Alternative marketing thinking

When Google’s Eric Schmidt announced that “Corporate marketing is the last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America”, it created a stir in marketing and advertising circles. Now there’s news that Microsoft is putting together a new approach to measuring ad effectiveness of online campaigns. Beyond the last click. More from Publishing 2.0.

Forrester Research has some interesting banking observations by analysts Bill Doyle and Jost Hoppermann. “Customer Advocacy”, Doyle says, is a phenomenon among customers that firms have their best interests in mind while catering to them, and is becoming an increasingly common key driver of deeper customer relationships. Learn more on how Canadians rate their banks on customer advocacy, read the report here. Doyle also points out in another report that a class called the “Early Adopters”, or high-income technology optimists, who form the most active online bankers and investors. Among the top 10 US banks, online pioneers Citibank and JPMorgan Chase have the highest share of Early Adopters. Hoppermann brings to light how European financial services are working with enormous budgets for renewal, with the focus lying in being tactical. Read the report here.

A few months old, important nonetheless. A recent survey by Forrester and American Banker Magazine 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? It’s a production, just like a movie. Successful firms practice “experienced-based differentiation” (Read a summary of the Forrester Report) based on three key areas. Obsess about customer needs, not product features, says Forrester analyst Peter Kim. His examples, Disney mobile, with plans designed for the family  and Geek Squad . Reinforce brands with every interaction, not just communications. I.e. make promises and keep promises. For example, Westpac Bank. Treat customer experience as a competence, not a function. British sandwich chain Pret A Manger has some innovative ideas  in this space. Take the experience-based differentiation self-test . Consider hiring a Chief Customer Officer  . Start a customer listening/VOC program .

In its study, The ‘Wallet-Share’ War: Measuring Customer Value and Profitability, Aberdeen surveyed 280 companies across industries to understand how they approach customer profitability. The findings, unsurprisingly, say that best-in-class companies share the use of analytical and precision marketing tools to measure and increase customer value and profitability. While no “magic bullet” emerged as a way to manage customer value effectively, the study identifies four measurements that when analyzed together show a useful customer picture: customer retention rates, customer turnover/churn, return on marketing investment (ROMI), and customer acquisition costs. More than 7 out of 10 have implemented or are planning to implement solutions to identify and segment high-value customers. This includes customer dashboards, real-time analytics, and both descriptive and predictive statistical modeling. The study mentions Australia Post as an example of a company leveraging customer value metrics. It uses both financial (revenue) and non-financial criteria (mail volume, length of contract, cross-product purchases) to profile and group its top customers. With this insight, the organization offers flexible pricing and personalized messages to its best customers. Senior managers are responsible for the customer experience and customer profitability remains a top executive priority. Read more from 1 to 1 magazine.

Move over, Nielsen/NetRatings and ComScore - a new crop of measurement services with names such as Quantcast, Compete and Alexa have popped up, vying to provide quick and free data on a larger swath of sites. While it’s unlikely the two web-measurement giants will be unseated anytime soon, but unlike in other media, where multiple measurement companies have eventually been whittled down to one dominant player, some advertisers are cautiously welcoming the multiple audience measurement options available online. “Where ComScore and Nielsen fall down particularly is in tracking small sites,” said Harry Case, director-analytics, MindShare Interaction. He cites the example of a pharmaceutical marketer looking for condition-specific sites: “Often only two or three condition-specific sites are picked up by the syndicated research services [Nielsen/NetRatings and ComScore]. If you’re talking about trying to put together a plan for high blood pressure, it is almost impossible to understand the demographics of those sites, so we have to resort to other information.” More in AdAge.