The Dinosaur Agency & The Ice Age - Jessie Paul The New 80:20 Rule - Paul Hewerdine

The Marketing and IT Recognition (M.IT .R) - 50 List The Maharanis of Marketing The Six Obstacles to becoming a Data-Savvy Organisation - ITSMA- Julie Schwartz

CONTENT
Editor's note The Dinosaur Agency & The Ice Age - Jessie Paul The New 80:20 Rule - Paul Hewerdine The Marketing and IT Recognition (M.IT.R)-50 List 1 2-3 4-5 6-7 The M.IT.R Interviews AEGON Religare Life Insurance Co. Ltd Apollo Hospitals Axis Bank Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd 8 9 9-10 11 12 12-13 13 14 15-16 16-17 17-18 18 19 20 20-21 21 22 22-23 23 24 24-25 26 26-27 27-28

M.IT.R

Interviews

ADS

Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd Caf Coffee Day Capgemini India Citibank India Datamatics Global Services DHL Express (India) Pvt Ltd Dish TV Dr Lal PathLabs Elsevier Health Sciences Essar Group Eureka Forbes Future Generali Godfrey Philips India Godrej Properties HDFC Bank HDFC Life Hexaware Technologies IDBI Bank IndusInd Bank

M.IT.R

ING Vysya Bank Jet Airways Kaya Skin Clinic L&T General Insurance L&T Infotech Legrand India Mahindra Satyam MakeMyTrip.com Max New York Life My Financial Advisor NIIT Ltd The Oberoi Group Oriflame India Pearson Education Services Suzlon Group TNT Express Tupperware UTI Asset Management Company UTV Channels Walt Disney Studios Zensar Technologies

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Dear Reader,

Interviews

EDITORS NOTE
I believe that technology is becoming ubiquitous and has a role to play in every area of life and business. This year, at Paul Writer, one of the themes we are exploring is the role of technology in marketing and the business impact of that. On the IT side, Big Data is an important trend that is being addressed. Just take the example of customer contact information. You know their wedding dates, birthdays, food preferences, annual income, credit card number and a whole lot more. So much data that you can predict milestones like pregnancy without even asking - as retail chain Target did! Almost every company today is drowning in data. Very valuable data. Very BIG data. But unless you have the right analytics system in place, its not data, its just noise. The other tech trends that marketers can make use of are digitization, mobility and cloud. I think every CMO should have an IT roadmap. And the funds to implement it. We were chosen by IBM as a Knowledge Partner for their Marketing and IT Recognition (M.IT.R - 50) program that sought to recognize 50 CMOs in India that used IT for business benefits. In this issue you can read interviews with these forward looking CMOs, and understand what they are doing to benefit their organizations. Going through the various case studies, I think there are three different lenses in which CMOs approach technology. The first one is to analyze the customer experience and put down all the ways in which technology can improve it. The second is to study all the business stakeholders and understand how your firms relationship with each of them will be improved by technology. The third is to understand current business bottlenecks and see how technology can improve it. Id be happy to hear from you on whats the model that works best in your organization. On the occasion of International Womens Day, we wanted to do something to recognize the women leaders in marketing. Not so much a list as a recognition of the ladies we have come across in our work. In this issue youll find our first ever list of Marketing Maharanis as well. Happy reading and happy FY2013! Jessie Paul
CEO, Paul Writer Host-The Futurist CMO
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The Maharanis of Marketing The Six Obstacles to becoming a Data-Savvy Organisation - ITSMA Photo Memoirs from the IBM Connect Event 2012 Crossword Puzzle Marketing Quiz Whizz About Paul Writer

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There has been much said about how specialization and splitting up into micro-agencies is causing the demise of the traditional agency.
Sure, thats part of it. But the underlying problem is deeper. The heydays of the agencies were when companies were selling products. The Agencies came into their own in the 1900s when, for the first time, mass production and improved distribution systems allowed mass, standardized products to be sold on a vast scale. So the main task of an agency was to build awareness for those products, and communicate their virtues. They had to build a brand or trust factor in the firms producing these goods as consumers were no longer buying direct from the manufacturer but from a distributor. (For example if you buy milk from a milkman you trust him, if you buy a carton of milk from a shop you have to trust the brand on the carton.) Today, the supply chain evolution continues and most products now a. have a service component built into them eg cars b. rely on a content ecosystem eg computers, phones, most smart devices c. are customized/ customizable eg shoes, T-shirts, mugs, apartments d. offer after-sales service eg cars, water purifiers, air conditioners e. are tending towards an economic order quantity (EOQ) of one eg banking services, music downloads, videos What matters to buyers is the total customer experience, not just the brand or the product attributes. Yet, most agencies dont talk customer experience. They dont talk about supply chains, CRM systems, customer contact centers, returns policies, recall alerts, crisis communications. They continue to pride themselves on beautiful campaigns that enrapture people. And distance themselves from customer interactions. For example, like many others I love the new Airtel HFZ campaign - but speak to users and they will complain about poor service, long hold time, call dropping etc. So while you like the ad you may not actually buy the service because there is the vast ecosystem of your peers telling you another side of the story. Much like how Vodafones (Hutch) doggie created the image of warm friendly customer service which again wasnt necessarily reflected in true life. On the other hand I didnt quite like the second Indigo airlines ad. But because the overall customer experience continues to be good I will continue to choose this airline. Firms that want good advertising but also want a good customer touch program tend to use multiple firms. One for regular advertising, and others like Sapient Nitro for the digital experience piece. Causing yet more revenue leakage for ad agencies already bleeding from the separation of media buying and the consequent loss of the 15% commission. There are a few firms that do talk the language of customer experience design - Ideo, Frog Design and Wieden & Kennedy to name a few (and I am not endorsing these). And which do it under one roof. These and others like them which are customer-centric are ideally situated to emerge unscathed from the Ice Age. Many have a design arm which currently doesnt do advertising but thats an easy piece to add on to their other capabilities - and then they can really change the agency landscape. After an MBA I wanted to do advertising so much that I turned down my campus placement and took the agency job at half the salary. I learned so much in my 3 years there that it was a solid investment. But in those days (1995-98) - under one roof - I got exposure to all the channels that were then prevalent, whereas today, an AE would have to go to multiple firms and even outside the firm to learn about all the ways in which customers interact with brands. Unless this changes, the Big Agency as we know it will continue to freeze.

By Jessie Paul

Industrializing Your Marketing Efforts to Drive a Better ROI

Last year Accenture conducted an extensive survey into the strategic priorities of senior marketers globally. Whilst the results were hardly revelatory, there was a remarkable consensus of opinion with 81% of executives citing operating more efficiently as their most important goal. Faced with budgetary pressures, headcount issues, demands to demonstrate greater ROI and simply, not enough hours in the day, B2B marketing execs are certainly feeling the pressure. A good starting point is to conduct an audit of all of the outputs (both off- and on-line) that your marketing function has developed over So the big question is how the last 12 months. What could the same principles may surprise you is the of industrialisation be many different ways you applied to your marketing talk about and visualise efforts? your brand and core Think about the new 80:20 propositions and the sheer rule. How much of what you number of formats being do can be made repeatable used. Evaluate whats - the 80% bulk work - so you working and whats not can ensure your valuable and think about how this time and resources are output can be standardised spent on the 20% where you and rationalised moving add most value? In short, forward to drive ensuring youre not better outcomes. reinventing the wheel So is now the time for every time. Here are a few starters: marketers to really look Establish a lexicon for your afresh at the way theyre A lot of process goes a brand, including a doing things? Or risk adding long way messaging framework and hair loss and marital woes to First off, how many more of boilerplates to bring greater the long list of tribulations in your key marketing consistency to the way your the year ahead? processes could be propositions are articulated standardised? From and reduce the cost and Driving repeatability and campaign planning, time spent by staff and re-use in marketing development and agencies creating Heres a thought: What if management to agency new messages. you could industrialise your appointment and Review your brand marketing activities engagement, from customer guidelines with a view to essentially, standardising relationship management to specifying the different the way you do things sales enablement activity, formats that can be used and driving greater think about how clear and when then ensure repeatability and re-use processes can be defined flexible design templates in your approach? and adopted across your are in place. Be strict about One Earnest client, a global marketing function. policing your brand. Itll IT service provider has Give consideration to the avoid people trying to committed to doing the very tools and functional create yet another format same but in the IT space documents (such as briefing for a brochure, white industrialising the way it templates, time-plans, best paper or email, when the delivers technology services practice guides) that are emphasis should really be to customers. Rather than needed to support a on the content. building a bespoke solution standardised approach - and Think in terms of marketing for each customer from the make sure your marketers programmes rather than ground up, theyve are fully inducted and ad-hoc campaigns. Plan a developed reusable up-to-speed with how to series of activities around templates, based on use them. Importantly, your audiences and look industry best practice and ensure theres a feedback at how different campaign their own experience of loop in place so the assets can be re-used what works, so the solution standardised process can be across multiple waves of is essentially 80% pre-built. refined to drive further activity. So if the campaign They can then focus their efficiencies and construct works for one time and efforts on the 20% effectiveness. audience, use the same that really matters approach again but focus tailoring it to meet the From output to outcomes your efforts on tailoring specific needs of that Look at your entire the content to that customer. It cuts cost, communications output. audiences needs. reduces lead times and actually ensures a better performing solution. Win:win for everyone. Never lose sight of the fact that good content shouldnt be bound to any one media and can be leveraged across PR, white papers, at events and in social media. Build a specific content marketing plan with a real emphasis on creating high quality, sticky content that will be eminently useful to your audiences, and more likely to be shared. Smarter re-use means less need to feed the content monster. Look at what can be automated and automate it. The buzz around marketing automation is deafening at the moment but effectively deployed with the right technology and processes, it can help to streamline the way leads are nurtured and qualified taking industrialisation to new heights. Measure, learn, refine At the heart of any effort to make the marketing function leaner, theres got to be a commitment to measurement. Its essential to ensuring your standardisation efforts arent just delivering efficiency benefits but are also helping to improve your marketing effectiveness. By putting in place quantitative and qualitative measures wherever possible, you can benchmark performance and proactively improve your approach moving forward. So if youre really serious about operating more efficiently, could the principles of industrialisation help turn your marketing function into a well oiled machine, thats firing on all cylinders? Heres to the next industrial revolution.

THE NEW

80:20

RULE
By Paul Hewerdine
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Paul Hewerdine is the Partner & Planning Director of Earnest Agency. For more information, you can follow his blogs on http://earnestagency.wordpress.com, follow him on twitter at twitter.com/earnestagency or also visit his companys site
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M.IT.R-50 AT IBM CONNECT 2012 IN ALPHABETIC ORDER

M.IT.R
MARKETING & IT RECOGNITION
Those on this list have used technology in the following ways:
Fast and successful Web site integrations Improved business intelligence efforts to help drive customer engagement Measure marketing effectiveness New marketing technologies to better engage customers eCommerce platform implementation Integration of marketing with supply chain Implementing CRM systems Improving accessibility and usability of customer information Building a customer data warehouse Developing self-service options for customers Cost savings from the integration Innovation and product development Communication dissemination internal and external M.IT.R-50- 2012, is a recognition for those Top 50 Gurus of Marketing in India who have achieved success in their business through the use of technology. This list was unveiled at a unique event hosted by IBM, to bring out the still nascent and tentative relationship between two areas of business in India, considered to be in opposing directions but moving towards strategic leadership. Paul Writer was the knowledge partner for this event and in the journey to identify the M.IT.R-50 we interviewed several senior marketers and captured their views on emerging and existing technology used in their marketing programmes. The interview collection is as varied as is it is interesting.

COMPANY NAME
AEGON Religare Life Insurance Co.Ltd. Apollo Hospitals Axis Bank Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd Caf Coffee Day Capgemini India Citibank India Datamatics Global Services DHL Express (India) Pvt Ltd Dish TV Dr Lal Pathlabs Elsevier Health Sciences, A Reed Elsevier Group Company Essar Group Eureka Forbes Future Generali India Life Insurance Company & Future Generali India Insurance Company Godfrey Philips India Godrej Properties HDFC Bank HDFC Life Hexaware Technologies IDBI Bank IndusInd Bank ING Vysya Bank Jet Airways Kaya Skin Clinic L&T General Insurance L&T Infotech Legrand India Lenovo India Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra MakeMyTrip.com Manipal Global Education Services Max New York Life My Financial Advisor NIIT Limted The Oberoi Group Oriflame India Pearson Education Services Reliance Capital Sasken Communications Technologies Ltd Suzlon Group TNT Express TPG Wholesale Pvt Ltd Tupperware UTI Asset Management Company UTV Channels Vedanta Walt Disney Studios Zensar Technologies

REPRESENTED BY
Yateesh Srivastava Arvind Sivaramakrishnan CIO Manisha Lath Gupta Tapan Singhel Arun Malkani K Ramakrishnan Sangeeta Sundaram Sanjeev Kapur Ravindra Datar Chandrashekhar Pitre Anjali Malhotra Sameer Kaul Ajit Sharma Shivnath Thukral Marzin R Shroff & Shashank Sinha Abraham Alapatt

Nita Kapoor Girish Shah Kartik Jain Sanjay Tripathy Deependra Chumble Saumya Chaudhuri Mohit Ganju Sonalee Panda & CVG Prasad Belson Coutinho Suvodeep Das Deepali Naair Sushma Rajagopalan Palash Nandy - VP Marketing Shailendra Katyal Sanjay Seth Manish Kalra Vivek Kumar Anisha Motwani Nita Menezes Mohit Hira Prasanjeet Dutta Baruah Sharmili Rajput Naveen Raman Sanjay Jain Swami Krishnan Dharini Mishra Bhaskar Madapura Pravahan Mohanty Anshu Bagai Gaurav Suri Kunal Mukherjee Senjam Raj Sekhar Sanjay Narayanan Ajay Bhandari & Shaonlee Bose

The above list is of CMOs and Senior-most Marketing Leaders

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"Technology was at the backbone of the product offering to help create a new channel"

YATEESH SRIVASTAVA
CMO - AEGON Religare Life Insurance Co Ltd.

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? YS: This marketing year should see attention given to improving Customer Data Management & Analytics and Social Media & Digital Communication. Additionally, the integration of a Customer Self Service attitude into our business system and dedication to e-commerce and revamping our website. PW: At AEGON Religare Life Insurance Co Ltd, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? YS: We use technology to help customers buy policies online through a fully self-service option. In addition we use technology to offer payment options to our customers as well as create avenues for engagement. Data from our existing customers - demographic and

transactional will be used to create opportunities for engagement to enable service, cross-sell and up-sell. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? YS: In life insurance sales, online was a channel of distribution that was non-existent. At AEGON Religare, we designed a product and process aimed at creating a pure online channel and create a new mode of distribution in life insurance. Technology was at the backbone of the product offering to help create a new channel. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? YS: No we have different budgets but during the planning exercise the two departments sit together to create commonality of goals and objectives.

M.IT.R
INTERVIEWS
IBM and Paul Writer recognize all CMOs who have adopted technology to enhance customer experience and engage with the market in order to drive business results. Naturally, with the support of their CIOs and technology partners. This goes beyond using social networking platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and is more about embracing and cultivating a spirit of collaboration both internally and externally to enable a smarter business.
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...the presence of a set of assets to deliver Healthcare through innovative, technology led channels further augments the ability to touch a billion lives

ARVIND S
CIO - Apollo Hospitals

MARKETING & IT RECOGNITION

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? AS: The 4 Ps of Marketing clearly has given way to 4 Ps with a T (for Technology). One may look at this as 4 Ps and a T or a Technology component engrained in each one of Price, Product, Place, and Promotion. Price is no longer a static perspective and has become truly dynamic (read real time) and technology is making it self-discoverable at the point of shopping, comparison across options is fast and instantaneous. Products are not cast in stone and are customizable to a market of one, thanks to a plethora of technological innovations. Place - thanks to ICT is lot less relevant and even at physical locations the play of technology is omnipotent. Mobile stores and the like are creating value greater than storefronts. Promotion is across a significant choice of channels all of which have technology at play, it would be impossible to

have a successful promotion with the leverage of Social Media, Mobility, e-Commerce and a Digital Marketing strategy. A marketer without technology leverage is obsolete. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? AS: As the Number One healthcare provider with clinical outcomes in line with the worlds best, the priority of our marketing efforts is to touch a billion lives through two healthcare delivery channels namely: 1. Clinical Excellence Channels like Hospitals, REACH Hospitals,Clinics, Wellness and other similar assets. These are enabled through expert consultants backed by the best clinical technologies like Cyberknife, Robotic Surgery, 2 Tesla MRI, PET CT, 320 Slice CT, Novalis etc. 2. Technology leveraged channels like, Tele Medicine (Apollo Tele Health), Electronic Patient Health Record (HealthHiway), Healthcare e-Learning (ApolloMedvaristy) Mobile Health (Health Net Global).
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In the forefront of Marketing action are staked a bunch of Technology initiatives that span Portals, Social Media , Mobility , Digital Salesforce enablers and Digital Marketing. These represent the Front Office. The middle office is supported by Technology assets like applications for Patient Servicing & Management, Healthcare Ecosystem (Physicians,Pharmaceuticals, Associations) Relationship and Partnership Management and bringing up the rear are the Customer Analytics & Loyalty Management systems. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AS: Customer Acquisition is empirically a function of Reach (Penetration, Presence, and Coverage) and Success Rate (Conversions, Hit Rate, Positive Brand Behaviour).Customer Retention in the Healthcare space is multi-dimensional, building a life time relationship with the patient served, earning the patients reference ( Net Promoter Score) and the positive clinical outcome and service experience translating into winning a life time relationship with the family and friend circle of the patient and going further to earn their reference too. Reach is an outcome of Technology enabled Marketing activities both above the line and below the line duly pulled together by technology enabled sales force. Each of the IT assets in the Front Office from Portals to Social Media presence to Mobile and Digital strategies are ensuring a coordinated set of actions from Carpet Bombing to Laser sharp personalized messaging. The Middle and back office systems , which are an integral part of the Retention strategy lead by multi-channel relationship management program that sits on top of a Unique Healthcare ID strategy running over the years is augmented by the value that an Electronic Medical Record system that is gaining significant traction in the marketplace. Technology aids in making linear marketing channels behave exponentially both for Client acquisition and retention. Predicative and Big Data analytics makes communication sharper. Social media is helping get closer to the real voice of the customer and a state of the art response management infrastructure enhances customer delight. In the midst of all this, the presence of a set of assets to deliver Healthcare through innovative technology lead channels further augments the ability to touch a billion lives. Lastly, technology outside the IT sphere in terms of leading clinical technologies is continuously improving clinical outcomes which are the key purpose of the sector. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AS: Product development at Apollo is governed by Clinical Innovation on one side and Information Techno-

logical leverage on the other dimension. Few areas, where the latter plays a key role are: 1. Customer acquisition through the campaign manager (CRM) module in our PHR (Patient Health Records) by segmenting customer database & running TG specific campaigns to drive walk-ins 2. Customer retention by enabling stickiness through a one-of-its kind Health and Wellness record solutions in our PHR being available at the customers fingertips. 3. Ease of doing business and getting service is an a area of continuous improvement and technology tool like eDoc" online Doctor appointment scheduling system which enables patients to fix their own appointments directly with doctors. 4. International Research helps build solutions relevant from a Medical Tourism perspective. 5. Website and social media acts as listening posts to help size and develop new solutions based on client expectations. In addition to playing an integral role in our Clinical initiatives which have been critical to our clinical outcomes & service delivery, technology has the key driver also through: Telemedicine Remote Second Opinion Integrated online training & development 24X7 Call center, provides not just information and service but also creates new solutions through its leverage. Continuously improving experience of the Portals. PW: What would you say is the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: AS: At Apollo, the CMO-CIO lines are nearly non-existent effective collaboration of the CMO and CIO is an imperative in todays market. As the anchor and owner of many of the Technology assets right from early stages of building these marketing assets, our CIO plays the role of the primary stakeholder. The CIO is sized of tasks, such as adoption level of Primary Health Records a key market facing tool. Thus is automatically aligned to continuous specification improvement. The CIO has a chair, an important one, in all key marketing campaigns. Billion Hearts Beating program is a great example of this. Significant new product development is taken up as a Joint ownership between the CMO and the CIO. Thus, sizing, scoping and functionality are clearly not a battle or a surprise. It would be appropriate to state that the CMO is as much an owner of the technology solutions as the CIO is the owner of the marketing plans.

"we build on our brand engagement through out digital interfaces like Facebook and the website. The Axis Bank FB site has 4.5L followers, the highest amongst banks in the country

MANISHA LATH GUPTA

CMO Axis Bank

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? MLG: In the coming year I would say our focus will be to use technology to better manage Customer Data and use analytics to engage in a more efficient manner. Also, increase our use of Social Media and digital communications, revamp the website for more interaction and improve Customer Self Service tools. At Axis Bank we are always working on new product development so that it remains relevant to changing customer needs and we stay ahead of our competitors PW: At Axis Bank, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? MLG: For Axis Bank, technology has played a role in customer acquisition and retention in several ways. First of all, we build on our brand engagement through out digital interfaces like Facebook and the website. The Axis Bank FB site has 4.5L followers, the highest amongst banks in the country. Secondly, we use analytics and campaign management to selectively reach out to customers with new products, services or promotions that may be relevant to them. We have tied up with partners to disburse more of our products online like GI and Loans, which makes acquisition much cheaper and productive. Naturally, the next step is strengthening the relationship and keeping the customer satisfied. Through better User Interfaces on Internet Banking and Mobile Banking, we deepen our relationship with our customers allowing them to reach us anytime anywhere 24x7. We now have the

largest ATM network among private banks making us the most accessible brand. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? MLG: In market expansion, our aggressive ATM strategy has definitely helped us to expand our reach and presence in our customer's lives. We are actively working on new product development, and we cannot deliver new products without technology in Banking. So really, technology is the backbone for us to develop and deliver new products to our customers. I believe that it very important that modern marketers adopt technology and use it to drive business results. This of course, means we work with the CIOs and strategically move towards acquiring the technology relevant to the business. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? MLG: We do have a specialized Digital Marketing team within the marketing team which drives all digital channels like Internet, Mobile, bank owned websites and Social Media. There is a separate budget for these activities. Marketing and IT work very closely to drive the Banks IT agenda, especially for customer facing interfaces. However, the final word on technology investments and budgets reside with the IT function, as they are the domain experts.

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" (IT has) been leveraged to enhance customer experiences by providing solutions at the customer / Intermediary desk

TAPAN SINGHEL
CMO - Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? TS: In the current future, I would advise every marketer to focus on the following aspects that would increase the efficiency and productivity of all marketing initiatives. Most importantly, it is critical to optimize your Customer Data Management & Analytics and, Social Media & Digital Communications outreach programs. Subsequently, a solid and focused Customer Self Service attitude and E-commerce foundation should be developed upon. An ongoing initiative to Link Supply Chain to Marketing Initiatives and New Product Development must always have a keen focus. Finally, ensuring that your companys website is revamped and up to date to ensure that the target audience is aware of your key offerings and is straight away able to identify with your value added services.

PW: At Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? TS: Our IT services are recognized as one of the centres of excellence globally in Allianz. It has been leveraged to enhance customer experiences by providing solutions at the customer / Intermediary desk . The ease of transactions and convenience gives us a cutting edge advantage in customer acquisition. Also, since 60 % of our policies can be technically renewed by our customers and intermediaries personally, this effort does tend to enhance retention. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? TS: There has been no doubt that technology has extended our reach to geographies that were previously more difficult to reach. Our solutions today allow us to service area right from Baramullah in Kashmir to Kanayakumari and similarly from the east to the west.

solutions they require to grow and compete in the global marketplace. Technology, in partnership with other key organizational functions such as marketing, product and sales, will develop the tools and processes required to bring about innovative new product and process improvement opportunities adapted to the needs of customers. Additionally, technology will make available a range of products and assistance services to help the company rapidly move new product opportunities into production and out into the market. In fact, the internet has the potential to become a full fledged alternative channel even in a complex product category like insurance. This will lead to simplification of the product and hence much greater opportunities of reaching out to lesser financially savvy customers.

PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? AM : IT is integral to most functions within the organisation and marketing is one of the chief users of technology. In fact IT as a function within its budget provides for marketing driven technology initiatives. Both IT and marketing are very aligned and are jointly taking forward a number of large organizational initiatives.

" Brand presence on popular social media platforms serve as a perfect channel for customer interaction, promotions, announcements...

K. RAMAKRISHNAN
President, Marketing - Caf Coffee Day

" Technology will serve as the connect between the organization and the opportunities and solutions they require to grow and compete in the global marketplace

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? KR: As a marketer, my current priorities would include Customer Data Management and Analytics as well as Social Media & Digital Communication at the forefront. Other priorities on my plate includes constant attention to investing in new product development and enabling a rapid expansion in India to reach a number of 2000 cafes by the end of 2014. PW: At Caf Coffee Day, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? KR: Here are some examples of our complete technology backed marketing approach: Social Media: Brand presence on popular social media platforms serve as a perfect channel for customer interaction, promotions, announcements etc. CRM: Our gift card program, Caf Moments is a complete technology based solution. It becomes ready to use after an easy one time SMS activation. All interactions like balance check, transaction notifications, reload can be done via SMS or online. Bean Banter: A digital tent card, this small device is capable of running 15 campaigns at once. It drives interaction by displaying messages based on user response. Digital Kiosks: We are working to build touch screen interactive kiosks for in-cafe engagement. The device will provide a personalized experience with internet access, menu ordering option, games and a fully integrated loyalty program. Centralized Radio: Centrally controlled radio that is customizable to tastes of customers of every region, language and age etc.

ARUN MALKANI
CMO Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? AM: Amongst my current priorities for this year are Customer Data Management & Analytics, Social Media & Digital Marketing and revamping our companys website. PW: At Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AM: Our entire customer cross-sell and upsell program and analytics marketing is based on statistical models and the use of technology and systems. Customers are also periodically communicated with on offers and relationship initiatives through database management based on technology. They are also able to make premium payments and do a number of other transactions online at their convenience. This reduces pressure on physical

branches and personnel and gives the customer the opportunity to interact/transact at his will and time. Web based analytics using relevant tools is also integral to both acquisition and retention initiatives by the organization. Overall, technology has really added teeth to our marketing initiatives and is playing and will continue to play a very integral role in the marketing initiatives in my organization. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AM: Accelerating opportunities to leverage and adopt technology is the key to long-term business growth and productivity. Technology will serve as the connect between the organization and the opportunities and

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? KR: In terms of Product Development, we reach out to our customers online via surveys, polls, researches for new product development and feedback. One of our products called Warm choco indulgence was created based on an extensive customer research done on Facebook. It now contributes to 30% of our dessert sales. Where Internal Communication is concerned, we regularly broadcast to all our cafes for training and internal employee communication. One such internal celebration was done on reaching the 1000th caf milestone where all the cafs were linked to a central cross-communication channel at the same time. On reaching the million Facebook fans mark, we celebrated with our customers at all the cafs on the same day at the same time. The event photos were tweetcasted live by us and our customers. In relation to Market Expansion, we receive close to 80,000 downloads a day where Bluetooth provides an interactive link between our customers and the brand. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? KR: Honestly, we do not have anything known as a marketing budget. We earn from other brands that use our cafs as a medium to communicate to youngsters and use that money to communicate with our consumers. Therefore there is no separate IT component in this budget. However, the IT function is very clearly aligned with the goals of the marketing organization built towards seamless service delivery, engagement building and analytics.

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" Apart from the obvious CRM system in managing the sales and marketing pipeline, we have used technology in a powerful way for our recruitment communication and process....

we have leveraged technology to provide an enhanced sales experience to our prospects. We are gradually moving our physical brochure ware to electronic formats to deliver a more consultative & need based sales experience...

SANGEETA SUNDARAM
Marketing & Communications leader - Capgemini India

SANJEEV KAPUR
CMO - Citibank India

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? SS: Todays marketer cannot function without technology. It is an integral part of marketing. We need technology for measuring the ROI. Marketing budgets are always under a scanner compared to other departments, and the use of technology to track data and analyze our returns and monetize the success of any media and communication is very important. In large corporations like ours, with multiple geographies, deploying consistent brand assets would be impossible without technology. Today, monitoring the brand, ensuring consistency in its usage, reusability of brand assets and checks on communication guidelines, is all made much easier with archived portals and other such technology. And most importantly, digital technology and the use of social media, our website and other digital properties have made it possible to interact with customers and respond and communicate to and with our target audience, making it the key support for marketing. There are no doubt challenges in the adoption of technology in the marketing arena. A personal evolution is required. Awareness of ever changing trends and changing the composition of the marketing team is required today. While I have hired specific people with technology skills, I also ensure that my team members learn new things and update themselves constantly. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? SS: If I have to identify my top priorities for the next 12 months, they would be: Brand development for both the internal and external audience in a manner that integrates the process completely. Ability to have a same brand experience internally and externally. A clear shift to digital advertising. Globally, Capgemini has already taken a decision to move its marketing channel from the traditional to the digital. In India, we have used some traditional medium in the past, but going forward it will be more digital media. Gear up to drive a content management strategy And, an Account Based Marketing approach for greater customer intimacy

PW: At Capgemini how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SS: Well, apart from the obvious CRM system in managing the sales and marketing pipeline, we have used technology in a powerful way for our recruitment communication and process. For each recruitment communication campaign as well as all organic visits to the website we are not only able to track and analyse the statistics, conversion rates etc. we are also ensuring that the resumes received are categorized and sent to the corresponding technical leader in the organization for review. The life-cycle of a resume is completely supported by technology at Capgemini making the process more efficient, effective and transparent. We are also able to drive efficiencies on our campaigns owing to this. On the customer end we are still in the early stages of technology adoption in India but are clearly moving towards it. At the moment we are able to do some customer behavior analysis and tracking of sales leads etc. But what we would like to move towards is specific content for customers based on their requirement, more engagement and two-way communication. PW: What is the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization? Does marketing have a separate IT Budget? SS: I think the level of collaboration between Marketing and IT is definitely improving. There is a sense of understanding of each others business needs which has led the two to work together. This in our organization was clearly important when communication to 37000 employees in over 8 locations in India had to be streamlined. But, it is also true that the CIO now involves marketing when evaluating vendors for some communication technology, or inputs are taken from our department when revamping a CRM system. Marketing is definitely an important stakeholder in any customer engagement or sales technology being implemented. This was probably not so true, say 2 years ago. Globally, the marketing budget at Capgemini had evolved to include technology that was required. Here in India, we have slowly moved to get less and less dependant on the IT budget for technology that we need to run successful marketing programs. Be it an upgrade for the website and intranet, analytics and tracking or bandwidth for launching campaigns, we now manage it ourselves as IT has other responsibilities that require their attention.

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? SK: Technology has always played a critical yet understated role in the success of any brand. Superior delivery of benefits across categories ranging from fairness creams to razors, drugs to cars or for that matter any household product, has been contingent on the research and technology prowess of a company. Today, technology and in particular digitization of information is impacting the success of marketers, more than ever before. As per a recent release, more than two billion people use broadband today as compared to ten years ago and three billion people are likely to have smartphones in the next 10 years. This has and will continue to fundamentally change the way clients consume information and therefore it is imperative for marketers today to not only embed their brand in the digital space but also provide convenient access through new devices to continue to be relevant to consumers. The same is true for the financial services sector as well. Retail Banks in India have leveraged the digital medium to increase their distribution and for most modern banks the digital channels today have emerged as the largest customer touch point. Our survey shows that over 51% of Citibank Indias customers prefer to transact online. Over 60% have signed up for e-statements and nearly 90% of all customer communication is now electronic. There is a great opportunity for banks to further build on this reach by focusing on offering greater choice, convenience and control to their customers through not only the traditional internet banking channel but also the emerging Mobile, Tablet and Social Media platforms. To summarize, I believe that there is no option but to embrace the rapid changes led by evolution of technology. Over the past decade several industries like music, photography have been totally transformed by software therefore only brands which are willing to constantly adapt will survive. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? SK: Our goal is to improve our market share, disproportionate to our physical footprint and resources deployed in the marketplace. This requires us to build our product and brand preference through significantly stronger delivery of our value propositions. Technology can play a key role here and to start with, technology can help make banking faster and easier for our customers. A user friendly website, mobile interface, ATM technology helps us not only overcome our distribution limitation but also allows customers to do time consuming branch transactions instantly from their home or office. Secondly, technology can help us customize product/offer bundles for our clients. For instance, our backend analytics has helped us understand the preferences of our

customers such as where they like to dine, shop and how frequently they like to transact. Analyzing this data, we have constructed a recommendation engine, called Citi For You. The engine analyzes customer profile, transaction behavior and purchase preferences and suggests financial products and services that are most relevant. Thirdly, technology also plays an important role in contextual delivery of propositions to help build product and brand relevance. A good example is our best in class CitMobile applications where we offer location based services to find a nearby branch, ATM or dining offers. We also leverage technology to do contextual messaging in our ATMs wherein we centrally control communication of a product or offer depending on the location of our ATM e.g. ATM in mall ATM versus ATM in a branch. Another great example of leveraging technology in the offline world is our deployment of a solution at point of sale where-in our card clients can pay for purchases instantly using rewards points instead of cash. Today we have more than 1500 merchants offering this service and this contextual deployment significantly enhances the value of our credit cards in minds of our clients. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SK: Traditionally, Citibank is known for innovation in the financial sector. Be it, phone banking, ATMs or online banking capability for NRIs, we have been forerunners in using technology to provide superior service to our clients. In the long run, delivering superior service everyday is the best way to build loyalty for the brand and retain clients. On the acquisition side, we are leveraging technology in three ways. Firstly Citibank has traditionally been one of the highest spenders on online for acquisition. One of the primary reasons is that media costs of digital channels have not been monetized commensurate to the reach delivered by the medium resulting in a cost arbitrage versus offline advertising. Secondly we have leveraged technology to provide an enhanced sales experience to our prospects. We are gradually moving our physical brochure ware to electronic format to deliver a more consultative & need based sales experience. Some of our new branches also have digital displays. We are also the largest buyer of OOH screens amongst financial brands which allows us to customize message for prospects by location. Thirdly and more recently we are using our social platforms like Facebook where we have more than 350,000 fans to engage prospects and enhance our brand relevance.

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PW: There is a lot of debate on how sometimes the communities on social media for most brands are rarely the actual customers for that product of service. What is your view on this? SK: Yes, it is likely that social communities have more prospects than customers. This should not come as a surprise as in the real world, for most brand at a given point of time, there would be more consumers considering the brand than using the brand. Even though there are likely to me more prospects, brands need to leverage these platforms to strengthen its relevance with the community by talking about or offering things which are interesting for the members. For brands like Citi, this may requires us to talk beyond serious financial products on things such as our association with Cricket, Theatre, and Dining etc. This helps members to start forming an impression that a particular brand speaks the same language as them and this enhanced relevance over a period of time is likely to translate into product usage. However, in an attempt to aggressively monetize the communities dominated by prospects, brands should avoid product hard sell as that begins to undermine the spirit of the platform and repel the members to engage with the brand. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SK: Unlike before, digital technology now allows clients to interact with brands and build a dialogue. This allows

companies to get real time feedback on the quality of delivery of service, products etc and helps brands to continuously recalibrate and improve various facets of the product that impact the delivery of value proposition. Technology could also be used to help build radically new products or sometimes take operational decisions. An example of leveraging technology for building radically new products to serve new segments is biometric ATMs with voice navigation capability to serve illiterate microfinance clients. An interesting example of leveraging Social Media to take operational decisions is a Crowd Sourced ATM initiative on Facebook wherein our fans on Facebook decided the location of our new ATMs in Delhi & Bangalore. PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: SK: Excellent. In the digital world, it is imperative for the CIO and CMO to work together closely. The CIO is the window to the realms of possibilities in the technology world which a CMO can then interpret and bring about a solution for consumers. Given the rapid pace of change in technology both the CIO and CMO have to stay close to the ground and continuously look for opportunities to improve client delivery and stay ahead of competition.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? RD: Technology forms the backbone of everything we do across the organizations. Over the years, Datamatics has created a wealth of IP that we are able to deploy for a more efficient life cycle management for our IP, products, solutions and services. Our focus has always been on automating processes to the greatest extent possible to enhance speed and quality of output while delivering substantial cost benefit for us and our customers. Technology has thus helped strengthen our delivery engine as well as our new offerings development processes. Leverage of technology and new outreach channels enabled by technology has helped us drive visibility for our brand and offerings rapidly in new markets and market segments. Smart use of technology has also

helped streamline our business development and sales engine with a good alignment with our delivery engine. We are also able to improve our knowledge sharing and innovation management abilities within the company. In this way, Datamatics is able to provide a better and more customized opportunity to capture our targeted and prospective clients for our innovative offerings. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? RD: We do have provisions for IT deployment for greater marketing & sales effectiveness and an operations team that ensures our investments in technology are aligned with our expectations and with our business priorities.

Applications like SMS/WAP ensure timely updates providing customers real-time updates and accessibility anytime anywhere giving DHL an edge over competition

CHANDRASHEKHAR PITRE
Senior Director Marketing South Asia, DHL Express

Datamatics is able to provide a better and more customized opportunity to capture our targeted and prospective clients for our innovative offerings

RAVINDRA DATAR
Head Global Marketing - Datamatics Global Services Limited

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? RD: In the highly competitive global marketplace, it is important to ensure high brand visibility amongst chosen market segments. Beyond mere brand visibility, it is necessary to present a differentiated brand promise that will clearly convey relevant business value to the target segments. As a provider of Next Generation solutions to our global clientele, our current marketing priority is to establish our brand promise firmly in our target markets, with targeted visibility in our chosen segments. We will also focus on building holistic relationships with our clients by broadening our coverage of their requirements across their organizational value chains. On the offerings front, we are actively promoting our Smart Analytics capabilities with our existing clients as well as prospects, to help them extract meaningful insights from the terabytes of transactional data they have to cope with, for better informed decisions.

PW: At Datamatics Global Services Ltd, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? RD: We consider technology as a value enabler for ourselves as well as our clients. In our existing relationships, our focus has always been to leverage technology to drive optimization in the clients business processes, with a focus on delivering breakthrough cost savings, quality enhancement and shorter processing time. This plays a big role in not just retaining our clients but also expanding our relationships with them. For new business, technology helps us ensure good visibility of changing market preferences for our sales and marketing decision makers and also our delivery managers. Through the use of sales force automation, we have been able to achieve a more streamlined and effective sales engine. New outreach channels such as social media, webinars etc have helped in enhancing our marketing outreach beyond the website. We also ensure our field sales force, always on the move are able to access the latest and most relevant information on the industry and the specific clients they are meeting, through mobility solutions.

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? CP: Justifying Return-on-Marketing-Investments by opting for selected measurement techniques that help drive specific business objectives. At the same time provide our customers with unique value propositions that last longer. Main areas of focus in this current marketing year should include particular attention to Customer Data Management & Analytics and Social Media & Digital Communication. Additionally, a Customer Self Service attitude should be developed to increase online dependency. Finally, New Product Development and e-Commerce should be an ongoing investment. PW: At DHL Express, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? CP: Technology has played a pivotal role as e-Commerce applications enable daily transactions to be completed faster and error free (if any). Applications like SMS/WAP ensure timely updates providing customers real-time updates and accessibility anytime anywhere giving DHL an edge over competition. As part of many firsts to our credit DHL Express India also was the first to introduce Indias first and only 24-hour customer service call centre in the Express industry. Multiple Tracking Options: DHLs online tracking is the fastest way to find out where your shipment is. There is now no need to call Customer Service numbers when we can offer you real-time details of your shipment. The call is answered in three rings. Our back-up Customer Contact Centre in Chennai makes sure that the customer gets un-interrupted service all the time, even in case of emergencies.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? CP: Technologies like Scanning Solutions, TCL, Smart Truck ensure customized solutions which creates a need of new products and markets that directly contribute to market and business expansions owing to their highly intrinsic nature as per customer requirements. To start with the Online Scanners (Motorola 9596 series of PDA) which are designed to talk to customer services and operations systems parallely where once a booking is captured in customer services application (CSV Cyber Services) based on the couriers area of operation receives the fresh request within three to five mins of registration. Once the courier accepts the request and upon collecting the parcel from the customer the event is captured and transferred back to Track and Trace server within three to five mins giving next to real time visibility to the end customer. The same technology is used when the courier is out for delivering a parcel and based on the timing of the event the information travels instantly to the backend systems within five mins and the same is visible to the entire world through DHLs Track and Trace. Customs clearance is considered to be a tedious process across the globe and where the need of paperwork for dutiable shipment plays a crucial role at the time of both the export and import clearance this is where the imaging solution of DHL namely CIA (Clear In Air) comes into picture wherein the paperwork are scanned flightwise at origin and destination. Within minutes of image scanning one is able to download the images and file the documents for pre-clearance this clearly saves six to 12 hours of clearance time thereby gives us a clear edge over all the other competitors.

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Last but not the least the SMART TRUCK solution, a technologically advance solution wherein for huge volume / remote area and higher cut-off demanding customers a vehicle equipped with GPRS connectivity having capability of enabling the couriers to perform data capture / re-weighing / imaging while on move and thereby reducing the processing time in facility and clearly allowing the customer to have late cut-offs also this vehicles location can be tracked using maps thereby the back office can also plan their processing activities accordingly.

PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? CP: Yes indeed we do have budget for IT Components as in todays scenario any marketing plan would be incomplete if it does not have a space for IT in it. We at DHL believe marketing decisions depend upon IT, and IT depends upon marketing decisions. The two are interdependent. Decisions that are made in marketing are based upon information provided by IT, and systems that are developed by IT are based upon requirements provided by marketers.

We will commit more time and resources to leverage digital, technology and innovations for delighting our customers, connecting with them...

SAMEER KAUL
VP, Marketing - Dr Lal PathLabs

Technology plays a very critical role at every step - in keeping with todays digital generation, new product enhancements like web stores, mobile apps for product engagement and customer convenience...

ANJALI MALHOTRA
Executive VP, Marketing - Dish TV

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? SK: Focus should be drawn on the following for this marketing year: Customer Data Management & Analytics (Return on Insights (ROI) as well as the conventional ROI Social Media & Digital Communication Enhancing Customer Experience New product development e-Commerce Revamping the website PW: At Dr Lal PathLabs, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SK: We are India's largest chain of diagnostics labs serving more than 7 million customers. For us technology leadership plays a role in many dimensions. We have the most advanced cutting edge testing equipment at our labs leading to most accurate test results in the industry. We launched India's only fully dedicated National Customer Care infrastructure that acts as a customer touch point from morning 7 am - 11 pm. This facilitates a one stop shop solution to the entire gamut of diagnostic needs. We use the best IVR and telephony technology to provide a 'One Call Does It All' kind of a solution. Our website provides fast viewing of test reports, our ICT technology integrates our thousands of centers together. We also launched Asias largest lab at Rohini to serve our customers effectively. All the above helps us to acquire and retain our millions of customers.

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? AM: For every marketer, customer acquisition and retention are both equally important. In addition, ours being a subscription led business, the relationship continues month-on-month, thereby necessitating constant interaction and management of information flow, payment cycles, retention etc.. Thus data analytics and targeted communication are a priority towards customer profiling, segmentation, behavioral studies and so on. In addition, product engagement and revenue enhancement, be it through new product innovations and/or existing basket sales, are also critical parameters. PW: At Dish TV, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AM: Technology plays a very critical role at every step. Towards acquisition, use of MIS based geographical segmentation, analytics based market prioritization and GPS based mapping of customer/ trade presence. In keeping with todays digital generation, new product enhancements like web stores, mobile apps for product engagement and customer convenience. On the retention side, CRM tools, predictive modeling and forecasting techniques, trigger based automated marketing systems, customer segmentation life-cycle management, loyalty programs and targeted marketing. We do deploy advanced tools for MIS/ data analytics and campaign design/management. In addition, newer vehicles for customer communication with large capacity and auto-

mated delivery including specially developed on-TV tools, too. Use of digital and social media and ORM techniques for customer feedback management with real-time resolution/ close-looping etc. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AM: Primarily through the use of GPS and geographic mapping tools for customer and retail mapping/ alignment, customer contact data cleansing and augmentation, special self-help tools for dealers for respective subscriber data mapping for augmenting recharge business, development of mobile apps and WAP website and so on. Moreover, development of new technology for product delivery through advanced set-top-boxes with added features like recording, return-path and their marriage with other connected devices ( laptops/ mobiles) or VOD, catch-up TV to constantly upgrade the consumers TV viewing experience. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? AM: The two functions work very closely indeed. From conceptualization of new products, their back-end and seamless delivery, to MIS/ analytics and customer life-cycle management. There are designated budgets planned for acquisition/ development of newer tools for meeting the stated objectives, from time to time.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SK: We have invested a lot at Rohini which has become a game changer in the Indian diagnostics space - Our Rohini lab is Asia's largest lab. This lab is spread across around 85,000 sq ft. - has 6 floors, each dedicated to a specific discipline of diagnostics. This lab has a state of the art section on New Product Development wherein the marketing team, R&D team, ops team, technical team, sales teams, technical group, and other cross functional teams meet every week to evolve and discuss launch of new products and services. For us new products mean new tests, new technology and new medical practices based on customer feedback and customer needs. We have a franchising department that uses communication technology to stay in touch with doctors, business partners - with an aim to increase our market footprint and expand in other areas. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? SK: The marketing budget is segmented into C2B (I like to call it C2B instead of B2C) and B2B. We have internally allocated a budget for digital and innovations. We are planning in the coming year to increase the % spends for Digital (including social and Innovations. Innovation as a concept has taken shape this year in Q3 and next year FY 13 we will commit more time and resources to leverage digital, technology and innovations to make things happen for delighting our customers, connecting with them and improving topline. Marketing drives these new practices and is very well aligned with cross functional teams including IT team to make things happen.

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Our exciting new products such as ExPharm Pro, MBBS Consult, Elsevier Interact Cyber Anatomy... have all been based on a product seeding evaluation and development process online

AJIT SHARMA
Head of Marketing- South Asia - Elsevier Health Sciences

PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? ST: IT is a corporate function, driven from the top, and so it is a way of life for the organisation.. We have an IT management committee in which marketing has a seat. Our IT budget allocation is simple - we allocate the cost of it across employees and then apportion the budget. So, for example, when were putting in place a cutting-edge intranet platform on a cost-per-employee basis it comes out as a very small investment of Rs. 100 per employee and the ROI is easily justified. PW: How do you see the role of technology in the future? ST: Our investment in digital marketing is growing though on a low base. Our visibility through digital media is constantly increasing. Customers and employees are now coming to us through technology platforms like our websites, intranet, YouTube and social networks. Whether it is our employees or customers, interfacing through a

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? AS: My top areas of focus span from optimizing our Customer Data Management & Analytics and developing our Social Media & Digital Communication channels to improving on New Product Development, e-commerce and, bridging the gap between Supply Chain and Marketing Initiatives. PW: At Elsevier Health Sciences, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AS: We have used Social Media and Web Resources extensively to acquire new customer base while still retaining our existing base while simultaneously keeping our customers meaningfully engaged. We also have the largest Health Sciences Community on Facebook with over 51,000 fans and have generated sales both in pre-order and regular format for over 60 K USD. Our database grew over 125% last year which was over a 72% growth in database the previous year. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AS: Our exciting new products such as ExPharm Pro , MBBS Consult, Elsevier Interact Cyber Anatomy etc. have

all been based on a product seeding evaluation and development process online. In fact, these are real products to be launched in the markets in the next 3-9 weeks. This has been the beginning of our online endeavour right from review to feedback, to alpha and beta testing conducted online, and now we are ready with products which cater specifically to the online population. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? AS: Over a period of last 3 years, we have consciously re-aligned our marketing budgets from being print marketing specific to a current scenario, where about 40% of our marketing spend is on digital marketing and marketing of digital products. The reason for his re-alignment is that the reach and timeliness of awareness increases by leaps and bounds when we invest in the digital marketing space. While IT is a separate function in the organization managing networks and systems, digital marketing is managed by digital marketing specialists.

tech-led channel is now 60-70% of our total interaction. The challenge is to constantly ensure that were using the right tools to reach the right audience. Our real marketing arms and legs are also through tech, in the form of e-commerce. Technology adoption can be a daunting task for people who have not seen the benefits of it. When we launched our internal TV platform there was skepticism. But when we made it an iPad app, people were instantly connecting with the initiative. Tech allows me to derive ROI much faster. I think the next level of marketing for a B2B corporate like us is using social media more effectively. How can we generate more value through micro-blogging, how can we be a more important player in the community; these are questions that we need to answer. We are now moving to Social Media 2.0, which will be a new phase of reinforced corporate investment and commitment to technology based platforms.

Our award winning model of lead management has been one of the first used by an Indian company.

SHASHANK SINHA
General Manager & Head Marketing - Eureka Forbes

Shashank is the General Manager and Head marketing of Direct Sales at Eureka Forbes which is pioneer in the use of technology for lead management. Here is a quick Q&A with this marketing leader PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? SS: Modern marketers today are moving towards better use of technology in their marketing plans in order to drive business results. We at Eureka Forbes are growing our use of social media and digital communications. Customer Data Management to better engage with our customers and analytics to target our communication is another priority. Apart from that we are growing our e-commerce footprint and looking for more innovation in our product development. Another priority is linking supply chain to marketing initiatives for better alignment

PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SS: Being a direct marketing organisation, technology plays a crucial role for us in both acquiring new customers as well as retaining them. Our award winning model of lead management has been one of the first used by an Indian company. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SS: As of now not really in terms of new product development, other than partnering with consumers to build new concepts that later are converted into products. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? SS: Not yet, but we earmark a portion of our Marketing budgets into new technologies where we see benefits coming.

When we launched our internal TV platform there was skepticism. But when we made it an iPad app, people were instantly connecting with the initiative!

SHIVNATH THUKRAL
Group President-Corporate Branding & Strategic Initiatives - Essar Group

PW: How important do you think technology is for marketers? ST: I think it is extremely important. While we are an old economy company in terms of the sectors that we are in like steel, oil and gas , infrastructure etc, but everything is led by technology. We look for technology to amplify our initiatives. For us technology is not just an enhancer but a driver.

Our marketing function is also on a technology platform and internal communications as well as HR are technology-led. External communications comprise of social media, web analytics, SEO, SEM and microblogging. Our internal web-based TV platform that reaches 75,000 employees is also a pioneering technology platform that allows us to communicate and engage with our growing global workforce. CRM, salesforce automation, supply chain are all critical technologies for our business.

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We also use cutting-edge technology to offer full service presence at over 70 Big Bazaars across the country through our MallassuranceTM desks
(YOU CAN USE THE IMAGE FROM PREV FUTURIST CMO MAGAZINE)

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? NK: Technology has helped us take regular feedbacks and create consumer backed products. It has also helped sales and distribution and enhanced our data management, commercial tie-ups, sales and marketing link ups to name a few.

PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? NK: Yes, currently it is housed in marketing and we are aligning this with the IT department for the organization

ABRAHAM ALAPATT
Senior Vice President & Head - Brand & Corporate Communication - Future Generali India Life Insurance & Future Generali India Insurance

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? AA: In this current marketing environment, my priorities include Customer Data Management & Analytics, fostering a Customer Self Service Attitude and promoting growth of our organizations e-commerce in volume, value and quality of service. PW: At Future Generali India, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AA: Our portal HYPERLINK "http://www.futuregenerali.in" www.futuregenerali.in allows customers to renew, service and buy life & general insurance policies online. The portal delivers instant, secure transactions and on-the-fly document generation. In just over a year, we have served over 20,000 customers and generated over Rs. 20 Cr. of GWP via the portal. We also use SEO/SEM campaigns targeted at customer segments to solicit online evaluation/purchase. We are encouraging customers to renew online because it is simpler, instant and convenient for both the customer and us to do this. We also use cutting-edge technology to offer full service presence at over 70 Big Bazaars across the country through our Mallassurance desks - to customers to either service their policies, renew or buy our special OTC insurance products. Customers can get their policy document generated at the outlet and can pay at the cash counter along with their other purchases.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AA: Following our success in the online space, we are dedicating increased focus on developing all our retail products with a view to offer them online as well. In the case of Life insurance, we offer both a competitive Term Plan - Future Generali Smart Life and a unique monthlypay ULIP that is very much like a Mutual Fund SIP, called Future Generali Select Insurance Plan. On the General Insurance front, we offer competitive Personal Accident, Travel and Health Plans currently, and will soon be going live with Motor policies renewal and sales online. We have also filed an extremely attractive "online-only" Health Plan and are awaiting approval from the regulator soon. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? AA: Other than our robust, dedicated IT budget, we allocate about 8% of our Marketing budget to digital/online marketing efforts. These typically include SEO/SEM efforts, traditional and innovative forms of banner advertising online as well as via social media investments (including category-brand integrated games developed for our Facebook followers) to seed the brand and increase our share of mind in an evolving target customer segment. Our IT and Marketing efforts are fully aligned and our IT team works with our external partners and agencies to ensure front & back end synchronization and optimization.

Our new campaigns are geo-tagged; every lead generated from all touch-points makes its way directly into our cloud-based CRM system, from which useful data like response rate and ROI is generated

GIRISH SHAH
VP Sales & Marketing - Godrej Properties.

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? GS: We understand the importance of technology and leverage the technological enablers to achieve the following: Service active seekers on a real time basis Create technological enabled platforms to make communication and interaction more engaging & interesting Tap global customers and segments to nullify the constraints of distance and time zones Make our marketing campaigns ROI driven and effective through lead trackers and analytics Real estate as you would know is a micro-market driven business, technology has helped us to understand our consumer profiles and micro-markets & where the demand comes from To help us create a seamless flow of information and a rich central repository of data for the cross functional team synergies. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? GS: Currently we are focused on the following core areas: - Customer Data Management & Analytics - Social Media & Digital Communications - Customer Care Portal - New product development - Revamping the website PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? GS: Customers find our new SEO-friendly, platform agnostic, meta-tagged corporate website much more interesting and usage statistics indicate a 50% increase in the time they spend on our site. Our new campaigns are geo-tagged every lead generated from all touch-points makes its way directly into our cloud-based CRM system, from which useful data like response rate and ROI is generated. In the past year alone we have doubled the number of leads captured in the system. To reduce TAT our new call centre gets leads assigned to them via the CRM system. Executives are trained to provide relevant information and assign a rating that is then used as an indicator of intention to purchase, so

managers can prioritize their responses and our conversion rate is kept high. If customers visit and book a property, the lead is then converted and transmitted to our ERP system. A visual representation of a funnel representing deal flow is generated periodically in our dashboards, which brings our efforts to convert opportunities into sharp focus. Payment schedules, collections, etc are monitored from there so intimation/reminders can be sent out and crossselling can also take place. SFDC software has helped us to maintain a central repository of rich data of active seekers across 12 cities with whom we continually communicate through e-mailers, festive greetings etc , ergo build sustaining relationships which are not only transactional. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? GS: We collect over 200 data points of information about our customers. This information is then analyzed to generate detailed customer segmentation profiles for each and every project. This in turn influences our media buying and product design strategies. As real estate is a high involvement product, we are investing heavily in interactive technologies ranging from video walkthroughs to 360 degree virtual tours. Mobile and handheld applications are an especially effective means for us to provide the latest content-rich information to people around the world on the go. In an age where most consumers are active Internet users depending on content provided online as a primary source of information, positive online reputation management is vital. Through the use of social medial listening tools, we are able to patch on to discussion forums, groups and consumer complaint redressal sites to resolve queries or complaints and generate buzz. PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: GS: Excellent. Senior Management has been involved with customizing Business Objective and Business Intelligence dashboards used to monitor key matrix and highlights areas that need development.

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Technology has helped us take regular feedback and create consumer backed products. It has also helped sales and distribution and enhanced our data management, commercial tie-ups, sales and marketing link ups...

NITA KAPOOR
EVP Marketing & Corporate Affairs - Godfrey Philips India

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? NK: New product development - to stay in touch with the changing demands in the market. Align and Link the Supply Chain with Sales and Marketing Initiatives.

PW: At Godfrey Philips, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? NK: Being a restricted category we have a permission based consumer interface model which takes a longer time to develop, respond and maintain . Expectedly there has been a slow progress and we are taking steps to bridge the gaps.

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Enabling technologies are empowering customers to play an active role in content consumption as well as content creation
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KARTIK JAIN
CMO - HDFC Bank India

PW: What is your view on the importance of Technology for Marketers? KJ: Our lives are becoming increasingly device led. Enabling technologies are empowering customers to play an active role in content consumption as well as content creation. Understanding this evolving technology interface where content meets customer is becoming crucial for marketers. In addition, the explosion of customer data and its promise of optimizing marketing spends further underlines the need for todays marketers to have a technology edge. Indeed at HDFC Bank the collaboration interaction between technology and marketing is a business imperative. PW: As a marketer what are your current priorities? KJ: Id have to say that Customer Data Management & Analytics and Social Media & Digital Communication are important priorities for us. The key is ensuring that these are aligned to business. Revamping the website keeping it relevant and user friendly while enhancing it for e-commerce - would also be a current priority.

PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? KJ: HDFC Bank sends out 3,000 campaigns a year, supported by over 300 analytical models. We have also identified over 200 customer segmented behaviour triggers that are used to initiate customer interventions. We serve targeted messages to our customers across all points of contact including ATM and the internet. Efficient delivery and tracking of these campaigns at this scale has been made possible only through technology. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? KJ: An example is the use of mobile technology. Our NetBanking on Mobile facility allows access to various banking transactions on the go. HDFC Bank's Mobile Bank Account developed in partnership with Vodafone's mPaisa provides banking services to the unbanked through the ubiquitous mobile phone.

To overcome the above problems, HDFC Life undertook a critical technology initiative to implement a configurable & scalable solution to facilitate revenue collections & drive up the persistency/conservation levels. The solution was branded MINT. Customer satisfaction, retention and user productivity have been the guiding forces in the design and development of MINTRenewal & Retention. Mint was designed to enhance the ability to retain customers and collect premiums. The solution manages the premium collection process and automatically notifies contact center agents and HDFC Lifes front office team, who then inform the customers about renewals and revival details. There are four stages in the lifecycle of the renewals and revivals process and these are mapped by the system A) Early reminder which alerts customer via calls of their premium due dates B) Missed due date but within grace period customers are called and reminded to make the relevant premium payment C) Cases that exceed the grace period but within a few months, once again a process is initiated since the policy can be reinstated without medical tests D) Cases that exceed 6 months are automatically assigned for revival attempts. It then performs segmentation of data, allocation to the agents/executives for subsequent follow-up through managed workflows. If the customers contact details are not updated, the system creates a workflow for these too so that an offline process is initiated to trace the customer and alert him. It is also integrated with auto dialers for automatic dial out to the customers which increases the productivity of the call centre agents. The solution is based on n-Tier J2EE architecture with Oracle backend. Policy and Customer data is received from the Core Insurance system. System performs Segmentation of data, allocation to the agents/Executives and subsequent follow-up through managed workflows. It is integrated with ASPECT auto dialers for automatic dial out to the customers. MINT is configurable and scalable solution. The system is deployed on a highly scalable architecture with JBOSS as the Web application server with support for load balancing. Flexibility and workflow capabilities of the system allow it to be easily used and configured to manage data flow across departments like Customer Service and Branch operations. The solution provides a more streamlined process ensuring higher productivity, greater customer retention. The system provides details of lapse and premium-due policies to project teams enabling them to engage with customers and drive various campaigns on existing and new products. Campaign details are shared with business and better contactibility. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? ST: HDFC Life follows a robust and structured new product development process to shorten the concept-tolaunch cycle. The process followed to ensure faster product development is: Product planning team liaisons with Business Systems & Technology while designing the product document before filing to the IRDA.

New product can be cloned quickly from an existing product in a matter of 2 hours post which only the product specific business rules are initiated. This ensures faster development. Phasing of requirements Phasing of Testing Preparation of the Test Cases repository Adoption of Agile methodology to cope with IRDA changes All the above steps and initiatives helped the organization: Launch the product in 21 days. The advantage of faster to market can be translated into additional EPI Opportunity which is calculated at Rs 111 crs in the year 2010-11. The success of this initiative was amply displayed when we were the only Insurance Company to be ready with new products to launch in the post-IRDA regulation period. HDFC Life addresses event specific needs of customers through its product portfolio across unit-linked and conventional platforms. Well structured Online Policy Selling that enables customers to buy a policy online. Upfront categorization and higher non-medical limits enhance straight through policy issuance for products. Detailed financial planning tool that can be used for risk profiling and life-stage based need linked goals setting with customers. Comprehensive toolkits are provided to sales personnel to drive the desired product proposition & ease of sale. HDFC Lifes customers have access to the online My Account portal to ensure self-fulfillment of major transactions. My Account portal covers the widest possible gamut of transactions. Online customer portal minimizes the need for a customer to walk-in to the branch. HDFC Life also monitors and leverages multiple digital touch points that have emerged over the past few years.

We undertook a critical technology initiative to implement a configurable & scalable solution to facilitate revenue collections & drive up the persistency/conservation levels. The solution was branded MINT

SANJAY TRIPATHY
EVP Marketing & Direct Channel - HDFC Life.

PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? ST: Life Insurance is a long term business and hence retention of existing customers (Persistency) in a highly competitive arena is as important as acquisition of new customers. Customer retention is important because higher persistency leads to more profitable insurance business. It also gives an opportunity to up-sell and cross-sell. Driving up the persistency levels is a key business objective for any insurer. With the customer and business in mind and in order to maintain its retention/persistency/conservation levels, HDFC Life had assigned the task of managing the customer relationship to the Customer Service and Branch Operations teams. These teams were provided

with the list of lapsed, paid-up policies and the corresponding customer information in a spreadsheet format. The data was uploaded into the CRM of the contact center which was then used for customer follow up by the Customer Service team. This data was also manually segregated and allocated to multiple Operation users across 430+ branches for follow up with the customers. Branch Operations users were required to update the complaints, service requests and accurate customer contact information, which was obtained from the sales force, in the same spreadsheet. This process was time consuming and inefficient. No central control and reporting, hence control was weak and activities were not being tracked.

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The combined use of Eloqua, Demandbase, Google Analytics and Linkedin has allowed us to track web visitors behavior and convert prospects into customers

display advertising amongst focused marketing efforts such as e-mailers to users with active interest in these products. Apart from a sustained social media strategy, based on marketing priorities, key initiatives are actively promoted by using digital media tools as a part of a 360 degree integrated marketing campaign. To sum it up, our marketing priority is to have an effective digital strategy which covers search, social media, display advertising and mobile. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? IDBI: At IDBI Bank customer focus has always been a key priority. With effective utilization of digital marketing tools we are able to reach potential customers. As the depth of mobile and internet penetration in India increases, we have seen that apart from urban markets, a lot of our customers in semi-urban areas are also active users of technology and new media. This helps us reach a wider base of audiences through an integrated approach to marketing. For instance, IDBI Bank celebrated Customer Contact Week from 12-17 December 2011 across 933 braches in India along with a digital media campaign. This campaign received a phenomenal response from customers in terms of participation both online and offline apart from the positive rub-off for the corporate brand. Our in-house technology for customer inquiries and query resolution are deeply entrenched in terms of processes and call to action with respective customer service teams. This enables us to provide a seamless and hassle-free experience to customers through effective customer management. Digital media such as mobile, social media, web portal etc were extensively utilized to promote an IDBI Bank sponsored TV quiz show named Sawaal India Ka. The youth across the country were made aware and invited to participate. Registrations for the show were taken completely online. The youth were invited to play a quiz online to qualify for the second round of the TV show. Products such as NRI services, preferred banking were promoted in specific countries through mobile medium by

enabling minute targeting of handsets. All the campaigns undertaken through various digital vehicles ensured generation of leads which were later converted into business for the bank. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? IDBI: IDBI Bank, along with the technology partner Oracle won the Asian Banker Technology Implementation Award 2011 for Best Data and Analytics Project for implementing an analytics solution that measures and analyses interest rate and liquidity risks, integrates its performance management framework and conducts faster and robust scenario analyses. We are focused on product innovation using technology solutions that enables better insights and adds value to our products and processes. Online analytics, geo-tagging solutions, etc. help in identifying new markets and interest observed from these markets for our products. This enables us to strategize and think about products which are relevant to the local market in India, while deploying targeting marketing strategies for better reach. PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between technology and marketing in your organization was: IDBI: IDBI Bank has embedded the benefits of technology in all aspects of marketing activities carried out. Technology has been effectively utilized for customer data management, analytics, customer acquisition and customer servicing. Technology has enabled the marketing activities to be more focused and overcome spillage. The customer data is effectively segregated as per various marketing parameters to enable the roll out of relevant product campaigns on requirement basis. Leads generated through various digital campaigns are passed on to the branches pan India through an online lead tracker system, thus ensuring prompt and local response. Broadly speaking, IDBI Bank has kept itself abreast with the technological changes taking place in the market place that would enable it implement effective and efficient marketing strategy having a direct impact to the business of the Bank.

DEEPENDRA CHUMBLE
Acting CMO Hexaware Technologies

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? DC: Taking the current market situation into consideration, I would say that focus on Customer Data Management & Analytics, Social Media & Digital Communications are key. In addition we need to concentrate on linking supply chain to marketing initiatives as well as revamping our organizations website. This sends out the message that we are up to date with the current technology and are able to cater to our customers individual needs. PW: At Hexaware Technologies, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? DC: The combined use of Eloqua, Demandbase, Google Analytics and LinkedIn has allowed us to track web visitors behavior and convert prospects into customers. I have personally been involved in putting these closed loop programs together and have instrumented a $1.4 mn acquisition in the last one year.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? DC: Technology has played a vital role in market expansion and lead generation from web visitors contributes to a major chunk of the new business acquisition. It has also helped us measure the efficacy and improve upon existing marketing campaigns to ensure that the topline improves consistently and brand awareness magnifies exponentially. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? DC: Yes, it is a part of the overall Marketing budget. Marketing function is fully aligned with the IT functions in Hexaware as the structure is such that each IT horizontal and also the vertical have an independent Marketing head who in turn reports to the CMO. This is a dual reporting structure which works perfectly in the best interest of the both. All Marketing activities and events are therefore jointly run by them.

With focused products designed for a younger demographic such as Freedom Card and Being Me account, utilization of digital marketing channels have helped us to expand our customer base with targeted, relevant and cost-effective campaigns

IDBI BANK
PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? IDBI: In the current context, technology plays a vital role in every marketing campaign. In India with an increase in adoption of emerging consumer media platforms, smart phone and tablet devices and consistent growth in e-commerce transactions makes technology enabled platforms a very high-impact and cost-effective proposition for marketers. With the roll-out of 3G services and proposed implementation of Digitization of Cable Bill will enable marketers the opportunity to innovate and engage with existing and potential customers while providing better user experiences. Digital media marketing has become an integral part of all marketing strategies of companies who are serious about keeping in touch with their consumers. Digital media is the only medium which can connect with the end user one-on-one, allows two-way communication and reach
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out or target only those consumers whom the marketer would like to reach out to thus optimizing ones market spends. Hence in todays world, digital media and technology have become extremely critical to modern marketer and ones marketing strategy. PW: What are your current marketing priorities and how does that translate to technology? IDBI: One of the focus areas in terms of consumer segments for IDBI Bank being youth, proactive and sustained usage of social media channels and digital communication are an integral part of our marketing initiatives. With focused products designed for a younger demographic such as Freedom Card and Being Me account utilization of digital marketing channels have helped us to expand our customer base with targeted, relevant and cost-effective campaigns. In addition to our offline activity, our marketing and brand communication involves mobile, social media channels, SEM campaigns,

Technology has helped us take banking to the interiors of the country and offer quick, safe & convenient banking solutions

MOHIT GANJU
CMO - IndusInd Bank

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? MG: As a marketer, it is key to pay attention and constantly updating the following points: 1. Customer Data Management & Analytics 2. Social Media & Digital Communications 3. New product development PW: At IndusInd Bank, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? MG: Technology has played an important part in bringing

to the front the "Responsiveness" theme identified by IndusInd Bank as a key driver of growth and customer satisfaction. Innovative services like Choice Money ATM and Cash-on-Mobile are built on strong technology platforms and have had a positive impact on both new customer acquisition and retention. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? MG: In the last couple of years technology allowed us to bring to our customers:
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1. Choice Money ATM: A service which enables customers to choose the denomination(s) of currency while doing cash withdrawal from an IndusInd Bank ATM. 2. Cash-on-Mobile: Customers can transfer money to anybody (including themselves) irrespective of whether the beneficiary has an IndusInd Bank account or not; from their mobile banking application. The beneficiary can withdraw the money from any IndusInd Bank ATM without using his/her Debit or ATM Card. With the growing advancement of technology across platforms (online, mobile etc), there is a growing need for banks to provide new advancements in services to their customers. Technology has helped us take banking to the interiors of the country and offer quick, safe & convenient banking solutions. Choice Money ATM service is very popular not only with our own customers but also with non-customers. We were able to get a large number of non-customers choose IndusInd Bank ATMs for cash withdrawal as they get the benefit of choosing currency denomination. Having

experienced this innovative service, many of these noncustomers opened accounts with the bank to get the benefit of other innovative service. Cash-on-Mobile service lets IndusInd Bank customers transfer money to people who may not have any banking relationship at all. The beneficiary can withdraw money from IndusInd Bank ATM without using a Card. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? MG: I would not be able to comment on the budget allocation. Marketing & IT functions work closely on developing and executing these innovative services. Its this close co-ordination that has helped us launch 5 innovative services in the last 18 months. Technology forms the backbone of these innovations and their seamless delivery is critical to the success of these in the market.

The end game is to create a digital and technology ecosystem with integration of analytics, social media, self-service, mobile and eCommerce

BELSON COUTINHO
Sr. General Manager, eCommerce & Innovation - Jet Airways

Marketing team identified key customer momentsoftruth and wanted to redesign as per customer-need. NPS platform supports instant customer feedback and analytics. This is used to re-design the moments-of-truth based on customer feedback

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? BC: At the forefront, customer engagement and recognition using Analytics, Social Media & Digital Communication is imperative. Fostering a Customer Self Service culture and investing in new and smarter product design is equally important. The end game is to create a digital and technology ecosystem with integration of analytics, social media, self-service, mobile and eCommerce that enhances engagement, recognition and seamless customer experience. PW: At Jet Airways, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? BC: Technology in an integral part of our customer acquisition and retention strategy. Infact what has worked for us is the usage of technology in all our marketing efforts. Apart from aggressively using digital channels viz Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Re-Marketing and Affiliate marketing, we constantly use evolving technology and new methods of development to engage and communicate with customers.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? BC: At Jet Airways, there is constant focus on evolving technology and our product development is always in sync with emerging trends in the industry. The eBusiness team at Jet Airways which is responsible for digital marketing and technology solutions invests substantial amount of their time to research new trends in technology and marketing and always want to experiment with new technology. Research and experimenting with new technology is important to create newer customer acquisition and engagement opportunities. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? BC: Yes we do. The eBusiness team at Jet Airways is responsible for digital marketing / social media as well as design and development of technology solutions. This structure ensures that both, marketing efforts and technology usage are completely aligned at all times. Infact brands who do not align their marketing initiatives with technology changes will find it tough to be relevant to their consumer needs.

SONALEE PANDA
CMO - ING Vysya Bank.

PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SP: Today, there is a shift from technology merely supporting the back-end to driving customer-centric solutions at the front end; from being an enabler to being a market mover. We clearly demarcated our technology delivery as strategic change management and service delivery. Strategic change management team is aligned to marketing and product teams. This helps us being nimble and yet not lose our ability to customize products to cater to different customer segments. Also our communications team works closely with change management and marketing team. This results in obviously increasing external awareness of our innovations, more interestingly technology helps build platforms into the product, which help in communicating the message. e.g. ING Zing account, a concept designed by children, taken to execution by our product and technology team. The product has an interactive, social platform which helps parents teach their kids the concept of money, saving, finance, etc. PW: What are your current priorities as a marketer? SP: Currently the areas we at ING Vysya are focusing on would be Customer Data Management & Analytics and Social Media & Digital Communications. Also improving

Customer Self Service and developing new products for our customers. Another key priority is e-commerce. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SP: Technology has helped us expand our product proposition, enter new market segments. Eg: ING Converge, a true innovation, which automates bulk payments made by corporates across multiple vendors, bank accounts and geographies. Allowing companies to consolidate their accounts across multiple banks and manage liquidity better. Thus giving us an edge in the growing online payments space. Another example of creating a new market, ING Zing account. A minor account, which puts the kid the responsibility of managing their money. Meant to help parents teach their kids how to handle finances, the child can transact with a debit card and internet banking, while parents can keep tabs in the background. Net-Promoter-Score platform is an example of technology supporting customer co-creation. Marketing team identified key customer momentsoftruth and wanted to redesign as per customer-need. NPS platform supports instant customer feedback and analytics. This is used to re-design the moments-of-truth based on customer feedback

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Our CRM program is completely technology enabled. We track more than 50 customer segments drive targeted marketing programs for them from time to time. We also have an SMS-enabled referral program...

SUVODEEP DAS
Head Marketing - Kaya Skin Clinic

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? SD: Technology plays a key role in marketing especially in a service industry like ours. Brands in the retail & services space have access to large amounts of customer data that can be leveraged as a part of the CRM and Loyalty programs. This also enables targeted communication to customers and offer customized solutions. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? SD: Our Digital & Social Media programs have been very successful and we will continue to focus on these areas. We also deploy extensive analytics to track customers right from enquiry up to the time they visit the clinics and bill. Thereafter they become a part of the CRM program. We will continue to leverage technology to generate greater insights into customer behavior. PW: At Kaya how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SD: Digital as a medium is one of the largest revenue generators at Kaya. We are in the premium skincare business and purchase decisions in this category are very high involvement decisions. Hence our customers do a lot of online research before buying into the brand. Technology has helped us educate and inform them online in a targeted manner and help them make the right purchase decision.

For example - we did a very targeted campaign to drive anti-wrinkle services among women in the 25 40 year age-group which gave us great results. On Social Media, besides a whole host of platforms that we are present on, we also leverage our Facebook fan-page to test concepts and new product ideas. The response has been very encouraging it has also helped us to increase our two-way interaction with our customers. We have also run a lot of online specials in Social media this has turned Facebook into a medium for customer acquisition. We also have an e-commerce portal and this helps us to retail our products to over 60 cities across India, while our retail presence is only across 26 cities. Our CRM program is completely technology enabled. We track more than 50 customer segments drive targeted marketing programs for them from time to time. We also have an SMS-enabled referral program that has helped us in both customer acquisition & retention. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? SD: A large number of IT initiatives are designed to support marketing initiatives. Infact the marketing team drives technology within the company. Money spent on technology as part of the Digital Marketing campaign is in double digit percentages already and will grow further in the coming years.

consumers trends. I need to use technology to not only reach the consumer but also to speak in the same language as the consumer. Of course the pace of technology is very different than what it used to be earlier. There is a certain velocity that technology has today which we need to consider in our plans. The way we did things even 3 years ago has changed dramatically today. For example mobile phones which had about 30 percent penetration in 2008 has become a majority trend today. Similarly, I see a sea change in the technology solutions which were available three years ago versus the technology solutions that are available today. Infact I dont think the technology teams or CIOs ever paid great attention to the CMO three years ago given their priorities then. That has changed; especially in BFSI, telecom and technology space where there is an explosion of data happening. And the CMO has to deal with it and probably some of the CMOs are developing their own solutions, without the CIOs. In the last eighteen months I have seen changes at a lot of forums where CIOs and CMOs are sitting together. For e.g. I was invited to the US to speak at a CIO forum on what we are doing in the insurance space in India. I think everybody is recognising that marketers need to be very well equipped with technology. A good marketer will have a pulse on the consumer and therefore you know you cannot evade technology at all. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? DN: We are at the start up phase. Given that, I think building the backbone of CRM and Data & Analytics are two of my key priorities. Since I also look after e business channel, having a strong technology backbone, a good web solution enabling call centre operations are the priorities. There is a difference between being a part of this start up versus another start up where I worked a decade ago. At that time marketing priority was to get brand position, brand identity and brand communication right and that consumed majority of our time. Whereas here we did that in the initial 5 6 months itself and for the last one year the marketing teams priority is to put these technology pieces together with collaborative efforts from the technology team. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? DN: I would define the customer as end customer and the distribution channel. I would say it has played a very important role in guiding us in the way we envisage the whole solution for the customer. We have done few remarkable innovations for which we have received global awards like the IT Leadership Award at the Asia Insurance Technology Awards and also the global Celent Model Insurer Award for our Enterprise Systems. Let me explain by taking an example of a service - When I say

service it is not just after sales service but service in terms of pre and post sales experience and during sales experience which we want to manage for our distributors and end customers. There exists a practice of issuing cover notes for motor insurance prior to the issuance of policy document. We have done away with it because we have actually implemented instant policy issuance across the country in more than 1000 locations (based on PIN codes) with the help of technology. With this one example I can tell you that technology plays a big role in customer acquisition. Retention is a day to day business. Retention is managing the pre and post sales experience of the customer for both the channel and end customer. We are a start up and the channel feedback / experience is very important to us. Some of our channels deal with multiple insurance companies and their informal feedback is that what we have done in the first few months is remarkable. We dont use technology for the sake of technology but use it for servicing the channel and customer in a better manner. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? DN: I already explained the cover note example to you. There are several other areas where technology plays an important role in the way our distributors interact with us. We have an ecosystem which is on the web, we have an architecture which allows channels to come in and have faster service from us. That has improved efficiency right at the beginning of our business. We are of course experimenting with a lot of new technology for example the lead management system which is completely mobile based. If you are asking particularly about market expansion then technology has played a big role. We are capable of issuing policies anywhere anytime in more than 1000 locations (based on PIN codes). As on December 2011, we have customers across 1000+ locations in the country within 15 months of operations. On the product development or product management side, the experience will come over a period of time. We are building systems to ensure we are very good with analytics and data. We need to have data pertaining to minimum two years for the inferences to flow back into the product development process. PW: How would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was? DN: Great! We both are best buddies and in a technology set-up such as ours, they have to be best buddies. Infact this is one of my favourite ideas that in todays day and age if a company has to succeed, one of the key success factor is that the CMO has to be a little of CIO and vice versa. That means I have to do that extra piece of understanding technology solutions better and being able to explain my needs in technology terms. Similarly you need CIOs who think business first and take interest in understanding the needs of customers and business. So going forward the CMOs and CIOs have to work together in a cohesive manner.

There is a certain velocity that technology has today which we need to consider in our plans. I need to use technology to not only reach the consumer but also to speak in the same language as the consumer

DEEPALI NAAIR
Country Head Brand & Corporate Communications - L&T General Insurance Co. Ltd..

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? DN: I think technology today is all pervasive and I dont think we should even ask how important it is. To quote an example - the Indian population is 122 crores and today we have 75 crore mobile phones in this country. That means we have more than half the households or even population in this country using mobile phones. Reports suggest that the penetration of mobile phones in urban
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areas is already 100 per cent. Therefore when we are talking about a company like ours which is targeting adults, chances are 100% of my customers have mobile phones. Given this premise, we have developed database principles to manage our CRM platform keeping the phone number as the key dedupe logic. I gave you this example just to underline the fact that my consumer is changing - my consumer is becoming more technology oriented and I think a marketer has to follow the
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The number of web leads has increased dramatically in the last 2 years and what is interesting is the accelerated rate of conversion of these leads

PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? PN: We do not have a separate IT budget per se for Marketing. We decide on the process and initiatives required for fulfilling certain objectives and then decide the most effective way to execute them. This obviously

means using technology at different levels for different tasks. This defines how much we would invest in technology / IT. IT functions in our organization acts like an enabler for all the other functions including Marketing. Hence, its obvious that marketing and IT are well aligned.

SUSHMA RAJAGOPALAN
Global Head, of Strategy & Corporate Development - L&T Infotech

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? SR: Brand creation, propagation & sustenance and lead generation remain the top two KRAs for most marketing departments and we are no exception. Strategies to achieve this include Client Data Management & Analytics; and Social Media Marketing. The emphasis on using technology as a tool to market is among the top priorities. PW: At L&T Infotech, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SR: The number of web leads has increased dramatically in the last 2 years and what is interesting is that the accelerated rate of conversion of these leads. While the role of technology in client acquisition has been remarkable and noticeable, I will not underplay the importance of it in retention. Technology plays a key role in nonintrusively communicating with the client.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SR: At L&T Infotech, we use technology to launch new products and services and also to communicate effectively with the industry analysts and advisors. We leverage our website, electronic mailers and social media tweets, among others to disseminate the relevant news to our stakeholders. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? SR: Our marketing budget does include a dedicated manpower budget and some capital budget as it related to use of technology for marketing, specifically as it relates to social media, web and collaboration technologies. We rely on the MIS function and enterprise IT systems for data on clients.

My current priorities include improving Customer Data Management & Analytics and drawing focus to Social Media & Digital Communications.

SANJAY SETH
VP Global Marketing & Communications - Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra and CanvasM

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? SS: At the moment, my current priories include improving Customer Data Management & Analytics and drawing focus to Social Media & Digital Communication. PW: At Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SS: 1.High use of analytics to determine effectiveness of SEO/SEM programs. 2.Use of Marketing Automation Tools combined with Analytics to determine effectiveness on mailer campaigns. 3.Subscribing to advanced databases to effectively filter/ identify target prospects. 4.High investment on Social Media tools and close collaboration with the respective vendors.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SS: We do not do product development but use technology extensively in researching and designing effective marketing campaigns in newer market segments and emerging geographies. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? SS: Yes we do have a separate budget for spending on marketing automation tools and databases. In my global team I have marketing specialists focused on key verticals and horizontals. In various geos, I have specialist Field Marketing Managers. For functions like Analyst/ Advisory relations and Account Based Marketing, I have specialists in these areas. I have a large team of Inside Sales specialists aligned Hunters in our sales organizations globally.

New product development, building Customer Data Management & Analytics systems and a more digital and social media led communication initiative with our consumers... Additionally, it is imperative to ensure a healthy link between Supply Chain and Marketing Initiatives.

PALASH NANDY
Vice-President, Marketing - Legrand (India) Pvt Ltd

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? PN: My current priorities are to take advantage of the growth opportunities that the India growth story provides. In order to be able to do that one of the key areas to work includes new product development, building Customer Data Management & Analytics systems and a more digital and Social Media led communication initiative with our consumers. Additionally, it is integral to ensure a healthy link between Supply Chain and Marketing Initiatives. These initiatives if executed well could positions our organization at the forefront in our Industry. PW: At Legrand (India) Pvt Ltd, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? PN: We use a CRM software called Activa which is used for analyzing existing customers and identify potential customers. This helps to identify focus areas to ensure

customer retention and customer acquisition. Additionally, the marketing team works very closely with the commercial controller to identify the performance (volume, value, profitability etc) of our direct customers. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? PN: Our CRM along with market survey plays a significant role in product development, market expansion and competitive intelligence. We also use IT extensively to systemize the process of indenting, making and distribution of marcom tools and means. It is also used for proving technical information and training to the sales team. Over and above our digital and Social Media communication initiatives have helped us in targeted communication with our consumers.

Our new product development process involves multiple levels of online trials, design testing & customer navigation behavior testing & measuring impact on marketing parameters.

MANISH KALRA
Marketing Head MakeMyTrip.com

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? MK: Technology is the backbone of any business & it is even more important in case of e-commerce companies like us. In our scenario, technology plays a vital role in product experience & service delivery to our customers. Todays marketer needs to be clued into customer experi-

ence more so than ever considering the Competitive clutter. Understanding technology and leveraging it successfully is extremely important for understanding customer behavior, mining for relevant customer insights and developing appropriate marketing strategy to reach out to the relevant target audience.

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PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? MK: Online marketing is heavily dependent on technology and our business is no different. Attracting a bigger chunk of relevant traffic to our portal, using display & search engine marketing tools for sourcing quality potential customers and use of robust analytics for sharp insights on customer trends & usage patterns; all these key priorities require a heavy dependence on technology. Post acquisition CRM and retention programs hold a high priority as well for us. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? MK: Our entire online customer acquisition and retention process is purely dependent on technology. Technology helps us understand customer behavior as well as design relevant products, offering and communication relevant to their needs, which in turn promotes retention and reduces the cost of acquisition.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? MK: Our new product development process involves multiple levels of online trials, design testing & customer navigation behavior testing & impact on measuring impact on marketing parameters. With appropriate use of technology, understanding online customer behavior & developing new online products is a key for our success. Our communication is also driven to a big extent through these insights. PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: MK: It is highly collaborative approach considering the interdependencies of technology & marketing on each other in an e-commerce company like ours. We brainstorm together on how to make products simpler as well design communication using these products.

The Khushiyon Ki Planning facebook page has more than 1 lakh members. These efforts have provided us leads for customers and have also helped in brand building in the online medium. Retention is important because Life Insurance is a long customer life cycle industry and full value of a policy cannot be extracted by customer/industry otherwise. We have used technology for robust data analytics and SAS models for predicting behaviour of customer for retention and deciding on appropriate action. We have also used a single view of the customer for servicing them effectively so that we can have a long term relationship with the customer. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AM: For the Life Insurance Business, it is imperative business to stay in sync with market changes and get real time analysis of customer trends, consistent benchmarking of key customer attributes across the organization and higher returns on per unit information. For research we have Online feedback panels (OFP) that are mainly digital extensions of proprietary Research Panels that allow us to

stay in touch with a select group of customers, for tracking effect of ongoing changes, that may result from initiatives taken by the company, or other external sources. OFP also helps in faster turnaround time ideation and deployment to analysis of results is accomplished in days and at times in hours. It also helps in deeper insights into trends tracking perception choices of separate customer segments. PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: AM: Technology has become a major dimension of marketing. At Max New York Life, the collaboration between the IT and marketing team is extremely good. We are just a phone call away. Both teams work in tandem and there are many processes currently under revamp or being launched. We have uniform focus of collaborate for customer led innovation. For igenius programme, we need extensive resources from both marketing and IT to work together from online registration stage to video conferencing. The program is in its third year and we have never faced any problems in implementing and execution of the project.

Through an integrated CVM model we have used advanced analytics to build loyalty programmes for high value customers and Cross-Sell / Up-sell campaigns to generate additional revenues.

ANISHA MOTWANI
Director and CMO - Max New York Life

We have implemented salesforce CRM and have customized it based on our processes. This has increased our productivity significantly and has also helped serve clients more efficiently.

NITA MENEZES
Our focus is to get our customers to stay with us as long as they live, buy more from us and recommend us to their family and friends. Hence, our market priorities are acquisition, retention and cross-sell. For acquisition, we have used Social Media platforms to capture customer attention and engage with them on the topics relevant to them through two programmes - igenius and Khushiyon Ki Planning. In life insurance, it is important to retain customers for long term as the full benefits of the product accrue with regular savings over a long-term. Through an integrated Customer Value Management (CVM) model we have used advanced analytics to build loyalty programmes for high value customers and Cross-Sell / Up-sell campaigns to generate additional revenues. We have also created a Loyalty programme called the Gold Circle using technology platforms and build a Single view of customer. For cross selling, technology platforms are used to identify customer with high propensity to repurchase. Cross sell generates 22% of new business of our agency distribution. PW: At Max New York Life how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AM: We have a robust social marketing platform through igenius and Khushiyon Ki Planning forum. Over 14 Lac children registered over the last 2 years from over 1000 cities across the nation and Rs 3 Cr. worth of scholarships awarded so far.
CMO & Financial Coach My Financial Advisor

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? AM: To answer that question, lets first see the Indian scenario for technology related progress. Indias total number of internet users is 112 million. Mobile penetration has reached 64.7%. Popularity of social networking sites has reached an all time high. The face of the consumer is changing as they are becoming more technology savvy. The amount of data that is available is exponentially increasing, so from a marketers perspective, data analytics is becoming the key. Hence technology will become increasingly important for a marketer to define its marketing strategy. It is very important for organisations to use technology to understand customer preference and behaviour. At Max New York Life, we use technology to track customer complaints online; we have leveraged technology to move from a policyholder to customer view. We have used Social Media effectively and created a strong online community with 3Lac+ users engaging with the brand and seeking advice online with expert views available to them as well. On the company website, capability is being built to enable customers to have live online chats with insurance experts and seek clarifications on their queries. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? AM: Life Insurance is a push market. It is sold through consultative sales for long term saving and protection.

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? NM: As a marketer, my current priorities encompass Customer Data Management & Analytics, staying in touch with the digital age using Social Media & Digital Communication channels and making sure that our organizations website is up to date with the latest trends specific to our industry. PW: At My Financial Advisor, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? NM: The usage of technology has played a pivotal role in reaching out to our targeted clientele. We are then able to provide a more customized offering using the best and updated software solutions. Social Media sites like LinkedIn have helped us create awareness in the Corporate arena.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? NM: Technology has played a vital role at MFA.We have invested heavily in technology. As a firm we are proud to say that we are one of the few firms to use US and international software & technologies. We have implemented salesforce CRM and have customized it based on our processes. This has increased our productivity significantly and has also help serve clients more efficiently. On the other hand , Social media sites such as Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook have helped us to reach out to prospective clients. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? NM: We have a strategy and budget for our marketing activities. Professional sites like LinkedIn and Twitter help us to talk to our clients about their thoughts, and services. Most of our clients subscribe to such networking sites. We initiate discussion on various financial forums and moderate such groups.

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An integrated process helps us connect with young students via the web and mobile while they are still prospecting for courses. Once they are enrolled, a very popular site called niitstudent.com offers them our revolutionary Cloud Campus online at their convenience.

MOHIT HIRA
CMO- Career Building Solution - NIIT Ltd.

PW: How important do you think technology is for marketers? MH: Technology for marketers in the current scenario is very important and is likely to play an indispensable role in the coming years. PW: From a marketing perspective what are the current priorities in your organisation? MH: As of now we are focused on the following Top 3 priorities at NIIT: Customer Data Management & Analytics Social Media & Digital Communications Revamping online customer engagement PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? MH: We have used technology in almost all aspects of our business and especially in product development. Our Global Design & Development Team creates thousands of man hours of content with a team of developers and instructors. These include conventional paper courseware and, more recently, DRM-protected digital content delivered off our pioneering Cloud Campus platform. Technology has also helped us develop the Synchronous Learning Technology platform where we deliver executive management and social media marketing courses across the country from a single studio-centre to multiple cities. This satellite-based connectivity also enables us to develop employability-oriented skills for college students delivered within their classrooms from an expert faculty outside, thus bridging the gap between students and faculty. As close watchers of technology trends, we also

work with global partners (including Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Cisco, Tally, SAP, SAS and Zend) to continuously upgrade our students and train them in the freshest technologies. For our banking courses, we have worked closely with our JV partner, ICICI Bank, as well as several others to design and deliver curriculum that meets their hiring needs. Finally, analytics help us monitor our web traffic as well as student behaviour offline. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? MH: As an organisation that delivers IT, BFSI, Management and soft skills training, we have banked on the web and mobile for many years now to acquire and engage with students. Our marketing team has focused on web-driven leads and consistently rolled out campaigns and processes that improve key metrics including the all-critical cost per lead. Our social media campaign primarily Facebook - has succeeded in not just growing the fan base but also in making us the most popular education profile page in India (Social Bakers Report). An integrated process helps us connect with young students via the web and mobile while they are still prospecting for courses. Once they are enrolled, a very popular site called niitstudent.com offers them our revolutionary Cloud Campus online at their convenience. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? MH: Yes, a significant share of our budget is technology driven. And yes, both functions work extremely closely.

PW: At the Oberoi Group how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? PDB: At the Oberoi Group, enhancing the guest experience and satisfaction are core to our business philosophy. Anticipating the needs of the guest and creating innovative and relevant engagement activities through the use of technology plays an important role in delivering a memorable experience and optimum Return On Investment for our marketing efforts. An increasingly important point of contact with our guest and potential guest is the digital space. Using technology we have ensured that our booking process is safe and importantly, user-friendly. In order to enhance the user experience on our website we have implemented Content Repositioning through clickstream which by checking user behaviour enables us to serve relevant content. An optimum use of SEM campaigns, consistent SEO and landing pages ensures that the user is served relevant information with minimal navigation. This has resulted in an increase in the number of bookings, while bringing down the cost per booking. Given the growing importance of Social Media, our strategy not just consists of relevant information dissemination and engagement, but also includes a strong focus on taking it a step further by converting the engagement into business through Social Commerce via a booking console on our Facebook page. Our presence on Social Media channels like Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, Youtube

etc. ensure that our customer can reach us anywhere, anytime. In the analytics space, we have embarked on a project that uses technology for data analytics and has aided us in understanding our guests preferences, trends and behavioral patterns better. This, in turn, would help us predict and arrest churn, make targeted offers for increasing guest lifetime value, and identify relevant acquisition segments. A robust campaign management engine allows us targeted, customized and effective deliveries and an efficient feedback loop makes future campaigns more intelligent and more efficient, delivering greater Return on Investment. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? PDB: With an improved understanding of guest preferences and behavioral patterns, we can now create tailored products (offers) for different guest segments. Our new offers or packages are largely driven by insight into guest stay and spend patterns & trends. Similarly, we're also able to focus on segments for expansion or communication basis specific in-bound trends and patterns. Direct mail is an important channel of communication for us. Using technology each campaign is analyzed with key metrics such as open rates, click throughs and responses. This enables higher ROI on each campaign.

Oriflame India Fanpage enabled us to listen to what our consultants are saying and turn marketing into relationships and hence make the brand more human. In fact, our consultants interact with each other resulting in a fair amount of brand evangelism.

SHARMILI RAJPUT
Marketing Director- Oriflame India

...our strategy consists of not just relevant information dissemination and engagement, but also includes a strong focus on taking it a step further by converting the engagement into business through Social Commerce via a booking console on our Facebook page

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? SR: At this moment, a marketers priorities should include enhancement of Social Media & Digital Communications as well as investing in new product development. Furthermore, focus should be drawn to e-commerce. PW: At Oriflame India, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? SR: We launched our new website two years back and today our online ordering share is over 90%. Our consultants have functionality to see their invoices; outstanding payments of their network, business points they have earned and report of their complete business setup. We also have many applications for iPhone like Sun Coach which helps you to get the most out of the summer weather. There is another iPhone application that will take your make-up to a new level and turn it into your one stop shop for make-up tips, beautiful new looks and advice on making the most out of your Oriflame products. So whether you are looking for that new look or help with that final touch, the beauty partner speaks out and tells all the secrets. We also have iPad application for Catalogues for our consultants.

PRASANJEET DUTTA BARUAH

Vice President Marketing - The Oberoi Group

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? SR: Oriflame India made its foray into Social Media in 2011. With campaigns like 'Make That Change' and 'Dare To Be', we have been fairly successful in reaching out to desired segments of the market. 'Dare To Be' India Facebook Fanpage helped us to connect with the youth. Various applications & contests received very good response. 'Make That Change' was promoted as a grooming channel. Also, Oriflame India Fanpage enabled us to listen to what our consultants are saying and turn marketing into relationships and hence make the brand more human. In fact, our consultants interact with each other resulting in a fair amount of brand evangelism. The next step would be to launch eCatalogue on our website. Our products will be available online for everyone to buy which solves the problem of availability. This will be a first of its kind initiative among direct selling industry. With 45 years of beauty expertise, Oriflame products are developed and manufactured based on stringent quality norms. The products are tested with independent bodies for unbiased claims and not tested on animals.

PW: As a modern marketer what are your current priorities? PDB: Apart from revamping our website and improving revenues through it we are focusing on improving our web marketing to make it more customer friendly and self36

service. Another priority is the efficient and appropriate use of Social Media & Digital Communication. Naturally, being in the luxury services segment we want enhanced understanding of our customers behavior and usage patterns and will use analytics to do that.

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In our pursuit to extend the best products, we give due emphasis on the packaging as well. Towards achieving this goal, Oriflame strives to package its products in recyclable packaging which is safe to the environment.

PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? SR: Yes, we have a significant part of our marketing budget that is kept for Digital Media. Online is a very integral part of our business. Like I mentioned before, today our online ordering share is over 90%. We keep special focus on Social Media, iPad applications and online ordering.

We upgrade our products every academic season and send regular updates to customers, and this is a key customer retention tool. On the online business, technology is key for acquisition as it allows us to target the customer as an individual and customize the best offer to him so that he is likely to buy and take up the offer. This is like mobile operators offering customized plans based on customers usage pattern. Technology also helps us to retain the customer as we study churn patterns across the customers and make proactive interventions and offers to increase the customers length of stay. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? NR: Technology is vital to new product development and market expansion. All our products like Digitally, Edurite One - VSAT based classroom education and Scoremore are pioneers in the education space and we are ahead of the technology curve in terms of innovation and customer

Technology also helps us to retain the customer as we study churn patterns across segments and make proactive interventions and offers to increase the customers length of stay.

usability. Our VSAT teaching is a technology lead initiative geared towards market expansion. Using this technology we have now reached out to schools in the North East also. Our online tutoring offered through TutorVista also relies completely on technology. The tutoring is done in a virtual, online environment using a proprietary digital whiteboard where the student and teacher can draw, write and chat for an effective tutoring session. The whiteboard which was developed in-house after feedback from students across the world over several tutoring sessions makes the learning and teaching process almost identical to a face-to-face session. Technology is used in all parts of the business to make a face-to-face service go virtual across the web. We have over 280 features of the proprietary technology platform that allows us to conduct daily, live one-on-one, synchronous sessions on the web for over 20,000 students across the world (primarily the US ) through 2000 tutors working from their homes, primarily in India.

NAVEEN RAMAN
Head Marketing & Communications Pearson Education Services

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? NR: Modern marketing is all about doing things in realtime. Technology has changed the way we communicate, connect, reach-out, buy, sell, transact and learn. Social Media Management and Community Building, Database Management, Search Engine Optimization and Analytics have become an integral part of the marketing mix. For instance online marketing using strong technology and analytics can become very data driven, scientific and predictable. For instance in TutorVista, on peak months, we have spent over $ 500 K a month on online advertising in a scientific manner. We have data over 1 million key words the cost per click , the conversion rates, cost of acquisition using the specific key words. This allows us to optimize marketing spend granularly rather than a spray and pray approach. The technology platform allows us to do A/B testing to continuously test the effectiveness of campaigns so that we measure ROI of marketing spend. Modern technology now offers several advantages to a business. Expensive phone calls have now given way to Skype calls and e-mails. There are little or no courier or fax costs as documents can be shared on Google Docs. Not only have the costs gone down, but new improved technology ensures that people can act immediately rather than waiting days or weeks. Order placing does not require ledgers and records but can be done over e-mail. Payments can be done through online banking, credit cards or PayPal. Technology gives businesses access to new markets, partners, customers more quickly and easily. It also allows organizations to be more productive and innovative. In the nutshell the world of communication is becoming compact, thanks to technology. PW: What are your current priorities? NR: From a commercial point of view, I would say Customer Data Management & Analytics and New product development are key priorities where the usage of technology is maximum. For our ICT product Digiclass we provide a 5 year license to our customers and within this span our entire database management system, day to day tracking of product usage / customer satisfaction,

payment / collection , hardware monitoring , finance management all are tracked, controlled and managed by us with the use of technology. All our products / services are built on technology being the base platform. Starting from Digitally i.e the key application for our classroom solution Digiclass to Scoremore which is our retail offering to Edurite One which is V SAT based teaching solution. The above said activities are clearly targeted in achieving the following objectives: To reach out to every customer and help them benefit from all the offerings that Pearson has beyond publishing To be established as the brand of choice for private schools when it comes to any form of Digital solution Cater to every learners unique learning needs. One size doesnt fit all and we are here to provide customized solution to all our customers. On the online tutoring side make personalized tutoring convenient and affordable to the masses across the globe. Marry Internet, technology and global teachers to deliver a service at a place , time and cost that meets the needs of the students. PW: At Pearson Education how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? NR: Technology has played a vital role in customer acquisition as well as retention for our flagship product Digiclass . Digicalss is a digital learning classroom solution, aimed at schools. This solution is mapped to every syllabus and curriculum blending the latest developments in education, thus creating an environment that not only enhances a teacher's productivity and creativity, but also helps in better student understanding and retention. The customer acquisition for Digiclass includes demo based sales. The entire package moves from point to point for a physical demo. Our product extension process also effectively uses technology leading to a customer acquisition. The customer retention process centers on regular product upgrades. In fact, for Digiclass the information gets updated regularly giving it an edge over similar competitor products.

we ran the first ever smartphone marketing program in India... Our smartphone mobile advertising program was the first in India and went directly to our stakeholder group, not just marketed the company but drove up brand favorability by 160%

DHARINI MISHRA
Global Head, Brand Suzlon Group

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? DM: At Suzlon, we have always thought of digital communication and IT enabled platforms as key components of our brand building and marketing strategies. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? DM: As a B2B renewable energy company with sustainable development at the core of our ethos, Suzlon needs a unique balance of building a business brand and at the same time creating a corporate brand which goes beyond business and champions our vision. Our current focus is to leverage Social Media and Digital Communication to reach a wider, evolved audience who can drive change for a better tomorrow. We aim to bring in more engaging and interactive tools to communicate with our stakeholders to give them the experience of a technology company committed to powering a greener tomorrow. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? DM: Suzlon is one of the leading wind energy companies in the world and our customers are a highly evolved set,

with a deep understanding of the intricacies of the wind industry. Most of our brand communications support is to create respect for the brand, rather than to simply drive sales. Our priorities are influencing global and national policy, creating awareness and demand for wind energy at the grassroots, and impacting key opinion makers. Many are aware of our brand campaign P.A.L.S (Pure Air Lovers Society) and the in-depth digital component used for it, including the Social Media platforms. However, there are various other programs that we have been using to market our brand extensively leveraging IT and digital platforms. To pick an example, we ran the first ever smartphone marketing program in India and our constant online brand management programs which go much beyond advertising. Our smartphone mobile advertising program which was the first in India that went directly to our stakeholder group and not just marketed the company and drove up brand favorability rose by 160%. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? DM: All our digital platforms and out-reach programs have driven leaders in emerging economies to look at wind energy as a serious option for building sustainable economies

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To put it simply marketing analytics is helping us identify lost and down trading customers and customizing campaigns/promotions to win back business.

to marry Marketing with Technology. So I would say we can no longer think of Marketing in isolation from Technology. PW: What are your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? AB: Being a direct selling company we rely entirely on community selling by independent lady dealers. It is essential for us to build interactive communities that share a healthy dialogue. Thus social media was a logical extension of our business model. Our Facebook page has reached a fan base of about 3 lakhs in about 10 months, which is the highest in our industry. Indias demographics are getting younger. Thus it is imperative for every brand to develop a younger personality in order to connect with the consumers of tomorrow. So revamping the website and even making apps for smart phones is high on our priorities. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AB: In our business we have two sets of target audienceone is the end consumer who buys and uses our product and the second is the independent lady dealers who sell the product. These dealers are attached to our Distributors and customized software helps us acquire, track and retain them. We regularly develop incentive programs to motivate the dealers to do better in their business. Technology helps us maintain the data of active and inactive dealers and helps us come up with more relevant promotions for them. It also helps us gauge the impact of our existing promotions. With a vast network across India, such data is priceless for us to keep our sales growing and only through technology can we monitor it on a weekly

basis. For the end consumers, we run on a lean nonstocking model for the Distributors. So our entire model is dependent on technology. When the end consumer orders a product the order needs to be entered in the system by the Distributor and tracked till it is fulfilled. In this chain of operations, we have to ensure customer delight by timely and accurate delivery. Technology ensures that this model works successful. So such a vast community of consumers and dealers can only be kept together through effective use of technology that facilitates smooth communications. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AB: We rely heavily on market research to generate insights into the need-gaps in the market and our consumers preferences. Before the launch of any product or category it is extensive use of technology in MR that helps us forecast sales and make important decisions. Globally Tupperware has over 4,000 products and the kitty only keeps increasing. We have an extensive global database that gives us easy access to all necessary information about all of our global SKUs that helps us determine which of them would be suitable for India. PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: AB: As I mentioned earlier, we are a company that runs on a lean non-stocking weekly business model so technology, marketing and operations work very closely for effective performance. In fact within the Marketing function we have a sub-function titled Marketing Systems that has a dotted line reporting to the CIO. This how closely our CIO and CMO work.

BHASKAR MADAPURA
Country Marketing Manager - TNT Express, India

PW: As a marketer what are your current priorities? BM: At TNT we have started taking baby steps in the social media and digital space. Naturally, we want to grow this in the coming years. We are already doing a lot in the customer management areas and will be using more of analytics and CRM systems to improve and manage our relationships with our customers, as that is our differentiator today. My priority is to ensure that we are engaged with customers and prospects and they perceive us as the partner of choice specifically for their express logistics and supply chain needs. This is driven through specific customer loyalty programs and new customer acquisition campaigns. PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? BM: To put it simply Marketing Analytics is helping us identify lost and down trading customers and customizing campaigns/promotions to win back business. One of our key differentiator is our focus on relationship building with our customer to go the extra mile and demonstrate our

Sure we can ethos. In the express supply chain business customers are sensitive to timeliness and safety for their precious consignments be it one shipment a month to over a 100 a day. In this area our strength has always been in building a strong bond with our users and keeping them updated real time. This also has to be articulated in our communication with them. Some time back we used all the information and data we had about our customers and their trading behavior to design and deliver tailormade communication to them. Analytics helped us to identify these behavior patterns and technology was leveraged to communicate with carefully chosen 10000+ direct customers. This effort grew our connection with our customers and helped build loyalty for the brand. Such a marketing initiative involving personalization is not scalable without technology. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? BM: Technology is enabling us to provide real time visibility. The availability of multiple communication channels today is helping us build new products/offerings to customers and customizing our communication with them.

...such a vast community of consumers and dealers can only be kept together through effective use of technology that facilitates smooth communications

ANSHU BAGAI
Director Marketing Tupperware India

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? AB: We are currently going through a phase of rapid change in India. Internet penetration is expected to reach 300 million in 3-5 yrs. Social Media is allowing connections between people in a way that has never happened in human history before. Trends are spreading faster, there is a plethora of information available on the touch of a button and there are no boundaries left between countries. This has made it possible for brands to reach out to consumers directly with targeted messages. Thus we are

moving from an era of mass media monologue to a dialogue with consumers. The new age consumer too will demand and expect the modern marketer to reach out to his specific individual needs. Further for most industries in India e-commerce is currently a small part of their business. However with increasing internet penetration and standardization across various product categories, e-commerce will soon become a game changer. These changes have opened up opportunities for marketers to create interactive brand experiences for consumers. However it will require a lot of adjustment from them Anshu Bagai and Virginia Sharma in conversation

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Further we are trying to attempt behavior migration / inculcate customer self service attitude and promote use of e commerce.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? KM: All products being developed are hosted across platforms and engage consumers across platforms.

PW: What would you say is the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization? KM: Extensive and on an everyday basis.

GAURAV SURI
EVP & Head Marketing / Training - UTI Asset Management

PW: As a marketer what would you say are your current priorities? GS: Today UTI boasts of by far the largest investor base amongst AMCs. With recent pressures on margins and cost of acquisition having gone up a clear priority area is leveraging this customer base to cross sell/ up sell. For this better customer data management and analytics (on going and predictive) would be an area of investment. Leveraging Social Media for customer engagement and harnessing the power of digital for reducing cost of keeping in touch are areas of focus for us. Further we are trying to attempt behavior migration / inculcate customer self service attitude and promote use of e-commerce. We have also started using De Dupe to arrive at strength of our relationships and unique customer holdings, ascertain family holdings and then try to build a customer life time value model. PW: At UTI Asset Management, how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? GS: Service is part of our fundamental product offering in mutual funds. As a result, technology has helped us tremendously to reassure our customers and keep in touch more frequently. It has also helped in reducing the fear related to managing ones own money or taking

decisions related to investments. For acquisition analytics to figure out propensity to buy, using integrated digital marketing to get a sharper sales funnel and using SEM has helped at our firm. PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? GS: There is a small yet growing community of DIY ( do it yourself) customers who have started transacting online, a lot of them are first time transactors and in their first jobs. Thus, helping us acquire younger customers. Technology has helped create additional distribution infrastructure, wherein we were the first ones to enable the NSE stock exchange platform for buying mutual funds. PW: Do you have a separate budget for the IT component of marketing? And how aligned are the marketing and IT functions in the organization? GS: While the digital activity which relies on technology infrastructure is part of the marketing budget. (e-mailing engine, Mobile platform, e-commerce). The marketing team sits very closely with IT to budget for additional investment into hardware or software required to enable organizational goals.

VIEWPOINT ON TECHNOLOGY IN MARKETING

SANJAY NARAYANAN
Head Marketing (Studios), The Walt Disney Company

"Today it is extremely important that the marketer use technology to drive the communication and marketing plan. 2012 is all about Social Media & Digital Communications from a customer engagement perspective and from a broader view of the business it is important to focus on linking supply chain to marketing initiatives.

In most business technology has meant that the physical product is increasingly giving over to the digital product. Thus signaling a very major change in the marketing & distribution of content. Tapping in to newer content delivery platforms has become essential to growth & customer acquisition."

We want to make our website a tool for better collaboration almost like an intelligence tool that will reveal to us our customers expectations - the value they are deriving and what they want.

AJAY BHANDARI & SHAONLEE BOSE

...in Social Media the role is most significant in terms of engagement, which is a key to customer acquisition and retention
Chief Corporate Development Officer & Head Market Innovation - Zensar Technologies

KUNAL MUKHERJEE
VP Marketing - UTV Channels.

PW: How important is technology for the success of the modern marketer? KM: As we move ahead Technology will go hand in hand with marketing initiatives. Marketing will have to be an integral part of all new technology development and needs to be platform agnostic. PW: What ae your current marketing priorities & how does that translate to technology? KM: Brand building, customer acquisition and retention are the marketing priorities for UTV. Technology is the medium for promoting and hosting customers.

PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? KM: All BTL lends to customer acquisition using technology e.g. register via the Ipad and ATL supports technology initiatives. However, in Social media the role is most significance in terms of engagement, which is a key to customer acquisition and retention. A lot of focus in this space is to lend to word of mouth and retain fans via engaging initiatives like contests etc.

PW: In your organization how has technology played a role in customer acquisition or retention? AB: As already mentioned, lead generation, tracking a lead right upto when it is converted into a customer is all part of our business plan. Apart from web marketing, which is our core marketing program, we have used social media, linkedin to drive traffic onto the website and to our campaigns. For this of course we ensure that we have content rich website for all our four key verticals so that once someone comes in contact with our website they get what they are looking for and more. We also get an insight into customer behavior from the visits on our website and to our campaigns so that we are able to build our communication and content around that. As an IT services organization we have been very active in the event space. While that is off-line marketing we have used online extensively and with great effectiveness to generate interest for these events. Much before an event we activate the ecosystem that will make the activities at the event more meaningful for our target audience.

PW: How has technology played a role in new product development, market expansion or other areas? AB: Our best result from a technology led marketing initiative has been our very recent Global Partnership Weekend. This is an offline annual event at Zensar and a real success year after year. However, this year we have enhanced the customer experience multifold by using a variety of technology to make it more interactive and interesting. Use of mobility, social media and an interactive website has always been appreciated. But this time the use of near field communication - sharing through Pokens, QR codes, has multiplied the ability and ease to exchange information and enhance collaboration and that has added to the excitement and the adoption around the event which showed a clear high of 85%- 90% PW: Would you say the level of collaboration between the CMO and CIO in your organization was: AB: Marketing budget has a separate IT component which is delivered through IT. Naturally, at first all collaboration faces some challenges but at Zensar the marriage of CMO and CIO is quite stable! This is also because being an IT services firm many of us in Marketing are quite Tech Savvy and understand technology.
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Maharanis of Marketing
Each year around the world, International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. Thousands of events occur not just on this day but throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.
Not wanting to be left behind on such an important occasion, Paul Writer wants to use this opportunity to recognize our very own Maharanis of Marketing. This recognition goes beyond logic and reasoning, though it goes without saying that these women are successful in their field and have achieved a lot in a short span. We want to crown these special women simply because they are special to us. Each one has been a successful marketer and contributed to the profession in a unique way, adding to the list of extraordinary accomplishments by women in India.

Let The Coronation Ceremony Begin

Nita Kapoor - EVP Marketing & Corporate Affairs Godfrey Philips, India Manisha Lath Gupta CMO Axis Bank Sangeeta Sundaram - Head Marketing & Communications Capgemini, India Anjali Malhotra - VP Marketing Dish TV Dharini Mishra - Global Head of Brand Suzlon Group Anisha Motwani CMO Max New York Life Insurance Poorva Joshipura VP International Operations - PETA Virginia Sharma CMO IBM India Pooja Ahluwalia - VP - Corporate Communication & Corporate Affairs, Citibank Garima Sinha - Head of Marketing - Ramco Systems Deepali Naair - Country Head - Brand & Corporate Communications L&T General Insurance Minari Shah - Director Corporate Communications Asia Pacific - Dell Sushma Rajagopalan - Global Head of Strategy & Corporate Development L&T Infotech Smita Challu Head of Marketing India Bulls Real Estate Deepa Sapatnekar - Head of Communications - India & Korea Linkedin, India Charubala Seshadri - Head of Marketing Excellence - Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare Purnima Menon - Head Marketing - Infosys BPO Sujatha Kumar - Category - Director, Marketing, Coca Cola Nadia Chauhan - Jt MD & CMO - Parle Agro Anuradha Aggarwal - SVP - Brand Communications, Insights, and Online - Vodafone Gitanjali Puri - Director Marketing, CSC, India Suchita Vishnoi - Head Marketing, India & SAARC, Trend Micro Vinita Bali - CEO & MD, Britannia Industries Rama Bijapurkar - Marketing Expert and Author "We are like that only" Kamini Banga - Marketing Expert, and MD, Dimensions Consulting Asha Gupta - Managing Director, Tupperware India Garima Thockchom - VP Marketing, Gale Technologies Manmeet Vohra - Marketing Director, TAG Heuer, India Vandana Chamaria - Head Marketing, Taco Bell, India

How did this come about? We were not looking for women in marketing but came across them time and again during our research, interview series and events. This led us to believe in our lady marketers more ardently than before. Successful campaigns, innovative use of media, strategic leadership - these digital divas are pushing ahead of their peers in the field of marketing to head their area of expertise. From financial services, to FMCG to telecom and technology they are leaving their mark everywhere.

We made our list and we urged everyone to add to it their favourite Queen of marketing. This could be anyone they have known, worked with or just admire for the extraordinary work they have done. There were only two criterion one its gotta be a lady and two she should be a successful marketer in India.

This list is in no particular order or ranking, and aims to recognize senior women leaders in marketing. The names listed after #20 are all reader contributions 44 45

What does it mean to be data savvy?

At ITSMA, weve been pushing marketers away from using data to prove marketings value and toward using it to improve resultsto become data-savvy marketers. What does it mean to be data savvy? In ITSMAs Online Survey: Data Driven Marketing, only 21% of the organizations that responded to our survey can be classified as data savvy. But members of this select group share important characteristics that set them apart. They: Foster a culture that places importance on making decisions based on data and analysis Use data to support marketing activities Have written procedures for collecting data and clear expectations for analyzing data Yet all marketers, even those that we classify as data savvy, face considerable challenges in using that data to improve marketingand businessperformance. The most significant challenges to becoming data savvy are: Lack of budget/resources/time. Investing in analytics is always a trade-off. Inevitably, companies question whether the money would be better spent on activities rather than measurement. Lack of integrated data/centralized database. At most companies, data resides on multiple systems. For example, it is not unusual for companies we interviewed to have a mix of Eloqua marketing automation, Oracle financials, and Siebel customer relationship management (CRM). Lack of IT systems and tools for data collection and analysis. Without the requisite tools, collecting and analyzing marketing data becomes a time-consuming, manual process. Poor data quality. Gathering quality data is a big undertaking. Data from different systems and departments need to be identified, cleaned, maintained, and shared. In the absence of this data governance, quality suffers and, as a result, non-marketing executives have little confidence in the data. Lack of analytical and/or data management skills. Traditionally, the marketing profession has attracted right-brain creative types. Consequently, todays marketing organizations are short on analytical and data management skills. Difficulty linking marketing performance metrics to business metrics. Marketing organizations dont have a shortage of data and metrics. For example, they have plenty of data on downloads, clickthroughs, and number of leads generated. What they dont know is the business impact, such as the number of leads generated that become opportunities and, ultimately, closed deals. Difficult obstacles to be sure. So why is it worth your time to overcome them? ITSMA research shows that marketing organizations that leverage data in their strategic and tactical decision making have a business performance advantage. Data-savvy organizations were better able to significantly or somewhat improve their average time to revenue and their sales costs per order dollar over the last two years. Of the data-savvy marketers, 55% reported a shorter time to revenue compared with two years ago. By contrast, only 19% of the other marketers reported a shorter time to revenue. More than half the data-savvy marketers reported a lower sales cost per order compared with two years ago, whereas only 25% of the other marketers reported lower sales costs. Clearly, its time to become data savvy. Courtesy: www.itsma.com (Reproduced with permission)

THE SIX OBSTACLES TO BECOMING A DATA-SAVVY ORGANIZATION

By Julie Schwartz

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A gathering of Senior Leaders

Arun Malkani, Birla Sunlife & Bhaskar Madapura, TNT Express exchanging notes.

Jessie Paul with Deepali Naair, L&T General Insurance

CMOs take the mic-Ravindra Datar, Datamatics Global Services

Virginia Sharma, CMO - IBM India thanking the panelists

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Virginia Sharma moderates panel discussion "CIO + CMO = CBO (Chief Business Officer)"

K. Ramakrishnan, President Marketing - Cafe Coffee Day

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CROSSWORD PUZZLE
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ACROSS 3. A common pricing model for online ads 5. Business to Consumer 6. Big event in Switzerland 7. Candy or good spot 9. IBM's Analytics Product 10. The dud animal in the BCG Matrix 11. Recognition for IT-savvy CMOs 13. Commercial music, a type of bell 15. The customer is _ _ _ _ 16. Radio, TV, social are this 19. Where you see numbers 20. A disease or social success DOWN 1. A bike and marketing guru 2. A flower or IBM software 4. The wisdom of _ _ _ _ _ _ 8. Author of No Money Marketing 12. Return on Investment 14. The ribbon for conference badges 17. Open source technology for websites 18. Most popular word in direct mailers

About

Paul Writer, founded in 2010 by Jessie Paul, author of No Money Marketing, aims to facilitate and enable the growth of the marketing ecosystem in India. Community Building: Paulwriter.com is India's only peer community for marketers and is rapidly becoming the go-to resource for serious marketers with new articles by expert global authors added weekly. CMO Roundtable, hosted on Linkedin, is a by-invitation-only-club for senior marketers. With 900+ members it is featured in Linkedin's Hall of Fame. Education & Insights: Indias only serious marketing newsletter, Quarterly Journal 'The Futurist CMO', CXO conferences - host to the highly acclaimed Futurist CMO and Great Indian Marketing Summit conclaves and Primary research on marketing issues. The focus here is to facilitate peer-level discussions that are meaningful and relevant to professional marketers. Previous events have included

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QUIZ WHIZZ
1. What does the acronym Yahoo stand for ? 2. What term was coined by Don Hoeffler and appeared in 1971 in a magazine called electronic news ? 3. What did Jack Dorsey create which revolutionized the way we communicate today ? 4. What is Tim Berners-Lees contribution to the world ? 5. What is Deep Blue & its achievment ? 6. Which famous astronomer sued apple for using his name as codeword for an upcoming computer ?

www.paulwriter.com Paul Writer Strategic Services Pvt Ltd 312-313, Prestige Meridian II, 30 M.G Road, Bangalore-560 001 T: +91 80 409 650 53 48

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Paul Writer 2012

1. Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle 2. Silicon valley 3. Twitter 4. He realised the importance of internet being available to the common man & conceived the world wide web the way we see it today 5. Deep Blue was a computer made by IBM.It defeated the chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in 1997,first time when a machine could beat top calibre chess player 6. Carl Sagan

Answers:

1. kawasaki 2. lotus 4. crowds 8. paul 12. ROI 14. lanyard 17. joomla 18. free DOWN 3.ppc 5. b2c 6. davos 7. sweet 9. unica 10. dog 11. MITR 13. jingle 15. king 16. media 19. dashboard 20. viral ACROSS

C-Level speakers and attendees from firms such as Tupperware, PETA, UIDAI, Citibank, Pinstorm, VDopia, Unmetric, Salesforce.com, Linkedin, Google, Dell, Infosys, Frog Design, Capgemini and others. Marketing Advisory: Growth firms fired by a desire for nonlinear growth - through acquisitions, launch of new products or funded market expansion, find their marketing bandwidth stretched. Paul Writer works with these clients to create, validate and program manage a strategic marketing plan. Clients for our advisory services have included NIIT Technologies, Ramco Systems, Anthelio Healthcare, Bhartiya Group, Chowgule Construction Technologies and others.

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