Key Speaker: Ms. April Mullen (Senior Marketing Strategist, Selligent)

Company Intro

At the beginning of this webinar, the anchor spoke a while about the key services provided by the firm Selligent. It is an integrated engagement solution provider to conduct relationship marketing for agile clients. Its entire focus is customer based. It has a particular marketing style keeping in mind the consumer first philosophy. The following chart will better illustrate their approach vis-à-vis others’.

Listed below is the conventional marketing strategy of most players.

The Selligent approach is shown below.

Justification of Customer Experience Approach

While most companies would like to use this approach of the customer focus, most struggle with justifying the costs involved with the end result. That is why it is necessary to quote business research conducted by Forrester which clearly states that companies that are leaders in providing customer experience, tend to grow by a whopping 17% in stark contrast to laggards in this field who grow by only a paltry 3%. In another study, management consulting giant, Bain & Company has confirmed that an increase in investment by just 5% on customer servicing leads to increase in profitability by 75%. This leads to the theory of collaboration which gets a massive boost due to the customer-centric approach.

The concept of collaboration can best be understood from the following illustration:

Thus collaboration between the best of teams leads to generation of business innovations. Teams ranging from different geographical to vertical variations must be involved during collaborative sessions. Such teams could involve members from – user experience, customer service, research, product development, analytics and external agencies or consultants.

Each of these sessions are started off by quoting lines spoken by famous inspirational leaders such as Jeff Bezos of Amazon or Esteban Kolsky of Gartner.

The six steps that have been identified have been explain below.

Six Steps

These six steps are in sequential order, though not necessarily linear.

Step 1: Track Actions of Consumers

At this stage the customers’ most important high level actions need to be considered. Data needs to be collected using various processes such as focus groups, surveys, campaign responses and user experience studies. In addition to these formal channels, business intelligence must also be gauged using social media as a listening post. Credit Suisse is one organization which got this entire act the best. The whole customer action process can best be explained using the following chart:

Step 2: Plot Customer Journey

The customer has a set journey pattern. Though it is inexact and keeps evolving, an ideal circuit needs to be plotted. It may be best described as something like the following diagram:

In an ideal scenario this is what must happen, yet often that does not take place due to several inefficiencies.

Step 3: Examine Expectation v/s Reality

In the real world, it is quiet likely that the email was received at least a day after the initial website visit. In that case the digital marketing of the brand is not optimized to leverage situational advantages. This will impact on the final purchase decision as during this time lag, the customer has moved on to another product.

Step 4: Analyze Opportunity

This is the stage where the enormous quantities of data warehousing done will provide real time benefits. Tracking the usage patterns of users, personalized marketing content needs to be broadcast to the potential customer at opportune moment. Predictive analytics ought to be used for such granular analysis. Mistakes may be committed in analyzing the browsing data, but at least a start must be made.

Step 5: Get Real on Feasibility

This is something that marketers must be very careful about. No romanticizing must be done to the point where marketing plans are made without any proper end results in sight. Thus constant testing is a necessity. Prioritization must be made on which accounts are most realistic and worth chasing keeping in mind broader company perspectives.

Step 6: Plot order of Opportunities

Here the proper balance has to be struck between the Return on Investment (ROI) and the Level of Effort (LOE). A welcome programme launched to hook the customer is a good idea at the initial stage. The personalization needs to be added at future stage to cement the relationship between brand and user.

Some brands have perfected this six stage approach. Dominos Pizza for example allows the creation of a Pizza Profile for regular users, so that repeatedly same order does not need to be delivered. One can even order pizza using Twitter or even Amazon Echo device. Zulily, Wayfair and Prezi are other such prominent examples.

Forum:  http://www.selligent.com/

Event: Shared Value Strategy Summit

This summit was organized by the Shared Value Institute (SVI) which is a global think-tank to promote ethical business practices through international collaboration. The Gurugram based Institute of Competitiveness is the Indian arm which handles SVI initiatives within the country. The SVI is very particular to ascertain that it is the next stage beyond philanthropy or CSR which encompasses profit driven business practices conducted in ethical manner.

This write-up details the discussions held during this summit so that global best practices can be applied to the Indian context and business environment.

The summit began with a lavish Networking Breakfast and Tea in the morning. This enabled the delegates to get to know each other as best as possible. Many even discussed possible collaborations between their various work assignments.

Welcome Address

The welcome address was given by the host for the day – Mr. Amit Kapoor who is the Honorary Chairman of the Institute of Competitiveness. He introduced the agenda for the day and tasks which the SVI has set for itself over the next few months. He also spoke about the practices that have already been inducted through the efforts of the SVI across businesses worldwide and how the implementation of those is the need of the hour in India. Mr. Kapoor then proceeded on to introduce the speakers for the Inaugural Discussion.

Inaugural Discussion

This session consisted of 2 panel members. The panel members were as follows:

Professor Bibek Debroy

Professor Bibek Debroy remains one of India’s great economists and policy framers. As part of the Niti Aayog he is now in charge of developing plans for a lot of upcoming economic projects and their implementation. He spoke about how on governance parameters India ranks low globally. Many other countries not renowned for the same, still outperform India. However, he feels that improvement in those same parameters will reflect on how well citizens take up the cause as everything cannot be left solely to the government. As an example he cited the Consumer Protection Act and the Environment Protection Act as well as the Right to Education. All these amendments took place because the people wanted them, and not only because the policy makers felt so. The Smart City Movement has now gripped the nation and it is people who will need to step up and be counted.

Next up, Prof. Debroy spoke about the importance of bringing huge chunks of the Indian population under the radar of formal employment. He quoted a research stating that out of approximately a four hundred and fifty million strong labour force in the country, only a tenth of that number was involved in the organized sector where there was any formal employer-employee relationship. Most of the rest happened without due proper paperwork. This anomaly impedes implementation of developmental schemes. No reliable statistics exist for majority of the country. He spoke about how there is a Census only for the population and vital statistics for the country but none at the individualized local level. All data now available is at the macro level. Even the national research agency- the NSSO- is the National Sample Survey Organization, thus it’s a sample not a complete enumeration. Very few indicators are available on the health or education sectors. This is what makes the newly implemented Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC) of particular importance to the country.

Professor Debroy briefly touched upon the demonetization conundrum that has gripped the nation. He says that the majority of the pro-poor commentary tends to be in favour of the rural poor, yet in reality this segment is somewhat better served already due to the Aadhar Linkage with the bank accounts and the Jan-Dhan Yojana scheme. It is the urban poor who will probably be hit the hardest. They now need to be brought under the umbrella of the Jan-Dhan at a quick pace.

The speaker next spoke about a topic often misunderstood- the centre- state relations. He said that when people think of government in India, it is always the union government that comes first to mind, yet majority of revenue activities lie under the aegis of state governments or even local bodies. The Union government in India is most relevant for defense and foreign policy. Maximum revenue though accrues from the state and local bodies. Fiscal devolution has taken place whereby the central government has given away vast chunks of its previously held financial power in favour of the states. On this note he ended his talk as he had to rush towards another important ministry level meeting.

Mr. Justin Bakule

Mr. Bakule being one of the directors of the initiative spoke about the topics most relevant for SVI over the next few years. He feels that with landmark decisions such as Brexit and the victory of Donald Trump in the US Presidential Elections, the business community feels constrained. Business practices which have flowed across the globe irrespective of political boundaries or affiliations now feel under stress due to conservative governments taking power in major economies.

Mr. Bakule then proceeded to speak on the more positive aspects that have recently come up such as the landmark Paris Agreement. The business community has realized that philanthropy or CSR can only do incremental benefits but for real long term values, a profit driven yet ethical approach is required. That is where businesses must collaborate with the Paris Agreement to make sure the world is a better place to live in for today’s inhabitants as well as those from the future generations. Businesses need to be partners with governments as this provides long term growth opportunities. Mr. Bakule spoke about how Professor Jeffrey Sachs recently discussed the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While they have done their job commendably, the MDGs are getting updated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr. Justin Bakule cited the example of Enel which used to be just a utility provided in Italy. Utility providers aren’t historically known for any business innovations as they operate in the business of providing essential services. Yet Enel reversed the trend. They were almost forced to change their business model once state support dried up after the company turned private. They bought a utility company in Spain but even this was incremental growth and not substantial. The major change they made was in spinning of a new renewable energy outfit called Enel Green power which was providing services in Latin America, North America and the Sub-Saharan Africa. As it was a risky proposition, initially Enel Green was registered as a new company. Its entire management was overhauled. Eventually Enel Green did so well due to the innovations of its board that it became bigger than the mother company. This led to the two boards being merged having a good mix of ideators and implementers.

Citing another example, Mr. Bakule spoke about a chocolate company based in West Africa. He did not wish to name the company but said that it was involved in processing of raw cocoa to chocolate. The West African nations of Cote-d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameron and Nigeria plus the South-east Asian Indonesia produce about ninety percent of global cocoa. Yet few chocolate companies have representatives in these countries working at the grassroots. The social conditions at the farms are often pitiful yet companies are not acting tough. The company the speaker was referring to, made a tall promise of regenerating a million trees in Cote-d’Ivoire until all realized it wasn’t a tall promise at all. A million sounded a lot but it’s not even a grain in a country which has a total of nearly three billion of them. Such practices businesses must avoid and there is a lot of scope for improvement for the existing or disruptive new players.

The last example of Yarra in Tanzania is one on the positive side. Yarra is a fertilizer maker in much of East Africa but unlike the chocolate maker last cited, this company has a more holistic approach. It works at the grassroots in order to improve the lives of its workers while at the same time working itself to drive profitability. Thus the business world will engage in several key challenges over the next few years. A new world order is set to emerge where international trade may be frowned on upon but the business community needs to rise above it to collaborate together.

Panel Discussion: Shared Value Orientation as a Project or EEnterprise. What Works better? What is the best Way to identify the social / environmental need or Opportunity?

This session consisted of 7 panel members. The panel members were as follows:

Mr. David Wilcox

Mr. Wilcox was the moderator for this session. So one by one he introduced all the members of the panel to the audience speaking about their individual credentials. He lauded India’s efforts in scaling innovations unique to anywhere else in the world. He spoke about how the food industry is set to face a lot of litigation troubles over the next few years in a similar way to how cigarette companies have. This is due to false commitments made in its advertising.

Ms. Namita Vikas

This speaker began her talk by highlighting the role that banks will need to play over the next few months due to the issue of demonetization trending in the country. The impacts of that are as yet unclear but banks are doing their best to provide best of services to the people. She then spoke about the unique opportunities that mobile banking presents in the country. There is a total mobile penetration of over nine hundred million out of which four hundred million use smartphones. One hundred and fifty million people enjoy access to internet on their phones. The ‘sling sleeve’ movement is going very strong in mobile banking where inclusive growth is being targeted. There are attempts underway to include vast numbers of people into the formal banking network.

YES Bank has now taken up the project of gender financing in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This will encourage women entrepreneurs to emerge. Technological growth will continue unabated. She gave an example of inclusive financing by citing the case of Water ATMs. She believes through personal experience that when something is for free, it does not have much value nor can it prove to be sustainable. Thus water purification is being done followed by disbursal of water at six paisa per litre. The pilot project was conducted in Raigad in Maharashtra. Similarly, such initiatives were also carried out in D and E grade railway stations primarily in rural areas. Post this extensive business analysis, YES Bank has come up with a formula to measure social impact. It has been called ESROI which stands for Environmental Social Return on Investment.

Mr. Shiva Nagarajan

The CEO of Amul started out by lauding the company policy which disburses all payments through formal banking channels. As a result not one of Amul’s more than two lakh farmers within the network has faced any crunch due to the recent demonetization drive. Contrary to the usual narrative, Mr. Nagarajan surprised the audience by saying that farmers actually get great satisfaction when they see money saved safely in their bank accounts. Amul has several such practices which may seem odd at first with conventionally held profit motive organizations, but on closer inspection reveal positive outcomes to the top line. One such example is the fortification of Amul milk with Vitamin A. This leads to rise in cost of production yet it is good for people’s health and thus Amul continues to be associated with credibility in the dairy industry. In spite of so many efforts, India still faces massive malnutrition. This is an aspect all companies within the food industry need to get together to solve.

Ms. Nisha Agrawal

Like one of the earlier speakers, Ms. Nisha Agrawal too spoke about the need for the SDGs. Earlier it was understood that all social initiatives would be taken up by governments at all levels and NGOs. But now private profit motive companies are enabling partners to this scheme. There still remain more than eight hundred million each day people across the world who go hungry. The joining of hands to this initiative by private companies will go a long way in improving the lives of these people.

Mr. Girish Aivalli

This speaker directly addressed the audience by speaking about an example. He spoke about how the company Rural Agri Ventures has taken steps to leverage existing businesses to improve social welfare. In this example he spoke about the production of Barley in Rajasthan for the eventual purpose of beer production. However beyond this, the barley and its extracts which have nutritional value were also used to generate local jobs which contributed to the economy. A similar initiative was also launched in Ladakh.

Mr. Himanshu Jain

Mr. Jain spoke of his company’s work as a combination between pure business initiatives and philanthropy. He feels that an office cleaner must not be referred to as such but instead as a health technician as that person is making sure that one’s health and sanitation remains good. His company has throughout at every location tried to develop local employment opportunities or upgradation of existing jobs rather than having to relocate to big cities such as Delhi or Mumbai. Unfortunately certain jobs do not command even the basic respect in India due to the society being caste ridden.

Ms. Deirdre White

She thoroughly agrees with the SVI’s philosophy and has herself in her work moved on from philanthropy to CSR before finally settling into shared values. Unlike the other two, shared values can be integrated into the corporate strategy to aid in hard core business decision making. In fact young people today want to be involved in organizations which provide societal values. That is why talent recruitment is greatly enhanced in quality when organizations follow the path of shared values. Pro Bono strategies now work across the board, not just for specific projects.

This session was followed by a round of Networking Tea/ Coffee break where people enjoyed the beverages while striking up interesting conversations with new people.

Story Telling Session

This session consisted of 3 panel members. The panel members were as follows:

Ms. Prerna Mukharya

Ms. Prerna Mukharya began on a somber note by describing that a lot of ideas implanted in society are regressive. Also a lot of women development plans happen to be patronizing. But the ultimate idea of each such plan must be to generate social growth. It will start with a change in the mindset of the people.

Ms. Faith Gonsalves

This speaker’s organizational model is relevant to rural areas. It works especially well in government schools and low end private ones as well. Quality of education at the grassroots level is actually very poor. In spite of the excellent results attained in school exams, Indians have been known to be notoriously bad at creativity. That is why Music Basti has tried to ingrain the sense of creativity among the rural youth by using the tool of music. The programme is donor dependent yet it does not train ‘circus monkeys’ as the speaker mentioned. She in fact took a swipe at reality television programmes in this way. Teaching using arts and music is a globally accepted methodology though often treated as frivolous in India. The focus is on social and life skills. A sense of community is thus developed. Ms. Faith Gonsalves even narrated a beautiful poem penned down by one of her students who used to be homeless but now has access to a homeless shelter.

Ms. Yogita Bayana

This speaker started off by addressing that gender equality is a myth in the country. She herself has adopted a village but initially only men used to visit in the meetings. Slowly, a trickle of women started arriving starting with one in fact, But now majority of those present are women. So change can be wrought if the will stands strong. She feels that gender discrimination is promoted subconsciously from a young age in India. Her organization Kinder Joy hgas started the policy of feeding some of the people candies made out of jaggery (gur) as a lot of people are iron deficient and it is one of the best sources of the same.

Panel Discussion: Young Entrepreneurs making a difference – in Collaboration with Ashoka

This session consisted of 6 panel members. The panel members were as follows:

Ms. Neeta Misra

As the moderator for the session, she introduced all the panelists to the audience. This was a particularly special panel as the oldest member among them was twenty years old. All were young entrepreneurs or leaders who had vested their time for social upliftment of some kind. She reflected on how most people are during their teens as opposed to this bunch of highly focused youngsters.

Mr. Piyush Ghosh

Piyush feels that usually when people read news papers or watch news on TV it is always the pessimistic information that make the headlines. A lot of good things are happening around but those aren’t spoken of. So he has started a newspaper titled The Optimist Citizen in order to spread positive news. This will create a sense of positivity among people generally.

Ms. Aditi Parekh

Unlike the others here, Aditi was not the founder of this social initiative but now runs the show. Her organization promotes engagement among young people. They have programmes to educate across schools in Delhi. The programme is known as baat-cheet implying in Hindi – conversations. Changes to education system are appealed for at such sessions. She related to her own personal life of how she had grown up in a small school but after being introduced to a big CBSE school Rishi Valley, she started noticing the faultiness in society which needed to be mended.

Mr. Pritish Bhavnani

Having himself endured bullying across class levels, Pritish is a string advocate against the same in schools. He grew up in smaller towns but on moving to Gurugram and enrolling at the famed DPS in sector-45, the bullying really took off. Thus he has through his organization developed SHGs to tackle this grave problem. Flash mobs have also been arranged.

Ms. Shanti Murmu

Shanti belongs to a small place in the state of Odisha’s tribal belt. She herself belongs to one of the tribal communities and feels that there is particular neglect within her community for the women. Girls from a young age are made to feel inferior and not allowed many basic tenets which boys have full freedom to. Thus she has set out with the help of her startup to promote girl child education among tribals in Odisha state. The stopping of the practice of early marriage will be among the crucial battles in this war. Girls are kept at home during menstruation, denied basic hygiene amenities. This is extremely harmful to their long term health. Sanitation is particularly weak at those times. A lot of changes are expected due to these programme implementations.

Ms. Priya Radhakrishnan

Priya feels that young people do not have a voice and their aspirations are not addressed seriously by their elders. Through role play, her organization seeks to help the youth rise up. Social media has influenced this generation in a massive way. Arts are generally viewed as privilege in India but Priya feels they must be treated as everyday usual aspects. One of the main tenets of her organization is that any idea to be worked on must be globally acceptable but locally implementable and impactful. She feels that students have no gateway to connect with education authorities regarding examinations or curriculum. But students need to be consulted as they are the final consumers of the same.

Special Address

This session consisted of 2 panel members. The panel members were as follows:

Mr. Anurag Batra

He was the host to this session so he introduced the main guest. He referred to the guest as the ‘walking professor’ as he is fondly known as. Mr. Batra also took in the questions for the Q&A session right at the end.

Dr. Anil K. Gupta

Dr. Anil Gupta began his session by lamenting the fact that the Indian art of frugal innovation has surprisingly being tracked more by foreign MNCs than Indian companies. He feels that some of the most well endowed endure the most cynicism. Sadly, innovations are often thought of as an afterthought to be only searched for when business isn’t doing well. This kind of approach is reactive, but instead companies must be proactive enough to sniff off an opportunity before it is extinguished. He gave the example of a cycle manufacturer in Ludhiana where he went for a conference fully well prepared having gone through Honeybee data on the entire industry. He asked one of the manufacturers that what new innovation is he going to implement, so the answer came that the business was doing very well. This is a case of a business not being agile enough.

The professor then spoke about some innovative solutions his organization has brought it at various places. One of those ideas not yet implemented due to lack of institutional support is that open source educational content must be beamed direct from post offices to young students. He feels that professionals need to themselves take risks in their careers in order to train others on creativity. A risk averse individual oneself cannot deliver management training on developing creativity or imbibing innovations. Such people will not be able to execute futuristic strategies.

Dr. Gupta then proceeded on to discuss a typical failing in the society where children are treated as sink of sermons. They are forever lectured by elders on how to be perfect like themselves. This is unfair to the children who must instead be treated as source of ideas. Thus his own organization has started recognizing talents at all levels. Awards are given from class 1 onwards. Ideas are needed to be explored on how to fight off water borne diseases which are the main source of ailments. Some open source solutions need to be explored for the same.

After this session, the delegates broke off for a session of Networking Lunch. People interacted amidst a lavish multi-course menu.

Key Speaker: Ms. Nicole Perrin (Executive Editor, e-Marketer) and Mr. Mark Dolliver (Senior Analyst, e-Marketer)

Premise

It has wrongly been understood that Millennials are a single group sharing common characteristics. Yet recent observations have highlighted a growing trend of disparity between the older brackets within the group and the youngest members. The group can be considered to be for people between 18 to 39 years of age. While the younger members may still be in college, the oldest of them have already settled into family lives while some may even have children. Marketers continue to make the mistake of categorizing millennials as a single unified group, existing in their digital worlds and forever young. Yet that perception needs to change if they are to truly succeed in marketing to that audience.

Segmentation within Millennials

A lot of life processes such as stable jobs, marriage, kids or house purchase have been delayed for this generation. One of the reasons for this is the Global Recession and the Sub-prime Crisis which disrupted their lives and careers in the later part of the previous decade. This means many of them did not have stable jobs while many had to squeeze in extra efforts in order to pay off their student loans. In spite of that, by now many of them have settled down. Especially those above the age of 30, majority of them now have settled into family lives, some even with kids. On the other end of the spectrum lie the young millennials, who are below 25 years old and can more typically be pigeonholed into the usual stereotype of those forever digitally connected. Majority of them are still students and thus have not yet started family lives or parenthood. The one thing common to both these segments is the constant use of mobile and other smart devices. Digital marketing is thus easily the best way to engage with the generation overall, irrespective of segments.

Products of the Great Recession

While calling them millennial generation the product of the Great Recession maybe a tad harsh, but it must be recognized that that event and the related preceding Sub-prime crisis had a major role to play. Post the recession, millions of youngsters all across North America and in other parts of the world lost their jobs, or were unable to find jobs or got jobs way below their potential levels. This meant that millennials had a lot of unwanted free time in their hands. They used this time to explore the latest of technology enabled gadgets. This period also coincided with the launch of the mass use smartphones and tablets. Millennials also explored gig opportunities where they shifted from one project or job to another leaving them with flexibility but a lack of job security. They thus delayed most of the life processes as already highlighted. Now with the recession a thing of the past and the global economy back to something resembling normal, a lot of improvisations made during that period are proving to be a boon. While millennials explored part time jobs as a matter of need, now the trend towards freelancing has surged. Instead of going for full-time degrees due to financial insecurities, the Executive MBA or continuous learning boomed with the trend continuing to present times. The collapse of the housing market and tightening of mortgage backed loans meant that house buying was at an all time low with this generation. But that has now eased on with the market returning to normalcy.

Shift in Marketer Perceptions

Marketers must realize this change and shift their perceptions accordingly. Millennials are not all young adults anymore. A look at the spending habits and use patterns among the older segments of this group gives clear indications of the ways the demographics is set to evolve over the next few years. The student debts have now been paid off mostly, and millennials are ready to splurge on items of traditional prestige or requirement like cars, baby-care and housing. The percentage of millennials not married is reducing with statistics provided by the US Census clearly highlighting that less than a fourth of the oldest segment of millennials remained never married. Similarly, the same bureau confirms that less than a fifth of women in that age group have not had children. The figure stands at three-fourths for women aged till 24. Nearly three-fourths of those aged around 35 now own a house or condo as per marketing research firm IPSOS. Multi-tasking is no longer the preferable mode as now they tasks involve a lot of mundane family related aspects.

Social Media Use Patterns

Social media has remained an integral part of the lives of the millennials across the segments highlighted. Facebook remains the top across age levels. It has wrongly been attributed that Facebook is being deserted by the younger members, yet that is not true at all though content use may differ. For older people, Facebook is more of a means to stay connected with people, for the younger ones it is more of a recreational pattern for self expression. Facebook plays the role of a utility rather than fun element for youngsters. The mobile penetration has enabled Facebook to seamlessly intertwine with the usage patterns of millennials. Younger millennials are more hooked to Twitter than their older counterparts, yet the gap similar to Facebook is somewhat negligible. The major gap however shows up in Instagram where youngsters are far more likely to be found than the upper limits of this group. Older ones are growing their use of Instagram but the base is lower than the younger ones. By the year 2020, Instagram will be a default app wired to most people. Even more than Instagram, the gap increases when it comes to Snapchat. The recreational aspects of this social media platform are best known and this reflects the greater free time that the younger members tend to have. The fifth major platform Pinterest similar to Facebook or Twitter has less age based variation. It is ideal for creating lists and so gets used a lot for making shopping lists. It is particularly a hit among women especially mothers. An e-Marketer led business research clearly points out that Snapchat usage is for longer single durations whereas Facebook is used for more frequent but shorter bursts of time with Instagram being somewhat in between.

Smartphone Use Patterns

Typically smartphone usage is very high for the millennial group. In fact, the common stereotype continues according to which millennials stare at their neon-lit screens for long durations even while crossing busy streets. The older millennials have been using smartphones for a number of years and so for most of them, these devices are comparatively more prosaic with more functional duties. This is in stark contrast to young users who experiment with their phones, constantly trying out its new features, primarily for recreational purposes. Older users also spend a substantial time on laptops and desktops, thus reducing their time spent with smartphones or tablets where the younger ones steal a march. The overall device usage keeps differing from radio and TV to smartphones, game consoles, laptops or blue-ray devices. As an example one can cite the game Pokémon Go which featured a great usage by the younger millennials but far fewer downloads among those above 30 years of age. The former group is also hooked to sports content about their favourite teams, events or games. On the work emails survey, the older group obviously saw greater usage, but surprisingly the gap was comparatively less. Tablet usage is comparable for the two age groups, but while younger ones use them for personal purposes, the older ones are more likely to hand over tablets to their children.

Video Viewership

Traditional Television is viewed less by younger people than the older millennials, yet even for the former group, it remains the single largest usage. Although the trend is evolving towards hallmark sports events being viewed on mobile apps such as Twitter recently started live broadcast of NFL matches, by and large the trend veers towards live sports viewership on TV. The Olympics for example were almost completely viewed on TV in North America which happens to be one of the most wired regions of the world. Video based digital media such as Snapchat, or Facebook Live have greater penetration among the young adults. Advertising for youth targeted products on such video applications needs to be very subtle as the younger adults do not appreciate advertisements that intrude on their personal usage patterns. Older millennials are somewhat more tolerant to this. Ad blockers have thus gained in usage volumes.

Online Shopping Trends

Online shopping numbers have gone up across the millennial generation. However, older millennials continue to be the greater users primarily because they are busy so this saves time. Also credit card penetration and subsequent use is lower among the young adults forcing them to shop more at the physical stores. In addition, youngsters need to do more single item purchases so online logistics don’t suit them as opposed to the monthly or weekly groceries that older people require. Mothers especially have taken to online shopping in a big way as it is most convenient for them while parenting young babies. Hacking is yet another area of concern across the generation. That is one reason that the Buy buttons across social media forums are not doing their intended task. Millennials are averse to putting financial information online unless they have full faith. They instead use the same only for browsing and getting information. 

Forum:  http://www.emarketer.com/

Key Speaker: Mr. Mike Tomita (Director – Online Marketing, Marketo)

Premise

While conducting digital marketing, there are some common mistakes that most marketers commit. These have been collated together so that others can learn from these mistakes committed. There are also some very simple means that exist in order to avoid repeating them. This write-up will detail those mistakes while dealing with how best to avoid such errors.

Not Knowing the Audience

The least a marketer ought to know is one’s own audience. The target market is vast, but relevant segments need to be identified. The help of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be taken to optimize such searches. As an example one can cite the motorcycle brand Kawasaki. It can be called a motorcycle, sports bike or even street bike. And then its specific Ninja set is also something it is known by. As a marketer, one must give the customers all options. The SEO to be done must tag all these keywords so that Google can quickly recognize one of these terms as per customer searches to reduce the gap. As a solution to this conundrum, external help from any reputed management consulting firm would be advisable. Each tool available must be used to test the hypothesis. An A/B test can be used when doubts creep in. The assumptions made must be verified using data backed studies.

Ignoring Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Some companies make this fatal mistake. All content created must be original and valuable to the final user. In case the content created is very similar or simply a rehash of the original catalogue information, then not much value gets added at this stage of the chain. Google will thus assign it a lower rank. Such positions may keep changing depending on user searches and value of the content. Detailed market research must be conducted on the user base. Once that is done, or even while doing that, a proper website needs to be developed which needs constant modification. The user interface in that must be easy. No time lag must exist for page loading. Content sharing handles must be provided. Also the content must be compatible across platforms or devices.

A Google Bing Search Console could be the solution to such conundrums. A periodic technical inspection of the website is recommended. If content is not well optimized, Google will reduce the search rank of the website.

Obsessed with being #1

Companies get obsessed with reaching their target of being top in that particular industry. That involves a lot of work. Eventually it pans out similar to the Theory of Diminishing Returns where the higher one reaches, per rank the incremental benefits tend to subside. So much of effort or stress for such incremental payoffs does not always bode well. Google now allows only four slots of paid slots on the top. The entire right hand side column of advertisements has been removed from starting this year. Marketo that regularly finds itself as the top search gets an average rating of 1.2. There is nothing to worry about such average ratings as Google keeps on twisting its numbers based on trending topics.

Thus focus should be paid on the relevance of the content and not on quantity of the same. Similarly due importance must be put on the performance not search rank. Data must be analyzed to develop the overall corporate strategy.

No Social Media Strategy

Social media must be firmly wedded into the marketing strategy of any organization these days, yet many companies fail at that. While many may have an organic strategy for its website and on its pages, few are using paid means. Sometimes paid forms are necessary to supplement and further leverage the good work done by the organic stream. Research conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit prescribes that social media is the top channel for marketing to be used by organizations in the year 2020. This is followed by the web, mobile applications, mobile web and e-mail. Direct mail, television, print and radio by comparison seem to be struggling.

Business Research provided by Bloomberg confirms that the relatively new media Snapchat already boasts of a staggering ten billion video views every single day. Overall, Facebook certainly leads by a substantial margin in social media marketing. Its advertisements’ pool and analytics support is far larger than its peers in the industry. Just to put it into context, Facebook’s overall online ad revenue amounts to US$ 5 billion which is 12% of the total. It has been growing steadily having held only 8% of the total two years back and a tenth of the total last year. Google leads the pack with 31% but has been declining having held 35% of the market two years back and an exact one-third till last year.

Same Tactics on every Channel

Various channels including those within social media exist to market, but lots of companies are guilty for using the same strategy for them all. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Google Plus and Pinterest all have different areas to leverage. Usage patterns also differ across the week. On some days and at certain points of the day one social media channel outperforms the other. Specific metrics then become important to track such trends and gauge valuable business insights. The decision taken must be backed by sufficient data. Each channel must be planned for individually. Mistakes must be learnt from. Also separate approaches must be periodically tried out. A bit of humour goes a long way in social media success.

Focusing on the Wrong Metrics

Marketers must embrace data science. With so much of it now available, marketers need to understand the art themselves so as not to be duped by market forces. Data could be in various forms. Some of them are – impressions, cost-per-click, conversion rate, cost-per-conversion, cost-to-pipeline, cost-per-opportunity and click-through-rate. Only some of these metrics will be relevant to particular industry and provide useful business intelligence. Overall end-to-end performance must be evaluated accordingly.

Testing Improperly

Sometimes testing is not done at all. A good test must comprise of certain metrics. This includes high traffic, high impact, supporting data, goal and hypothesis. Enough data must be gathered in order for the test to be quantified as credible. Only a single thing must be tested out at once. A hypothesis must be pitched right at the start. A hypothesis must exist at the beginning to give the researchers a starting point for basing their study against.

Falling behind the Times

In today’s times of digital disruption, it is not unusual to see marketers struggling to adopt the modern methods. Often they fail to empathize with the millennial generation due to pre-existing inhibitions. Thus constant experimentation, unlearning and management training must be conducted along with the regular work. Social media is one field rife with experiments. It is important that marketers dedicate some time to reading every morning on arrival at the office. Some time must be dedicated to learning new things. Lots of great blogs are available so some must be kept track of on a regular basis. Google Alert can be an ideal method of attracting top content or newsletters to the users in order to stay updated. Also the reading list must be shared with the team members.

Thus there are eight fatal flaws that most online marketers are experiencing but they all have respective solutions. Instead of seeing these failures as individual cases, they must be studied so that such are not repeated in the near future.

Forum:  https://au.marketo.com/

Key Speaker: Ms. Jillian Ryan (Analyst, e-Marketer) and Ms. Anastasia Pavlova (Senior Director – Marketing, Marketo)

Understanding ABM

It is well understood that Account Based Marketing (ABM) has been around for sometime now yet not so well understood. Several companies have made good use of the same, yet most have shied away from proper utilization. First of all it is important to simply understand what is ABM. It is the strategic integration between marketing and sales collaborate, recognize, target and convert business accounts. It is a business-to-business (B2B) approach. Instead of looking at everyone within the chain, it targets key personnel or clients that lead to the final decision making. Under this methodology, quality becomes more important than numbers. Extensive business research is conducted by the service agencies in order to provide personalized content.

Objectives of ABM

According to data provided by marketing research firm Flip My Funnel, the objectives that companies have stated for choosing this approach can be summarized through the following pie-chart:

Responsibilities also differ depending on accounts and the marketers. Irrespective of that though, they all seek to build knowledge and executing the engagement plan through specific content. Business consulting firm Sirius Decisions has confirmed that the maximum people engaged in this field, are looking to connect with sales to define strategies and targets. Gathering of accounts or information, executing account plans, creating content and creation of online engagement plans are the other important tasks which respondents have alluded to. Working with external experts is least on the agenda of those surveyed by Sirius Decisions.

ABM Types

Account Based Marketing is fairly common but its approaches differ depending on place and situations. They may best be understood using the following illustration:

Costs increase per lead or client as one goes higher up the pyramid.

Pragmatic ABM is the approach where a single agency handles several clients. The approach is scattered. Lite ABM is where the marketer handles only a few selected clients. In Strategic ABM, as the name suggests, it is delivered by the very top. The said agency handles only a single key client. Needless to say, the final approach is not very common.

ABM goes beyond prospecting for future business but also cross-sells and up-sells as required. A good example for this tendency can be Lion-bridge which provides localized translation services. Its Senior Manager Ms. Jessica Sousa clearly affirms that at Lions-bridge, the entire campaign is customer driven. Large accounts are selected and content plus campaign is completely overhauled to provide customized service.

Existing Trends

Business analysis provided to users by Kapost confirms that only a third of US marketers are investing in ABM as of now. Less than half of those surveyed by Demand Gen Report confirm to presently having an ABM plan in motion. Even those who are using the same, majority have only had such implemented over the past two years but only a fourth using ABM for more than that time. The good progress is that the majority of those who aren’t using this approach do plan to launch the same over the next year and a half.

The following table will better explain what percentage of total marketing spend is invested in ABM:

ABM in Digital Age

Account Based Marketing has highly been influenced by the digitization now prevalent in most business aspects. Software platforms are automating a lot of traditional processes. Campaign management, customer segmentation and lead nurturing are all very important aspects of digital marketing now. This enables marketing via diverse set of channels. Only about a third of marketers polled however have confirmed that they are proud of their marketing automation tools being used. A similar proportion has affirmed positively regarding automation in CRM processes. Yet another similar number feels in both categories that the jump up is imminent. A majority is already using sales automation. Due to the alignment between technologies and marketing strategy, ABM has widely been held as a mar-tech initiative.

In a study conducted, it was realized that just more than two-thirds of marketers polled said that technology greatly assists in scaling ABM operations. A larger number feels that adequate tools and templates must be developed to best facilitate the gains made. Covering more accounts is of importance to only twenty percent of those included in the survey. A minority even feels that ABM is one thing that cannot be automated and in fact a personal involvement is necessary to deliver the best of results. Only then will relationships between all parties be best appreciated.

Barriers

Several barriers to effective ABM exist, however contrary to popular opinion, technology is not the one on top. The following pie-chart will best explain the conundrum:

Integration with Sales and Data Centres

The ABM technique must best work with sales and data sources. Unfortunately sales teams have not been observed to be providing timely feedback or analysis to marketing. But a study conducted, it was observed that majority of marketers lauded the efforts of sales teams in correctly identifying accounts to be targeted. Account based leads are improving efficiency in terms of generating revenues, managing employee count and benefiting the overall industry.

Account Based Indicators

Several indicators have been identified which give in-depth business intelligence on the effective working of the ABM strategies adopted so far. It can pinpoint granular data on areas where improvements need be sought. A study conducted by Avention confirms that annual spend and length of relationship are the most important factors as observed by majority of respondents. Less important are frequency of purchase, estimated lifetime value and frequency of engagement. Location, talent recruitment and credit-worthiness figure least on the list in terms of importance attached by marketers themselves.

Typically third party account information is tagged in such analysis. Predictive analytics as a tool has been oft ignored with only a fifth of respondents confirming that it is being used by them. However, a similar survey conducted this year has seen the numbers rise on both the counts. Forty four percent of B2B marketers now use third party account information while thirty percent of them are using predictive analytics. It breaks down data so that the key trends may be identified. The reliance on gut feeling can be minimized. Acquiring the right data is a major challenge for most organizations. Although amount of data available is enormous, not all of it will yield relevant statistics.

Personalized Content

Personalized content is now being preferred across industries. It can even be tailored for specific roles. This is where a specialized ABM agency can work wonders. Use of an external agency for curating content has gone up from a measly three percent just last year to a respectable twenty eight percent in 2016. Email is by and large the most common form to communicate this message. The system of tele-prospecting will grow at a slower pace with time. Instead account- based nurture will be the preferred option. Data vendors are now offering IP research in order to extract valuable business analytics. This particularly helps with tracking of engagement statistics.

Return on Investment

For smaller deals, ABM does not necessarily serve its purpose in terms of ROI. Very few US marketers have rated their ABM efforts as very effective. Many saw ABM as less important than other forms of marketing and a similar effort was being put to it. Interestingly a lot of marketers have confirmed that while they feel ABM will have delivered the adequate results, they are not fully convinced as proper metrics to measure have not been identified. Most such metrics are subjective.

Thus overall we see that Account Based Marketing is certainly not just hype but actually pays if done correctly. It can play a vital role in improving marketing processes particularly its integration with sales.

Forum:   http://www.emarketer.com/

Key Speaker: Ms. Victoria Petrock (Principal Analyst- Industries, e-Marketer)

Premise

The word Artificial Intelligence (AI) fills people up with a sense of suspicion or even fear. Images of spaceships, robots and a world run by machines conjure up. However, contrary to such opinion, AI has been there for a long time and is now ubiquitous with everyday objects. It is no longer a product of sci-fi films alone. This write-up will explore the various facets and how the industry has grown as detailed in this webinar.

Existing Trends

In the present day, AI is used across different products, though often under differing names. People got an introduction to this concept through Hollywood themes in films such as Terminator or Samaritan. There is also no particular definition of AI universally accepted due to the vast capabilities of the same. As per business research conducted by Narrative Science, to the maximum of people, AI represents technology that acts or thinks like humans. To the next largest segment, it means technology that can self-improvise over time. To others it is something that understands language, or answers questions automatically or even anything that clears the Turing Test. As the name suggests, the Turing Test was developed by famous mathematician Alan Turing. It tests the ability of machines to exhibit human-like intelligence. A human is asked to evaluate the conversation between a human and a machine. In case he cannot distinguish then the machine has human level artificial intelligence.

What exactly is AI?

Definitions of AI abound but few are concise enough. Due to the suspicion generated regarding the term in its early stages, several developers have shied away from using the term, and instead developed related ones which ultimately mean the same. The terms used include machine learning, deep learning, cognitive computing, intelligence amplification, neural networks, computer vision, machine translation, predictive analytics or algorithmic assistance. Ultimately, AI is nothing but the processing of huge quantities of data to extract enough information to predict future events or enabling machines to understand human conversation. Once new technologies started becoming mainstream, these terms started getting used instead of using the term AI, due to the mystery surrounding the same. Even experts have shied away from using the same. A study conducted has revealed that only 37% of people admit to using such technologies at work. On closer inspection, it turns out that 88% of those same places surveyed may not actually know but are using technologies run on AI. Instead organizations openly admit using 3-D Printing, Drones, Virtual Reality (VR), Internet-of-Things (IoT) and robotics more so than AI. All these technologies use AI to great extent.

Related Terms

Machine learning is the branch of AI which tracks conducts extensive data warehousing from historical data and uses existing algorithms to perform multiple tasks. Deep learning is an advanced form of the same. Neural networks are connected to various specific data points and guess answers to queries. These are extensively used for CRM functions. These are not implemented until they become as error-free as possible which only takes place after substantial trial-and-error.

AI Usage

AI is already being used extensively in functions such as fraud detection, self- driving cars or as digital assistants. As per a study commissioned by marketing research firm Tractica, the AI market will be worth a whopping US$ 37 billion by the year 2025. While for long AI was either hidden, mysterious or only the preserve of techno-geeks, now it has suddenly come back to the forefront. The primary reason for that is today, computing power is more accessible due to the presence of smartphones. Also the computing power has gone up tremendously while the average price has evened out. Lots of startups have flooded into the market launching their own innovations, many of which make extensive use of AI based technologies. Besides startups, even existing tech giants have entered this market greatly trying to leverage the renewed interest in the industry. Some important acquisitions have also taken place. Tech giants already deep into this field include Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM, Baidu, Samsung, Alibaba, Apple and Oracle. Industry-academia interface has also risen with greater interest on marketing automation from the academic community. Big Data has revolutionized the way work is going on. The enormous data now available has provided fillip to organizations which can now process granular bits of information leveraging AI. Another related technology which uses such tools is IoT which has also developed at around the same period. AI has now stamped its presence across industries and throughout the value chain.

AI for Marketing & Advertising

Artificial Intelligence is being used for several different facets of marketing. It includes lead generation, campaign optimization, content creation, brand building and marketing intelligence. Turner Broadcasting uses IBM’s Watson supercomputer to extract business intelligence about the market for their various offerings in order to optimize delivery. This has proven to be a blessing in disguise for IBM as AI allows its Watson system to be used year-round. Adgorithm’s Albert is another similar supercomputer with high level capabilities. BBC does something similar for its global content and matches its audience base with appropriate programmes depending on their honed tastes.

AI for Lead Generation

AI is also used for lead generation and eventual customer acquisition. A startup Mariana uses business analytics capabilities to filter data in its funnel. All the marketing or advertising channels are squeezed across using those capabilities to finally come up with only the most relevant leads. This filtering process helps reach the most interested potential customer. Another firm Conversica not only captures customers but also nurtures them using AI based tools. The Weather Company even does precision advertising for its major client- Campbell Soup- after analysis user trends.

AI for Marketing Optimization

Several players such as Adgorithms, Amplero, Rocket Fuel, Affectiva, Nielsen, IBM and Amazon use AI to measure the effectiveness of various marketing campaigns. Ads are delivered by Rocket Fuel depending on understanding of demographics, contexts or behaviours. Even the iconic Harley Davidson motorbike company has used AI to optimize feedback. Recommendation or referral systems have also grown in their capabilities. Stitch Fix for example uses machine learning chatbots for matching apparel or accessory to preferences or budgets. When Kia was one of the brand partners for the Super Bowl, it optimized data using AI. It was able to extract data from across social media giants such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to optimize its marketing platform for the mega event. It even ran contests for fans and was able to amplify that the Denver Broncos NFL outfit was the best supported on social media.

Smarter Search Interfaces

Google, which is the largest search engine operator in the world has been using AI for quite some time now. It uses its own developed Rank-Brain to optimize search engine queries. In fact, Rank-Brain is already its third largest source for the same. LHW which is a hotel room aggregator is the first within the travel and tourism industry using the Watson system. This is to ease up search on the interface. Unique searches can be performed using concepts or keywords such as ‘couple’ or ‘adventure’.

Content Development

Of all business innovations, this is possibly the most challenging and revolutionary. Media houses such as the Washington Post, Facebook, Arria and Narrative Science are increasingly using robots to actually create content. In fact Wordsmith creates more than a billion and a half pieces of content for more than forty industries globally.

Bots or Assistants

Unfortunately, bots and digital assistants have by and large not been optimized to any great extent. Apple’s Siri still makes errors of judgment. Microsoft went red-faced recently when its Chatbot Tay was launched specifically for Twitter. It extracted racist language from users and started such abuse. Tay became such an embarrassment that it had to be taken off air in less than a full day before it got launched. Swedbank used in the Scandinavian countries has fortunately been a far better success. Facebook’s native Messenger service is used up by 1-800-Flowers and Health-Tap to connect with potential customers using chatbots which work as human reps.

Future of AI

Fears exist about the future of AI and not without reason. A study conducted by Forrester claims that a sixth of existing jobs in the US will get defunct in a decade’s time. However, that same study also suggests that nearly nine million jobs will be created during that same time which will be dependent on AI. It is also considered by some experts that AI will free up a lot of mundane jobs so that humans can concentrate on more creative pursuits.

Forum:   http://www.emarketer.com/

Key Speaker: Mr. Ross Macrae (Solution Consultant, Marketo) 27 Oct

Premise

Account Based Marketing (ABM) is the B2B marketing method by which marketers launch marketing solutions for specific agencies that are catering to individual organizations. Instead of devising solutions for customers, it is done for organizations which already have a specific target. In this write-up, we will explore the various ways in which ABM can be most effective as demonstrated by a top player in this segment- Marketo.

Methodology

ABM implementers focus on accounts that matter the most rather than a mass dispersion of content. There is an adage which claims that marketing owns the customer but sales owns the accounts. It is a B2B method so narrow. ABM also extensively uses marketing automation technologies top perform the best of digital marketing. Account Based Marketing flips the marketing funnel as illustrated in the following chart:

So as can clearly be understood, the traditional format looks at channeling mass audience using various techniques before finally filtering out the relevant leads. On the other hand, ABM looks at direct targeting of a handful of select clients, who then distribute the content to their filtered audiences. ABM follows a three pronged strategy. The overall learning curve is shorter in this process.

Advantages of ABM

The advantages of ABM are as follows:

$1·      The overall ROI for marketing improves as only pre-selected clients are targeted; there is no major expenditure on the filtration process.

$1·  Proper business analysis will reveal revenue generation across various sources; each source can be individually attributed for the bang-per-buck.

$1·         Qualified lead generation takes place rather than any ad-hoc business strategy.

$1·         Sales and marketing get integrated to work together.

Requisite ABM Capabilities

In order to best undergo ABM, certain pre-requisites are needed. The following illustration will best explain the process:

Thus as it explains, first of all, market research must be done in order to identify clients that would be ideal to pitch solutions to. Next up the right personnel need to be matched and for this top notch talent recruitment has to be executed. Content targeted needs to be personalized for each client. As there is no mass mailing, there is ample scope for individual content to be disseminated. Similarly even the channels to be used need to be custom developed. Social media is an apt tool to pursue within the present context. Once all this is done, work must begin on all these accounts. However, no progress can be properly identified without individual assessment of all accounts. Proper data and ensuring information needs to be maintained so that all accounts can be matched against revenues or other business metrics.

Three-pronged Approach

The three pronged approach can best be understood using the following diagram:

This rotates constantly. The moment one step is over, the marketing team has to optimize to start straight away the next one. Targeting can be done both vertically as well as sub-vertically. The scope can be divided as per sectors or geographies. Engagement too needs to explore all possible opportunities. The measuring stage needs to pose some crucial questions.

Now let us individually look at each of these stages.

Targeting must involve a segmentation of all the accounts. There must be an analysis on each named account. This analysis process is also a stage of discovery. A store must be maintained for the purpose of data warehousing. Leads must then be matched against their individual results.

Engagement with the audience is taking on an increasingly important role. A cross-channel engagement needs to take place. This includes a mix of online as well as offline methods. Each account must see a separate campaign. Filters or triggers must be attached to each of these campaigns so that proper metrics may be derived.

A lot of companies conduct their ABM using multi- point solution providers. They look at a bouquet of solutions rather than a single troubleshooter. This leads to measurement irregularities. A few critical questions need to be posed at this stage. First of all, the marketer must analyze how effective the entire campaign is going on. Then the decisions involved in the buyer journey must be mapped in detail. The best performers must be identified

A straw poll conducted during this webinar revealed that the majority of participants’ organizations were not undergoing ABM. This is an interesting indicator proving the massive potential for this stream to grow. Already, a lot of progress has been made, and ABM can be the marketing winner in the coming times.

Forum:   https://www.marketo.com/