Customer Engagement Agencies shaking
up the Marketing Industry
Alterian Partners see dramatic improvement in ROI
through adopting a Customer Engagement model
London – 25 August 09 – Alterian
(LSE:ALN), the leading international integrated marketing
platform provider, today announced that its partners are seeing
dramatic improvements in marketing success and return on investment
through adopting a Customer Engagement model to their marketing
outreach. Three UK based Alterian partners that are leading the
sector are Marketing
Databasics (MDB), Targetbase Claydon
Heeley (TBCH) and RAPP.
Through recognising a need to change their marketing model, and how
to successfully conduct a customer engagement campaign, they are
all seeing significant results.
"Traditional marketing as we know it is dead" said James
Eiloart, senior vice president sales, UK, Europe and Asia Pacific,
Alterian. "Across our partner base we are seeing an increased focus
on customer engagement. Engaging with customers in a two-way
dialogue, connecting online and offline channels within an
analytics framework, and fully measuring the value of each
individual customer is the way of the future. We feel that this
'revolution' in marketing calls for a revolution in the strategies
of the providers of services to marketers and we are proud to say
that three of the market leaders are Alterian partners." Eiloart
continues, "in particular the work that Marketing Databasics,
Targetbase Claydon Heeley and RAPP are doing is
revolutionising the market and they can only be described as true
leaders in the space."
Steve Grout, Targetbase Claydon Heeley UK CEO, sees this
revolution is driven by technology, "The change we are seeing is a
result of the connected world around us. With social networks and
the emergence of web and GPS enabled mobile phones, people are now
always online and always contactable by friends, family and
brands." In particular, Grout sees this as the natural way for
marketing agencies to move, "The great thing about customer
engagement is that it can it fit into people's existing business
models. We are moving from TV to Youtube, social networking
and the rest, agencies have moved from a mass broadcast model to
one where they are engaging with people on an individual basis. The
only barrier we see to this becoming ubiquitous is an agency's
thinking and vision."
One Alterian partner agency using their vision to realise some
dramatic increases in return on investment is MDB. One Alterian
partner agency using their vision to realise some dramatic
increases in return on investment is MDB. Mark Robinson, Managing
Director, MDB can reveal, "Our vision is true customer engagement
via multi-channel marketing optimisation where data and insight
really drive improvements in ROI. Typically, incremental ROIs
from optimised customer engagement has been in the region of an
20-40% improvement across the marketing budget. This dramatic
increase is due to better use of all channels, more immediacy of
contact and more appropriate contact; the customer feels like they
are part of an intelligent conversation. This can only be achieved
by having a holistic view of the customer across all the
touchpoints. Our key goal in using a customer engagement
based approach is to increase sales whilst making the marketing
budget more efficient. With the results we have seen so far we can
most definitely say that has been achieved."
MDB was placed as a leader in the Forrester Wave™ for UK
Database Marketing Service Providers, Q2, 2009. The report notes
that MDB "…receive general praise from its clients, especially
related to account management, proactive service and client
intimacy." Commenting on the report, Robinson continued "we were
delighted with such positive feedback. At the end of the day,
our goal is to add significant value to the client relationship
through data, insight and innovation. As channels become more
diverse, keeping on top of the customer interactions is key.
One of our clients has seen project investment in customer
engagement pay back over five times within a year, and the savings
will of course be ongoing. In times of recession this sort of
efficiency allows the client to leap ahead of the competition by
driving appropriate and timely contacts across their marketing
programs."
Gavin Hilton, Head of Strategic Planning, RAPP agrees and thinks
that the future lies in effective customer engagement. "People are
starting to edit their brand choices. They are looking for brands
that they trust and can associate with their values," says Hilton.
"We were a very traditional direct marketing agency up until about
10 – 12 years ago and remain very data driven, but now we recognise
that customer engagement is the way of the future and, as we come
out of the economic downturn, customer engagement will become a
prerequisite."
Hilton acknowledges that to be effective in customer engagement
it is not just a matter of saying you will change; agencies need to
look at how they operate and adjust their business model
accordingly. "To be effective in this space we realised we had to
switch models to become a quality, value add strategy provider. We
needed to fully understand who our audience is and what they do.
You have to think about measurement in a holistic way." Hilton
concludes, "If you do this right you can see dramatic ROI from
customer engagement." RAPP's efforts were also commented on in the
Forrester Wave™ for UK Database Marketing Service Providers, with
their "...strong strategy, analytics, creative, and execution and
fulfilment capabilities" placing them as one of the leaders in the
market.
Results like those being seen by Marketing Databasics ,
Targetbase Claydon Heeley and RAPP, in the UK are also being seen
in other markets around the world. One country seeing a similar
change in the industry is the US.
About Alterian
Alterian (LSE: ALN) empowers organizations to create relevant,
effective and engaging experiences with their audience that help
build value and reinforce commitment to their brand, through the
use of the Alterian
Integrated Marketing Platform. Alterian drives the
transformation of marketing and communications, making it practical
and cost-effective for companies to orchestrate multichannel
engagement with the individual.
Alterian's unprecedented integration of analytics, content and
execution through industry leading tools, such as the Dynamic
Messenger email platform and the award winning Content Management
solutions, enables companies to build integrated communication
strategies which create a true picture of the individual.
Alterian works with marketing services partners, system
integrators and agencies who recognize the need to plan and deliver
coordinated customer engagement services in partnership with their
clients. For more information about Alterian, products within the
Alterian Integrated Marketing Platform or Alterian's Partner
Network, visit www.alterian.com or the Alterian
blog at www.engagingtimes.com.
For more information, contact:
Matt Lambert
Bite PR
+44 (0)20 8741 1123
matt.lambert@bitepr.com
Karen
Gibbons
Alterian
+44 (0)117 970 3200
karen.gibbons@alterian.com