Consumer Goods Marketers’ Digital Investment Opportunities
In a one-on-one interview, AI’s Jerry Lohse spotlights a recent Accenture study that looks into the true impact of consumer goods marketers’ web sites when it comes to influencing consumers’ in-store purchasing behavior. The study – in collaboration with comScore and dunnhumbyUSA – offers tangible proof of the link between engaging, traffic-generating brand web sites and in-store behavior. The study shows that marketers who create compelling consumer goods brand web site experiences for consumers can be extremely effective in driving incremental and profitable in-store sales.(Consumer Goods Technology, May 9, 2012)
Marketing Through Surprise And Secrecy – Lessons From ‘Watch The Throne’
This article - by AI’s Baiju Shah and John Greene, senior partner, chief strategy officer, Translation – points out that as marketers we operate in a world of digital media where consumer expectations are high and attention is fleeting. In this environment, CMOs and their teams often feel that they face a modern-day Sophie’s choice: either they wrap their new products in an impenetrable cloak of secrecy, and in so doing suffocate social media buzz prior to product release, or they hurtle headlong into a free-for-all of transparency, feeding every media outlet at every turn with the hopes of fueling buzz about their product. Which approach is optimal?(Forbes, May 15, 2012)
Agencies Going After Accenture, Deloitte IT
AdAge reports agencies are charging toward tech consultants that began to tread on their turf years ago when providing IT solutions to help manage information. AdAge emphasizes, “Tech consultancy Accenture has a head start” when it comes to software that is so central to large-scale digital marketing, and underlines “the consulting giant doesn’t intend to cede ground to competitors.” Brian Whipple notes in the article, “We are able to work with all key agency relationships that our clients have, regardless of which ad holding company they reside in.”(AdAge, May 15, 2012)
Five Steps to Enhanced Digital Marketing, Accenture Talks to RIS News
Accenture’s Senior Executive Matt DeNicola offers insights into multiple digital channels for consumers. "Consumers’ growing use of multiple digital channels will require companies to continually sense, respond, anticipate and adapt to change in a systematic and data-driven way," according to Matt DeNicola writing in the latest issue of RIS News magazine. Matt suggests that to respond to this shift, companies should "first target the digital channels, consumer segments within them and who they want to deliver the messages. The information gathered from these channels will then provide the analytical insights needed to understand and act on what consumer segments want, when and where they want it, using customized marketing outreach across channels."
(RIS, May 3, 2012)
Accenture Takes Off With Social According to Social Media Today
In this Social Media Today article, Jason Breed was interviewed about why Accenture makes sense as a social media marketing partner and why your dance card needs to include Accenture. “We’re past the point where the social thing is a fad,” says Breed. “People get that it’s the way we do business . . . What we see is that these companies have a social focus and we have a practice as well.” (Social Media Today, April 30, 2012)
Social Media: Which Social Networks Make the Most Business Sense?
In the fast moving target world of social media, Jason Breed shares with InformationWeek that there should be relevance at the heart of any decision about a company’s social strategy. He emphasizes that you “need to do social on purpose – otherwise, you are simply moving for the sake of motion.” Organizations must think about what's relevant for the business and what's relevant for the customer, Breed advises. "Like any investment, [social initiatives have] to result in impact to the business--calls deflected, new leads, competitive intelligence, supply chain effectiveness, etc. Then figure out the best channel for that, not the other way around," he says. "It does not matter if you put up a Facebook page while your customers are complaining on Twitter." (informationweek, April 26, 2012)
Client Data Is The Battleground Says Accenture Interactive Exec Shah
“Client data is the new battleground,” notes Baiju Shah in an exclusive, one-on-one interview with AdExchanger. “Data about your consumers is the currency that allows you to be relevant at scale. Anything that constrains your ability to control or access that data needs to be looked at very seriously,” he adds. (AdExchanger, March 28, 2012)
Social Media: Relevance at Scale in an Always-on, Always-connected World
In this Social Media Today article, Jason Breed writes that “consumer relevance cannot be episodic.” The article is based on a recent Accenture Interactive Point of View article from the R Factor series, on creating relevance at scale in social media. He notes “that with the explosive growth in the use of social media, social media networks provide a richness of data that can help build more precise insights into consumer content and will allow companies to tailor brand experiences making them more compelling, more persuasive and more relevant.” (Social Media Today, March 26, 2012)
Announcing Forrester’s Global Commerce Service Providers Wave Report
Discussing his recently released “Global Commerce Service Providers Wave Report” in an entry for Forrester Blogs, Brian Walker explained, “As a group, global commerce service providers are poised to support their clients as they increasingly move into cross-channel commerce and support the next generation of customer touchpoints. However, we found important differentiators in our evaluation.” Notably, “Accenture, Acquity Group, Razorfish, and Rosetta have deep eCommerce expertise. These firms all have a robust vision for multichannel commerce and between them have a strong portfolio of commerce project implementations. [..] Forrester expects continued growth from these firms and an increased focus on their commerce services offerings in the future."(Brian Walker’s Blog, February 27, 2012)
CRM Watchlist 2012 Winners - Consulting/SIs - The Very Final Four
Paul Greenberg reviews Consulting and System Integrators in his blog “Social CRM: The Conversation”. Accenture makes the list for its CRM practice. Greenberg says: “What makes me a fan, and what makes them a winner again for the CRM Watchlist 2012 is that they do what they do well - and they think ahead to the trends in the market. They are able to identify and then plan how they should (or shouldn’t) intersect those trends, with a clear understanding of the level of risk involved in each.” Among those mentioned as leaders and influencers at Accenture are Robert Wollan, Joe Hughes, Chris Zinner and Jason Breed.(ZDNet, February 21, 2012)
Accenture, comScore, and dunnhumbyUSA Study Shows Direct Correlation Between CPG Brand Website Usage and In-Store Purchase Behavior
A groundbreaking study from Accenture, comScore, Inc. and dunnhumbyUSA aimed at helping consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers better understand the link between consumers’ usage of brand websites and their in-store brand buying behavior found that visitors to CPG brand websites buy 37% more in retail stores than non-visitors to the brand site. The study, Are Your CPG Brands Maximizing the Return on Your Digital Investment?, also concluded, that to maximize impact, website content needs to be updated regularly and contain brand value messaging that both engages visitors while also providing compelling reasons for them to purchase the brand at retail. Jerry Lohse, senior director, Accenture Interactive said, “Marketers who create compelling CPG brand website experiences for consumers are extremely effective in driving incremental and profitable in-store sales. Analysis shows that consumers visiting the best of the ten CPG brand websites evaluated in the research study, spent over 200 percent more on the brand than non-visitors. Moreover, the research shows that the price paid per unit of the brand at the best of the ten CPG brand websites in the study was two percent more than for non-visitors in brand.” (Accenture Newsroom, January 30, 2012)
Accenture wins the Promotion Optimization Institute’s TPO Challenge
Accenture’s CAS software platform in conjunction with Accenture Interactive Marketing Analytics has won the Promotion Optimization Institute’s (POI) Trade Promotion Optimization 2011 Challenge. The challenge, devised by the POI, tested the trade promotion optimization (TPO) and predictive analytics capabilities of the Accenture CAS software platform against solutions offered by four of its competitors. Each company was provided with real data from a consumer product promotion at a retailer and tasked to predict the promotional outcomes. Participants examined two years of historical data from an anonymous consumer goods and services company. After studying the results, the judging panel named the Accenture CAS software platform as the overall winner. The Accenture solution was also rated as having the best optimization strategy and ranked equal first for its recommendations, which included building a plan, calendar, and working through the different variables and constraints.
“The purpose of the TPO Challenge was to illustrate how the combination of predictive analytics and trade promotion optimization skills can enable new ways for consumer brands and retailers to collaborate and benefit,” said Michael Kantor, CEO and Founder, Promotion Optimization Institute. “The Accenture team was able to produce an impressive and complete approach to the task, and was a worthy winner.”
Accenture CAS offers an integrated suite of retail execution and trade promotion management software, including direct store delivery, field service and trade promotion optimization and is part of the Accenture Software portfolio of products.
Tech-Consulting Giants Slide Closer to Creative-Shop Turf
As marketing requires more technology to reach consumers, the consulting and IT giants are inching beyond software and closer to agency turf, as the tech side is looking to learn the language of brands. In this article, AdAge interviews Accenture Interactive’s Brian Whipple and Glen Hartman on bridging the gap between tech, creative and data. Deloitte and Accenture are mentioned as two of the “big IT giants” who are in the business of digital marketing. Accenture Interactive’s view is that reaching into marketing from technology is a more credible approach for clients, and that large brands can get a more complete solution by working with a large technology company. Says Hartman: "Data is the new sexy. There's nothing better than for a CMO to point to the big idea that won the day that can be replicated and scaled to drive new consumers and sales." On the topic of competing with agencies, Accenture Interactive does not claim to be a creative agency but rather that it works along with creative agencies. (AdAge, January 2012)
Accenture Interactive's View on Advertising and the CMO with Global MD Hartman
AdExchanger interviews Glen Hartman, Global Managing Director, Digital Consulting, on Accenture Interactive’s views on advertising and the CMO. Accenture Interactive came together as a response to the convergence of technology, data and creative to help their CMO clients. One key takeaway, says Hartman: “we've found a way to bring [our] offerings together to help marketers and brand managers drive performance. By taking data and analytics to drive more relevant experiences across multiple channels, that's really where we see the future and most of the things that are happening for marketing and advertising - and all the media spend that we're helping advise our clients on.” Read more for Accenture Interactive’s role in working with agencies, its competitive set, thoughts on acquisitions and the year ahead. (Ad Exchanger, January 2012)
Where to Get Help with Web Analytics: Customer Intelligence Professionals Don’t Have To Go It Alone
This report by Forrester, Inc. evaluates the various Web Analytics Service Providers in the market and categorizes them into technology vendors, marketing agencies, specialist consultancies, and system integrators. The report lists Accenture as a leading system integrator for web analytics programs. (Forrester Report by Joe Stanhope, January 19, 2012)
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