LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—Customer-centric marketing approaches that deliver high value consumer engagement were the key focus of discussion at Engage 2011, an executive symposium hosted by Acxiom Corporation (Nasdaq:ACXM), the global leader in marketing services and technology. The symposium—attended by Acxiom’s Fortune 500 clients, marketing leaders and industry analysts—provided a forum to explore progressive thinking in the industry, exchange insight, and discuss the organizational capabilities required for high performance marketing in a digitally connected world. The event, which featured a keynote address from New York Times Bestselling Author Malcolm Gladwell, focused on refining insight from data, and numerous client presentations highlighting their results.
“Engage 2011 discussed fundamental changes in marketing and winning capabilities that brands are using to drive successful interaction at every consumer touch point,” said Tim Suther, chief marketing officer for Acxiom, who provided several insights as part of his keynote presentation “Winning in the Age of the Empowered Consumer.” “Engage was a forum for marketing leaders to inspire and challenge one another; the energy from their provocative dialog was palpable.”
Attendees acknowledged the value of leveraging data to better interact with customers. At the event, 96 percent of those surveyed wanted to do better in using information more effectively, while 35 percent mentioned that maximizing all customer touch points were among their biggest concerns.
In addition, the symposium provided marketers with a roadmap to transform data into insight to drive business value. Key messages from presenters included:
- Customer-centricity is a journey rather than a destination.
- In a world of overwhelming volume, velocity, and variety of data, scalable technology and process are needed to refine data, make simplicity out of chaos, and deliver valuable consumer insights.
- Communication programs that focus at the customer level outperform those focused at a product or channel level.
- Closed-loop performance analysis across all channels enables marketers to listen, recognize and recalibrate based on evolving customer needs.
- A multi-year strategic plan, that is periodically refreshed, provides overarching guidance to changing market dynamics, marketplace innovation and required business results.
“This conference was enlightening to say the least,” said Charlie Swift, vice president, Database Strategy and Marketing, Hearst Magazines. “These shared best practices will help marketers better engage with customers and prospects.”
Sessions included topics such as, “Becoming a High-Performance Marketing Company,” “Redefining the Marketing Funnel,” “Creating Customer Dialogue through Email Marketing” and more.
For more information, please visit www.acxiom.com.
About Acxiom
Acxiom is a recognized leader in marketing services and technology that enable marketers to successfully manage audiences, personalize consumer experiences and create profitable customer relationships. Our superior industry-focused, consultative approach combines consumer data and analytics, databases, data integration and consulting solutions for personalized, multichannel marketing strategies. Acxiom leverages over 40 years of experience in data management to deliver high-performance, highly secure, reliable information management services. Founded in 1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, and serves clients around the world from locations in the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific and South America. For more information about Acxiom, visit Acxiom.com.