By Alex Charette, Manager, Production Solutions Group, Xerox Canada
In 2013, Xerox Canada agreed to sponsor the Canada Post Cross Media Education & Awareness Program.? The three step program: 1) Awareness, 2) Education, and 3) Practice began in April and will be completed by December 31.? As the General Manager of the production program, I had the chance to travel across Canada during the first phase, the Executive Forum. Frankly, being on the other side of the fence and speaking with those who buy or influence 75 percent of all print acquisition in Canada instead of those who produce it, was a great eye opener for me.
Specifically, I learned that marketers need help to understand, maximize and streamline cross media marketing campaigns in a world where channels of communication are evolving almost every day and where a huge amount of data is created daily. More data is produced in every two days, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, than was created from the dawn of humanity until 2006.
More data is produced in every two days, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, than was created from the dawn of humanity until 2006.
They are asked by their customers to integrate multi-channel communication strategies, develop business intelligence and use trigger based communication inside their offerings to send the right message to the right person, (the way these people want to be communicated to) and all at the right time!? A recent IBM CMO survey, ?showed that big data, social media and the explosion of communication channels are three elements that CMO?s feel unprepared for.?? Based on the attendance at this forum (550 people) there is no doubt a need for a consultative approach with the CMO.
During these forums, I was also surprised by the lack of knowledge of marketers (especially the younger ones) on one of the oldest methods of communication: direct mail.? I felt that marketers still have in mind the Reader?s Digest sweepstakes 2-color document (overprint in black) with a key stuck on the envelope and where everyone was a winner.? Most marketers were very impressed by what a printed piece can do today: quality, format, interactivity, and the ability to touch the five senses of a customer (yes, we even saw some samples of that were edible!) This was a great ?ah-hah? for them.
Living in a world of competition, marketers have to show their customers that they understand it all and that they are ahead of the curve with all the new and? trendy channels of communication.? Presenting a project where print and direct mail will be one of the major channels of communication is a little bit scary and is not exciting for many of them.
However, today most CEOs and CFOs are now looking at marketing in terms of Return on Investment (ROI).? CMO?s are pressured to deliver bottom line results on their campaigns.? A Direct Marketing Association (DMA) study revealed that direct mail drives a 40-times higher response rate when used for customer acquisition and 26 time higher response rate for campaigns targeting existing customers compared to e-mail.
This means that in order for marketers to have the same response with an e-mail versus? direct mail, a business would need to send 26 times more communication to the same customers.? This makes no sense!? As a customer, if a company is filling my inbox, I would not only unsubscribe from their list, but stop buying from them.
Direct mail is more costly then e-mail. However direct mail used in the context of a cross-media approach can generate greater ROI compared to a cross media approach without print. By implementing a cross media strategy that included mail, email, web and social, Tremblant Ski Resort increased sales by 30% for their fall 2012 campaign.? Trust me, the cost of print and stamps is irrelevant when your results is 30% higher. It is a sure bet to say that Tremblant will use print in their 2013 campaign!
To date, 38 agencies have participated in these sessions and have greatly benefited from the deeper training on cross-media marketing and there?s still more to come! The last phase of the program will roll-out August 1 ? a series of six pilot customer cross-media campaigns supported by Xerox and Canada Post.
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