Asian e-Marketing April 2012 by MediaBUZZ Pte Ltd

April 2012

CRM & Data Quality

Congenii Consulting Group forecasts CRM Trends 2012 Page 11

Skype Advertising available for Brands in Southeast Asia Page 41

The connected Customer and the new Era of Relevance , Page 20 ÂŠ MediaBUZZ PTE LTD

EDITORIAL

Dear Reader, Increasingly saturated markets, as well as a change in purchasing and consumption behavior of customers, are placing new demands on companies and their marketing strategies. Digital services, in particular, are reflecting the rapid changes of today's customer needs, such as personalized offers, individual design, specific social demand, and time-dynamic usage – just to mention a few factors that add value and prestige to a provider’s offer. If you are looking for some answers on how to adjust your service portfolio to the "new" requests of today’s customers’, or you would like to find out more about current trends in the customer relationship management industry, you will surely find some answers in this brand new issue, dealing with a variety of themes around CRM/xRM/CEM and its technology adoption. See you next time! Best regards,

Daniela La Marca Editor-in-Chief Asian eMarketing

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CRM & DATA QUALITY CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

An Expert Opinion on CRM Future Trends

Hong Kong Consumers feel inundated by Marketing Communications – with serious Consequences

Future Trends in Relationship Management

Marketers must adapt, differentiate and innovate in Social CRM, SaaS and IMM

Congenii Consulting Group forecasts CRM Trends 2012

Open Source CRM Systems in Comparison

Record Performance for CRM Applications Market Worldwide

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Rise of the connected Customer and the new Era of Relevance

How service-oriented Communication contributes to Customer Loyalty

How to utilize Data for better Customer Relationships

Customer Experience across Channels and Segments Accelerates

Considerations for CRM Software Comparison

TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

Version 10 of OpenText ECM Solution integrates SAP Business Processes

New Release of Convergys CRM 2.0 combines and enhances Microsoft’s Market proven Dynamics CRM Platform

Gemalto Mobile CRM Platform for Effective Communication with Mobile Subscribers

comScore’s holistic Measurement Solution that validates Advertising Impressions and Audiences

CRM goes XRM: From Customer to Multi-Relationship Management

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

Skype Advertising available for Brands in Southeast Asia

Tealeaf Brings Mobile Customer Experience to the Forefront

Countdown to MMA Forum 2012 is on – your Chance of getting a Look into the Future of a Smarter Tomorrow

NewsGator’s aggressive Expansion into the Asia-Pacific Region with advanced Social Computing Capabilities to Microsoft Productivity and Collaboration platforms

Case Study: Optimized Customer Service and Sales Operations with IceWarp’s LiveWebAssist

BUZZWORD

XRM—the natural Evolution of CRM

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RESEARCH ANALYSIS & TRENDS

An Expert Opinion on CRM Future Trends According to Dr. Nils Hafner, professor for CRM at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland, who is at the same time head of the Customer Competence Institute in Switzerland and Germany, the most important worldwide CRM Future Trends are: 1. Collecting Customer Information has to be Give and Take Social media has transformed the interaction between companies and their customers in that sense that customers are no longer passive recipients of marketing messages - they actively communicate with companies via internet, and they are becoming more and more aware of the value of their personal data and thus more careful about offering the same. It is still possible to collect this data systematically on several levels, but it is important for companies to understand that they have to offer the customer something in return. 2. Touchpoint Management for B2B CRM It is important to focus on the decision maker's tasks and environment in B2B CRM: decisions are made by employees, and it is important to collect data about the employee's tasks and position in the company - about political issues within the customer company in order to provide the best possible customer experience, and possibly influence the customer's decision. 3. Integrated Customer Experience Strategies Customer Experience Management (CEM) is one of today's great marketing challenges. It's all about the emotional impression made on the customer. Studies

have shown that an emotional connection between a customer and a company is much stronger than a contractual or technical relationship, and this makes the customer experience so important. Experiences have to be planned according to the decision making behavior of the customer. It is important to know what customers want to experience, and it is necessary to have tools for evaluating the experience. 4. Loyalty Management and Payment Systems are going mobile Most smartphone users use their phones for shopping. In Germany about half of all internet shops have a mobile platform and send specific information to their customers. Smartphones will be used as a means of paying even in stores (ewallet). The same goes for loyalty cards - customers won't carry plastic cards, but will show a barcode or a number on their smartphone in the store instead. 5. Gamification, Incentives and collecting Points Consumers seem to be more motivated in disclosing their location on foursquare as compared to facebook. They can collect points on foursquare and they are in a sort of competition with others. The game character seems to work, giving marketers the opportunity of almost controlling their customers behavior. by Anjum Siddiqi

RESEARCH ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Hong Kong Consumers feel inundated by Marketing Communications – with serious Consequences According to new research from Experian, a global information services company, Hong Kong consumers are suffering from information overload and no longer respond to blanket marketing. The research of 1,046 consumers in Hong Kong, which explored how effectively the general population responds to and engages with marketing efforts, reveals a clear disconnect between the communications they want from brands and the way they are being targeted by marketers. Over a third of all respondents have actively taken the upper hand when it comes to managing the consumer-marketer relationship, with 35% creating a separate email address to avoid being personally targeted by brands. In addition, 55% of consumers cited that they are very selective about what opt-ins, newsletters or updates they sign up for to ensure they are only receiving messages that are relevant to their particular interests. The importance of relevancy is further reinforced by the finding that almost two-thirds (63%) of participants only actually read targeted communications that are personally relevant, with everything else being deleted or thrown away. Over a quarter (26%) ofconsumers said the ideal frequency of brand communications is once a week while 13% said it is not an issue as long as the communication is relevant. "We're clearly hearing from Hong Kong consumers that they feel inundated by marketing communications and as a result the majority of them are becoming more se-

lective about the level of personal information they share and the types of information they sign up to," said Graeme Beardsell, Experian Asia Pacific's Chief Customer Development and Marketing Officer. "The current trend of sending undifferentiated email and SMS campaigns to consumers is not generating the impact that marketers desire. In response, marketers must start listening to consumers to drive responsive campaigns, to test and learn, and provide more personalised, oneto-one marketing communications." Key findings from the research "The Future of MultiChannel Marketing" are: Consumer Frustration  23% of consumers in Hong Kong named "inability to unsubscribe from unwanted communication (email, newsletters, direct mail, SMS alerts, socialmedia messages)" as their number one frustration;  19% of respondents think "receiving content that isn't relevant or helpful" is their biggest annoyance;  At the same time, 17% of consumers feel that "receiving content that comes through at the wrong time of day" frustrates them most. Preferred channels – it's not all about social  Hong Kong consumers agree that a company website is the most valuable source of information they use to look for information about a brand, with 78% stating that it is a relevant or very relevant source;

RESEARCH ANALYSIS & TRENDS  Some 68% of consumers rate print media as a relevant or very relevant channel. However, it has been demoted by marketers to the bottom of the ladder, who ranked it as one of the least important ways (39%) that they see consumers getting information about their brand;  Search engines (62%) and social media (61%) are also valued sources of information, ranking third and fourth respectively;  Mobile apps (48%) and Linked In (26%) are perceived as the least important channels for obtaining brand or company information. Brand Engagement  Give aways and incentives (39%) is the number one way for brands to engage the Hong Kong consumer;  Brand experiences, stunts and interactive content (18%) are the next favourite means of engagement closely followed by social media (15%);

 The least preferable means of engagement were mobile apps (3%) and telephone marketing (1%). "Consumers are telling us that print media is still a very relevant channel and a more valuable source of information than some digital channels marketers are turning to," said Beardsell. "The medium is just as critical as the message when it comes to engagement. Consumers want to have a dialogue with brands and know that a brand values their view and provides an intelligent and timely response via their preferred channel. It's really important that marketers align the delivery of the message with their desired audience via the most appropriate channel at a relevanttime. Only then will they succeed." Experian Marketing Services. To receive a copy of the whitepaper, please contact lewishongkong@lewispr.com By MediaBUZZ

RESEARCH ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Future Trends in Relationship Management Martin Hubschneider (on the right) is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CAS Software AG, which he founded in 1986. He is an Expert in the field of CRM, chairman of YellowMap AG, CEO of LeserAuskunft GmbH, as well as on the board of directors of PTV AG. His in-depth view of the developments in CRM is worth sharing as it sheds light on its future in an incredibly „connected" world. xRM – Any(thing) Relationship Management xRM is actually just a logical development of customer relationship management that a lot of companies are already using for extended purposes around relationship management. xRM is not about just steering and controlling customer relations, but any relation important to a company's success. "x" means any(thing), e.g. customers, employees, partners, the media, suppliers, universities, community members and even the competition. The basic functions for all these possibilities remain CRM-like, the basic platform and database remain the same, but 10 - 15% is specifically adapted, creating a holistic relationship management solution. Social Media – an interconnected World Recommendations of „friends" have become crucial for buying decisions and the online relationship networks provide a platform for this. Within a few years, even a few months, numerous different internet communities developed into virtual market places with immense dynamic. Actively taking advantage of these platforms might be absolutely crucial for companies to survive in the online world. Customer intimacy Customer intimacy is a marketing concept in which the customer accepts the service provider as a partner, with a certain familiarity and a knowledge of the customer's needs. Amazon is a good example: the information from all previous purchases and searches are saved and used to actively offer new products to the customer - automatically! This means, the more you know about your customer as a person, including personality and life style, the easier it will be to target the customer emotionally. Advertising messages can be adapted according to personality types, for example making use of people's curiosity or need for safety. In this field it is especially important to handle privacy issues with great care. CRM without limits

Companies can make use of a lot of data from the internet. CRM systems like that of CAS Software are able to enhance company profiles by collecting reference information from the internet. Phone calls can be identified from the first incoming call. Social media monitoring is a one-click solution, providing a wealth of information - be it a potential customer or job applicant. The CRM system is connected to platforms like Twitter and Facebook and can forecast what might be important for a customer. Even information about the potential customer's credit history may be immediately available. xRM-cockpits – intelligent transparency Cockpits enable an overview and control of a situation at one glance. xRM cockpits connect a lot of different information sources, giving a clear overview, and provide information about live data. New types of questions can be answered, e.g. „are there customer we are a lot in contact with, but there is a low turnover?" but also even more importantly: „is communication slowing down with high-turnover customers?" Answering such kind of questions allows companies to react much earlier to changes in the customer relationship. Apps The Apple app store is just the beginning of a new era of software developed according to customer needs. Lean and highly specific applications can be integrated easily in a user's working environment, e.g. xRM connectors are integrated seamlessly with applications like email, Facebook, XING or Wordpress. IT-service from the cloud Cloud Computing enables processing power and cloud space via the Internet, providing companies with a lot of advantages: employees are connected to customers and partners with the option of file and data sharing, hybrid solutions make efficient

RESEARCH ANALYSIS & TRENDS xRM creating competitive advantages use of the IT infrastructure and administration and save a lot of costs and highly efficient data processing centers ensure data safety.

Extensive relationship management creates competitive advantages. Martin Hubschneider recommends getting â&#x20AC;&#x17E;intimate" not just with customers, but also with employees, suppliers and partners to make use of their ideas, needs and motivation for mutual success.â&#x2014;&#x160; By Anjum Siddiqi

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

CRM Marketers must adapt, differentiate and innovate in Social CRM, SaaS and IMM The marketing predictions for 2012 of the research firm Gartner highlight in particular social CRM's further acceleration of software as a service (SaaS) and larger rationalization of integrated marketing management (IMM). Marketing and IT leaders should use these predictions to drive their marketing strategies and prioritize technology investment decisions. Key findings of Gartner's research:  Over 80% of the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500 are present on Facebook; however, less than 20% are actively engaging with customers;  With some marketing organizations having 50 or more applications used globally, consolidation and integration of marketing applications is becoming a high priority;  By 2014, 70% of B2B companies with indirect sales channels, agents or brokers will have implemented SaaS or hosted CRM/partner relationship management (PRM) to support lead management, opportunity management and social CRM, up from 15% today. Recommendations  Marketing departments must shift their efforts in Facebook marketing from "brochureware" and email sign-up widgets to a two-way interaction between company and customers;

 A gradual approach to managing a marketing portfolio should be applied by consolidating systems of record, looking for commoditized functionality from your larger technology providers and using best-ofbreed vendors for areas of true differentiation and innovation;  Companies with internally developed lead management applications should compare the cost of internal application support and on-going feature enhancements with the current field of SaaS CRM available on the market. With Facebook's estimate of over 800 million active users and 500 million active each day, it is a significant source of traffic, with the potential for engagement to drive measurable business benefits, such as conversion rates for B2C and B2B organizations. However, a two-way engagement with active company participants is needed for marketers to successfully monitor, track and respond to prospects and customers, and to recognize key areas, such as intent to purchase for product and service recommendations, feedback for product development teams and qualified leads to sales teams. Most marketing organizations in particular need to take a daily, active role on Facebook for facilitating CRM. Even beyond Fortune 500 companies, many Gartner clients have already set up a Facebook page, but do not engage with customers on a regular basis. With no real, established mutual purpose it will be nearly impossible for companies to determine their effectiveness on Facebook in such highly sought after quantifiable metrics, such as ROI, campaign conversion rates, lead-tosales time, call deflection cost-savings, cross-sell, up-

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

sell, etc. Strategic planning assumptions  By the end of 2012, over 60% of Fortune 500 companies will actively be engaging customers with Facebook marketing, up from 20% today;  By 2014, over 40% of large complex marketing organizations will have developed a pace layered application approach to integrated marketing;  By 2014, 40% of companies using licensed or internally developed PRM applications will have migrated to SaaS PRM;

 By 2014, customer service, Web analytics, content management and social CRM vendors will take more than 40% of the market share for campaign management. Marketing strategies, processes and technologies have been evolving at an increasingly accelerated pace. Customers, particularly the digital customer, have been the main driver, forcing these major changes onto marketing organizations. Thus, marketers will need to move quickly to adapt, differentiate and innovate if they are to be successful. (Source: Gartner)◊ By MediaBUZZ

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Congenii Consulting Group forecasts CRM Trends 2012 Communication with customers is changing as rapidly as online environments are developing. Especially with mobility increasing so fast, companies are faced with having to adapt and expand their customer contact channels in the CRM environment. Congenii Consulting Group is specialized in holistic guidance in the field of Customer Experience Management (CEM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Business Intelligence (BI). From numerous projects across different industries like telcos, finance, insurance and commerce, Congenii was able to identify the most significant CRM trends for 2012, which are clearly applicable to the APAC market as well. CRM Trend 1: Multi Channel Marketing will evolve to become Cross Channel Marketing Companies are more and more connecting their online and offline systems to be able to better initiate, direct, track and control marketing campaigns and to target their customers using all available channels. At the same time, customers have a lot of options for contacting the company and accessing a variety of information anytime, anywhere. Due to Increasing mobility, consumers don't have one preferred point of contact anymore, but tend to contact their service provider or merchant from a variety of devices in a variety of ways, e.g. social media, e-mail, phone call, live chat etc. Most compa-

nies are rapidly recognizing the advantages and the potential of cross channel marketing, and are creating networks to connect all the different communication and marketing and sales channels, with a focus on synchronizing these processes. This enables companies to analyze and extract important consistent data and information about their customers, campaigns and offers. CRM systems must be adapted to integrate all the new contact possibilities coming with mobility and social media, in order to take full advantage of cross channel marketing. CRM Trend 2: Mobile Marketing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mobility has become much more than a trend. A number of mobile devices are giving consumers and enterprises a whole new variety of possibilities for exchanging information. It is becoming crucial for companies to provide for this development and make efficient use of these channels. Cross channel marketing enables marketers to target their customers via their mobile devices, while integrating these processes into the CRM system. It is important to focus not only on creating appropriate interfaces to efficiently connect different communication channels, but also to adapt offers and services for the mobile consumer. Information has to be available on all devices to provide the best possible customer experience. This means, adapting technology and content accordingly to make information, communication and transaction fast and comfortable for the consumer. CRM Trend 3: Real Time Decisioning

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Almost all enterprises are already offering individual services or products specifically targeting customers. The fast pace of modern life, with increasing mobility, makes it necessary for companies to act and react even faster to each customers individual situation. CRM systems will have to go in the direction of real time decisioning, determining and presenting the appropriate offer at the moment of customer contact. Very individualized offers can be provided to the customer at exactly the right moment by connecting the customers' mobile activities to the CRM system, e.g. using the full potential of cross selling and cross channel marketing by making use of locationbased services and sending individual offers and incentives onto the mobile device in order to direct a consumer to a close by store. Real time decisioning is not only a mobile issue, it can be successfully used within the more traditional sales and marketing channels, making more and more individualized offers at the time of customer contact, based on the customer's individual buying and communication pattern. CRM Trend 4: Ongoing growth Social Media and Social CRM Most companies have recognized how social networks can affect success. It is not only important to place company and product information within so-

cial networks, but to use the information made available by these networks - not only managing the data retrieved, but also analyzing it efficiently. Integrating social media data with CRM information remains a challenge. There are specific tools for social media analysis providing statistical analysis methods. Companies are trying to match the data of anonymous social media users with the data of existing customers in the CRM system using opt in marketing. Should this become possible, it would mean a whole new range of possibilities for making use of a CRM system. CRM Trend 5: Software as a Service (SaaS) Companies are faced by the great challenges of integrating social media, mobile marketing und cross channel marketing in order to remain competitive, forcing companies to constantly adapt and develop their technology and infrastructure. More and more companies prefer software as a service rather than installing great software packages throughout the enterprise. SaaS allows for faster implementation and simpler handling. Even large enterprises are becoming more and more open for SaaS and cloud solutions when choosing or adapting their CRM system.â&#x2014;&#x160; By Anjum Siddiqi

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Open Source CRM Systems in Comparison visual4, a media company from Stuttgart, Germany, compared three open source CRM systems in a study - XRMS CRM, vtiger CRM and SugarCRM and also added the commercial open source CRM info@hand for better comparison. As it is not easy for small and medium sized companies to evaluate and chose the appropriate application, I would like to share the summary of the results with Asian eRequirements for Implementation The CRM systems in this comparison are web-based and can be comfortably accessed via internet browser. Further, all systems are based on the programming language PHP and can be installed on LAMP-Stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP).

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Comparison of Contact Management Functions All functions and features are built around the customer management features. Contact Management is one of the most important and basic features of a CRM system and should be easy and comfortable to use. Basic functionalities are customer data collection and management, contact management, organization management. Some companies need organizational structures and partnerships to be depicted as well.

Comparison of Sales and Marketing Functions The process of developing new contacts to customers should be depicted in a CRM solution. Tools like import, campaigns, serial letters, batch e-mails are part of the CRM system. To make processes simpler, these modules are connected and the processes depicted as work flow.

Comparison of E-Commerce Functions

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Comparison of Support Functions In order to gain customer loyalty, it is important to achieve customer satisfaction. Support functionalities are crucial for this and should be enabled by the CRM system.

Comparison of Communication Management Functions Communication management includes the entire steering, controlling, synchronizing and archiving of communication with the customer.

Comparison of Collaboration and Information Management

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Comparison of Analysis and Reporting Analysis and reporting functionalities are important for future strategies and decisions and optimizing processes for sales and marketing. It can make all the difference if there is the option of individually configuring the reports generated.

Comparison of Administrative Functions

Comparison of ERP Interfaces and individual Plug-Ins

Comparison of Installation and Maintenance

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Comparison of Plug-Ins

Comparison of User Friendliness A CRM system has to have an intuitive user interface. It has to be structured to make orientation easy for the user. This can be made easier by using specific colours and symbols. Performance is also crucial for user friend-

Conclusion Each one of the compared CRM systems offers a great deal of functions, which makes it difficult to exactly rate the systems, as choosing the right system depends strongly on the individual company‘s requirements. The objective of this comparison is to provide answers to questions and enable customers to preselect the systems which could be taken into consideration. XRMS can be easily personalized and has a simple data base structure, which makes it easy to program add-ons and interfaces. It enables a good management of user rights and the integrated work flow engine makes it possible to depict specified processes. XRMS is available under an open source license without licensing costs. vtiger has a great deal of functions, especially in the ERP sector enabling offers, order processes and invoicing. It is easy to use with an intuitive user interface and can easily be integrated with office applications. It is available under an open software license. SugarCRM has a great range of functions in the field of sales, marketing and support, with good scalability. The layout can be adapted even without programming. Unfortunately only the Community Edition is available as open source. The SugarCRM Enterprise and Professional versions are available at annual licensing costs. The commercial open source CRM solution info@hand is baed on the Community Edition of SugarCRM and with its range of functions can be compared to the Enterprise and Professional editions of SugarCRM. The self-service customer portal and integrated online shop makes this system interesting. This CRM system is available with a one-time licensing fee, making it a good deal if a lot of functionalities like ERP, customer portal, e-commerce etc. are needed. Further Information on the four CRM Systems: 

XRMS: http://xrms.sourceforge.net/

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vtiger: http://www.vtiger.com/

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SugarCRM: http://www.sugarcrm.com

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info@hand: http://www.thelongreach.com By Anjum Siddiqi

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Record Performance for CRM Applications Market Worldwide According to the market research company IDC, the global CRM applications market recorded a very strong revenue performance last year with 18.2 billion US dollar and a growth rate of 11% compared to the previous year. CRM's increasing appeal is in part a response to the changing competitive landscape, where mainly social networks and mobile end devices have a hand in. Besides, it is becoming more difficult for brands to differentiate on services and products, while customers are able to use the internet to research purchases and make informed decisions. Most importantly, in the event that they are unhappy, they can communicate their displeasure with an audience of millions across social platforms, which is a challenging environment for marketers. An IDC study covered nearly 190 CRM vendors, across a total of 49 countries globally. According to the results, a total of 18 vendors brought in more than $100 million in revenue and captured combined a total market share of 63%, while the rest has been shared by the remaining 170 vendors. To no surprise, Oracle remained the number 1 CRM vendor worldwide, growing above the market average and the only vendor that earned double-digit market share (13.2%) during the first half of 2011. Salesforce.com continued to impress with the best year-over-year growth (22.6%) among the top 10 vendors during the same period and moving into the number 2 position worldwide for the first time since IDC started tracking the market semi annually in 2008. Within the top 10, SAP and NICE Systems were the other vendors that had stronger than overall market growth.

"The CRM applications market experiences growth in an organic relationship with broader market conditions and organizational performance. Movements, such as social and mobile, are bringing consumer-like experience requirements to all aspects of end customer engagement with the companies with whom they conduct business," said Mary Wardley, program vice president, CRM Applications of IDC. "As a result, we will see requirements for a modernization of customer-facing processes, which will precipitate increased investment in supporting systems such as CRM applications." IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Customer Relationship Management Applications Tracker provides total market size and vendor share for the contact center, customer service, marketing, and sales segments of the global CRM software market. Measurement for this Tracker is total software revenue, which includes license plus maintenance plus SaaS and other subscription revenue. Information provided include biannual market size, vendor share, and forecast data for the four functional markets â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, and Contact Center â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that comprise the CRM applications market. Furthermore, IDC points out in their report that in the ever-connected world, CRM applications vendors need to understand core business processes, applications' requirements, and end-user and consumer engagement models. The incorporation of social media, mobile, and analytics into CRM solutions are examples of the dynamics of the market that suppliers must track, understand, and respond to. What more is there to say then "Welcome to the age of the customer!"â&#x2014;&#x160; By Daniela La Marca

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

Welcome to the age of the customer!

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Rise of the connected Customer and the new Era of Relevance Good customer service used to be one of the secrets to business success, but it seems that in our digitally driven business thinking, with automated processes and systems, we got lost, wondering why with all the data at hand today, customers are often even farther away from us than ever before. The truth is that the social or connected customers herald a new era of business, demanding products and services that meet or exceed their needs. They want to find what they need, when they need it, and want to be heard. Besides, our constantly multiplying digital tools connect us to more than just products, companies and media channels, but most importantly all of us to one another. The digital flow of data, our ideas, our commerce, and our identity turns each of us into a node in an enormously powerful network of human interaction. It is a network capable of spreading ideas and running businesses whose impact on businesses is profound. As the Internet links us in networks, it is transforming customers' relationships to each other and to organizations that quite obviously realize that its customers are behaving radically differently than in the pre-digital era. Compare to business practices that time, designed to suit the paradigm of a mass audience, the customer of today is no longer seen as an isolated individual but as a dynamic and interactive participant in a network. These customers are constantly responding, connecting, and sharing among themselves and with businesses they care about. To succeed, new strategies that match the behaviour of customer networks are needed.

Businesses need to change the way they think about customers, because the rise of customer networks has given much more power, independence, and influence to individuals. We have by now four decades of experience living with the Internet, a network of networks, fifteen years of broad public use of the World Wide Web, and nearly a decade since the adoption of widespread social media tools in the Web 2.0 era. By observing which media have been embraced and how customers have used them, which new businesses have flourished, and which brands have successfully adapted to customer networks, we can begin to identify a few broad, underlying usage patterns: 1. Customers in networks seek to freely access digital data, content, and interactions as quickly, easily, and flexible as possible. Weather it is instant communication on our smartphones or having a world of information at our fingertips with search engines, we want it all and we want it now. Increasingly, wherever we go, we demand availability of Internet access without logins, firewalls, or fees. The next generation of real-time data, location-aware mobile devices, and cloud computing technology will put each of us in even closer and more constant contact with our networks. 2. Customers seek to engage with digital content that is sensory, interactive, and relevant to their needs. We may be reading fewer newspapers and magazines than five years ago, but major news publishers have more readers than ever. 3. Customers seek to customize their experiences in networks by choosing and modifying a wide

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

assortment of information, products, and services. The Web itself is the ultimate customizable medium, with a trillion pages to choose from as you browse for content, news, and commerce. Hypertext, RSS feeds and widgets have made digital content highly customizable and point to the future of an increasingly personalized Web. But an overload of choices will make recommendation engines, filtering tools increasingly important. 4. Customers seek to connect with one another by sharing their ideas and opinions in text, images,

videos, and social links. Increasingly, our relationships in social networks are portable to other Websites, allowing us to personalize and enrich all of our digital experiences. 5. Customers seek to collaborate on collective projects and goals through open platforms, since today's digital tools allow groups to form and collaborate easily across great distances, whether motivated by curiosity, personal interest, or deeply held social values.â&#x2014;&#x160; Excerpt from David L. Rogers: The network is your customer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Five strategies to thrive in a digital age By MediaBUZZ

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

How service-oriented Communication contributes to Customer Loyalty In the past ten years, new media have changed the relationship between companies and customers more than anything before, forcing today's marketing approaches to be customer-oriented by aligning the entire organization to the needs of target groups. Future growth will only be possible if all points of contact are handled successfully creating a positive and above all consistent experience to the customer. For this reason, companies are increasingly looking for ways to differentiate themselves from the competition and to obligate their customers long -term. Customer Experience Management (CEM) deals with the strategic and tactical analysis and interpretation of consulting, ordering, and purchasing situations from a customer perspective. This observation from the outside allows identifying the real expectations of customers' ideas and insights into how the client's prospects can be satisfied. Thus, CEM is a wise advancement of the customer relationship strategy, as it is: 1. Strategically taking into account the overall objectives of the company and its CRM strategy by developing an overall concept of customer relations. This includes analyzing and aligning the existing business processes to the requirements of the customer. 2. Tactical-operational by the use of analysis and optimization of the touch points that play a crucial role in the daily contact with customers to provide the best possible compelling and consistent customer experience.

How to deliver exceptional Customer Experiences in Practice The Internet and the global marketplace have given customers unprecedented choice over whom to do business with, due to increased access to a sea of information at their fingertips, causing a disruptive force in business. Reduced switching costs and easier access to products and services are empowering customers to raise their expectations, which means a good product or a low price will not necessarily guarantee competitive advantage or customer loyalty. Today's customers expect great customer experiences or simply switch to another company, so you may consider your strategies, initiatives and programs to improve customer experience. The key to driving superior customer experiences is knowledge and a good strategy that must be designed to deliver the right knowledge to the right audiences through the right channel at the right time to drive the right desired outcomes. This requires an effective orchestration of strategy and execution to understand who your customer segments are, what the segments are demanding from you, what you want the experiences of these segments to be, and deciding how you are going to provide it to them. In other words, you need to develop an experience management strategy around each segment, to deliver a customer experience tailored for that segment, based upon the role that customer segment plays in your customer segment portfolio. This requires aligning your business's processes, policies, systems, organization, and even culture to achieve those goals. Once you've achieved this, you can successfully

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

deliver superior customer experiences to your customer segments.

4. Engage customers proactively with relevant, personalized, and timely communications;

Optimize your business from the customer's perspective, by taking the following into account:

5. Measure how well you deliver customer experiences with the goal of improving them continuously

1. Establish a shared customer knowledge foundation throughout your company and use it to drive customer interactions including self-help, agentassisted or through any communication channel; 2. Solicit and immediately act upon customer feedback; 3. Ensure customer experiences are delivered transparently among departments or people;

Since delivering superior experiences throughout the customer lifecycle is the critical factor for driving sustainable competitive advantage, customer loyalty and business success, you should always work on how to drive best customers' experiences.â&#x2014;&#x160; By Daniela La Marca

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

How to utilize Data for better Customer Relationships In the past few decades there have been a lot of changes in marketing - from mass marketing to direct marketing and with the current shift of customers gaining more control and marketers becoming the audience. For the savvy marketer, looking for the transition from talking to listening and better engaging their audience in this new landscape, the answer is simple: data. In particular, behavioral data reflecting actual actions of your customers and prospects is of interest. As clutter continues filling up inboxes, distributing marketing messages becomes a lot more effective if you're taking steps to carefully "listen" to your customers. And this means collecting information via various avenues: inviting your customers to tell you more about themselves, paying close attention to their behaviors, and removing any communication barriers. With the powerful database that results, you'll be able to send highly targeted messages that increase engagement throughout the buying cycle, leading to increased conversions and customer loyalty. However, preparing for the "data revolution" requires cleaning up your existing data and aligning your systems, building a robust database by collecting information through a variety of means and across a range of platforms, and using marketing automation to put this data to use by sending highly

relevant messages that change depending on recipient actions and preferences. By creating campaigns that foster dialogue with each and every customer on their terms and their timing, marketers can grow beyond audience-like thinking and achieve Bto1 marketingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;real 1:1 dialogues with individual customers. Here are three tips to help prepare for and thrive in the new database-driven age of marketing. 1. Get ready: To be successful in the new age of marketing, marketers will need a database that can act as a repository for almost any kind of information, reaching beyond "traditional" data such as profiles and email clicks and capturing online and offline behaviors from virtually every corner of the marketing world. Before diving into the data acquisition process, it may be necessary to conduct a little housekeeping to make sure you've got a solid foundation to build on. 2. Collect invaluable Insights: As competition within the inbox grows increasingly fierce, the companies that rise to the top will be those whose customers and prospects actually anticipate and look forward to receiving their messages. This process starts with listening to your customers and prospects. And that means being where your contacts are, inviting them to tell you more about themselves and paying close attention to their behaviors across emails, websites and social networksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and even offline. 3. Put that data to use: With recipient tolerance for generic, irrelevant content at an all-time low,

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cutting through the clutter by speaking to customers and prospects on a 1:1 level has become more important than ever. Fortunately, sophisticated marketing automation platforms provide a way for marketers to harness the detailed customer and prospect data you've collected and use it to respond with timely, relevant, personalized content driven by these behaviors. And today's marketing technology also provides more robust reporting data that enables you to gain more insights than ever on how your emails, campaigns and programs are performing. As marketers today, you have more opportunities at your fingertips than ever for reaching and engaging prospects and turning them into loyal customers. But before you can do so, you need to do some legwork to prepare your company for taking advan-

tage of these opportunities. From automating your systems to building a remarkably comprehensive database and using it to deliver dynamic, triggered messaging, up to viewing the results in a single holistic analytical reporting structure, this powerful transformation is requiring marketers to think differently about planning, strategy and tactics. For savvy marketers, now is the time to bring all the silos and channels together to gain a singular view of each customer and prospect that has never been possible before. By doing so, contacts can be treated as individuals and not a faceless segment. And marketers can achieve higher levels of engagement and ROI than ever.â&#x2014;&#x160; By MediaBUZZ

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Customer Experience across Channels and Segments Accelerates For two good reasons the business world's emphasis on managing the customer experience has quickly evolved from a tactical sales and service challenge to a C-level topic with strategic implications: First, customers have more choices and more control which makes a more sophisticated management of customer relationships a competitive necessity, and second, global competition, increasing product commoditization, and ever-shorter cycles of innovation make product and cost-based advantages more difficult to achieve—and harder to sustain. Customer experience is indeed growing in importance to differentiate from competitors, but unfortunately is not always easy to manage effectively, especially due to the constantly rising expectations of today's customers. To be successful, Convergys, a global leader in customer management, urges companies to understand first what customers expect—from an outside-in perspective – and to use that insight then to rethink customer-facing processes and deliver the experience that customers want. Such an approach reduces the risk of customer defections and strengthens a company's competitiveness. Prepare for the Experience Tsunami

advancing

Customer-

Many studies attest by now that younger consumers are more technology oriented than their predecessors, and Convergys' study found that further that they are less patient when companies are not

able to consistently deliver excellent experiences in the channels of their choice. Besides, younger consumers are significantly more inclined to tell associates about a negative experience—and they are highly adept at using everything from text messages to Facebook to do so. Altogether, the arrival of these younger customers is likely to raise the stakes considerably for companies trying to build solid relationships. Mike Betzer, president of Convergys explains: "The generational shift represents a potential 'tsunami' of new consumers with very high expectations." He advises companies to think about the changes they need to make to reach Gen Y and younger consumers. To prepare for the necessary changes, companies need to improve their ability to manage customer experience across a wider variety of channels. Businesses need to expand their view of channels beyond the call center and the Web and have to include mobile applications, social networks, virtual worlds, and, even have to be prepared to embrace channels that have yet to be created - most probably automated channels that provide more sophisticated levels of service. To do so, they can draw on technologies such as speech recognition and real-time analytics that allows companies to "understand" behavior and tailor interactions accordingly, besides monitoring the continuously changing customer expectations. For example, it is likely to see more the use of avatars— 'virtual people' that act and sound human and have the potential to be the electronic equivalent of the knowledgeable employee," says Betzer. New Solution to analyse and keep up with

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES changing Customer Experience Convergys just received a new patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for an analytics technique that helps improve the customer experience within an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system by statistically linking IVR and caller satisfaction data. Since IVR systems typically handle huge call volumes and generate countless data records, monitoring and analyzing the effectiveness of these systems poses a challenge in terms of information management. Although other packages exist to help assess the performance of an IVR system, these packages are limited because they approach the analysis solely from the IVR system or analyst's point of view. The USPTO awarded the formal patent to Convergys for its application of advanced linkage analytics that compares portions of data generated through an IVR application to a customer satisfaction score obtained from a survey. These comparisons statistically reveal which areas within the IVR correlate to low customer satisfaction scores so that adjustments can be made to improve the overall customer experience. "Traditional IVR analysis approaches may record a caller's technical interaction with an IVR, but fail to take into account those hidden requirements that encompass the caller's overall experience with the system. As a result, the IVR system may appear to be working perfectly, with no errors, when in reality the caller's needs were not met," said Mike Cholak, a Convergys vice president in charge of the company's research and applied analytics on the customer experience. "By incorporating customer satisfaction scores into the IVR performance review, we are able to uncover those hidden obstacles that increase customer effort and hinder customer satisfaction." Cholak adds that Convergys is working on applying this use of linkage analytics to other customer service channels and currently has a patent pending with the USPTO tying customer satisfaction scores to Website navigation data to improve the online customer experience. As a single-source customer management provider, Convergys combines agent services, customer ser-

vice research insights, innovative technology, and analytics to help their clients deliver consistently satisfying customer service experiences. Through customer care outsourcing and services to in-house contact centers, Convergys is helping clients build more effective relationships with their customers while driving increased revenues and cost savings. Convergys' Guidelines for good Relationship Management Convergys' four dimensions of relationship management serve as a directive for their clients: 1. Strategy: Create a blueprint for a balanced approach encompassing customer and employee needs; use workforce and customer intelligence to define customer experience and workforce plans; identify the right mix of technology, people, and processes to cost-effectively meet expectations. 2. Analytics and continuous improvement: Develop an outside-in view of what customer segments want; analyze feedback and behavior to understand how customers perceive experiences; funnel intelligence into relationship-management processes to drive improvements and meet changing expectations. 3. Operational excellence: Support knowledgeable frontline employees through learning and talent management that enables excellent service and employee engagement; transform global HR with a mix of channels. 4. Technology enablement: Focus on the optimal combination of automation and human activities; deploy proactive, knowledgeable, and personalized service consistently across agent and automation touch points. Be aware of the fact that the ability to manage the customer experience across channels and segments plays an enormous role in a company's success today and will certainly be even more important tomorrow.â&#x2014;&#x160; By Daniela La Marca

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Considerations for CRM Software Comparison Selecting the right Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can be challenging, especially if you require high functionality and specific CRM functions to derive value from the selected platform. Here are some criteria you should consider before making a decision: Market research: When comparing CRM software, look for solutions that will support a number of different types of intelligence and market research information. An ideal platform will also offer methods for capturing customer feedback, including surveys and questionnaires (offered both off- and online) as it is simply adding more value to your business intelligence data. Marketing: Sales and marketing rely on each other for success, therefore you need the ability to personalize campaigns, as well as execute and manage those campaigns. Besides, it is important to design, analysis, and report marketing campaigns, since the sales team has to be able to act on any marketing activities appropriately. Sales: Compare what the CRM platform will offer to your sales department. You want the solution to not only support sales strategies, enable territory management and allow account configuration, but also support contact management, integration with communications systems, support sales processes and methods and incorporate incentives. And if you don't forget forecasting and business planning to build a strong business case, the sales team will definitely benefit from management tools relating to proposals, quotes and contracts, providing easy access to pricing, order processing and invoicing. Further, a direct portal to customer communications and integration with the website is critical for sales representatives to interact with customers in the processing stage, too, and make sure that an access to electronic payment tracking is given to meet a growing demand for that. Customer support: If you are extending customer support capabilities to your sales teams, you're tying their hands, affecting customer issue resolu-

tions. Compare CRM software that offers tools to manage accounts, contacts, support, tickets, defect tracking, product returns and tracking, a knowledge -base and a customer support portal. The customer experience is greatly enhanced when their main contact â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the sales rep â&#x20AC;&#x201C; can also resolve issues immediately. Contact center functionality: Whether you operate a contact center or not, the ability to integrate with a contact center is still an important function as you compare CRM software. If your business is on a growth path, implementing a virtual contact center could be in your near future. Investing in CRM software that won't support this customer service platform could render it quickly obsolete. Compare CRM software that allows for this functionality now or as an add-on later, depending upon your current needs. System-Wide Functionality: No CRM solution can deliver value to your organization, if it won't integrate with your current technology deployments. You not only need to extend access to your sales team, but also other departments that can benefit from the information captured and contribute to building out the database. Compare CRM software that delivers complete compliance and integration across all platforms you currently use, as well as extended support for the desired workflow, alerts, employee and manager self-service and Webenabled capabilities. (Source: Business Software.com) â&#x2014;&#x160; By MediaBUZZ

Sales and marketing rely on each other for success, therefore you need the ability to personalize campaigns, as well as execute and manage those campaigns.

TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

Version 10 of OpenText ECM Solution integrates SAP Business Processes OpenText announced Version 10 of its popular OpenText Extended ECM for SAP速 Solutions that now includes support for the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) and SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SAP SRM) applications among numerous other enhancements. SAP resells the solution under the name SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management (SAP Extended ECM) application by OpenText, giving its customers a comprehensive content management solution that integrates seamlessly with SAP business processes and puts unstructured content in a business context. "The need to connect content to SAP business processes applies to virtually every industry segment," said Patrick Barnert, Vice President of SAP Solutions at OpenText. "That's why Extended ECM has already been deployed at more than 200 customer sites spanning some two dozen different industries, including energy, utilities, life sciences, and public sector. With this latest release, we are expanding on this success by adding in support for SAP CRM and SAP SRM along with new features based on customer feedback that will help to further boost operational efficiency." With the release of OpenText Extended ECM 10, OpenText now helps enterprises improve customer -interaction efficiency by consolidating support documents such as contracts or email correspondence in one place and making them available through the SAP CRM user interface. On the supplier side, Extended ECM 10 extends SAP Supplier Relationship Management with vendor collaboration and content management inside the procurement processes of an organization. "When we discuss long-term content management

needs with customers, integration with SAP CRM and SAP SRM are two topics that come up frequently," said Tom Roberts, Global Vice President, Software Solutions Program, SAP. "They see considerable value in having these processes, which often require a lot of supporting documents, integrated with an advanced content management solution. Over the past few years, OpenText has proven to be a fabulous partner because of the high value they deliver to our customers, and we see this value increasing further with these latest enhancements." The addition of a social stream in Extended ECM 10, called OpenText Pulse, allows team members to track recently added content from colleagues across the organization and quickly jump to the most up-to-date content. It also allows people to connect to each other and see the status or content updates from across the organization, besides allowing knowledge sharing and transparency as content is changed or added within core business processes driven by SAP solutions. Other major new features in Extended ECM 10 include enhanced workspace access and permission control based on SAP roles and authorizations, tight integration with the Microsoft Windows desktop and Office applications, access to content via the SAP NetWeaver速 technology portal, and advanced OCR capabilities for scanned documents (searchable PDF). Organizations can also be confident that Extended ECM 10 meets regulatory requirements for records management and archiving. For instance, the new release passed Department of Defense 5015.2 certification requirements for records management for SAP solutions in February 2012. Since 2007, Extended ECM has been the only re-

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cords management offering to achieve this certification in combination with SAP solutions. SAP enterprise applications including SAP ERP, SAP CRM and SAP SRM require unstructured content such as email, presentations, contracts, photos, résumés and more to support business processes and transactions. Through the use of Extended ECM to help connect applications with content, enterprises find that the value of their content and their investment in SAP solutions is dramatically improved, leading to fast return on investment.

there is growing awareness at large organizations of the need to extend enterprise applications with ECM and to provide a holistic approach to information management. She notes: "Bridging these two worlds effectively is important from a business process efficiency perspective, and also for information worker productivity, and governance, risk, and compliance."◊ By MediaBUZZ

According to the IDC analyst, Melissa Webster,

TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

New Release of Convergys CRM 2.0 combines and enhances Microsoftâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Market proven Dynamics CRM Platform Convergys Corporation announced the worldwide availability of its latest release of Convergys CRM, powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011. Convergys CRM 2.0, part of the Convergys Smart Suite, will allow communication and utilities providers to transform their business with a comprehensive Business Support System (BSS) that improves the billing processes, customer service, and time-to -market for new revenue-generating services. For more than 30 years, the global leader in relationship management provides solutions that drive more value from the relationships their clients have with their customers and turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for their clients. "As services converge and churn causes revenues to erode, providers must transform their operations and business models. Standing out from the crowd boils down to an imperative described in a single word: service," said Bob Lento, President, Convergys Smart Revenue Solutions. "With this latest release of Convergys CRM, provid-

ers can address the immediate nature of new services and products, while proactively and seamlessly serving customers at every touch point." To assist providers with their business challenges, Convergys announced a strategic relationship with Microsoft in February 2010, to deliver a comprehensive, pre-integrated solution that would improve billing processes, customer service, and time-tomarket for new revenue-generating services for communications and utilities providers. "As telcos look to transform their business, innovations in billing and customer service can make all the difference," said Dennis Michalis, general manager Microsoft Dynamics CRM. "Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 delivers a powerful and flexible foundation for partners to build innovative CRM solutions. The new offering from Convergys is an example of a solution that takes advantage of the familiar, intelligent, and connected experiences that Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides to meet the critical business needs of communications and utilities customers." Convergys CRM 2.0 combines and enhances Microsoft's market proven Dynamics CRM platform

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with best-in-class Convergys shopping and ordering, customer management, and account management, which is pre-configured and dedicated to telecommunications, cable, broadband, satellite and utilities businesses, transforming customer service into sales. Convergys CRM is also integrated with Rating & Billing Manager, so that billing information is seamlessly brought forward to enhance the customer service experience. Convergys CRM is a flexible CRM product that works the way the service provider does and can be extended to meet the constantly changing market, business, and competitive requirements: 1. Consolidated view for customer service representatives to view all key customer details, including products, services, billing information, interactions, equipment and other important activities. 2. Ability to seamlessly move customers between support channels and segments, including the ability to view available services and products based on service location. 3. Positive and consistent customer experience at all touch points creates competitive differentiator.

Built on a true product model with Microsoft Dynamics 2011, Convergys CRM can significantly reduce the cost and on-going effort that providers have experienced with business CRM software, specifically in the areas of CRM implementation, licensing, integration, support/maintenance, testing, and upgrades. Convergys develops and implements Smart Revenue Solutions for the telecoms, cable, satellite, broadband and utilities markets, enabling global businesses to intelligently monetize their services, driving revenue and profits through innovative billing, customer care, and real time charging and policy solutions. Convergys solves today's business challenges and positions providers to evolve to take on future opportunities. Convergys's customer-focused approach delivers straight-forward, best-of-breed technology from its Smart Suite, which enhances the customer experience.â&#x2014;&#x160; By MediaBUZZ

TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

Gemalto Mobile CRM Platform for Effective Communication with Mobile Subscribers The prevalence and convenience of mobile devices have made them indispensable for users. Not just for making calls anymore, mobile phones are redefining the digital lifestyle - from text messages, social media, photo sharing and gaming etc. Similarly, the mobile marketing industry is poised for a tsunami of growth in the Asia region. While SMS marketing still commands the lion's share of mobile advertising revenues, mobile web advertising is gaining major traction. Innovative mediums of advertising, such as augmented reality, QR codes and in-app advertising are also becoming increasingly popular. Asia is a unique region for mobile marketing because of its rich geographical and socio-economic diversity. For example, Singapore, Korea and Japan are mature markets with a high penetration of smartphones and mobile data, while emerging markets like Philippines remain the SMS capital of the world. However, one of the most common mobile marketing tactics today includes the sending of unsolicited messages to customers' mobile devices. Because it's often considered an invasion of privacy, many customers do not appreciate such tactics and will either choose to opt-out or ignore such forms of advertising. That being said, such practices have unfortunately become commonplace in recent years and given mobile advertising a bad reputation.

Asian markets are moving towards an opt-in and permission-based marketing system, to ensure a justified ROI on marketing investment via a targeted and profiling based marketing strategy to ensure that consumers are not spammed. Increasingly, governments are taking an active role in defining regulations for controlled advertising on the small screen. To better improve ROI on mobile marketing campaigns, brands should qualify their mobile marketing target audience as those who have expressed interest in receiving such communications from an advertiser. At the same time, advertisers should also make it simple for users to unsubscribe should they wish to not receive such messages. Gemalto's Mobile Marketing Solution, known as Smart Message for Mobile CRM, takes this approach. Completely focused on the interaction and targeted communication with consumers, Smart Message enhances the messaging model, allowing brands to develop real and interactive relationships with their customers. Smart Message works on 100% of mobile devices, making it one of the most egalitarian interactive channels providing the same user experience on every handset regardless of the model of the user's mobile device and it allows messages to be fully personalized to match the profile of each end-user. What's truly unique about Smart Message is that it

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allows consumers to have a dialogue with the mobile advertisement. Advertisements through this channel come in the form of a pop-up on the phone's screen. Users are able to navigate the advertisement through pages and clicks, much like a browser. Smart Message campaigns can have multiple screens and decision trees, each providing a customized message. By providing this interactivity, Smart Message campaigns increase consumers' exposure to the brand's communication. Smart Message's onscreen pop up feature is also easier to read and increases the text-reading index in comparison with traditional SMS. Smart Message advertisements are designed to be completely non-intrusive. Users can simply cancel or exit the advertisement when it pops up on their screens. Since Smart Message isn't delivered in the SMS inbox, users don't have to go through the extra hassle of deleting the message from their SMS inbox.

marketing campaigns a click through rate that is up to 20 times greater than campaigns using traditional SMS. Consumers today are over-loaded with information. Permission-based mobile marketing, such as the opt-in methodology, not only increases the chances of getting the message across, but also deepens a brand's engagement with loyal customers. This allows brands to fulfil their CRM's promise of one-toone marketing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; dealing with each person as an individual.â&#x2014;&#x160;

By Saurabh Ohri, Solutions Sales Manager - Asia (Mobile Marketing), Gemalto

The tool's versatility is another one of its big advantages, since Smart Message can be used not only for campaigns to sell products and mobile services, but also for mobile marketing or advertising activities, qualifying the user base (CRM), and crossselling or up-selling flows. These features all combine to give Smart Message

TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

comScore’s holistic Measurement Solution that validates Advertising Impressions and Audiences comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, announced early this year the launch of its Validated Campaign Essentials™ (vCE) product, a new measurement solution for validating digital ad delivery that enables a holistic view of campaign delivery and a verified assessment of ad-exposed audiences via a single, third-party source. Unlike existing single-point solutions, vCEprovides an unduplicated accounting of impressions delivered across a variety of dimensions, such as ads delivered in-view, in the right geography, in a brand safe environment and absent of fraudulent delivery. "The display advertising market today is characterized by an overabundance of inventory, often residing on parts of a web page that are never viewed by the user. This dilutes the impact of campaigns for advertisers and represents a drag on prices to publishers," said Dr.Magid Abraham, President and CEO of comScore. "Conversely, some ads below the fold are quite visible and deserve more credit. comScore's introduction of vCE signals an evolution in digital advertising that will bring greater transparency and accountability to the market. Ultimately, this type of third-party validation will help identify and appropriately price the proportion of online ad inventory that delivers value, improve buying and selling decisions, and instill more confidence and trust in the industry." vCE enables a comprehensive, holistic view of validated impressions, which can be expressed as 'validated gross rating points', or vGRPs. This new metric reflects measurement of ads that were not only delivered, but that had an opportunity to have an impact on consumers. Validated impressions are also the basis for vCE's campaign audience reports, which include reach and frequency, comprehensive demographics, and behavioral seg-

ments only for people with a valid exposure. vCE Charter Study Findings To better understand the quality of ad delivery today, comScore conducted an U.S.-based vCE Charter Study, which involved 12 national brands, 3,000 placements, 381,000 site domains and 1.7 billion ad impressions. Select advertisers from the charter study include Allstate, Chrysler, Discover, E*TRADE Financial, Ford, General Mills, Kellogg's, Kimberly Clark, Kraft, and Sprint. All of the impressions analyzed in the study were delivered in iframes and none required publisher site pixels. All in all the vCE Charter Study includes a variety of detailed findings that shed light on the current state of online ad delivery and its implications for different participants in the online advertising market. Key findings include:  In-view rates are eye-opening. The study showed that 31% of ads were not in-view, meaning they never had an opportunity to be seen. There was also great variation across sites where the campaigns ran, with in-view rates ranging from 7% to 100% on a given site. This variance illustrates that even for major advertisers making premium buys there is a lot of room for improvement.  Targeting audiences beyond demographics can be powerful. Generally, campaigns that had very basic demographic targeting objectives performed well with regard to hitting those targets. For example, those with an objective of reaching people in a particular broad age range did so with 70% of their impressions. Predictably, as additional demographic variables were added to the targeting criteria (e.g. income + gender), accuracy rates of the ad delivery declined. However, the results also showed that 37% of all impressions were delivered to audi-

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ences with behavioral profiles that were relevant to the brand (i.e. consumers with demonstrated interests in categories, such as food, auto or sports). One campaign had 67% of its impressions viewed by the target behavioral segment.  The content in which an ad runs can create problems for any brand. Of the campaigns analyzed, 72% had at least some impressions that were delivered adjacent to objectionable content. While this did not translate to a large number of impressions on an absolute basis (141,000 impressions across 980 domains), it is important to note that 92,000 people were exposed to these impressions. This demonstrates that brand safety should be of concern to all advertisers.  Fraud is the elephant in the digital room. Fraud is an undeniably large and growing problem in digital advertising. The results showed that an average of 0.16% of impressions across all campaigns was delivered to non-human agents from the IAB spiders & bots list. Although this percentage might appear negligible, there are two important considerations to keep in mind. Only the most basic forms of inappropriate delivery were addressed in this study. When additional, more sophisticated types of fraud are considered, the problem will only get larger. Like brand safety, fraud should be an important concern for all advertisers.  Digital ad economics: The good guys aren't necessarily winning. The study showed that there was little to no correlation between CPM and value being delivered to the advertiser. For example, ad placements with strong in-view rates are not getting higher CPMs than placements with low in-view rates. Similarly, ads that are doing well at delivering to a primary demographic target are not receiving more value than those that are not. In other words, neither ad visibility nor the quality of the audience reached is currently reflected in the economics of digital advertising. These findings suggest that measuring all dimensions of ad delivery for every placement in a holistic fashion is critical and that optimizing delivery inflight is a necessary step in the campaign management process. The findings also support the argument that any digital GRP metric must account for validated, not gross impressions. This validated impression measurement must include 'viewable impressions,' based on the very simple notion that if an ad is not seen, it cannot possibly deliver its intended effect Across all charter campaigns measured, 69% of the ad impressions were classified as being 'in-view', which means viewable for at least 1 second, the remaining 31 % were delivered but never seen by a

consumer, a likely result of a consumer scrolling past the ad before it loaded or a consumer never scrolling the ad into view. In-view percentages varied by site and ranged from 7% - 91%. "With 31% of vCE Charter Study impressions not being viewable, it is now abundantly clear just how important in-view measurement is to online campaign validation," said Abraham. "In order for any digital GRP metric to be relevant in the online space and to be cross-media comparable, it must include validated 'viewable impressions' in its calculation. While audience and geographic validation are crucial – and should not be ignored – if a digital campaign rating does not also take into account whether or not the ad had the opportunity to be seen, then the metric fails to deliver a true applesto-apples comparison to all other media." An average of 4% of ad impressions were delivered outside the desired geography, but individual campaigns ran as high as 15%. In many cases, ads were served in markets where the advertised product is not sold, meaning wasted ad spend and suboptimal effectiveness results. Further, 72% of Charter Study campaigns had at least some ads running next to content deemed "not brand safe" by the advertiser, meaning that the content is deemed objectionable by the brand.This type of unsafe delivery has the potential to damage the brand, creating a difficult situation for all members of the digital advertising ecosystem. Without dounts, vCE represents unique measurement solution that improves overall transparency, accountability and monetization in the digital advertising market. As Scott McDonald, Senior Vice President, Research & Insights, Condé Nast assures: "It is critical that we can understand the extent to which ads delivered on our sites are actually viewed by the intended audience. This type of insight allows us to improve our relationships with consumers and our advertising partners. comScore'svCE is a welcome innovation, and I am particularly excited about how this measurement solution can help us optimize our site content and the advertising that we deliver on it." ◊ By MediaBUZZ

TECHNOLOGIES & PRODUCTS

CRM goes XRM: From Customer to Multi-Relationship Management Customer relationship management is crucial, but organizations also need to manage many other relationships that are integral to success: employees, partners, suppliers, distributors, vendors, and many other critical stakeholders. Microsoft Dynamics CRM can easily be customized for these "Extended CRM" scenarios and enhance the value of all relationships, improve business relevance, drive operational excellence and increase business insights. This article aims to give you an overview of the new extended features of Microsoft's XRM. XRM Framework Microsoft XRM allows for rapid customizations, dynamic services, and prebuilt functionality:  Point-and-click customization of data management, workflow, user experience, access and security, analytics, and reporting;  Ability to deploy customizations either in your data center or in the cloud;  Application integration based on well-supported industry standards;  Extension of familiar and scalable technologies such as the Microsoft Office System, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Visual Studio, the Microsoft .NET Framework and Windows Server. Solution Management: Third-Party Plug-Ins and Applications  Ability to add and remove programs and features;  Support for secure code on the server;  Intellectual property protection;  Change management and versioning. Workflow: Configurable Rules, Processes and Workflows  Point-and-click customization and configuration;  Personal, team, or organizational workflows;

 Ability to build processes with conditional branching and nesting;  Automated actions with triggers based on events, time or business logic. Systems Management: Superior Scalability and Performance  Multi-tenancy for multiple concurrent applications;  High availability, load balancing and clustering;  100,000 concurrent users with virtualization;  Reduced power consumption, rack space and management overhead. Partner Network: Marketplace Solutions  Ability to discover, download and deploy applications;  Both application and professional services listings;  New, optimized search logic;  Solution ratings and reviews;  Direct integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011;  View more information on Microsoft Dynamics Marketplace. Microsoft Azure: Applications in the Cloud  Bring your mission-critical Microsoft Visual Studio applications to the cloud;  Integrate Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Azure through Azure App Fabric;  Simplify the way you connect with customers, partners and vendors in the cloud;  Leverage Windows Azure Data Services solutions to extend the reach of Microsoft Dynamics CRM.◊ By Anjum Siddiqi

Customer relationship management is crucial, but organizations also need to manage many other relationships that are integral to success: employees, partners, suppliers, distributors, vendors, and Independent ePublisher for digital marketing in Asia many other critical stakeholders.

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Skype Advertising available for Brands in Southeast Asia Microsoft Advertising just announced the availability of Skype advertising inventory in Singapore and Indonesia. Additionally, Catcha Digital finalized a deal with Microsoft Advertising to be the exclusive advertising representative of Skype in Malaysia, covering MSN Malaysia (MSN.com.my), Windows Live and now Skype. More than a telephone, Skype allows you see the person you are talking to and truly share moments. You are never tied to a landline or a cord, and all you have to do is download the software or app. In 2011 alone, international Skype-to-Skype call minutes increased 48 percent to approximately 145 billion minutes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an increase of 47 billion minutes. Advertising on Skype now provides brands access to a platform that has broad global reach and engagement â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with more than 200 million connected users per month. It gives brands a unique opportunity to be part of the Skype experience, which enables people around the world to connect when they are apart through voice and video calling, instant messaging, conferencing, file and screen sharing and more. In addition, it is a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful real-time video and voice communications and is widely used by individuals and businesses. This expansion represents Skype's strategy to become a global communications provider that billions of people depend on every day for sharing experiences. Skype advertising provides brands with an intimate and social platform that has broad reach and engagement across a global peer-to-peer network. Skype calls total more than 300 billion minutes annually, with approximately 50% of these minutes in video calls and 40 million concurrent users.

Bruno Fiorentini Junior, General Manager for AsiaPacific, Microsoft Advertising & Online, said, "Our aspiration is to reach a billion users every day through Skype. We understand that the Skype experience is paramount to this success, and as such, our focus remains on using the platform to engaging consumers and brands. Our advertising offerings will continue to support the Skype business while taking advantage of their significant growth and reach in Asia." In conjunction with the availability of Skype inventory in Singapore and Malaysia, Catcha Digital announced an agreement with GroupM Interaction to allow exclusive use of Skype's premium rich media ads for Maxis Home, a home internet multiple-play service. With its track-record as a 'first-mover' in the technology space, Maxis' goal with the Skype campaign is to showcase the innovative fibre connectivity solutions the company provides Malaysian consumers. "We are very excited to exclusively partner with Skype in Malaysia and also have GroupM Interaction and Maxis on-board as launch advertisers, "said Damon Rielly, Chief Operating Officer of Catcha Media Berhad. "With Skype, Catcha Digital lets advertisers reach out to a unique audience in a personal and captive connected environment where they are more likely to share what they see, hear and experience." Joni Leimala, Head of Interaction of GroupM Malaysia said, "We are delighted to be Catcha Digital's launch partner on Skype and are looking forward to work closely together to introduce new, interactive rich media advertising opportunities to our clients." Here are listed the five main reasons why Skype is

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making marketers and brands in Asia take notice: Reach: With more than 200 million connected users per month, Skype is growing twice as fast as the world's population. Skype calls total more than 300 billion minutes per year, half of which are spent on video calls. Skype just reached a new milestone when 40 million concurrent users were signed in all at once. More than just a peer-to-peer network, Skype is a global, social phenomenon. Affluent Audience: Skype's strategy is to become a global communications provider that billions of people depend on every day for sharing experiences. According to internal research, Skype users in Asia are mature, educated and affluent, and use Skype at home and work. Multiscreen and Multiplatform: Skype is always on, every day. It is part of the social fabric of pop culture and the perfect environment for brand messaging across multiple platforms and devices, including PC, Mac, iPad, and Facebook video calling. Mobile

platforms, including Android, iOS and Windows, are available in some markets and will come to Asia soon. Rich Media: With rich media capabilities, brands can engage the entire Skype audience in an uncluttered and social, but highly measurable, environment. The Homepage Takeover supports video and image galleries for premium creative execution. Additionally, Skype offers Click-to-Call, where a tollfree number on the ad unit takes users directly to the brand call center. Social Connections: Skype is more personal than status updates, check-ins, direct messages or instant messages. Video capabilities make it even more intimate than regular phone calls. On average, Skype contact lists consist of our closest relationships, the relationships that matter most – and have the most effect on decision-making – making advertising on Skype a harmonious fit.◊ By MediaBUZZ

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

Tealeaf Brings Mobile Customer Experience to the Forefront According to a Forrester Research report, mobile commerce has matured from a nascent to a critical commerce touch-point in just two years, pointing out that today's mobile offerings must be both fully transactional and support the customer's end-toend experience with a retailer to satisfy customers. For this reason, Tealeaf, a leader in digital customer experience management solutions, recently introduced the latest version of Tealeaf CX Mobile™, a complete mobile customer experience management solution that enables sophisticated customer experience analysis across all mobile channels, including mobile Websites, native iOS and Android apps, hybrid apps, and the growing number of apps and sites built in HTML5. Due to the exponential adoption of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets, consumers now have the ability to conduct transactions anywhere, anytime. Not only does the mobile channel create new revenue opportunities for e-business, it is also critical for maintaining a competitive advantage, but at the same time presents new opportunities to lose business, too. In fact, poor mobile experiences come with consequences as Tealeaf's mobile transaction research, conducted last year by Harris Interactive, found out, reporting that for instance, 85 % of consumers expect the mobile experience to be better than online experiences using a laptop or desktop computer and  63% of all online adults said they would be less likely to buy from the same company via other purchase channels if they experienced a problem conducting a transaction on their mobile phones.

The Mobile Ecommerce Revolution Indeed, mobile commerce is growing in lightningspeed and brings the era of creating websites solely for customers using desktops or laptops to an end. "The Mobile Money Forecast" of the Yankee Group, for instance, expects mobile transactions to continue their exponential growth, forecasted to exceed $1 trillion by 2015. This explosion in mobile adoption adds to the mounting pressure on consumer-organizations to deliver the best possible mobile experiences or risk losing customers completely - not just from the mobile channel. Bill Loller, vice president of Mobile for Tealeaf, states: "If you're not mobile, you're not competitive. Tealeaf CX Mobile helps ecommerce businesses to take full advantage of the mobile revolution by identifying opportunities—as they happen—to optimize the mobile experience and empower customers to accomplish the task they are attempting to do digitally." Tealeaf CX Mobile allows businesses to understand, respond to and optimize the complete mobile customer experience by enabling them to see their sites and apps through the eyes of their customers. Tealeaf's solution gives organizations the context necessary to enable their mobile apps and mobile sites to be useful, engaging and functioning properly. It provides documented evidence of customer struggles and the ability to quantify the business impact of customer challenges. Tealeaf CX Mobile captures, for example:

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

 In-screen actions, including orientation, pinching, and scrolling;

 Isolate problems and quantify users affected and business impacted;

 Enhanced mobile browser replay to re-create problems and optimize functionality;

 Identify opportunities to optimize the end user experience for the small screen;

 Device-level data, such as device type, browser version or operating system.

 Translate customer feedback and ratings into actionable improvements;

With this information, companies can drill down to understand the context of every interaction and allows organizations to:

 Correlate customer behavior with network and application problems.

 Automatically detect customer struggles, obstacles or issues;

Tealeaf CX Mobile is part of the Tealeaf CX suite and the data captured is available for analysis, optimization and customer service by both the Tealeaf CX Customer Behavior Analysis Suite™ and the Tealeaf CX Customer Service Optimization Suite™.See Tealeaf CX Mobile Tour.◊ By MediaBUZZ

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

Countdown to MMA Forum 2012 is on - your Chance of getting a Look into the Future of a Smarter Tomorrow Held for the fourth time in Singapore, the Mobile Marketing Association Forum 2012 will run from 2325 April 2012 at the Grand Hyatt, Singapore, and is the Asian iteration of the Mobile Marketing Association's renowned Forums that bring together thought leaders from the mobile marketing and advertising industry. Over one day of workshops and two days of conference sessions, delegates attending the Forum will get a chance to hear from prominent industry players through a mix of presentations, panel discussions and fireside chats. It's high time now to get prepared for the highlyanticipated pre-conference workshops that will kick off the annual Mobile Marketing Association Forum 2012. Delegates who are already registered for the MMA Forum can sign up for the workshops separately, or upgrade to a Gold pass that includes all three days of the Forum. There has been a high level of interest in the workshops every year since they were first run in 2010, as each interactive workshop is a great way for participants to immerse themselves in mobile marketing and to have questions answered first-hand by the experts.

SESSION 1:Selling Mobile Advertising The workshop will highlight the key strategies participants need to consider in order to attract new revenue through mobile advertising sales. Participants will learn how to sell mobile as a medium, understanding the unique selling benefits of mobile, and will be able to overcome the objections of mobile buyers. Agencies and solution providers will benefit the most from this workshop, as will brands that need to raise the value proposition of mobile as part of the marketing mix in order to sell it internally within their organisations. Participants can expect to see examples of mobile advertising campaigns and solution-selling models that deliver results for advertising buyers and revenue for sellers. SESSION 2: Insights into Mobile Marketing Strategies and Tactics for Effectively Targeting Today's Consumers This workshop is designed to bring together senior marketing leaders in brand and retailer communities to create peer-to-peer discussions and share

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

strategic insights and tactics on what is working and what is not working in mobile marketing across marketing sectors, including presentations, case studies, and an interactive breakout session. "The fully-interactive workshops will give participants the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of mobile marketing, first-hand, from some of the best practitioners in the industry," said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, MMA APAC. "They are perfect for people looking to explore mobile marketing a little deeper, or who want to broaden their understanding of the field." Keynote Speakers of this year's event will cover significant developments in mobile marketing, as well as looking to the future, in line with the Forum's theme of Smarter Tomorrow, including:  Chad Wollen, Group Head, Consumer Futures, Vodafone PLC - The Consumer of the Future  Marcel Fenez, Global Leader Entertainment and Media, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Chairman of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasters Association of Asia (CASBAA) - The New Media Landscape: The Emergence of New Technologies and the Impact of Mobile  Ashutosh Srivastav, Chief Executive Officer, Mindshare Asia - Leading the Agency Evolution: Meet the Growing Demands of the New Media Centered Around Mobile  Trevor Healy, Chief Executive Officer, Amobee 2012...Year of the Dragon and Digital Advertis-

ing The opening Keynote Address will be delivered on 24 April by Guest-of-Honour Mr Michael Yap, Deputy CEO, Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), and Executive Director of the Interactive Digital Media Programme Office (IDMPO). He will speak about marshalling the nation as an innovation platform wherein public and private sector co -creation and collaboration will help make Singapore a compelling location for the launch of exciting new interactive and mobile digital media innovation. The Mobile Marketing Association Forum Singapore 2012 is proudly sponsored by Amobee, BuzzCity, The Coca-Cola Company, Gemalto, Google Inc., mediba Inc., Microsoft Advertising, Millennial Media, m-Stars, Nokia, Poynt Corp., and supported by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF). For more information about the MMA Forum, including the updated agenda and speaker bios, please visit: http://mmaglobal.com/events/forums/ singapore2012/overview ◊ By MediaBUZZ

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

NewsGatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aggressive Expansion into the Asia-Pacific Region with advanced Social Computing Capabilities to Microsoft Productivity and Collaboration platforms In response to rising demand for powerful social computing solutions on the Microsoft platform, NewsGator is aggressively expanding into the AsiaPacific region. NewsGator Social Sites delivers advanced social computing capabilities to Microsoft productivity and collaboration platforms, including SharePoint, Azure, Windows Phone 7, Office 365 and Dynamics. NewsGator is a premier social computing partner of Microsoft, recognized as the 2011 Microsoft Country Partner of the Year for the United States and making it one of North America's fastest-growing technology companies, due to its social capabilities - including micro-blogging, rich activity streams, multi-platform mobile access, social profiles, integrated news feeds, expertise discovery, badging/ recognition, ideation, community collaboration and video streaming. "Asia-Pacific businesses want to capitalize on their momentum by implementing deep social collaboration functionality across their organizations with security, scalability and governance that addresses enterprise needs," said Cuneyt Uysal, who oversees business development for NewsGator in the Asia-Pacific region. "They're looking for solutions that integrate seamlessly with Microsoft's knowledge management and collaboration technologies, which is exactly what Social Sites 2010 offers." Cuneyt Uysal has spent most of the past decade helping Asia-Pacific software vendors establish their brand and adopt Web technologies that advance their business strategies and joined NewsGator, the Microsoft Gold Certified and Depth Managed Partner, just in February of this year. He pre-

viously developed the Southeast Asia presence of Sitecore, a Web Content Management System (CMS) software provider, after working for Open Text and RedDot Solutions, where he architected more than 40 enterprise content management implementations. NewsGator Social Sites boosts productivity and delivers robust social technology to the enterprise, helping over three million paid users in industries across the globe. With proven scalability and security it provides its service to flagship clients like Accenture, Adidas, Deloitte, Ericsson, Kraft Foods, or Unisys Corporation in the US as well as customers in the Asia-Pacific region which include among others the Bank of New Zealand, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, or Stockland, Australia's largest diversified property group. "Asia-Pacific is a dynamic, prosperous region with organizations ready to make critical decisions to sustain their growth for decades to come," said JB Holston, president and CEO of NewsGator. "Social computing on the Microsoft stack will help improve their performance with new capabilities for collaboration, knowledge management and innovation. We're eager to help them obtain those capabilities now." NewsGator's support of SQL Server 2012 Sites customers gain new power and performance with NewsGator's support of SQL Server 2012 that integrates directly into the Microsoft SharePoint 2010 collaboration platform, delivering a wide range of social capabilities to users and unifying the customer's technology infrastructure, enabling custom-

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ers to streamline communications, improve employee recruiting and retention, and boost overall productivity. SQL Server 2012 adds new, higher levels of disaster protection, redundancy, scalability and performance to the Social Sites/SharePoint combination at a low cost without complexity. More rapid data visualization enables Social Sites customers to unlock new business insights from the data they produce in their Social Sites environment. That data environment can now span internal servers, private cloud installations, the public cloud, or a combination of the three – called "cloud on your terms." "Social computing data increasingly makes up the lifeblood of the enterprise, and the activity stream serves as the main artery," said Brian Kellner, executive vice president, development and product management at NewsGator. "Our customers are poised to gain new insights, confidence and performance from this information through the evolution of Microsoft's powerful database platform. SQL Server 2012 sets a new standard of excellence." In addition to managing social computing data, SQL Server 2012 can stream periodic reports to SharePoint – e.g., trend analyses or billing statements – which then can appear in the Social Sites newsfeed. In addition to SharePoint and SQL Server, NewsGator Social Sites supports of course the entire Microsoft productivity and collaboration stack.

AlwaysOn delivers enterprise data assurance A key feature of SQL Server 2012 is AlwaysOn, a new high availability and disaster recovery solution that provides redundancy within a data center and across data centers. Fast application failover protects mission-critical applications like Social Sites 2010. "SQL Server 2012's AlwaysOn capability reduces the complexity of maintaining high availability and disaster recovery," said Eugene Saburi, general manager, SQL Server Product Marketing, at Microsoft. "With SQL Server 2012, organizations can perform a simple, straightforward code change in the connection string to deliver a powerful combination of database mirroring and clustering. The result is non-stop customer access to their invaluable applications and data." SQL Server 2012 also significantly reduces planned downtime – which constitutes nearly 80% of the outages in a typical IT environment – with features such as Windows Server Core support and rolling upgrading. The new system improves performance and cost-effectiveness by enlisting secondary database instances for operations such as reporting and backup. Deploying and managing a high-availability solution is simple with wizards, a dashboard and other tools for easy creation of availability groups and failover cluster instances.◊ By MediaBUZZ

COMPANIES & CAMPAIGNS

Case Study: Optimized Customer Service and Sales Operations with IceWarp’s LiveWebAssist The Four Seasons Hotel in Limassol, Cyprus, decided to become an early adopter of a new technology and adopted LiveWebAssist – an innovative multilingual business chat from IceWarp.

Seasons' webpage, assigning three operators to interact with customers.

The independently owned and operated Five Star deluxe property with 304 rooms, 6 restaurants, 4 bars, and extensive conference facilities, a full range of sports and fitness facilities and a shopping area with exclusive boutiques, watches and jewellery, is situated on its own sandy beach, which has been awarded with the Blue Flag - a symbol of cleanliness and safety awarded by the European Community.

From the very beginning, the Four Season's customer service team was making the most of LiveWebAssist's multilingual interface and knowledge-based support features to interact with customers in English, Greek and Russian.

Objective The Four Seasons' management is constantly looking for effective ways to build strong relations with its customers and optimize sales programs. And since the hotel's website is its most important marketing tool that helps the property to attract and retain elite guests from all over the world, Mr. Nick Aristou, the property's Executive Director, decided to enhance the website with an online business chat solution. "Our objective was to make it easy for our customers to navigate the website," says Mr. Aristou. "Also, we wanted to convert as many visitors into customers as possible by making it easy for them to complete bookings." Solution Mr. Aristou, who has a strong technology background, did a thorough review of available products, but none of them could fulfil Four Season's specific needs. The main limitations were the lack of multilingual support, patchy compatibility with tablet users and absence of robust archival features. Then Mr. Aristou came across LiveWebAssist and realized it was the perfect match - a chat solution deployed on the IceWarp site. Although he couldn't get the last release, he decided to go ahead and launched LiveWebAssist at Four

Results

 The hotel rapidly registered increasing bookings, improved customer service and rapid ROI." LiveWebAssist contributed a lot to this on many occasions," says Mr. Aristou. "Our analysis showed that customers booked because they were given real-time explanations through the chat service."  The Four Season's technology team also liked LiveWebAssist's capability to recognize returning Website visitors. "The excellent feature helps an operator to resume the conversation from the same spot where it ended or had been interrupted that makes users spend on average 7-8 minutes on the site," said Mr. Aristou.  In an approach radically different from other chat products, LiveWebAsisst supports the InLine noflash chat architecture, eliminating pop-up windows. This design allows more visitors to initiate chat sessions, as they don't have to deal with popup blockers and assures usability for visitors from tablets like iPad or Android.  Additionally, this option gives actionable information about the visitors' behavior. "It's a very useful feature. Operators can tell exactly where the user is on the site, so they can offer them immediate assistance, tell them where to go and answer questions with a high degree of relevancy," explained Mr. Aristou.  LiveWebAssist's analytical capabilities helped the hotel to optimize its Internet marketing strategy. "LiveWebAssist analytics capabilities are very good, helping us to locate where our customers are coming from. It's a very effective tool,

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especially when used in conjunction with Google analytics," noted Mr. Aristou.  Another feature the Four Seasons' team found practical is LiveWebAssist Knowledgebase. At any point of the conversation, it allows to insert pre-approved messages (such as terms and conditions, cancellation policy, etc.) as well as URLs and graphics with a single click. The option provides more professional outlook and helps to standardize responses. Besides, operators don't have to think about how to phrase them. Mr. Aristou said: "In the near future, we are planning to extend the knowledgebase with images and, possibly, videos."  According to Four Seasons' technology team the training and ramp-up process was painless. "The functionality of the program is simple, anybody who can use a social chat program can get accustomed to LiveWebAssist very easily," stated Mr. Aristou.  For the support function, the Four Seasons team used LiveWebAssist Direct Chat Technology, the VIP connection that gives dedicated access to key IceWarp support personnel. This option makes it possible to reach the important contacts - no matter where they are – at their desktop, off-site, or on the road." The VIP link option has been very useful, and IceWarp support team was very prompt, " Mr. Aristou affirmed. Thus, the hotel is now even planning to expand LiveWebAssist functionality, by considering its use on mobile devices, and, possibly, integrating the solution with a new CRM system. Furthermore, the hotel is thinking about hiring more operators and starting to use LiveWebAssist automated translation functionality in the future Return of Investment (ROI)

According to Mr. Aristou's estimates, LiveWebAssist was showing compelling ROI from the day it was implemented. "Just from my own observation, from the number of bookings that have been converted directly through LiveWebAssist, I can say that it has paid for itself almost immediately," affirming that he would definitely recommend LiveWebAssist to other organizations in the hospitality industry. "Selling hotel rooms is always a complex matter," says Mr. Aristou. "Usually, hotel bookings for five+ star hotels are a very high-value item. It's not a $10 -20 purchase from Amazon. They are usually $5,000-6,000 per transaction and there are many issues for potential customers to understand before they actually commit to book. Anything that can give a customer greater confidence and prompt the person to make a decision to buy is very valuable. LiveWebAssist gives us exactly that."◊ By MediaBUZZ

More rapid data visualization enables Social Sites customers to unlock new business insights from the data they produce in their Social Sites environment.

BUZZWORD

XRM - the natural Evolution of CRM The xRM concept has evolved over the past ten years from the sales force automation (SFA) and customer relationship management (CRM) applications of the previous decade to the sophisticated everything (x) management solutions of today. xRM allows you to leverage technology to create efficiencies and become more profitable. Definition of xRM Software developers and business analysts commonly define xRM in one of two ways. In the first definition, the "x" in xRM refers to extended relationship management, which represents the extension of CRM platforms far beyond customer relationship management. In the second definition, the "x" is an algebraic variable that can represent almost any relationship that a business needs to manage. In both definitions, expanding the functionality of the CRM platform is the key. An xRM solution can manage more than relationships with customers; it can manage suppliers, employees, partners, assets, knowledge bases, and just about anything else a company might wish to manage in a relational database. Evolution of xRM xRM is a business strategy with a long history. To give you some perspective on the industry changes, which have occurred over time, we've put together a brief overview: Personal Information Management (PIM): It all began with the introduction of the Rolodex in the late 1950s, which centralized contact information that was used on a frequent basis. PIM, at this time however, was limited to static, discrete records. It didn't offer a lot of related customer information,

except for a note or two at the bottom of the card that contained the record. For additional information, businesses often had to resort to unwieldy filing systems. Contact Management Software (CM): An outgrowth of the concept of PIM, Contact Management software products such as ACT, Maximizer and Outlook made an appearance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They offered a value-added system of tracking sales process stages. Businesses could add notes, and even link contacts to one another in a rudimentary fashion. These linkages were the first hints of what was to come in CRM. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Companies began to truly expand their relationships with customers in the late 1990s. New technologies allowed them to view information three dimensionally and, more importantly to exploit it successfully. CRM was eventually broken down into divisions like Operational CRM, Sales Force Automation and Customer Service CRM. As a result of this segmentation, targeted products were created that dealt with sales, customer service and customer retention. In many cases, companies would end up purchasing either a very expensive suite of applications, that attempted to cover all of these categories, or several different products that needed to be integrated. And finally, we come to xRM, the natural evolution of CRM. The "X" part of the equation stands for any and all aspects of business, not just relationships with customers. Nowadays, companies need a unified platform that connects every part of their operations so that each piece works together seamlessly. When using business-critical applications like sales, accounting and administration, employees need the ability to easily access data from one place. Most importantly, that data needs to make sense to all departments so that communication

BUZZWORD

can flow in every direction smoothly and quickly. xRM is more than a CRM product or serviceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; it's a strategic approach to understanding what makes a business thrive, what information needs to be tracked, by whom, and how it needs to be displayed and leveraged to facilitate better decisions. The formula for a successful xRM deployment always includes scalable and robust platforms that automate many of the manual processes involved in daily operations. Because every business is unique and uses different logic to make decisions, flexibility is paramount

to success. The chances of one single application meeting all the requirements for a particular business are slim to none. Therefore, it is imperative that you educate yourself on the various software publishers in the marketplace, and select a company that provides products that can meet all your CRM software requirements. â&#x2014;&#x160; (Source: www.xrm.com) By Anjum Siddiqi

APPOINTMENTS

Jayesh Easwaramony

InMobi announced the appointment of Jayesh Easwaramony as Head of Business Development, Asia Pacific. He will drive business growth in the region through acquisition of marquee publishers and developers. Jayesh joins InMobi from Frost and Sullivan, where he was Vice-President of the ICT Practice. Jayesh will spearhead business development for Asia Pacific and help InMobi scale rapidly through acquisition of publishers and developers who can leverage the network for greater monetization of their audience and assets. He will work closely with key industry players to create win-win value propositions to accelerate the shift of spending to mobile advertising. In his previous role at global consulting firm Frost and Sullivan, Jayeshadvised several key industry players on new growth initiatives and had been a leading industry analyst known for his perspectives on key market trends. Prior to his role at Frost and Sullivan, Jayesh was business development manager at Tata Sky Ltd and Star India Private Ltd and an internal consultant to the Tata Group. Jayesh has a MBA in Finance and Strategy from IIM Lucknow in India.

Alicia Carey has been appointed as the new Marketing Communications Lead for Asia, as part of Microsoft Advertising's goal to use creativity and technology to deliver innovative digital advertising opportunities to brands across the region. Alicia brings a wealth of expertise and insights from her extensive career as a brand storyteller at creative agencies. In her role, she is responsible for all regional marketing communication activities for Microsoft Advertising, managing all internal and external communications, planning and executing brand campaigns, implementing integrated marketing strategies and social media, and supporting the research and sales teams. She will report to Kenneth Andrew, Marketing Director for Asia, Microsoft Advertising. Alicia contributes a strong agency background to the regional marketing team at Microsoft Advertising. Most recently, she was the Chief Client Officer at Young & Rubicam Asia where she managed advertising and Alicia Carey branding campaigns across Southeast Asia and Greater China for clients in the consumer electronics industry. From telecommunications to information technology, Alicia has gained extensive experience, building brands and leading teams at both the global, regional and local market level. She began her career in 1995 when she was offered a place in the coveted Advertising Federation of Australia Scholarship Program and then moved to BBDO. Over the last 17 years, she has worked with many global agency networks on a diverse range of brands and is based in Singapore for more than ten years.

Bridget Benelisha

Microsoft Advertising is focused on recruiting top industry talent to the team in Asia. Other recent hires include Bridget Benelisha as the Public Relations and Social Media Manager for Asia. Bridget brings more than five years of experience working with technology brands at the local, regional and global level including HewlettPackard, AMD and Microsoft.

OMD announced the appointment of Rhys Gower as Business Director working on the McDonald's and Beiersdorf accounts - following the promotion of Dan Sinfield to National Head of Trading & Implementation late last year. With a strong collaborative approach to working with clients, and a thorough understanding of the strategic and executional components of the communications process; Gower has more than 13 years agency experience, working across a wide range of categories including a number of leading global brands such as Diageo, Burger King, Philips Electronics and Nivea. He joins OMD from Mindshare Sydney where he worked as Partner - Client Leadership, running one of their largest and longest-standing accounts, Kimberly Clark, as well as the Volvo business. Gower will be based in OMD Sydney and will report into Mark Jarrett. Rhys Gower

APPOINTMENTS

Ignite Media Group, Macau's most dominant media conglomerate with an increasing reach into Hong Kong and pan-Asia advertising platforms, namesTobias Berger as Head of Group Media Sales. Berger joins Ignite Media Group from his most recent position as the Head of Asia Online Media Sales at Expedia, the world's largest online travel company. With prior experience at some of the largest multimedia integrated conglomerates in North America, Berger brings deep expertise across the full range of media products relevant at Ignite Media Group: from online to print, and outdoor advertising.◊ Tobias Berger

PHD Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Media Group, has announced the appointment of Malcolm Devoy to the newly created role of international strategy director. Devoy joins from Arena Media where he has headed up the agency's social media division, 247 Social, as well as holding the role of digital planning director for Arena Media. In his new role he will be working with PHD's worldwide strategy and planning director Mark Holden in developing a global strategy and planning capability for PHD. Devoy joined Arena Media in 2009 as head of digital innovation; responsible for ensuring Arena's digital offering Quantum was delivering for clients. He later focused on data planning, leading Quantum's 'Performance Lab' and subsequently set up the social media division, 247 Social, in 2010 whilst undertaking the role of digital planning director. Prior to Arena Media, Devoy spent seven years at i-level, which he joined in 2003 as graduate planner/buyer. There he took a traditional career path through account management to account director and in his final years at the agency took on the role of planning associate with a focus on new business and additional fee based planning projects.◊

Malcolm Devoy

Christophe Duchatellier has been named Regional Head for Adecco Asia (ex-Japan), overseeing the company's subsidiaries in Southeast and Northeast Asia - a region that includes offices in mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The company has been present in Asia since 1984, when it opened its first office in Hong Kong. Christophe Duchatellier relocates to Asia from France, with his wife and two children, and most recently held the role of Head of Professional Staffing for Adecco France. He joined Adecco in 2010, following a 15-year career with Michael Page International plc, where he was Regional Managing Director, Europe, as well as a member of the company's Executive Board.

Christophe Duchatellier

A French national, who studied Law at Paris Sorbonne University, Duchatellier will be based at the Adecco Southeast Asia headquarters in Singapore and has overall responsibility for Adecco's general and professional staffing divisions in Southeast and Northeast Asia.◊

APPOINTMENTS

Avnet Electronics Marketing, an operating group of Avnet, Inc., has appointed Prince Yun as new regional president for Taiwan. Effective April 1, 2012 Vice President of Taiwan, Prince Yun, will take over from industry veteran Samuel Fang who is stepping down after 16 years of championing Avnet's business in Taiwan, and more than 35 years in the electronics distribution field. Mr. Fang will remain with the company, and has been promoted to the capacity of senior advisor, Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia.

Prince Yun

Mr. Yun, who will report to Stephen Wong, president, Avnet Electronics Marketing Asia, has more than 24 years of industry experience and joined Avnet Electronics Marketing in Taiwan in 1995, following the acquisition and integration of Mercuries Co. Ltd. where he had honed his skills in the fields of sales and product marketing. In the past 16 years, he held a number of roles within the organization, including his leadership of the Semiconductor Marketing team as well as the Sales and FAE departments, which he had built into a major revenue contributor for the Taiwan business. With these strong results, he was promoted to vice president for Asia, Avnet Electronics Marketing Taiwan in 2010.◊

Anthony Kang, President & CEO of Dentsu, has been elected new Chairman of the Confederation of Asian Advertising Agencies Association (CAAAA) at its Annual General Meeting held in Jogyakarta, Indonesia, on 24 March 2012, representing Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) Singapore in CAAAA. Kang took over the leadership position from Mr. Srinivasan. Swamy, Chairman and Managing Director of R K SWAMY BBDO Pvt Ltd and representative of Advertising Agencies Association of India, who stepped down after completing his two-year term. Kang is the 3rd elected Chairman, and is a Founding Member of CAAAA along with Immediate Past Chairman Mr, Srinivasan Swamy of India and 1st Chairman, the late Mr. Yutaka Narita of Japan. The other elected members in the new Executive Committee of CAAAA are:   

Vice Chairman: Mr. Tateo Mataki (JAAA – Japan) Secretary: Mr. Tony Savarimuthu (4As – Malaysia) Treasurer: Mr. Nagesh Alai (AAAI – India)

Anthony Kang

Exco Members:     

Mr. Harris Thajeb (PPPI – Indonesia) Mr. Yang Jun (CAA – China) Mr. Romie Chen (4As – Chines Taipei) Ms. Angela Ng (4As – Hong Kong) Mr. Ahn Kun-Hee (KAAA – Korea)

The CAAAA was conceived and established more than 5 years ago to protect and guard the interests of advertising practitioners as well as to uphold the professional standing and respectability of advertising consultants which has seen many specializations taking root in the fast changing business eco -system.◊

APPOINTMENTS

Swets, a global market leader in managing professional information, appointedRyoji Fukada as Chairman Swets Japan. Mr Fukada brings a wealth of experience with him; covering 37 years in the international publishing sector, including pioneering Elsevier's Science Direct product into the Japanese market and most recently as Managing Director for Springer Japan. Earlier in his career Mr Fukada played a key role in opening Swets' Japanese office and establishing a firm business foothold for the company not only in Japan but across the South East Asia region. Mr Fukada is based at Swets' Tokyo office. ◊ Ryoji Fukada

The Interactive Advertising Bureau Southeast Asia (IAB SE Asia)Singapore Chapter announced recently the new ten-person Leadership Council for 2012/2013, with Loren Shuster, Country Director-Singapore and Emerging Markets, Google, taking the reins as the new Chairman. Former Chairman, Ken Mandel, MD-Asia Pacific, Buddy Media, stepped into the advisory role of Chairman Emeritus as he continues to develop the international relationships and objectives of the organization that he helped establish in 2009. Reza Behnam, CEO of demand-side platform ADZ, and Joe Nguyen, VP SEA & India of digital marketing intelligence provider comScore will support Loren Shuster as Vice-Chairs. Both Behnam and Nguyen have represented their companies as founding members of the IAB SE Asia, Singapore, and have held roles on the Leadership Council. Also returning as Members of the IAB Leadership Council are inSing Digital Media, Komli Media, MediaCorp, Microsoft Advertising, and Singapore Press Holdings. New members include CBS Interactive and Innity.

Loren Shuster

IAB SE Asia, Singapore Chapter – Leadership Council 2012/2013 Council members & office bearers:          

Loren Shuster – CHAIRMAN, Country Director, Singapore & Emerging Markets – Google Reza Behnam – VICE-CHAIRMAN, CEO – ADZ Joe Nguyen – VICE-CHAIRMAN, Vice President, Southeast Asia & India - comScore Ken Mandel – CHAIRMAN EMERITUS, MD, APAC – Buddy Media Wendy Hogan, Managing Director & VP - CBS Interactive Arshan Saha, Regional Director, SEA - Innity Matthew Whittingham, CEO – inSing Digital Media Mathew Ward, Chief Revenue Officer – Komli Media Ken Chang, Commercial Director, APAC – Microsoft Advertising Willy Tan, Head of Interactive Unit - SPH◊

OMD Melbourne won the $5m RMIT media account for both the Campaign and Non Campaign business from incumbents Mitchells & Zenith Optimedia. OMD also have full international responsibilities and will handle overseas (mainly Asian markets) through their global network. ◊

APPOINTMENTS

The Singapore Computer Society (SCS) held its 45th Annual General Meeting where the following members have been elected to the Executive Council for the year 2012/2013:  President: Mr Chak Kong Soon  Vice-President: Mr Howie Lau  Vice-President: Mr Haresh Khoobchandani  Vice-President: Mr Adrian Chye  Honorary Secretary: Ms Tham Ai Chyn  Honorary Treasurer: Mr Tan Teng Cheong  Council Member: Dr Timothy Chan  Council Member: Mr Robert Chew  Council Member: Mr Andrew Khaw  Council Member: Mr Philip Kwa  Council Member: Dr Kwong Yuk Wah  Council Member: Mr Lai Poh Hing  Council Member: Mr Lau Shih Hor  Council Member: Mr Bruce Liang  Council Member: Mr Harish Pillay  Council Member: Mr Joshua Soh  Council Member: Mr Yap Chee Yuen  Council Member: Mr Yum Shoen Liang◊

Chak Kong Soon

Wireless Gigabit (WiGig) Alliance marked the official opening of its office in Taiwan by hosting a technical briefing to share information with leaders in the consumer electronics industry and members of the press about WiGig systems. WiGig is emerging as the standard to link PCs, tablets, smart phones, handheld gadgets, peripherals, displays and other devices together seamlessly at home and in the office. Momentum for WiGig has continued to grow in the last month with Huawei joining the board and ZTE signing up to participate as an official contributor. The WiGig Alliance is now calling for even more developer involvement in the creation of the world's first unified specification for multi-gigabit wireless docking – see: http://wirelessgigabitalliance.org/ ◊

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