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1 by Argyle Executive Forum SM Leverage a Customer-Centric Strategy! Merkle's David Williams Discusses How Businesses Can Use a Customer-Centric Strategy to Transform Their Brands Into World-Class Organizations

2 Page 2 Leverage a Customer-Centric Strategy! Merkle's David Williams Discusses How Businesses Can Use a Customer-Centric Strategy to Transform Their Brands Into World-Class Organizations by AEF - Thursday, es-david-williams-discusses-how-businesses-can-use-a-customer-centric-strategy-to-transform-thei r-brands-into-world-class-organizations/ David Williams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle Inc., discussed the Connected CRM (ccrm) strategy for customer relationship marketing (CRM) and some of the biggest challenges that today s chief marketing officers (CMOs) are facing. What does Merkle do and how does it differentiate itself from other agencies? Merkle is the largest privately held customer relationship marketing (CRM) agency and the fastest-growing agency of any discipline in the US. We work with leaders of major brands to build and execute customer-centric business strategies that maximize the value of their customer portfolios. We are proud of our client roster that includes world-class brands such as Dell, Google, GEICO, DirecTV, Regions, American Express, AARP, Universal, American Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen and many others. In true partnership style, we apply an industry-focused lens to the creation of marketing strategies that drive effective communications through multiple customer touchpoints. We provide a full array of management consulting, technology development and integration, data and analytics and digital agency services. The outcomes we create include improved media effectiveness and return on marketing investment. Using a combination of first- and third-party data, we create, target and measure highly customized customer experiences that drive increased loyalty and customer value. We differentiate ourselves through the use of data, analytics and technology, using a proprietary approach we call Connected CRM (ccrm). With more than 650 marketing technologists on staff, more than 250 higher-degreed statisticians and roughly 650 professionals focused on expanding our creative and digital capabilities, Merkle employs the largest marketing services analytics organization in the United States. Altogether, we have more than 2,400 smart, dedicated people in 19 offices around the world. Our company continues to grow at a rate that outpaces the market, with 2014 net revenue estimated at $390 million. Tell us about the ccrm approach and Platform Marketer. The mass digitization of media and channels in recent years has driven more personalized engagements with individual consumers, across media, channel and device. It is now possible to manage these interactions at scale, throughout the customer lifecycle, to optimize the value of customers and segments. Connected CRM is the framework through which we aid our clients in the organizational transformation required to exploit this opportunity. At the core of the opportunity is the ability to identify and communicate directly with unique consumers at scale by leveraging the digital audience platforms that are truly addressable at the individual level. These growing and constantly fragmenting platforms, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, allow us to reach the always-on consumer, who engages with brands through multiple digital screens and platforms, 24/7. To take advantage of these new addressable platforms and create relevant engagements with consumers, brands will have to develop a new set of capabilities, tools, metrics and processes, along with a new set of skills to use them. We call this new breed of marketer The Platform Marketer. This marketer has a deep understanding of ccrm principals, yet has the knowledge and innovative forethought to thrive in an ever-expanding digital audience

3 Page 3 platform environment. The Platform Marketer competencies are categorized into three groups: Platform Data Competencies, which include Identity Management, Audience Management and Consumer Privacy & Compliance; Platform Execution Competencies, which include Platform Utilization, Media Optimization and Channel Optimization; and Platform Enabler Competencies, which include Measurement & Attribution, Marketing Technology Stack and Organization. Due to the increased complexity of leveraging data, technology and analytics in this new era, the brands that use these competencies to capitalize on addressability at scale will create an enduring competitive advantage. Why is ccrm effective or applicable for CMOs across all industries? Different industries find themselves in varying stages of the customer-centric transformation, due in large part to inherent differences in their business models. Some have direct interactions with customers, while others deal with brokers, distributors and other intermediaries that can dilute the customer relationship. Some have complete visibility into the identity and preferences of their customers, while others are trying to build loyalty with anonymous consumers. Each situation has its own set of advantages and challenges when it comes to customer-centric marketing. The ccrm approach allows brands in virtually all industries to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage through integrated customer interactions. And while industry forces may vary, from economic influences to government regulations to technological prowess, one universal factor is constant: the role of the customer is changing. The digital media explosion has empowered customers to take a more active role in their own purchase decisions. Their expectations have evolved, requiring brands to offer seamless interactions across all touchpoints in order to engage consumers with meaningful experiences. And while each industry has its own nuances, a ccrm strategy can be uniquely crafted to build meaningful outcomes, like improved customer loyalty, increased customer value and sustainable competitive advantage. What is ccrm doing to drive more leads and conversions to Sales? One of the core capabilities of connected CRM is the ability to integrate, analyze and take action on prospect and customer data. Starting with the marketplace view of available universe (companies, households or individuals), ccrm enables marketers to pinpoint likely prospects and then leverage historical data and analytics to prioritize potential marketing qualified leads (MQL). Depending on a company s sales process, these leads can be passed through a pre-screen process and then onto sales as MQLs. By connecting the right internal and external data with an effective view of the available marketplace and the right analytics, marketers can improve their ability to identify, prioritize and generate effective leads for sales and then track those marketing generated leads through the sales funnel. "While industry forces may vary, from economic influences to government regulations to technological prowess, one universal factor is constant: the role of the customer is changing. The digital media explosion has empowered customers to take a more active role in their own purchase decisions." What are the biggest challenges for CMOs today from Merkle s point of view? The most important CMO challenges revolve around transformation the ability to evolve into a customer-centric organization across every aspect of the enterprise. In our experience, most marketers today seem to have mastered the ability to use first- and third-party data, analytics and campaign automation techniques to build basic multi-channel marketing strategies. But we have observed a kind of glass ceiling that stalls the business transformation when taking CRM maturity to the enterprise level. The progress begins to slow down when it comes to cross-functional contact optimization, customer value maximization and the complete integration of programs,

4 Page 4 campaigns and measurement processes. This is preventing companies from implementing true customer-level strategies that focus on the experience by linking interactions that drive long-term customer value. To achieve success with ccrm, the company s organizational structure and operating model must evolve in parallel with the development of the core Platform Marketer competencies around data, execution and enablement. In honing this skillset, another important consideration is deciding which capabilities to develop in house and which to partner with agencies and other service providers. With the pace of change happening in digital platforms, it is important to consider time-to-market factors in developing Platform Marketer skills. Some may be easily and quickly developed within the organization; for many others, the only option may be to outsource the skills to (or acquire) other companies that have already established the needed expertise. Whatever the method of obtaining the capabilities, business leaders are beginning to realize that addressability is the future of CRM. Doing it right requires involvement really a mandate at the highest level of the organization. What words of advice do you have for today s marketers? What should they be focusing on going into 2015? To take advantage of the opportunity of addressability at scale, marketers must focus on creating relevant engagements with massive numbers of consumers across digital and offline media and channel and across device. This is where service partners become crucial assets to a customer-centric strategy. Forward-thinking agencies are accumulating the knowledge and assets required to help world-class brands transform their marketing organizations, with Platform Marketer skills that enable true ccrm. These services include everything from management consulting to technology development and integration to data and analytics expertise to digital media and channel execution services. The objective of this new breed of agency is to complement and accelerate the ability of marketers to capitalize on addressability at scale. ********************************************************** BIOS: David Williams David Williams is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Merkle Inc. He acquired Merkle in 1988 and became its 24th employee. Today, Merkle has more than 2,000 employees in locations in the United States, China and United Kingdom and is the nation s largest and fastest-growing independent customer relationship marketing (CRM) agency. Under David s leadership, Merkle has sustained 25% annual growth over the last 20 years and was recognized as a market leader by Forrester Research in 2003, 2006 and In 2013, Advertising Age ranked Merkle as the 22nd largest agency of any discipline worldwide and the 7th largest CRM/direct agency in the US. Also in 2012, Merkle was named to the Ten Agencies to Watch list in Advertising Age s A-List Issue. David was recognized by Winning Workplaces and Fortune Magazine as one of America s Best Bosses of 2006 and was the 2007 Maryland Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. David is the author of the book, Connected CRM: Implementing a Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Business Strategy, which was published in 2014 by Wiley Publishing. In the book, he shares his knowledge and experience, with the intent of helping world-class brands build stronger, more profitable relationships with their customers. David served for six years ( ) on the Board of Directors of the Direct Marketing Association where he also served on its Executive Committee. He also served for three years ( ) as a member of the Board of Trustees at the Howard County General Hospital: A Member of John Hopkins Medicine. David is a frequent speaker at industry events and has written numerous articles and white papers about topics such as customer relationship marketing, database marketing and analytics, digital media and marketing technology.

5 Powered by TCPDF ( Argyle Conversations Page 5 He began his career at Butcher & Singer, a Philadelphia-based investment bank, and holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.