How Aeroplan enriches transactional data to better understand customers

Successful loyalty programs offer value that is relevant to program members. This value can come in many forms—discounts, free gifts, special offers and others—but the key is to ensure that it is what customers actually want. Here at Aimia, a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company, we’re seeing first-hand how …

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From mass media to targeted distribution

How analytics helped Yellow Pages optimize its products and distribution strategy Like many of its 240,000 small business customers across Canada, Yellow Pages (YP) has been challenged by the digital age. While many consumers and advertisers are embracing online search and social media, traditional print media remains an important component …

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Drowning in data?

Marketers don’t need to become data scientists, they just need better tools Data is the fuel powering the direct marketing industry, helping to make campaigns more targeted, personalized and efficient than ever before. As a result, marketers must now get their heads around a baffling array of new tools and …

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Rethinking the marketing ecosystem

A systemic approach to solving marketing model conundrums Many c-suite executives are uncertain about the current state of their digital marketing. There is a lot of talk by marketers but many companies don’t have a clear roadmap of their digital marketing strategy and end-to-end marketing model. Part of the problem …

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For successful analytics, data quality is king

Quality analytics depends on an understanding of the business problem to be analyzed and an experienced, knowledgeable team of data pros with the right tools and techniques to conduct the analysis. But the single most important ingredient is quality data. Essentially, data quality comes down to three factors: input data, …

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The year ahead: Building customer centricity

With a nod to the growing importance of knowing your customers, Direct Marketing has launched this “Customer Centricity” column for 2017. I’m pleased to kick off the new year with this inaugural piece and share my perspective on an orientation that I’ve always considered a key success factor for any …

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Why audio watermarking is set to transform the way brands build and measure audience engagement

Advertising through broadcast media has historically been the most effective means of delivering advertising messages to the greatest possible number of consumers. The goal of all marketers is  achieving action from the consumer, but the formula for measuring results of mass media advertising is a simple model of estimated audiences …

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How The Co-operators transformed their organization through analytics

At The Co-operators, we recently updated our strategic plan with a bold statement: “We will be THE industry leader in client engagement.” This means offering a superior customer experience that builds long-term relationships based on mutual value (and values). Based on our J.D. Power rankings, Net Promoter Scores, multi-product sales …

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Q&A with Adele Sweetwood, author of The Analytical Marketer

Q&A with Adele Sweetwood, author of The Analytical Marketer Adele Sweetwood is senior vice president of global marketing and shared services at SAS and author of The Analytical Marketer: How to Transform Your Marketing Organization (HBR Press, 2016). We asked her about her new book and what it means to …

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Canadian banks cautiously embrace analytics

Leadership must balance new business insights with increased security challenges The banking industry is one of the most conservative sectors in Canada ­for good reason: banks must protect customers’ investments and meet increasingly rigorous national and international laws. But with the onset of FinTech and related technologies, the country’s largest …

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