Exclusive | Experian, ensuring value for money for clients: Naveen Bachwani

Every day in our mail in-box we find mails from companies marketing their brands and offering alluring discounts. Most of the time we do not even bother to open the mail and read the content, finding the same irritating. But do you know is it a form of e-mail marketing which is gradually evolving as a very viable and cost effective marketing option for the marketers. Off-course there are various refinements to it so as to have  larger degree of acceptance amongst the target group. And do you know that there is a $ 4.20 billion enterprise that does specifically e-mail marketing and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company, Experian Plc has presence in 41 countries, employs over 15,000 workforce and is now making rapid strides in the nascent Indian market.

The Indian arm, Experian Marketing Services (EMS) with its Cheetah Mail platform, the world’s largest permission based e-mail marketing platform has been working with clients to understand their unique needs and helping them engage with their customers through the entire customer lifecycle.

Every marketer need to engage with their customer in the most optimal manner possible means ensuring that the right message is sent to the right audience at the right time. And, Email Marketing addresses this core need more efficiently, and more cost effectively, than almost any other medium of communication. Says Naveen Bachwani, Head of EMS, “Experian gives clients with the ability to provide relevant, timely email communication to their customers which means improved deliverability plus increased RoI.” He was speaking to Adgully post the announcement of the company bagging three new accounts, Café Coffee Day, Apnapaisa and Yepme. Experian will help create sophisticated email marketing campaigns for them, enable them reach their target audience and add value to their digital marketing programs.

With over 120 million internet users and the third largest internet population in the world, we are ranked rank #6 on Twitter, #2 on Linkedin and #3 on Facebook. Given these fundamental facts, the scope for e-mail marketing is increasing year by year. Says Bachwani, “We, at Experian, have seen this reflect in our growing footprint in the Indian market. We are fortunate to partner with an impressive roster of clients that include, among others, the most popular travel website and the most searched shopping site in the country. In the last 9 months alone, we have successfully deployed more than 200 million email messages, on behalf of clients like MakeMyTrip, Flipkart, Lemon Tree Hotels, Croma, 99labels, etc., and we are just beginning to scratch the surface.”

Experian’s philosophy is that of non-intrusion, it believes in the issue of ‘permission,’ thereby fully respecting the rights of the customer. Terming it ‘Permission Marketing,’ Bachwani adds, it is an evolving concept and ensures that marketing efforts by our clients achieve their objectives. Most marketers face this problem of ensuring that marketing e-mailers safely negotiate SPAM filters; that the content of the e-mailer is relevant; and that the emails are delivered to the Inbox in the formats and at the times that are most likely to drive engagement. In the end, it all comes down to how well the message and the medium are managed.

Says Bachwani, “As marketers, we can choose to send out large amounts of unsolicited emails to irrelevant databases, or choose to build our customer relationships, one customer at a time – starting out with a small set of loyal customers, seeking their permission to engage with them periodically, and sending out communication that is relevant to their needs. We work with clients to help them build these customer relationships, by leveraging the platform and our strategic services in a packaged solution.”

On EMS’s goals going forward, Bachwani says, “With each of our clients, we have been able to significantly impact the digital marketing agenda, we would like to help our clients succeed at their objectives, therein would lie our biggest achievements.”