. Not sure if anyone was buying anything, but it was packed nonetheless.
Anyhow, the big buzz at the show was cross-media solutions. I visited many of the vendors and sat in on a seminar on the subject. What I found out was that cross-media is being defined as the integration of direct mail, email and PURLs (personalized URL's) into one application solution. You create the direct mail piece and the email header with the same look and feel. You then publish PURLs to the content of those two media and send the recipient to a personalized landing page (otherwise known as a micro-site). All of this is tracked and triggered based upon logical steps determined by the recipients action. The end-game report gives the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) some datapoints to sink his/her teeth into to determine next steps in the strategic marketing picture.
OK...sounds pretty cool and all that. However, these so-called cross-media application solutions are missing quite a few other media. I think the software developer that can integrate more than just the "big three" media will be onto something extremely big.
How would you define Cross-Media Solutions? I'd like to hear your comments...
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
MoD and HVAC Units - PART 2
If you recall, I posted a blog on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 about an AC filter that I bought for my home AC unit. It had an email reminder option that I filled out and waited to see if they'd send me a reminder. Well, just the other day, I received an email from the company. It read:
Hello Bob,
It's that time of year again. Yep, you guessed it, time to change your air filter. (Remember, changing your filter regularly saves energy because your heating/cooling system is running more efficiently.)
Last time you purchased our MERV 7 Basic air filter, size 20x25x1 at Home Depot. If you would like better protection for your family of airborne allergens and pollutants check out our Allergen Protection™ MERV 11 or Ultra Air™ MERV 12 -Our Finest Filter.
We really appreciate your business, Adam. Which reminds us; if you'd like more information about our products or have any questions, you can always give us a call toll free at 1-888-808-9100 or email salesinfo@trueblue.com.
Thanks much, Your friends at True Blue
Nice email reminder. The only problem is that it came two months too late. The reminder I received two months ago was the banging at 3 a.m. because the filter was blocked with dust, etc. Oh well, they tried. Nice concept when it works properly.
Hello Bob,
It's that time of year again. Yep, you guessed it, time to change your air filter. (Remember, changing your filter regularly saves energy because your heating/cooling system is running more efficiently.)
Last time you purchased our MERV 7 Basic air filter, size 20x25x1 at Home Depot. If you would like better protection for your family of airborne allergens and pollutants check out our Allergen Protection™ MERV 11 or Ultra Air™ MERV 12 -Our Finest Filter.
We really appreciate your business, Adam. Which reminds us; if you'd like more information about our products or have any questions, you can always give us a call toll free at 1-888-808-9100 or email salesinfo@trueblue.com.
Thanks much, Your friends at True Blue
Nice email reminder. The only problem is that it came two months too late. The reminder I received two months ago was the banging at 3 a.m. because the filter was blocked with dust, etc. Oh well, they tried. Nice concept when it works properly.
Web to Print Among Swiss Printers
I thought I'd go International for a change. I saw this comment on www.printplanet.com. It seems the Swiss print community is not yet sold on proactive launching of web to print solutions for their businesses. See for yourself;
Comment from PrintPlanet:
I thought you might be interested in hearing about a survey conducted earlier this year in Switzerland by the Swiss portal www.mediaforum.ch. To my astonishment, the majority of the 200+ printers who responded do not seem to see web-to-print systems as a priority. For the most part, they are content to wait for requests from customers before considering a system. When asked “Should printers offer their customers web-to-print solutions?” only 29% said that printers should do so “as soon as possible.” The answers of the other 71% ranged from “Only if a customer expresses a need for it” to “No, there’s no market for it.”
Do printers in the United States feel the same way about web to print? What are you hearing out there?
Comment from PrintPlanet:
I thought you might be interested in hearing about a survey conducted earlier this year in Switzerland by the Swiss portal www.mediaforum.ch. To my astonishment, the majority of the 200+ printers who responded do not seem to see web-to-print systems as a priority. For the most part, they are content to wait for requests from customers before considering a system. When asked “Should printers offer their customers web-to-print solutions?” only 29% said that printers should do so “as soon as possible.” The answers of the other 71% ranged from “Only if a customer expresses a need for it” to “No, there’s no market for it.”
Do printers in the United States feel the same way about web to print? What are you hearing out there?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Improved Customer Service with MOD
Or, should I call it Customer Service On Demand?
I recently saw a web-to-print portal that had integrated live chat icons into the web pages via HTML code. It allowed the end user to access a live operator via a chat icon embedded into the page. What made it "work", was that I could chat with a Customer Service Rep at each step along the buying process. It wasn't just placed under the "Customer Support" page. This company was allowing me to access a Customer Support Rep "on-demand". Check it out at http://www.excelprintingandmailing.com/. This is a clear example of "on-demand" blending Marketing and Customer Support.
Nice...
I recently saw a web-to-print portal that had integrated live chat icons into the web pages via HTML code. It allowed the end user to access a live operator via a chat icon embedded into the page. What made it "work", was that I could chat with a Customer Service Rep at each step along the buying process. It wasn't just placed under the "Customer Support" page. This company was allowing me to access a Customer Support Rep "on-demand". Check it out at http://www.excelprintingandmailing.com/. This is a clear example of "on-demand" blending Marketing and Customer Support.
Nice...
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Future of Marketing - Great Article (so I'm told)!
The Future of Marketing
By Adam D. Edelman
Today’s business environment is being driven by technology and relationships. Technology seems to be driven by computers and the Internet. Relationships seem to be driven by trust. Have we come far enough to say that we trust technology? The first step in developing a trusting relationship is to reach out and connect. That connection, some call it Marketing, is readily accomplished through technology. The circle seems complete. Or does it?
The challenge with today’s Marketing initiatives is getting our hands around all the different and exciting ways to connect, so that we begin to form those trusting relationships. The marketing mix is definitely out there. Let’s mention a few; direct mail (both shotgun and personalized), email blasts, streaming video, interactive and personalized URLs, outbound and inbound call campaigns (both live and automated), online promotions, interactive telepromotions, mailing list generation, online surveys, telesurveys, radio, mobile text messages, the list goes on…
The future of Marketing will most definitely evolve into a true melding of technology and relationships. The Internet, accompanied by the interactive marketing movement, will make that evolution successful. Picture this scenario…
You’re a Marketing Manager for a nationwide manufacturer of widgets. You are given a project that entails coordinating a National Marketing Campaign for over 2500 dealers. How in the world do you launch and track all the different marketing mediums and then determine if they actually work across your 2500 widget dealers? Now mind you, these dealers aren’t card carrying rocket scientists. They were mostly the, “Blanch get me a beer” type of widget dealers. This campaign had to be easy, intuitive and most of all, cost effective. There are so many direct and supporting marketing mediums in this new age of technology. How do you make direct mail work intelligently with email? How do you make email work intelligently with private-branded, interactive web sites? How do you make those web sites trigger an outbound call campaign? How do you track the inbound calls that the direct mail and email generated? How do you fit radio and cable TV commercials into all of this? Or do you? Oh, by the way, make sure you keep the brand image and all the corporate creative assets in line and on message. Why do Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s) only have an average lifespan of less than two years? Is it the lack of metrics and proper accountability? Is it the lack of their ability to think strategically and work holistically? What if there was a way to address all these logistical challenges?
We are living in a period that has produced extremely talented business resources. The global economy has a wealth of software and database architects, engineers and developers. There are going to be talented, visionary leaders that will figure out the logistics of this “marketing meld”. The ideal answer to the above scenario might look something like this…
There will be a back-end, administrative web portal that the Marketing Manager (let’s call him Joe) logs into. Joe will be able to set up a private, manufacturer branded web portal for the dealers to access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Joe would then set up and name a marketing campaign. This campaign will be modular in nature, allowing Joe to assign specific marketing medium to the campaign. One campaign might allow the widget dealers to launch direct mail, targeted HTML email and “drop-date + 4” outbound call campaigns with pre-approved scripts. Most organizations could never coordinate this outbound call campaign to 10,000 direct mail recipients in a timely manner. But if this marketing platform is integrated with a Mid-West, accent neutral call center, we have another story on our hands, yes? Another campaign might have personalized direct mail with an inbound telepromotions number on the direct mail piece. The database on the platform will be set up to have recorded messages from local sports personalities based upon the toll-free number on the card. Add a PIN to the direct mail piece with a chance to win and suddenly your response rate skyrockets. These marketing mediums, which have already been integrated into the physical Marketing-On-Demand platform, will then be “published” to the manufacturer’s branded web portal. These web portals are the entrance way to widget dealer nirvana. This whole process will maintain the company’s brand logos, color schemes, fonts, content message and any legalize that is required. Joe the Marketer can set up the branded web site and the different campaigns prior to the actual campaign launch date. The automation will kick-in at the assigned launch time. The widget dealers are happy (they don’t have to think), Joe the Marketer is happy (he’s playing golf), the customer only receives information that reflects their buying needs and the CFO, CMO, etc. are able to access online daily, weekly and monthly reports showing the effectiveness of each marketing medium. All the metrics and data are “plugged into” the manufacturer’s legacy Accounting, Customer Relationship and Inventory Management systems. This integration allows the “C-Men” to make the proper strategic decisions in a more timely fashion. The best part of this whole scenario is that the platform is being accessed through a centralized, secure, multiple firewall protected, carrier grade data center. The scenario becomes a business expense, not a capital expenditure and the end result is a dynamic, revenue generating business tool. This scenario is going to happen in the very near future. Technology and Relationships demand so.
Adam Edelman is the President of Refined Technology Solutions, Inc. He can be reached at adam@refinedtechnology.com or by phone at 443-310-8777.
By Adam D. Edelman
Today’s business environment is being driven by technology and relationships. Technology seems to be driven by computers and the Internet. Relationships seem to be driven by trust. Have we come far enough to say that we trust technology? The first step in developing a trusting relationship is to reach out and connect. That connection, some call it Marketing, is readily accomplished through technology. The circle seems complete. Or does it?
The challenge with today’s Marketing initiatives is getting our hands around all the different and exciting ways to connect, so that we begin to form those trusting relationships. The marketing mix is definitely out there. Let’s mention a few; direct mail (both shotgun and personalized), email blasts, streaming video, interactive and personalized URLs, outbound and inbound call campaigns (both live and automated), online promotions, interactive telepromotions, mailing list generation, online surveys, telesurveys, radio, mobile text messages, the list goes on…
The future of Marketing will most definitely evolve into a true melding of technology and relationships. The Internet, accompanied by the interactive marketing movement, will make that evolution successful. Picture this scenario…
You’re a Marketing Manager for a nationwide manufacturer of widgets. You are given a project that entails coordinating a National Marketing Campaign for over 2500 dealers. How in the world do you launch and track all the different marketing mediums and then determine if they actually work across your 2500 widget dealers? Now mind you, these dealers aren’t card carrying rocket scientists. They were mostly the, “Blanch get me a beer” type of widget dealers. This campaign had to be easy, intuitive and most of all, cost effective. There are so many direct and supporting marketing mediums in this new age of technology. How do you make direct mail work intelligently with email? How do you make email work intelligently with private-branded, interactive web sites? How do you make those web sites trigger an outbound call campaign? How do you track the inbound calls that the direct mail and email generated? How do you fit radio and cable TV commercials into all of this? Or do you? Oh, by the way, make sure you keep the brand image and all the corporate creative assets in line and on message. Why do Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s) only have an average lifespan of less than two years? Is it the lack of metrics and proper accountability? Is it the lack of their ability to think strategically and work holistically? What if there was a way to address all these logistical challenges?
We are living in a period that has produced extremely talented business resources. The global economy has a wealth of software and database architects, engineers and developers. There are going to be talented, visionary leaders that will figure out the logistics of this “marketing meld”. The ideal answer to the above scenario might look something like this…
There will be a back-end, administrative web portal that the Marketing Manager (let’s call him Joe) logs into. Joe will be able to set up a private, manufacturer branded web portal for the dealers to access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Joe would then set up and name a marketing campaign. This campaign will be modular in nature, allowing Joe to assign specific marketing medium to the campaign. One campaign might allow the widget dealers to launch direct mail, targeted HTML email and “drop-date + 4” outbound call campaigns with pre-approved scripts. Most organizations could never coordinate this outbound call campaign to 10,000 direct mail recipients in a timely manner. But if this marketing platform is integrated with a Mid-West, accent neutral call center, we have another story on our hands, yes? Another campaign might have personalized direct mail with an inbound telepromotions number on the direct mail piece. The database on the platform will be set up to have recorded messages from local sports personalities based upon the toll-free number on the card. Add a PIN to the direct mail piece with a chance to win and suddenly your response rate skyrockets. These marketing mediums, which have already been integrated into the physical Marketing-On-Demand platform, will then be “published” to the manufacturer’s branded web portal. These web portals are the entrance way to widget dealer nirvana. This whole process will maintain the company’s brand logos, color schemes, fonts, content message and any legalize that is required. Joe the Marketer can set up the branded web site and the different campaigns prior to the actual campaign launch date. The automation will kick-in at the assigned launch time. The widget dealers are happy (they don’t have to think), Joe the Marketer is happy (he’s playing golf), the customer only receives information that reflects their buying needs and the CFO, CMO, etc. are able to access online daily, weekly and monthly reports showing the effectiveness of each marketing medium. All the metrics and data are “plugged into” the manufacturer’s legacy Accounting, Customer Relationship and Inventory Management systems. This integration allows the “C-Men” to make the proper strategic decisions in a more timely fashion. The best part of this whole scenario is that the platform is being accessed through a centralized, secure, multiple firewall protected, carrier grade data center. The scenario becomes a business expense, not a capital expenditure and the end result is a dynamic, revenue generating business tool. This scenario is going to happen in the very near future. Technology and Relationships demand so.
Adam Edelman is the President of Refined Technology Solutions, Inc. He can be reached at adam@refinedtechnology.com or by phone at 443-310-8777.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Different name for the same rose
I saw an interesting article in my DigitalPrint360.com e-newsletter this morning. It spoke about Multi-Channel Communications: Understanding Benefits. It was written by InfoTrends. It talks about understanding the benefits that "multi-channel" solutions can provide print producers. The article is not rocket science. It's really about stepping outside the print producer comfort zone to realize that there are enormous revenue opportunities within "multi-channel" solutions and services.
It seems if every print producer out there would hire a Technology Marketing Consultant; someone who understands how marketing and technology integrate together, they could reap the revenue stream all the way to the bank.
How easy is it to step outside that comfort zone? Let me know what you think.
It seems if every print producer out there would hire a Technology Marketing Consultant; someone who understands how marketing and technology integrate together, they could reap the revenue stream all the way to the bank.
How easy is it to step outside that comfort zone? Let me know what you think.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
I'm seeing more and more articles like this...
The Shift from Print Service Provider to Marketing Service Provider
The traditional print manufacturing business has become increasingly price-driven, and print service providers need new ways to drive profitability. As a print service provider (PSP) in today’s market, you must change your mindset and begin thinking of yourself as a marketing service provider (MSP) to compete effectively. Today’s printers must extend their services beyond print manufacturing and into the communications business to help their customers facilitate the process of sharing information.
Customized Communications: The New Frontier
Customized communications solutions can have a major impact on marketing effectiveness. Today’s marketing professionals face the conflicting challenges of new distribution channels, a 24/7 global economy, pressure to deliver identifiable ROI (return on investment), and the need to deal with rapidly changing technologies. Marketers must effectively and efficiently segment their markets, attract new customers, support multiple distribution channels, identify opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling, and maximize the lifetime value of each customer.
The Customized Communications Continuum
InfoTrends has identified six segments under the customized communications umbrella. Each segment varies in functionality, complexity, required skill sets, and price, thus creating the customized communications continuum. The further up and to the right you go on the red axis, the more complex the solution becomes. The degree of sophistication and value-add opportunity also increases substantially.
· Entry-Level Variable Data: Incorporate simple name and address information as well as some targeted images and text to produce a unique piece for each recipient.
· Web-to-Print: Describes a browser-based application that facilitates commerce, collaboration, and/or customer service interaction between those who buy print products and those who sell them. Common functions of Web-to-print solutions include page design, order entry, job tracking, template libraries, soft proofing, and online payment.
· Advanced-Level Variable Data: Advanced-level variable data goes beyond mail merge and simple business correspondence by incorporating completely unique content based on specific, detailed profile information on each recipient.
· TransPromo Communications: These documents use the white space within billing documents, statements, and other transaction documents to deliver targeted marketing messages with full color imagery and/or highlight color text.
· Multi-Channel Marketing Communications: These applications incorporate customized and personalized content into documents that are delivered via multiple media channels including print, e-mail, Web landing pages, and micro-sites. Many tools offer tracking and measurement features for live, on-demand management and immediate measurement of campaign success and ROI.
· Enterprise Integrated Campaign Management: This concept entails a comprehensive marketing solution that incorporates customized and personalized content to deliver the right message at the right time to the right person in the right media—and fully track the results. An essential component of enterprise campaign management is ongoing live interaction with enterprise marketing systems.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The Chicken or The Egg?
Quick question...
Is it smarter to register the domain name and create the on-demand business around the name? Or, create the on-demand business and hope you find a domain name to match?
Not a difficult question, but one that has some interesting consequences. Let me know what you think.
Is it smarter to register the domain name and create the on-demand business around the name? Or, create the on-demand business and hope you find a domain name to match?
Not a difficult question, but one that has some interesting consequences. Let me know what you think.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Found a Pretty Good Online Marketing Blog
There's an online daily email I get from CityBizList (www.citybizlist.com). It highlights all the local business news in different cities across the country. They offer a few Blogs. One in particular that blends well this Blog's topic, Marketing on Demand, is by Hollis Thomases. Hollis is a nine-year industry veteran and President & CEO of WebAdvantage.net. Her Blog, Business Perspectives on Online Marketing, talks about the different types of online marketing and how they impact the overall marketing mix.
Take a look...there's alot to be learned.
Take a look...there's alot to be learned.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Marketing on Demand versus Marketing Automation
I've been hearing these two terms thrown around quite a bit lately. Is MoD an end user facing term and MA a producer, back-end administrative term? Does MA help the end user or the producer? Is MA a sub-category of MoD? I'm sure their related...but how? I'd appreciate your thoughts...
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