DMAi 2012: Unleashed

The third day of DMAi 2012 witnessed a number of interesting sessions.

 

“Customer Centricity in the Digital Age” was  a session addressed by Arun Sinha- Former Global Chief Marketing Officer of Zurich Financial Services. Arun pointed out to the fact that today, new disciplines, new ways and new media habits of marketing have evolved and yet it has become difficult to capture the attention of the consumers. He asserted that segmentation and unique execution are some of the key things that marketers need to focus on today. Arun also shared insights into his journey of how he used customer centric marketing to transform Zurich Financial Services to grow revenue, brand values, reputation and shareholder value.

 

 “Marketing ROI ”was an informative session which was addressed by Gulshan Verma- Vice President and Country Head, Media Network, India and North America, Komli Media. Gulshan said, “India offers great opportunities for direct marketing especially in the digital space. Direct marketing is all about interactivity and measurable sales. The number of internet users have grown. Mobile has deeper penetration today. The information received on social media is amazing.” He exclaimed that leveraging your customer insights with media effectively leads to differentiation.

 

In “The New Mantras of Customer Retention”- Rajat Sethi-Executive Director, Direxions threw light on the new mantles of customer attention. Rajat exclaimed, “There have been many brands which have been passed down from generations to generations. However, today customers are looking at marketers in terms of what they have to offer. Consumers will continue to evolve.” Talking about brand loyalty, he said, “The most important dimension is trust, which cannot be substituted. The goal of business is to have people who believe what you believe. The questions that marketers need to ask is are you getting loyalty for an attractive offer or for your brand. Loyalty programs have reached a saturation point today.”

 

Delving further, Rajat said, “Brands need to relate to their consumer. The three most important aspects of loyalty are why, how and what. Every organization knows what to do and how to do. But, very few organizations can clearly articulate why they do; what they do. Marketers need to believe in their product to sell it passionately. Companies need to improve the overall quality of customer experience. It is important to acknowledge that the customer owns the relationship and not the company. That is truly the key.”

 

  Creating strong loyalty program in the ever- dynamic retail space is a challenge. Govind Shrikhande- CCA and MD, Shoppers Stop presented an interesting case study of Shoppers Stop, its first citizen loyalty program and analytics. He said, “You cannot demand loyalty, you have to earn it. In order to earn it, you have to perform. Effective targeted communication is the way to go!”

 

What followed next was a panel discussion on Transpromo, which is touted to be a futuristic communication tool. The panelists provided an Indian perspective of what transpromo had done for their businesses.  The panel comprised of Pragnyat Lalwani- Director, Seshasal; Krishna Iyer- Country Head, ICLP Loyalty India and Rishen Mukherjee- DGM, CESC, Kolkata. The discussion was moderated by Avjit M- Ricoh.

 

Krishna said, “The economic downturn has taught us many lessons. What Transpromo essentially does is it enables you to carry on day-day transactions with ease. It provides trigger based opportunities to get your customers hooked on to the brand.” He stated that transpromo has a lot of applications in every sector. Most importantly, transpromo would benefit the financial and banking services as it would help them to talk their customers in an effective manner.

 

Pragyat exclaimed, “Customers are pushing the e-route today. Transactional communication has its own challenges. Operations are running to meet deadlines. Every communication channel needs to talk in a synchronized manner.”

 

Shedding light into the potential of transpromo, Rishen said,”  We are enriching the databases so that much more revenue can be drawn out of it. Colour printing is also being worked upon. We are constantly conducting market research. There is technology which can help trans-promo in the country.”

 

Linda Loose – DM Guru, Australia, provided insights into cross channel marketing and how it can be done creatively. Citing examples of dozens of innovative campaigns, channel strategies and execution tactics from around the globe, she proved her point to the audiences. She exclaimed,”Direct marketing is all about creativity, landscapes have changed tremendously today. Thus, optimizing the channel mix is extremely crucial. Direct marketing is something that is one to one communication in any channel. It revolves around building and managing relationships.”

 

Revealing some of the key strategies of cross channel marketing, Linda said, “Involve your customer in the creation of everything; be it a product or innovation. Co-creation is a marvelous tactic which needs to be used with caution. The classic direct marketing marvels still rule. The fundamentals still remain the same. Big ideas can become bigger if leveraged properly.”

 

“DM on Steroids” was addressed by Vikas Choudhury- COO & CFO, AIMIA as he talked about coalition loyalty and how it can be roped in to be relevant to the Indian consumer retail market.

 

He said, “Coalitions work because they drive customer value. It is about segmentation. Building customer engagement is important as it is the key to loyalty. However, we should avoid bombarding consumers with messages.”

 

“Dam the Customer “was a panel discussion moderated by Rakshin Patel- Partner, M&C Saatchi. The discussion stressed on the importance and business impact of customer retention, factors driving customer retention and what really motivates customer retention and loyalty. It also addressed the key issues that marketers face while retaining consumers and the retention loyalty programs of successful brands. 

 

The panel consisted of Ramesh Iyenagar- MD, Select Direct; S Swaminathan- CEO, Hansa Cequity; Sandip Tarkas-President – Customer Strategy , Future Group and CEO Future Media, CEO- T24  India and Ajay Kakar- CMO, Financial Services, Aditya Birla.

 

Ajay observed, “ We suffer from a certain short-sightedness. The 30 second syndrome is still prevalent. We need to treat the customers in the right manner in order to achieve customer retention. It is not only about rewarding them, but recognizing them.”

 

Sandip exclaimed that customer delight needs to be created and differentiation also needs to be encouraged.  Expressing his opinion; Ramesh said, “We look at customer loyalty as an absolute. It is more like elastic loyalty. Retention will only be possible when we look at our existing customers as assets.” Swaminathan asserted that the ability to use the data and bring benefit to the customer visibly is critical.

 

These were some of the key learnings that emerged out of the sessions on the third day of  DMAi 2012.