Dennis Pannuto, CEO Aha! Insight Technology

MM
As we start to develop these much richer and more nuanced analytic profiles-fact-based profiles of consumers, the next thing that seems to emerge as a center of excellence or an area of strategic importance is what I’ll call dynamic messaging.

DP
That is absolutely correct.

You’re able to grab all of that information. You’re able to then personalize that message in the way that I like to hear and see it. That’s the other layer. “How do I want to see it?” How do I like to see it? It’s also understanding that. What are my mediums of communication? That then can create that dynamic messaging.

MM
This gets into a larger framework, which we call a “media consumption profile.” Whereby you specify, “I can read. But I’d much rather hear an audio flash explanation in short chunks. My preferred means of learning is, I’m a talker-listener as opposed to a reader-thinker.”

DP
That’s absolutely correct. That’s again a whole other layer of where marketing is going.

MM
Right.

With this kind of information, then as I set up an account on a website in a member portal or whatever-I’m also not just specifying what product categories I’m interested in, but the means of engagement. For example, “I want things that I can share with my network of friends.”

DP
That’s right.

MM
As we start to think through this digital supply chain for marketing operations, we’ve said, “Well, you know, there is some monitoring going on in in the properties that we control-plus our ad network, where we’ve got paid Google search terms. I’m also monitoring my profiled members in terms of their MySpace page, their FaceBook, their Linked-In. So I understand if there’s new information that they’re posting on their FaceBook thing, that’s now part of their customer profile.

I’ve got a means of collecting the data. That is to say syndicating available web data, as well as integrating more compiled, refined, enriched data from those information sources. I’m managing it in terms of an analytic process. I now dynamically am personalizing engagements. And now I’m starting to measure the effect of that in terms of if there’s any uptick. In terms of downloads of coupons or redemptions of coupons. Store visits. Frequent flyer or member purchase-buyer clubs and that sort of thing.

This gets to, now, a deeper and more challenging set of issues for the CMO. How do I begin to think of and think through the provisioning of services or content without a lot of human intervention? Specifically, from the IT world and IT service management; we’re getting policy-managed processes.

You then say, “What’s a policy?” In that context, we’re talking about routing and forms and business rules. So how does a CMO start to think through policy-managed services-dynamically provisioned to analytic profiles of stakeholders in our brand?

Take me through that.

DP
Unfortunately, the CMO role is going through a major challenge in transformation. The shelf life today of CMOs I think I heard was 18 months. But that’s because I think they’re all challenged with this new digital space.

MM
In fact, Dennis, isn’t the CMO of tomorrow basically a CIO that understands how brand marketing works?

DP
I think it very well could be a melding of the two. There’s no question about it. I don’t think you can be a successful CMO without having a good technology background. I don’t think a CIO that doesn’t have good marketing finesse or sensitivity will succeed. I think they’ll both be dinosaurs if they don’t morph into one.

The CMO of today basically has to be able to first support an execution framework to sustain the vision that they’re trying to achieve. That’s number one.

In order to get all of these channels right, they really have to begin-in my opinion-to get out there and start modeling. Don’t try to “boil the ocean.” Try to define those ultimate assets in their organization or those “plush toys.”

Run them through the entire marketing supply chain. Integrated multi-channel marketing has to be leveraged where it makes sense. Explore all the traditional routes and new media ones, considering and all the different social media and social networking tools and opportunities that are out there. Really begin to start testing that. Create those models with a couple of situations within their brand. If they’re a multi-brand company, take one or two of their brands, and really just leverage and test all the channels– go whole hog into the social networking and social marketing space. That’s the only way to do it, in my opinion. Obviously, you need to do thorough analysis. Start small but think big.

A lot of companies out there are investing in all the tools. They’re investing in a lot of the technologies. But it’s no different now than it was ten or fifteen years ago. Companies are spending millions and millions of dollars in technology and spending not enough money on strategic application of those technologies.

Take a couple brands, or a couple products, and figure out how to create working models that successfully leverage that brand across all their traditional and social media channels.

MM
If I understand you right, Dennis, you’re advocating basically a R&D project, with the idea of innovating a customer engagement strategy.

DP
That’s correct.

MM
Take me through the process of beginning to form that project task force or that team to really put together that research project.

DP
Basically, if we’re dealing with an international global company and they’ve got 12 different divisions. In those divisions, they’ve got multiple brands.

I would advise the CMO, “Let’s take this one division here, and let’s take these two product lines within this division. Actually, these two brands-not products. We’ll take two brands.

We create a multi-disciplinary team. That team is made up of key marketing, IT and whatever key business people we need. Maybe the packaging folks, if it’s a packaged goods company. All the people that are part of that value chain within that organization.

I’d also include any kind of partners. I’d also include some good strategists in Internet marketing and social media space who can provide some guidance there. It would truly be a multidisciplinary team with specific goals and a nimble process so you wouldn’t get stuck in a “committee” psychology where nothing gets done.

The next step would be to develop a content strategy. What are the content strategies for each one of the brands. What business goals are we trying to achieve? What is the real market potential? Growth potential? What do we want to do out there on the Internet today to be able to engage our customers? What kind of blogging do we need to do? What kind of forums do we need to be a part of? And why do we need to do it? What is the economic justification?

Maybe it’s not about creating communities, but maybe it’s about attaching to those communities.

So often, these larger brands especially, think they are the world and that the world revolves around them. The reality is, as we know, the world is so much larger than that. Especially with the Internet today.

They need to think about, “Okay. What communities do I need to start getting involved in? I need to start doing a lot of listening. Who’s doing what? How are they doing it?”

Essentially, my focus today is, “Let’s focus on content strategies for each one of your areas.” So if we’re talking about just one brand, we’re going to have to focus on what all of your content strategies are-both social media-related as well as traditional media-related. We’re going to cultivate those, first.

The team’s first approach is to do that. It’s to go out there and to begin to engage. They need to listen. I would.