*** Customer-Centric IT Wins
Yes, I know for many marketing folks this seems to be an oxymoron, but the fact is that Marketers - especially those with some understanding of business process and the IT world - can influence the direction of IT and generate genuine customer-centric wins. This in turn makes all your marketing efforts more productive.
Web analysts, this is the kind of work you will be supporting with analysis in 5 years…it’s just a much larger version of optimizing a web site, isn’t it? And in many ways, a lot more fun…
Requires a different mindset? Sure, it’s not buying media or developing creative or analyzing response. But these are the kinds of projects Marketing folks (especially data-driven ones) should be championing by providing the customer models for IT to base a plan on and forge ahead.
Here are 3 great examples, case studies from CIO Magazine:
Washington Mutual - a classic example of cross-functional teams looking at “how we sell” versus “how they buy” barriers; reminds me a lot of the Check Shredding Example. I wonder how many online Marketing folks at banks have asked “why do we need signature cards?” in the past 5 years - what is the Root Cause? Ron, make sure you check this one out, especially given your post - what do you think?
Best Buy - the offline retail version of “people who bought this also bought that”. I’m sure this one will sound simple to many folks - all except those working in offline retail analysis and store logistics, that is. A tough, messy business to optimize and even small wins are remarkable.
Hilton Hotels - another seeming no brainer, just let people order online. But not just any people, we’re talking about event / conference planners ordering meeting rooms, food and beverage, A / V etc. not to mention guest rooms for thousands of people. This is not a small deal on the infrastucture side, with plenty of politics to go around.
Check the cases out here, and let me know what you think.
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