Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek

We all know (but perhaps don't want to acknowledge) that brands shouldn't try to build relationships with their entire customer base; there is no need to focus on the person who buys once every ten months. Instead, spend your time, effort and resources on your top 10, 20 or 30% (depending on your business), increasing your understanding of your most valuable (current and potential) customers. To do that, you must think "direct".

To clarify, "direct" has two distinct meanings here - there are those customers who choose to buy Direct from you (vs. their local retailer); we'll call those "BIG Ds" or simply "Directs". And those who engage directly with your brand via the myriad channels available today (think Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and the like). They're little "ds" or "directs".

The way brands interact with consumers has evolved significantly (particularly with the little "ds") because of digital channels. Brands now have access to a...

During the next few months, you'll hear (and see) me talk about ValueWatcher, a highly intuitive (and interactive) visualization application that puts customer data in the hands of business users to gain a better understanding of customers and glean insights in a self-sufficient manner.

Why? Because our clients have adopted and embraced this tool in ways we never imagined possible.  While not a substitute for a campaign management or business intelligence application, ValueWatcher has become the perfect complement.  It allows those individuals who are not power users - and have no desire to be - the ability to query their customer data quickly and easily.

Think about it:  an application that can help marketers determine campaign feasibility without having to put in (and wait for) a request for a list pull only to determine that campaign volumes are too low. Or, research wants to understand the current (and potential) value of cross-channel versus single channel...

In Part I of this two-part (plus this update) series, I talked about the importance of building a solid data foundation, informed by an overarching data strategy.  A key component of that strategy is to establish the data management architecture that will most effectively support your objectives.  There are two closely related disciplines that best serve this purpose:

• Customer Data Integration (CDI)
• Master Data Management (MDM)    

While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, for the purposes of this blog, we will define CDI as the collection of technologies and processes that consolidate information from multiple sources to create a centralized view of the customer.  This includes ETL, cleansing, standardization, matching, identity management and creation of "master records."

With that as a baseline, let's take it one step...

Some of you might have seen my rant against the Today Show’s Steals & Deals for promoting amazing deals that were virtually impossible to get.  Guess what?  I wasn’t alone in my frustration.  This particular episode that aired on November 2nd, 2010 raised the ire of many consumers who tried to purchase the XOXO jacket or the Tahitian pearl set and wound up angry…and empty-handed.  Just check out the comments section of my post and you’ll get a sense for just how dissatisfied consumers were with the experience.

I don’t think the Today Show knew how much strain on the system its deals would cause.  Nor do I think they adequately prepared the individual retailers.  But I don’t think they should stop the...