Marketing Strategy
Problem:
A major OEM was losing market share. They requested an assessment of their marketing communications strategy. Specifically, they wanted to know if the
communications channels they were using were the most effective in reaching
their customers.
Approach:
- Gathered
all pertinent research relating to all marketing channels, consumer
insight, competitive actions, leading indicators and trends.
- Thoroughly
analyzed information and tested several hypotheses.
- Developed
a marketing plan that would:
- capitalize
on consumer shopping habits.
- provide
the OEM with a competitive advantage.
- more
effectively apply the marketing investment across all channels.
- more
effectively communicate the appropriate message in each channel based on
where consumers were in the purchase funnel.
Results:
The recommendations weighted more of the marketing
investment in the Internet channel, a less costly more effective way to reach
consumers who were in-market for their product.
A higher degree of consumer awareness of the brand was
achieved and the OEM was able to reduce the market share erosion.
Marketing Strategy
Problem:
Viewer-controlled TV technology, such as TiVO, allows
viewers to gain control over what they watch and when. It also allows advertisers to gain knowledge
as to how many watched and for how long.
This emerging technology is projected to be in 25% of all U.S.
households by 2006 and an estimated 60% of all viewers will opt to skip
commercials. A MajorCo., who heavily
advertised in broadcast TV, was concerned about the impact this new technology
would have on how they have traditionally advertised their brands. They were interested in conducting an
experiment in this new environment so that they could better understand how to
advertise their brands in the future and how to compensate their agency and
media partners.
Assignment objectives:
- Identify
new creative ways to express a brand versus the traditional 30- or 60-second
commercials.
- Test new
agency and media compensation models.
Approach:
- Identified an appropriate agency
partner who has experience in the viewer-controlled environment to help
conduct an experiment.
- Secured one of the best creative
directors in the advertising industry to develop new creative ways to
express a brand in this environment.
- Secured a well-known and viable
media provider who is interested in testing a new revenue model in the
viewer-controlled environment.
- Established
with the media partner and distributor the key viewer metrics required to
understand who watched, for how long, etc.
Results:
MajorCo. accepted the proposal to move forward with forming
a partnership with the Agency and Creative Director for forming the pilot to
test alternative viewer-controlled TV technology.
Marketing Strategy
Problem:
A
RetailCo. wanted to understand the effectiveness of their various marketing
methods such as copy, marketing mix and regional marketing mix. In addition, they wanted to answer the
following questions:
- How many sales has my
advertising generated?
- How do consumers respond to
ads in my market?
- Which copy is most
effective in generating sales?
- Should I advertise on TV,
Print, Outdoor, Radio, Internet, Cinema or a combination?
- Which media are most cost
effective in generating sales?
Approach:
Utilize an Econometric Marketing Model to measure the
effectiveness.
Many
companies are using econometric modeling to identify an optimal marketing mix
that takes into account the consumer response to the various marketing mix
elements and their interactions. These econometric market response models use
the marketing mix variables of the firm and its competitors as well as various
optimization models. The ability to
identify the volume and profit contribution of each individual marketing tactic
as well as advice on how it can be optimized is a very powerful tool.
- Gathered
all relevant data in pilot markets and control market. The data gathering was extensive and
included: marketing campaign details, sales results, pricing, model mix,
and all relevant competitive data and actions.
- Created
a predictive econometric model was created for each pilot market and
control group using data elements.
- Executed
new marketing campaigns based on modeling.
- Monitored
results and made adjustments as predicted by model.
Results
Many
lessons were learned through this analysis and model. For example, customer response varied based on region and the
advertising media used. A
price-oriented print advertisement had a high short-run impact on sales in one
region of the country, while the same advertisement had no impact on sales in
another region. One direct mail
campaign had virtually no impact on sales, while another direct mail campaign
copy was more effective and increased sales.
The
learnings from this study enabled the company to more efficiently place future
advertising and effectively measure their Return on Investment.
Advertising
Management
Problem:
A MajorCo. was looking for ways to reduce their advertising cost,
but did not want to reduce the advertising agency’s scope of work. They believed some cost improvements were
possible if the agency improved the productivity of their workforce.
The assignment was to document the insight learned from the
resource optimization modeling test, create processes to improve client scope
of work planning and work practices, and to develop an agency productivity
metric system.
Approach:
An alliance was formed with an advertising resource optimization
company who used statistical modeling to assess the productivity of the
agency’s work for a particular brand.
A statistical model was used to measure the agency’s operational
effectiveness with the following inputs:
- Agency
time cards
- Number
of Creative Briefs
- Complexity
of Ad
- And,
so forth
In addition, the following occurred:
- Standardized
reporting to show number of product launches, refreshes, etc., to
dimension agency workload from year to year.
- Streamlined
client creative development approvals.
- Implemented
metrics at agency and client that measured advertising development
efficiency (number of briefs re-worked).
- Implemented
a timekeeping system at the advertising agency.
Results:
It was determined that the agency would be more productive if
changes were made to:
o Improving the
client’s scope of work planning and documentation.
o Improving the
communication briefing process.
o Improving agency
work practices.
o Improving client
work practices.
Overall,
achieved better productivity from the advertising agency and reduced the agency
resources and fees by 10%.
Advertising Management
Problem:
A global MajorCo. wanted to centralize all of its advertising
agency negotiations and management from a decentralized model. They wanted to consolidate its 18 market negotiations
to one global negotiation and contract.
They believed a central agency management approach would leverage
economies of scale, create more common and consistent advertising practices,
and ultimately save them money.
Approach:
•
Gathered all pertinent historical information worldwide, such
as the number of advertising agencies being used, the agency fees, the number
of internal resources supporting the agencies, performance metrics, etc.
•
Performed a cost/benefit analysis of moving to a centralized
model.
•
Created the business case for centralizing and gained
management support.
•
Created a centralized, cross-functional team consisting of
marketing, purchasing, finance, and operations personnel.
Results:
- Centralized
management of key agency financial metrics worldwide.
- Centralized
negotiations of commercial elements resulting in significant savings.
- Reduced
redundancies of company and agency resources.
- Leveraged
common tools and processes.
- Reduced
annual advertising costs by 17%.
Advertising Management
Problem
A MfrCo. was implementing a corporate-wide cost cutting program in
all of its Operations. The cost cutting
program followed similar concepts as Six-Sigma with a focus on driving out cost
through improving processes. Since the
advertising agency cost was a significant portion of their marketing expenses, the
MfrCo. wanted to identify ways to reduce their advertising costs.
Approach:
- Mapped
the existing major processes used for advertising development: communication briefing, creative approval
process, and broadcast production.
- Benchmarked
the advertising development processes with 10 leading corporations who are
best-in-class in marketing their brands.
- Reviewed
actual advertising jobs.
Identified key areas of waste in the advertising development
process, they were:
- Poor, or no, communication briefing
process.
- Creative approval process.
- Client turnover or experience base.
- Unclear roles and objectives between
client and agency.
- Created
a communication briefing process that included standard briefing
templates, an advertising development training module, a gate/diamond
milestone timeline, and other elements.
- Streamlined
creative development approvals.
- Implemented
a management reporting tool, the Advertising Development Dashboard, to measure
advertising development efficiency (measuring re-work) and advertising
effectiveness.
Results:
- Increased
advertising development efficiency, which resulted in a 15% total
advertising agency cost savings.
- Improved
the client and agency communication process -- better and more targeted
advertisements occurred.
- Improved
agency productivity through eliminating unproductive client work practices
such as too many creative development approvers.
Advertising Management
Problem:
A RetailCo. was inconsistent in the development and management of
their advertising campaigns – the development process was ill-defined, and the
25 Brand Managers used inconsistent templates.
The inconsistencies led to inefficient and ineffective advertising
campaigns. RetailCo. requested a review
of their current advertising development process for each brand and requested
that recommendations be made to improve the overall effectiveness of their
advertising.
Approach:
1.
Identified the current advertising development tools and
research.
2.
Benchmarked companies that are considered best-in-class
marketers.
3.
Identified the gaps that exist between current practices and
best-in-class companies.
4.
Developed advertising development guidelines and closed
identified gaps.
5.
Communicated new guidelines and recommendations.
6.
Piloted the new process on a near-term product launch.
7.
Implemented a measurement system to identify deviations from
guidelines, customer response metrics, and advertising impact on corporate
objectives.
Results:
Developed a consistent advertising development process that utilized
research and had built-in flexibility based on the type of advertising
campaign. The measurement system provided
management with tools to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns
across all of their brands
Integrated Marketing Services
Problem:
Brand Digital/Imagery assets were fragmented across an enterprise,
resulting in higher cost due to redundancy and less consistent use of brand
images.
Approach:
1.
Formed a cross-functional team to develop a single-brand,
digital asset management strategy.
2.
Inventoried all brand digital assets used by the company
including types of images, use of images, storage methods, and software
retrieval methods.
3.
Identified several suppliers who specialize in full-service
digital asset management.
4.
Developed and submitted a request for quote to select
suppliers.
5.
Selected one supplier to manage all corporate brand digital
assets.
6.
Created a time-bound data migration plan to move all digital
assets onto one platform.
7.
Communicated enterprise-wide the digital asset management
strategy and process.
Results:
Realized significant cost savings of 27% after the first
year of operation, even after the technology investment and migration
costs. Ongoing cost savings were
anticipated as well.
The Company’s brands were being communicated in a more
consistent and effective manner.
Multicultural Marketing/Marketing Strategy
Problem:
RetailCo noticed slight erosion in market share with Hispanic customers. They also observed their competitors
becoming more organized with their corporate-wide communication efforts to the
Hispanic market.
RetailCo. Requested:
o a
strategic review of all minority-focused efforts in enterprise.
o a
list of the highest impact initiatives that can be leveraged to reach minority
customers more effectively.
Approach:
- Inventoried
all minority-focused efforts by function.
- Defined
each function’s minority strategy.
- Benchmarked
companies with best-in-class minority-focused marketing campaigns.
- Defined
gaps in RetailCo’s overall minority strategy.
- Connected
all of RetailCo’s minority initiatives through one central and corporate
strategy. This closed gaps in the
strategy and provided a more consistent and relevant consumer message.
- Created
a minority initiative knowledge database in order to strengthen
communication across the enterprise.
- Redesigned
organizational structure to connect all vertical functions under one
central strategic arm.
- Implemented
a metrics scorecard across the enterprise.
Results:
RetailCo. shifted from a silo
approach, where each corporate function carried out an independent minority
strategy, to a common and shared approach with one central strategy across the
enterprise. By connecting all of the Company’s
Hispanic initiatives (i.e., H.R recruiting, Public Affairs, minority supplier
development, philanthropic, product R&D, commercial marketing), the company
was able to leverage all enterprise knowledge and capabilities in a more
relevant, consistent, and powerful consumer message.
RetailCo. moved away from a
consumer “one-size fits all” mindset to a more consumer segmented approach
based on minority group. Adding
minority consumer insight into product R&D and commercial marketing
processes was critical to successfully reaching the Hispanic population.
Customer Service and Call Center Management
Problem:
RetailCo’s customer service Call Centers were operated by an
independent Call Center supplier. The
company was very concerned with the increasing cost of operating the center and
the recent decline in customer satisfaction.
The supplier worked for RetailCo under a Contract and Service Level
Agreement which was renewable annually.
Assignment:
- Identify
root causes for both the customer satisfaction decline and the increase in
operating cost.
- Identify
ways through which a performance-based compensation arrangement could turn
this situation around.
Approach:
- Reviewed
pertinent documents such as the supplier’s service level agreement,
customer feedback from call center surveys, center operational metrics,
historical call center performance and trends, etc.
- Benchmarked
supplier/client management tools used by other large corporations for
their call center operations.
- Researched
various methods and metrics used in performance-based compensation
arrangements.
- Identified,
through the eyes of the customer, the most critical customer handling and
satisfaction elements.
- Established
a new service level agreement with a performance-based compensation
element that used customer critical satisfaction metrics and efficiency
metrics such as average call-handling time.
Results:
Reduced call center operating cost by 20% in the first year
by focusing on reducing average call-handle time. Customer satisfaction improved 18% in the first year by focusing
on critical customer satisfaction metrics.
Customer Service and Call Center Management
Problem
A National Customer Service Call Center supporting a major
OEM and employing 850 employees was receiving a significant amount of negative
feedback from their customers. The main
customer complaint was that the Customer Service Representatives (CSR) were not
knowledgeable and could not assist them properly with their questions and/or
concerns. The current Customer Service
Representatives’ knowledge was not meeting customers’ expectations – this lack
of knowledge was negatively impacting the Company’s customer satisfaction
levels.
Approach
- Collected
voice-of-customer information and voice-of-customer service rep
information.
- Conducted
Customer Focus group sessions to identify the type and level of knowledge
that customers expected from the CSRs.
- Conducted
Employee Focus group sessions with the Customer Service Representatives
to identify why they believed they could not meet the customers’
information needs.
- Developed
a Product Knowledge Program which consisted of call routing, customer
service representative team structure, employee development and training,
technology support and aligned customer metric reporting.
- Developed
a design that supported product-specific skills within the various
customer contact methods.
- Implemented
the Product Knowledge Program and utilized change management methods to
ensure its success.
Results
The purpose for developing the Product Knowledge Program was
to improve the customer’s service experience.
The following resulted:
- Improved
accuracy of product information provided by the CSRs to the customers by
increasing the CSRs’ product knowledge.
- Improved
call center efficiency: reduced CSRs’ time to retrieve correct information;
reduced call-handle time; and increased the number of first-call
resolutions.
- Improved
the customers’ perception of CSR knowledge and professionalism by
increasing the CSRs’ ability to talk knowledgeably about the product functionality
and commonly known issues with the product.
- Improved
the company’s ability to proactively gather product and brand information
for future dissemination.
Customer Relationship Marketing
Problem
A major OEM wanted to more effectively allocate their
customer satisfaction handling budget.
Specifically, they wanted to understand how to utilize the customer
satisfaction handling funds to increase customer loyalty and prevent customer
defection.
Approach
- A
segmentation analysis was completed to identify the current state of how,
why, and for what purpose customer funds were being allocated.
- Statistical
analysis was used to determine the impact that customer satisfaction
levels had on customer loyalty.
- A
statistical model was developed to determine Long-Term customer value and
predicted customer satisfaction.
- A
customer handling grid was developed for the Call Center to use for
customer treatment and behavioral measurement.
Results
- Differentiated
customer treatment based on a statistical validation model resulted in a
reduction of the budget required for customer satisfaction handling.
- Significant
improvement in customer loyalty.
- Provided
consistent customer treatment based on customer long term.
- Reduced
Customer Service Representative’s subjectivity and made it easier for them
to know how to best handle customers.
Customer Relationship Marketing
Problem
On a monthly basis, a major OEM received approximately 2,000
product information requests into their Call Center. The OEM wanted to somehow utilize this valuable customer data for
sales leads.
Approach
- Completed
an analysis of current customer calls for product information to determine
level of purchase intention.
- Studied
current sales lead strategies and processes and identified inefficient and
fragmented areas.
- Created
the business case, which identified a significant revenue opportunity and
justified the technology investment that was required.
- Developed
processes for all parties involved (call center, suppliers, sales division
employees, dealerships) in new Sales Lead Process.
Results
First year of operation, an additional 10,000 viable
customer leads were electronically forwarded to the dealership retail
outlets. A closing rate of 27%
resulted.
Customer Relationship Marketing
Problem
A major Automotive OEM wanted to reduce its costs and
improve productivity associated with the adhoc customer feedback reporting that
its Consumer Affairs office was completing for various components within the
company. In addition, the company
wanted to expand the use of the customer feedback it was receiving at its Call
Center. On average, the Call Center was
receiving approximately 10,000 calls per day from customers. Very little of this valuable customer
feedback was being used within the company as a source of customer
intelligence.
Approach
- An
analysis of the type of customer calls and feedback that was being
received at the Call Center was completed and reported in a relevant
way.
- Numerous
interviews were held with various constituents throughout the company to
introduce them to the type of feedback that was being received at the Call
Center and to inquire if this consumer insight would add value to their
area of responsibility.
- A
Voice of Customer Data Tracking Tool was developed that was web-based and
very easy to use.
- Follow-up
communication meetings were held with the various constituents to
introduce them to the Voice of Customer Tracking Tool, seek any additional
feedback, and to gain their commitment in using the Voice of Customer
Tracking Tool to bring consumer insight into their daily operations.
Results
- Due
to the ease of use of the tool and the valuable customer insight from the
data, other components in the company reduced their costs because they did
not search out alternative methods for customer insight if they could
obtain it from the Call Center customer data.
- Customer
satisfaction improved. The Company
learned that some of its customer policies created a great deal of
dissatisfaction and by changing certain policies they could increase
satisfaction without incurring more corporate cost.
- A
significant value was that a change in culture began to occur in Company
regarding the importance of building products, services, and policies
based on consumer insight.
Sales and Marketing Strategy-Organizational Structure Alignment
Problem
A major OEM’s shifted their market strategy changed in their
Parts and Service Division from a customer support role to revenue growth and
customer service. The company needed to
align the structure of the organization and align employee skill sets to
support their revised strategy and business approach. At the same time, the company needed to reduce their headcount
costs.
Approach
An assessment of the current business situation, objectives,
and goals was first completed. Employee
focus groups and skill set assessments were conducted. Best practice benchmarking of other
successful companies with similar revenue growth objectives was completed. A new organizational structure for their
field sales offices was developed to support their sales growth goals and at
the same time support the customer service handling that was required. A training program for skill set development
was created.
Results
Improved employee satisfaction resulted as well as a
reduction in headcount of 4%. In
addition, the Division’s customers were more satisfied because they had one
company contact versus two. The OEM’s
new structure enabled them to execute their business plan effectively and meet
their sales goals.
Product Marketing
Problem:
ManufCo. lacked marketing expertise and did not have a consistent
marketing plan template for their Product Brand Development work. The ManufCo. wanted a consistent approach in developing a marketing plan. At the same time, they wanted an educational
tool box for their Brand Managers
Assignment:
Create a brand marketing plan template for all Brand Managers to
use.
Approach:
- Developed
a Marketing Plan template that included:
1.
Background,
2.
Communication Strategy
3.
Strategic Challenges
4.
Informational Needs Assessment
5.
Communication Goals and Objectives
6.
Target Audiences
7.
Strategies and Tactics
8.
Estimated Budget to deploy tactics
9.
Evaluation Method
- Communicated
the Framework to the Brand Managers and Advertising Agency
- Provided
training to Brand Managers
Results:
A more consistent approach is utilized by all brand
marketing professionals and the advertising agency leading to more effective
marketing communications. The ability
to compare and contrast brand performance provides insight on marketing tactics
that may or may not work. The company
is building stronger marketing intellectual capital.
