Holistic Marketing Management, Volume 8, Issue 4, Year 2018

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Editorial Board of “Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University) Editor-in-Chief Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA

Bernd HALLIER

John SAEE

John L. STANTON

Léon F. WEGNEZ

William PERTTULA Levent ALTINAY

Andrew KILNER Dana ZADRAZILOVA Riccardo BELTRAMO Sinisa ZARIC Gabriela SABĂU Hélène NIKOLOPOULOU Vasa LÁSZLÓ Peter STARCHON John MURRAY Kamil PÍCHA Irena JINDRICHOVSKA Holistic Marketing Management

President of European Retail Academy; President of EuCVoT, Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club; Former Managing Director EHI Retail Institute, Germany, Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop, Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent, Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P. President - Association of Global Management Studies (USA); Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues & Former Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management Systems, USA; Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, the Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology; Member of France’s National Academy of Scientific Research (CNRS); Director - ESB International Teaching and Research Exchanges, Reutlingen University, Germany Professor of Food Marketing, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, USA; Director, Institute of Food Products Marketing, Editor, Journal of Food Products Marketing; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2016 Secretary General, International Association of the Distributive Trade, AIDA Brussels; Member of France’s Academy of Commercial Sciences; Doctor Honoris Causa of NUPSPA (SNSPA) Bucharest; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2015 Internet Marketing Professor, College of Business, San Francisco State University, USA Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Research Area Leader, Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, UK First MBA Director at the Rennes Graduate School of Business in France; Director of RAFME Research into Management Excellence; PhD (Cambridge), MBA (City, London) Faculty of International Economic Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic University of Turin, Italy University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia Memorial University, Grenfell Campus, Corner Brook, Canada University of Lille 3, France Szent Istvan University, Hungary Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Faculty of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Deputy Head of Department of Business Economics, University of Economics 1

Norbert HAYDAM Constantin ROŞCA Hans ZWAGA Roxana CODITA Dumitru MIRON Valeriu IOAN-FRANC Iacob CĂTOIU Virgil BALAURE Gheorghe ORZAN Luigi DUMITRESCU Marius D. POP Petru FILIP

Ion VOICU SUCALA Virgil POPA Alexandru NEDELEA Olguța Anca ORZAN Ana-Maria PREDA Ovidiu FOLCUȚ Doinița CIOCÎRLAN Marius Dan DALOTĂ Mihai PAPUC Gheorghe ILIESCU Costel NEGRICEA Alexandru IONESCU Tudor EDU Olga POTECEA Oana PREDA Nicoleta DUMITRU Monica Paula RAȚIU Elisabeta Andreea BUDACIA

and Management, Prague, Czech Republic Faculty of Business, Marketing Department, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa President of Romanian Scientific Society of Management - SSMAR Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences, Finland Technische Universität München, TUM School of Management Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest National Institute for Economic Research, Romanian Academy; Romanian Marketing Association; Romanian Distribution Committee Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Management and Economic Engineering Department; University of Glasgow, UK, College of Social Sciences, School of Social & Political Sciences; Managing Editor, Review of Management and Economic Engineering Valahia University of Târgovişte Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University

Associate Editors Diana SOCA Irina PURCĂREA Dan SMEDESCU Art Designer Director Alexandru BEJAN

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“Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University) Volume 8, Issue 4, Year 2018

Contents

Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA - Editorial: Competing on CX in the Digital Age by Working Deep, Focusing on Valuable Digital Activities and a Digital Culture Strategy Specific to the Human - Machine Partnership…………......4

Costel Iliuță NEGRICEA - “Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Always a Successful Event for the Engaged Readers……………………………………………………………7 Ioan Matei PURCĂREA - Digital Marketers Are Going Byond the Traditional DX Metrics.…………11

Bernd HALLIER (by courtesy of) - Thematic University Network, ZIIOT, EC Circular Economy Package, EuroCommerce, and China Development and Reform Commission…………………………………………….………...19

Theodor PURCĂREA - An Increase of Marketers’ Focus on Insight and Action, Adequately Approaching the Marketing Stack ……………………………………………23

Léon F. WEGNEZ (by courtesy of) – “Tribute to Syria, Martyr Country of Modern Times...”………...33

The responsibility for the contents of the scientific and the authenticity of the published materials and opinions expressed rests with the author.

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Editorial: Competing on CX in the Digital Age by Working Deep, Focusing on Valuable Digital Activities and a Digital Culture Strategy specific to the HumanMachine Partnership During this year which is coming to end we have seen how companies are struggling to improve the way they work, recognizing opportunities, accepting change and sustaining it, organizing accordingly – considering technology, people, process, structure, strategy to adapt to their relevant markets in evolution, rethinking their business models while navigating the complexity of the business environment, connecting the new technologies’ potential with their relevant markets market needs and customers’ demand, including meeting unmet needs and turning needs into key insights, opening the door for new opportunities in right managing customer experience (CX)…

Companies’ decisions are increasingly governed by algorithms and visual, being guided by an adequate benefiting of the constantly expanding volumes of data which are at the heart of business strategy as part of the digital transformation. (Sharma, 2018) As shown in Forbes by the CEO of DataStax, the leader in data management for cloud applications, in order to successfully bring a company into the Digital Age and position its business to compete on CX it is necessary to implement the so-called three P’s of digital transformation and: People (who have to transform before the company can digitize), Products (product plus experience), and Processes (decisions around company’s process being driven by the impact on CX, and digital transformation being driven by IT in cooperation with marketing). (Bosworth, 2018) But talking about People let’s recall three aspects: ▪ Two years ago, in December 2016, Cal Newport, a computer science Professor at Georgetown University (who started blogging in 2007), approached the topic of “On Digital Minimalism”, (Newport, 2016) defining it as “a philosophy that helps you question what digital communication tools (and behaviors surrounding these tools) add the most value to your life. It is motivated by the belief that intentionally and aggressively clearing away low-value digital noise, and optimizing your use of the tools that really matter, can significantly improve your life”; it is not by chance that at the beginning of the same year Newport published his book entitled “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” (Published by: Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group, January 5, 2016; this book won three awards: Wall Street Journal Business Bestseller, Amazon Best Business Book for January 2016, 800-CEO-READ Business Book of the Week) – among the numerous significant quotations given by well-known brand names allow us to cite only two of them: “Deep work is the killer app of the knowledge economy: it is only by concentrating intensely that you can master a difficult discipline or solve a demanding problem” (The Economist); “Cal Newport is a clear voice in a sea of noise, bringing science and passion in equal measure. We don’t need more clicks, more cats, and more emojis.

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We need brave work, work that happens when we refuse to avert our eyes” (Seth Godin, author of “What to Do When It’s Your Turn”; ▪ On October 1, 2018, Tim Wright, Consultant, Workforce Transformation, DELL EMC Education Services, while approaching the topic of “Why the Workforce Needs to Change for Digital Transformation”, (Wright, 2018) started from the fact that critical to successful digital transformation is the effective workforce transformation (transformation readiness among employees), and highlighted four tips for “going digital” effectively: a digital technology accompanied by a true digital mindset (among team members), an embedded and comprehensive digital readiness (which generates and reinforces a true digital culture), a well-designed and implemented communication strategy (which enables all members of the business to talk the digital talk strengthening the digital culture), engaging everyone in the business in learning, experiencing and enjoying exposure to the many ways digital makes a difference is the other half of the digital culture strategy; within this approach, Wright made reference to the words expressed by Michael Dell – in the DELL Technologies study “Realizing 2030: A Divided Vision of the Future” (research commissioned by Dell Technologies and undertaken by Vanson Bourne, UK) – with regard to the reality that “We are entering the next era of human-machine partnership, a more integrated, personal relationship with technology that has the power to amplify exponentially the creativity, inspiration, intelligence and curiosity of the human spirit”; ▪ Recently, on December 4th, 2018, Cal Newport officially announced that his new book entitled “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World” will be published on February, 5th, this new book (a response to the above mentioned previous book) proposing to radically reduce the time spent staring at screens, and to focus just on the digital activities which strongly support things you deeply value, while ignoring the rest and taking back control of the technological live. (Newport, 2018) There is no doubt that we are at the point when business is about to be reimagined and transformed given to the recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), as argued by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson in their new book “Human+Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI (Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press, March 20, 2018; on the book cover there is a quotation given by Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum: “A richly detailed guidebook that leaders need to capture the opportunities of AI and the fourth industrial revolution”). The book’s authors focused on this symbiosis (which is unlocking the third wave of business transformation) between man and machine taking into account that complementing and augmenting human capabilities constitutes the greater power of the new technology, and revealed five crucial principles (MELDS) adopted by the leading companies in various industries which are already riding the above mentioned third wave of business transformation: mindset, experimentation, leadership, data, and skills. (Daugherty, 2018) And finally, there is also no doubt that it’s time for companies to capitalize on AI’s potential by making progress on their digital journey, scaling AI’s impact across the enterprise, Holistic Marketing Management

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and putting key enablers in place, as recommended by the reputed McKinsey’s representatives (Webb, 2018) on the basis of a November 2018 Survey.

Theodor Valentin Purcărea Editor-in-Chief

References Bosworth, B. (2018). The Three P's Of Digital Transformation, Forbes, Apr 26, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/04/26/the-three-ps-of-digital-transformation/ Daugherty, P. (2018). Five principles of successful “human+machine”-led companies, An Excerpt from “Human+Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI” by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson, Thrive Global, April 23, 2018. Retrieved from https://accenture.thriveglobal.com/stories/28894-five-principles-of-successfulhuman-machine-led-companies Newport, C. (2016). On Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport Blog, December 18th, 2016. Retrieved from http://calnewport.com/blog/2016/12/18/on-digital-minimalism/ Newport, C. (2018). My New Book: Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport Blog, December 4th, 2018. Retrieved from http://calnewport.com/blog/2018/12/04/my-new-book-digital-minimalism/ Webb, N. (2018). Notes from the AI frontier: AI adoption advances, but foundational barriers remain, McKinsey & Company, November 2018, McKinsey Analytics. The contributors to the development and analysis of this survey include Chui, M. and Malhotra, S. Retrieved from Notes-from-the-AI-frontier-AI-adoption-advances-butfoundational-barriers-remain.pdf Wright, T. (2018). Why the Workforce Needs to Change for Digital Transformation, DELL EMC InFocus Blog, October 1, 2018. Retrieved from https://infocus.dellemc.com/tim_wright/why-the-workforce-needs-to-changefor-digital-transformation/ *** http://calnewport.com/books/deep-work/ *** Realizing 2030: A Divided Vision of the Future, Global business leaders forecast the next era of humanmachine partnerships and how they intend to prepare, Jan 30, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.delltechnologies.com/content/dam/delltechnologies/assets/perspectives/2030/pdf/Realizing-2030A-Divided-Vision-of-the-Future-Summary.pdf

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“Marketing Science and Inspirations”, always a successful event for the engaged readers Costel Iliuță NEGRICEA Dean of the RAU School of Management-Marketing

JEL Classification: Y30 Readers already formed a memorable connection with this brand of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, “Marketing Science and Inspirations”. Our Partner Journal knows how to deliver the experiences readers want. By providing high-quality content, “Marketing Science and Inspirations” is always a successful event for the engaged readers and is continuing to work hard to ensure that the journal is a place where something really happens and it is a good match for new readers too. Consistent with its vocation, “Marketing Science and Inspirations” confirms with each issue the ability to treat readers well.

That is why we were happy to receive by post the Issue 3, Vol. XIII, 2018 of our Partner Journal „Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The new issue of this well-known academic journal addressed to academics and practitioners covered again a wide range of interesting topics in the marketing research field: Holistic Marketing Management

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• “Selected aspects of green behavior of Czech consumers” (the authors Eva Jaderna, Radka Pickova, Jana Prikrylova, Karel Samek present the results of their research concerning the green behaviour of Czech consumer, within the context in which the environmental protection is one of the most widely discussed topics all over the world, and the environmental education has become an important part of the Czech educational system; as Generation Y could be called “the green generation”, the authors launch the invitation to find out what is the situation across all of generations of Czech consumers, and how do they behave with regards to environmental protection and also which green activities do they provide in their everyday life); • “The role of gender in salesperson perception” (the authors Michael Stros, David Riha, Bodo Möslein-Tröppner provide a critical assessment of the evolution in retail, customer frequency declining, customer acquisition presenting a new challenge, also being clear evidence not only of extended customer requirements, product information from Internet platforms and influences from the social environment, but also – as a result – of customer loyalty as a significant means of maintaining profitability for sellers, and of qualified sales workforce as an important factor in achieving company goals; different sales styles and mood factors, distinct sales negotiations and gender were used for the evaluation; a video experiment was also used as the basis for the empirical study which investigated whether the genders of the salesperson and the customer influenced the customer’s orientation, wishes and ultimately the conclusion of the purchase; the authors took into account the considerable commercial relevance of how a salesperson should behave towards customers, and as the use of salespersons is an expensive instrument of sales policy and sales behaviour is a significant starting point for increasing sales and profit., they analyze the most appropriate behaviour of salespersons affecting the perception of gender in the sales process, alongside possible differences in approach, offering both practical and theoretical conclusions); • “Practices used in current marketing communication and comparison of their evaluation from the point of view of customers in the Slovak Republik and abroad” (the authors Katarina Gubiniova, Gabriela Pajtinkova Bartakova, Lenka Sloviakova show how both satisfying customer needs in order for an organisation to achieve a defined profitability, and to have satisfied customers has been characteristic of traditional customer-oriented approaches to marketing management; they attracted the attention on the fact that within the hypercompetitive market currently functioning at the level of both national and multinational economies more and more deceptive, unethical and misleading practices are appearing, these approaches of marketing management becoming a subject not only of social criticism, but also for the academic sphere; therefore their research considered a representative sample size of 1 650 respondents approached the perception and evaluation of the marketing activities in marketing communication by ultimate customers under the conditions of the Slovak Republic); •“Impact of GDPR on Banks in Slovakia – marketing approach. Part II” (the authors Lucia Kocisova, Tomas Pikulik, Martin Seliga, Peter Starchon started from examining the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free Holistic Marketing Management

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movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC – General Data Protection Regulation/ GDPR – and demonstrated its significance in financial sector along with the impact on complex management of marketing activities inside specific financial institutions; they discussed the principles and innovations of key importance for future positive developments in the field, emphasizing on relationship between banks and direct marketing, and presented additionally selected results of the primary research oriented on personal data protection from consumers’ point of view in Slovakia, on the basis of an online questionnaire fulfilled by 355 respondents; finally, they identified the challenges bank have to meet while adhering towards the new directive); • “Evaluation of Eastern-Central European citizen’s decision-making style – a comparative study” (the author Barbara Nemethova analyzed the Western and Eastern-Central European adverts, and identified the prominence of fact-based commercials in ECE countries, whereas most of the western advertisements creatively take the audience to a journey, while showing limited information; her comparative study evaluated the reasons for the above mentioned phenomenon, while answering the following questions: What kind of identity emerges as a consequence of the turbulent political and economic changes, as consumers’ transition from a communist to a democratic country? What kind of adverts do ECE consumers prefer? What influences their decision-making?; in this first part of the research findings presentation she was looking at identity formation from an academic point of view, focusing mainly on Slovak consumers; there were identified possible reasons behind differences in decision-making styles, arising from the turbulent political and economic changes, ECE consumers having higher risk aversion, uncertainty avoidance and lower institutional trust, all these identified factors having an impact on ECE consumers' information-searching behavior while creating a new consumer base with developing identity).

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The „Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal also includes other sections such as: “Marketing Briefs” (Pavel Strach – “Marketing through five senses: On the use of sensory marketing in marketing communications”); “Captured us” (“The first year of the Young Marketer competition starts”); “Reviews” (Frantisek Olsavsky – “Peter Starchon: Banking marketing. Principles and Specifics”, Wolters Kluwer, 1. Mai 2018; Peter Starchon – “Mazurkiewicz-Pizlo, Anna, and Pizlo, Wojciech: Marketing. Wiedza ekonomiczna i aktywność na rynk”, Warszawa: Widawnictwo Naukowe Pwn SA, 2017); “Dictionary of Useful Marketing Terms” (Dagmar Weberova).

Allow us to also remember that the Editor-in Chief of the „Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal is Professor Peter Starchon, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, who is also a Member of the Editorial Board of the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal and of the “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”.

And it is always our honor and pleasure to remember the significan meeting in Koln, Germany, in 2011, on the occasion of the working meeting of the European Retail Academy (ERA).

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Digital marketers are going beyond the traditional DX metrics Ioan Matei PURCĂREA Abstract All over the world it is recognized that CX is the biggest driver of digital transformation. Terms like Digital Transformation, Digital Swag, True Digital Ownership, Digital Twins, and RPA, are more and more utilized.

Significant opinions underline the real need of revolutionizing CX through process re-design, co-creation and digital transformation, not forgetting the importance of balancing automation and the human touch. Digital Customer Experience (DCX) reveals how important it is to have an issue resolved in a single interaction and to receive a speedy and timely response. If there is no doubt that CX is the brand differentiator, it’s time to better understand why it is necessary to go beyond the traditional DX metrics.

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Digital Swag; True Digital Ownership; Digital Twins; RPA; Blockchain; CRM; DCX; DX metrics JEL Classification: D83; L86; M15; M31; M37; O33

“Today’s leaders need to step up by persuading their organizations that digital strategies may be tougher than other strategies but are potentially more rewarding – and well worth the bolder bets and cultural reforms required, first, to survive and, ultimately, to thrive.”

Tanguy Catlin, Laura LaBerge, and Shannon Varney McKinsey & Company

Digital Transformation, Digital Swag, True Digital Ownership, Digital Twins, and RPA There is no doubt that no matter where marketing teams are located, within their searching for ways to create better CX, they are enabled by digital transformation to work better together, ensuring faster delivery and getting the most from their people, processes and tools, trying to be more collaborative and to connect and align their tech stack for greater efficiency.

(Mullen, 2018) There are major trends to be followed by marketers in 2019. “Digital swag makes big money”, for example, is one of the “14 Trends Shaping Tech 2019” identified by CB Insights that marketers can no longer ignore next year. As argued by CB Insights: “For individuals, digital collectibles open the door for personalized, immersive experiences. And for companies, digital collectibles are one way to offer a diverse range of experiences within their ecosystem. Most importantly, users are willing to shell out for digital swag.”

The crypto community, for instance, explored digital collectibles for years, a combination of competitive gameplay, IP from premium content providers and unique digital art being considered the Holy Grail in digital collectibles. (Tomaino, 2018) As shown this year, digital Holistic Marketing Management

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collectibles represent a new industry trend, the interweaving of the combination between ownership, scarcity, and digital assets being now easily noticeable, (Shvartsman, 2018) while a driving force into a safer and more transparent way of dealing with assets digitally being waited to become blockchain. (Tomaino, 2018) More recently, in Forbes, the goal – underlined by the startup entrepreneur Dil-Dominé J. Leonares, Founder and CEO of Verified Collection – of building a world with so-called “True Digital Ownership” of the physical and digital goods collected by consumers (the owners) was revealed, in the blockchain community digital collectibles being known as non-fungible tokens (NFT, unique, housing data) having a smart contract assigned to them. (Fenech, 2018) On the other hand, within the fourth industrial revolution defined by ubiquitous connectivity and driven by Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), AI (and its subset Machine Learning), advanced robotics and 3D printing, it is considered (by Gartner) that one of the key strategic technology trends which will transform industries in only a few years will be the socalled “Digital Twins” – seen as digital replicas of physical assets built with AI algorithms allowing both improving assets performance management, and enabling the introduction of new business models and augmenting human skills. (Sherry, 2018) And as argued within this approach (exposed in the European Business Review) of the Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of GE Digital in Europe, the adoption of the above mentioned new technologies will re-innovate the relations between humans and machines.

In the opinion of Guy Kirkwood of UiPath, interviewed by the Process Excellence Network (PEX Network), in 12-18 months AI will be where Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is now. (Hawkins, 2018) Still a relatively new software-based technology, RPA (a common feature of RPA products being AI) can decide if a process should occur, and in order to emulate human execution of a business process it is utilizing software robots, which at their turn can utilize recognition (OCR), intelligent character recognition (ICR) screen scraping and AI. One of the most common RPA uses is, for example, updating a Customer Relationship Management ( CRM; see the picture below), time being of the essence with regard to sales. (Muspratt, 2018)

Figure 1: Updating a CRM Source: Muspratt, A. (2018). A guide to Robotic Process Automation (RPA), PEX Network, 10/11/2018 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

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Revolutionizing CX through process re-design, co-creation and digital transformation, not forgetting the importance of balancing automation and the human touch As the benchmarking report for the process industry, the PEX Report 2018 – Developed by in partnership with Global State of Process Excellence & Transformation 2018: Riding the storm of digital change – reconfirmed the focus of the Process Excellence Network (within peer to peer sharing) on improving their businesses (851 PEX Professionals have responded to this survey) through process and operational excellence, CX being one of the key elements of their reporting (alongside BPM, RPA, Lean, Change Management, Operational Excellence, Six Sigma & Quality, Performance Management, Information Technology Trends). That is why “revolutionizing CX through process re-design, co-creation and digital transformation” was identified as one of topical issues to be addressed in 2019. From the very beginning of this PEX Report 2018 the reputed Roop Singh and Ian Hawkins approached the topic of “how will blockchain revolutionize Business Process Management (BPM)”, showing among other aspects that through authenticity, decentralization, disintermediation, proof of ownership and authorship, automation, and transparency, blockchain, as BPM and Management, is really a system of formalizing the movement of data and trust between parties.

Within this framework of the above mentioned PEX Report 2018, Katherine Kostereva, CEO and Managing Partner at bpm’online, pledged for the real need of embracing digital transformation strategy and technology that focus on implementation, adoption, alignment, and change, seen as “4 accelerators essential to organization’s digital transformation”. While Debashis Sarkar, the managing partner of boutique consulting firm Proliferator Advisory & Consulting (Sarkar being recognized internationally for customer-centricity and lean management), approached the topic of “putting the customer at the heart of process transformation”, starting from the fact that today customers are impacting businesses much more than ever before, because of: the power of social media allowing a single bad experience to negatively impact a customer’s perception about a brand; more influencing customer’s buying decision by what other users say (and less influenced by forceful usage of advertisement); unexpected and unknown quarters impacting competition; customers’ expectations with regard to the necessary personalization and experiences in accordance with their unique wants and needs; the real need of nurturing existing customers facing many options by keeping the brand promise.

And before automating interactions it is very important not to forget the role of balancing automation and the human touch, recommends Sarkar.

There is no doubt that in today’s digital age the connected customers are expecting, for example, an Omni channel approach to interactions, in other words they are looking not only for the convenience and accessibility offered by an online self-service (as for instance thanks to the chatbots which can rapidly answer simultaneous questions given the AI enhanced software), but also for talking with a human agent when facing more complex or less easy to understand problems, which involves a balance between digital service and human touch. That is why the industry’s worldwide leader in outsourced Omni channel CX management, Teleperformance, Holistic Marketing Management

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came up with its new solution known as TP BOT, (Harvard Business Review, 2018) a customer service cognitive agent that can handle initial customer inquiries online, and if it is the case passes the chat to a human agent via an automated customer service process flow (this way human agent continues at an emotional level the started conversation). Just at the beginning of this year, a Harvard Business School’s representative specialized in Service Management and CX attracted the attention that technology cannot be emotional, only the service, and customers still seeking out other humans when looking for creative solutions to their service problems.

(Buell, 2018) Digital Customer Experience (DCX): having an issue resolved in a single interaction and receiving a speedy and timely response. CX, the brand differentiator Indeed, as we have also seen before, the ability to save time is one of the advantages brought by the modern CRM solutions, marketers having this way the opportunity of spending more time focusing on their strengths, benefitting of a better sales activity. (Gal, 2018) There is no doubt that both CRM matters and CX is improved (alongside increased revenues and netted cost reductions) by adequately addressing customers’ issues and being responsive to their needs.(Ironpaper, 2016) As demonstrated by the Aberdeen Group, Customer Success Management (CSM) involves significant capabilities (establish visibility, enable employees with relevant and timely insights, execute flawlessly, manage for long-term goals), a critical role in CSM good work being played by the digital marketers capturing customer feedback and data through multiple channels, segmenting customers, and adequately organizing and sharing data with regard to CX across all the company.

A priority focus for customer interaction, loyalty and retention in today’s digital era impacted by the so-called “always-on” generation (more mobile and digitally-driven) is to provide an instant digital customer care, key drivers of the brand longevity being digital innovation and channel adoption. (Gardiner, 2018) The second edition of the Conversocial’s report, The State of Digital Care in 2018, confirmed the significant evolution of the customer service landscape (the natural evolution of the term “Digital Customer Service” given to the maturation of the social care) and the need of providing an efficient, in-the-moment and personalized digital service experience, within the context in which customers expect to receive anytime and anywhere service.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise for instance, that 57% of the 2,000 people from the US and UK surveyed indicated that in the case of a poor digital customer service experience with a brand they would stop doing business with it, a must have for digital customer service being considerate by 100% of respondents the capability to resolve an issue in a single interaction. In today’s connected world, customers expect to receive anytime and anywhere service. And when asked what they felt is the most important aspect of a good digital customer experience respondents indicated (rank in terms of importance) as follows: getting an issue resolved in a single interaction (38%); receiving a speedy and timely response (26%); having an issue resolved Holistic Marketing Management

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in-channel, not being deflected to traditional service channel (17%); the brand engages with the customer in a personalized manner (11%). Other significant findings revealed by this second edition of the Conversocial’s report were those showing that the chance to form a single view of each customer journey is offered by CRM integrations (the more seamless, efficient and personalized resolution being achieved by tracking customers and their communications across digital channels).

It is well-known that Microsoft Dynamics 365, launched in 2016, is defined as cloudbased business applications platform combining components of CRM and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), along with productivity applications and AI tools, its biggest benefit being the tight integration with other Microsoft business applications, ensuring users a connected view of data intelligence, necessary operational information and predictive insight tools for decisionmakers. (SearchCRM – TechTarget, 2017) At the end of August 2018, a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Dynamics 365, while making comments on the 2018 Microsoft State of Global Customer Service Report, started from the fact that CX is rapidly becoming the number one brand differentiator, and showing, among other findings revealed by the above mentioned 2018 Microsoft report, that one significant is the trending AI-driven virtual agents, within this framework an intelligent, conversational and effortless customer service experience being provided by bots built using technology such as the subsets of AI: Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML). (Overland, 2018) It is worth mentioning that there were surveyed 5,000 consumers across Brazil, Germany, Japan, UK and US within this 2018 Microsoft Research, whose findings revealed, among other aspects, actionable data on how to offer an Omni channel experience (such as email, live chat, phone, and text messaging) based on customer preferences, and how to avoid common frustrations and provide tools for quick resolutions.

And coming back to Digital Twins, allow us to add that recent opinions highlighted their huge potential to impact the technical support domain not only by empowering field support organizations, but also by enhancing consumer interactions with their technology. (Shaham, 2018) By strengthening the bond between physical and virtual objects, this transformative concept empowers humans to have better control over their technology. Self-service, remote troubleshooting, and predictive analytics and maintenance are, for example, only some sample cases of this transformative concept gaining also by being networked to each other (not only by being linked together dynamically).

Conclusions: Why it is necessary to go beyond the traditional DX metrics All over the world it is recognized both that CX is the biggest driver of digital transformation, (Fiera De Manila Philippines, 2018) and that the most important part of a company’s approach to digital marketing strategy is to better understand the difference between multi-channel (strategic focus on maximizing the performance of each channel, physical, web and mobile) and Omni channel (strategic focus on providing a seamless integrated CX, Holistic Marketing Management

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customers being enabled by mobile and social to rapidly use all channels simultaneously). As reconfirmed this summer by the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), the next wave of digital transformations is driven by big data, cloud computing, and AI, these technologies providing the ability to satisfy expectations for a consistent customer journey by ensuring a seamless integrated CX. (Unitt, 2018) Companies have the opportunity, for example, to better understand where the customer's journey may lead, not only with regard to previous customers’ interactions, and this given to a better integration between its CRM and contact center enabling all digital and voice channels to exploit the same data.

But as the reputed CX Leader Don Peppers argued at the beginning of October this year, in any evaluation of CX quality companies need to use both kinds of CX metrics, getting feedback directly from customers, and collecting and analyzing objective data based on their direct observation. (Peppers, 2018) Not later than the same month, together with Decibel’s CEO Ben Harris, Don Peppers detailed (on the occasion of the webinar organized by Decibel on October 23, 2018) the challenging topic of “Measuring the Digital Customer Experience, Objectively,” these keynote CX speakers highlighting, among other aspects, (Peppers and Harris, 2018) the three obstacles that companies must overcome to deliver a better CX (alignment, mindset, and capabilities), and the two kinds of data always necessary to be be used when evaluating CX quality, also underlining that each CX is definitive and personal, but feelings are subjective, and that when analyzing the Digital Experience (DX) it is necessary to go beyond the traditional DX metrics (which include number of website visits, click-through rates, information downloads, keyword searches, email responses) and to objectively observe and quantify much more of the DX (such as mouse behaviour, scroll rates, navigation paths, page loading times, form completions etc.), also considering the so-called “digital” body language (when customer is facing a digital problem).

A few months ago, we showed that digital marketers are challenged to drive results within the connected world, (Negricea & Purcarea, 2018) better data analysis being critical in order to improve the digital customer experience (DCX) within the digitalization of the customer journey. Today we already understood why qualitative data can be available at quantitative scale on the basis of DX, in which, for instance, including higher user engagement can often be directly observed.

References Buell, W.R. (2018). The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated, February 19, 2018. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2018/02/the-parts-of-customer-service-that-should-never-be-automated Catlin, T., LaBerge, L. and Varney, S. (2018). Digital strategy: The four fights you have to win, McKinsey Quarterly, October 2018. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/ourinsights/digital-strategy-the-four-fights-you-have-to-win

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Fenech, G. (2018). Unlocking a $200 Billion Dollar Collectibles Market on the Blockchain, Forbes, Nov 8, 2018.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/geraldfenech/2018/11/08/unlocking-a-200-billion-dollar-collectiblesmarket-on-the-blockchain/ Gal, R. (2018). 6 ways marketers are misusing CRM data and how to improve it, Smart Insights, 29 Jun, 2018.

Retrieved from https://www.smartinsights.com/customer-relationship-management/e-crm-strategy/6-waysmarketers-misusing-crm-data-improve/ Gardiner, S. (2018). The State of Digital Care in 2018, Conversocial, 14 Mar 2018. Retrieved from https://www.conversocial.com/blog/state-of-digital-care-in-2018 Hawkins, I. (2018). 4 Robotic Process Automation (RPA) trends to look out for in 2019, PEX Network, 11/07/2018.

Retrieved from https://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/rpa-artificial-intelligence/articles/rpa-trends-to-lookout-for-in-2019 Mullen, D. (2018). 3 Ways to Smash Marketing Silos, Increase Collaboration, and Get More Work Done, Target Marketing webinar, Sponsored by Workfront, September 17, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.targetmarketingmag.com/webinar/smash-marketing-silos-digital-transformation/ Muspratt, A. (2018). A guide to Robotic Process Automation (RPA), PEX Network, 10/11/2018. Retrieved from https://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/rpa-artificial-intelligence/articles/a-guide-to-robotic-processautomation-rpa Negricea, C.I. & Purcarea, I.M. (2018). Digital marketers challenged to drive results within the connected world, Holistic Marketing Management, September 2018, Volume 8, Issue 3, pp. 08-13 Overland, L. (2018). Now available: the 2018 State of Global Customer Service Report, Microsoft Dynamics 365, August 30, 2018. Retrieved from https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/dynamics365/2018/08/30/now-available-the2018-state-of-global-customer-service-report/ Peppers, D. (2018). Measuring the Digital Customer Experience, Objectively, Decibel Insight, October 3, 2018.

Retrieved from https://www.decibelinsight.com/blog/measuring-the-digital-customer-experience-objectively Peppers, D., Harris, B. (2018). Measuring the Digital Customer Experience, Objectively, webinar organized by Decibel on October 23, 2018. Retrieved from webinar.pdf Tomaino, N. (2018). Digital Collectibles: A New Category of Tokens Emerging, The Control, Feb 27, 2018.

Retrieved from https://thecontrol.co/digital-collectibles-a-new-category-of-tokens-emerging Tomaino, N. (2018). Digital Collectibles: A New Category of Tokens Emerging, The Control, Feb 27, 2018.

Retrieved from https://thecontrol.co/digital-collectibles-a-new-category-of-tokens-emerging Shaham, H. (2018). 3 Ways Digital Twin Technology is Transforming Customer Support, Customer Experience Update, Oct 2, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.customerexperienceupdate.com/edition/daily-customer-experienceprofessionals-cem-2018-10-02?

Sherry, D. (2018). Digital twins: How big is the opportunity for industrial organisations? European Business Review, September 18, 2018. Retrieved from http://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/digital-twins-how-big-isthe-opportunity-for-industrial-organisations/ Shvartsman, A. (2018). New Industry Trend: Digital Collectibles, Medium, Oct 1, 2018. Retrieved from https://medium.com/theblock1/new-industry-trend-digital-collectibles Holistic Marketing Management

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Unitt, A. (2018). Four Ways to Win at CX-Focused Digital Transformation, ICMI (International Customer Management Institute), August 07, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.icmi.com/Resources/Culture-andMorale/2018/08/Four-Ways-to-Win-at-CX-Focused-Digital-Transformation *** CB Insights, 14 Trends Shaping Tech 2019, Digital swag makes big money, pp. 50-53, Retrieved from CBInsights-Tech-Trends-2019.pdf *** The PEX Report 2018. Developed by in partnership with Global State of Process Excellence & Transformation 2018: Riding the storm of digital change, October 2018, pp. 6-7, 24-29, 52-55. Retrieved from pex-annual-report2018.original.pdf *** Keeping the Human Element in Customer Service While Using AI and Chatbots, September 11, 2018.

Retrieved from https://hbr.org/sponsored/2018/09/keeping-the-human-element-in-customer-service-while-using-aiand-chatbots *** The Role of Digital Marketing in Customer Relationship Management, Ironpaper, July 10, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ironpaper.com/webintel/articles/the-role-of-digital-marketing-in-customer-relationship-management/ *** Conversocial, 2018-State-of-Digital-Customer-Service.pdf *** Microsoft Dynamics 365, Definition, Posted by Margaret Rouse, WhatIs.com, Contributors: Jesse Scardina and Lauren Horwitz, Last updated September 2017. Retrieved from https://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/Microsoft-Dynamics-365 *** 2018 State of Global Customer Service Report, Microsoft Dynamics 365. Retrieved from https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-State-of-Global-Customer-Service-Report-Microsoft-Dynamics-365eBook.html?lcid=en-us *** The 12th Digital Marketing in a BLINK Seminar 2018, AIM Conference Center, Makati City, PH August 9-10, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.fmi.com.ph/events/digital-marketing-in-a-blink-seminar-2018-august/

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Thematic University Network, ZIIOT, EC Circular Economy Package, EuroCommerce, and China Development and Reform Commission Bernd HALLIER

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier and RAU Rector Ovidiu Folcuţ

President of the European Retail Academy (ERA), Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, is a distinguished Member of the Editorial Board of our “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal, being also an Honorary Member of the Romanian Scientific Society of Management - SSMAR). The Romanian-American University (RAU) has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Special Academic Merit”. It is worth remembering that every agenda element of the productive meeting between Professor Ovidiu Folcuţ, Rector of the Romanian-American University (RAU) and Professor Bernd Hallier on the occasion of his last visit in Romania was designed around top takeaways (such as: the international transfer of know-how between business and universities, bringing more transparency on retail-research and retail-education; the actual need of anticipating skill needs in the commerce sector, taking into account the attention to be paid to the evaluation of philosophies offered by the steady upgrade of retail-technologies; the developing cooperation between Germany and Eastern markets), on the basis of these significant items of discussion being underlined the importance of seeing the big picture while preparing for changes resulting from innovation and technology. Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier is continuing to strongly support the Thematic University Network (TUN) for Research and Knowledge Penetration along the Total Supply Chain from farm to fork (TUN EQA), working hard to institutionalize TUN as an excellent platform for global dialogue.

The International Two-Dimensional Code Industry Development Summit At the International Two-Dimensional Code Industry Development Summit at Chang Chun, Chin, a

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Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier designed a MOU of cooperation together with the Zhongguancun Industry and Information Research Institute of Two-Dimensional Code Technology (ZIIOT) Secretary General Dr.Chao Zhang. ZIIOT will be the Chinese Umbrella Organization/Chinese Chapter for TUN.

The Zhongguancun Industry and Information Research Institute of Two-Dimensional Code Technology (ZIIOT) was founded in 2014 in Beijing and recognized as a standardization organization by ISO, CEN and AIM Global in 2018.

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Three years from the EC Circular Economy Package. EuroCommerce: “Scaling up market solutions in Retail & Wholesale” In December 2015 the European Commission published a Circular Economy Package to encourage more sustainability in the UN reflected by the UN Sustainability Development Goals for 2030. It is also well-known that in January 2018, as part of its continuous effort to transform Europe’s economy into a more sustainable one and to implement the ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan, the European Commission (EC) adopted a new set of four measures - see the key documents of 2018 Circular Economy package (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/index_en.htm )

EuroCommerce discussed the status quo in Brussels and the plans to revise various waste directions and to minimize waste and losses. The motto was “Scaling up market solutions in Retail & Wholesale”. The meeting of 250 experts was attended also by high level administration officials like Dr. J. Potocnik/UN International Resource Panel and former EU-Commissioner, D. Calleju Crespo/ General Director DG Environment, B. Poisson/ French Ministry for Ecology, MEPs like A.J. Valean or K. van Brempt. Retail was represented among others by Carrefour, IKEA, METRO, BGA, FCD, Virke and Prof. Dr. B. Hallier (at the photo together with the EuroCommerce President Regis Degelcke and Christian Verschueren Managing, Director EuroCommerce).

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China Development and Reform Commission In Beijing Lu Shoubing, deputy secretary general from the China Development and Reform Commission follows especially the TUN-News about tracing/tracking of commodity goods.

“We follow closely the News of the Thematic University Network Food and thank Prof. Dr. B. Hallier for his global guidance based on applied sciences from farm to fork; for us that experience is valuable in administration, for science as well as for businessmen" he stated in a recent lecture.�

Source: http://www.european-retail-academy.org/TUN/ Holistic Marketing Management

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An increase of marketers’ focus on insight and action, adequately approaching the marketing stack Theodor Purcărea

Abstract Marketers are struggling to delight customers at every touchpoint by adequately managing the combination of X-data and O-data, and considering the employee experience (EX) and the conduct risk. They need to simplify their company’s marketing stack approach, and within their focus on creating an Omni channel view to consider both the opportunity provided by an all-inone CRM and marketing automation platform, and the fact that customer feedback goes multichannel. There is no doubt about their hard work to give customers value and delivering them a great CX, with the help of a balanced approach of the four forces of marketing operations & technology. And in the midst of the next disruption of the CX market, which among other aspects will access AI to evolve from reporting to prediction, there is an increase in marketers’ focus on insight and action.

Keywords: X-data; O-data; CX; EX; CRM; Marketing operations & technology JEL Classification: L86; M31; O33

Delighting customers at every touchpoint by adequately managing the combination of X-data and O-data, and considering the employee experience (EX) and the conduct risk Three years ago we underlined a real need for rethinking the businesses in another way in the era of the “Nonstop Customer”, by keeping pace with this type of customers, and putting a greater emphasis on both personalization and relevance. (Purcarea, 2015) Indeed, as shown by R2insights, organizations are challenged to reevaluate their business models taking into account customer expectations, technology trends, competitive and macro-economic forces, what involves a vigorous effort while commencing their transformation journey on the basis of a unanimous vision’s adoption and advocating for the needed change.

On November 27, 2018, The Innovation Group presented “The Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in 2019”, highlighting, among other aspects, that: the more meaningful role in consumers’ lives assumed by brands; the continued evolution of new products and services within the evolution of the connected lifestyles, and the reexamination of technology’s reach.

(JWT Intelligence, 2018) Two days later, on November 29, John Zimmerer, senior director of marketing at Topdown (a leading customer communications management software provider), Holistic Marketing Management

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and well-known for researching on the future direction of the technologies powering customer experience (CX), attracted our attention on the imperative of aligning CX strategy to business metrics, (Zimmerer, 2018) by starting with a value-based discipline model (created by Michael Tracy and Fred Wieserman; in order to create competitive differentiation by focusing on the key value discipline: customer intimacy, product leadership, operational excellence), identifying what it is necessary to be measured (by incorporating a comprehensive matrix of metrics – EPS, CLV, CES etc. – and linking company’s strategy across and down the business to key stakeholders), align metrics to company’s discipline (one of the three above mentioned), and connecting company’s strategy to outcomes (by considering the technology to deliver the proper CX). Zimmerer recommended again Topdown’s eBook. (Zimmerer, 2015) According to this eBook, in order to find out the possible merger between customer communications management (CCM) and digital experience delivery (DXD) platforms used for customer experience management (CXM), Topdown commissioned three years ago Forrester Consulting to conduct a research study which revealed that CCM is needed to merge into CXM, the necessary core of a CCM solution being a web content management (WCM). Findings also revealed, among other aspects: the disproportionate emphasis on the acquisition side of the customer life cycle (for example, discover, explore and buy), at the expense of customer service and retention (for example, engage, ask and use); companies need access to data from both DXD and CCM in order to get deep and consistent personalization at all touchpoints; increasingly of great importance to companies’ ability to compete in the current modern digital marketplace it will be the ability to automate highly personalized, relevant and timely communications both at any and all customer touchpoints and via multiple channels.

We should recall within this context what Ryan Smith, the co-founder and CEO of Qualtrics, highlighted in March last year (Smith, 2017) in relation with the new imperative today represented by the experience data (X-Data) necessary to close the experience gap (between what a company think is going on, and what is actually happening), better understanding the difference between these X-Data (the human feedback, the beliefs, the emotions, and the sentiments constituting the human factor data) and O-data (operational data: sales, finance, and HR data, tangible records of tangible activities etc.), and giving employees’, customers’, or prospects’ experiences a voice so as to step ahead of the competition, measuring, prioritizing and optimizing four interdependent foundational experiences of business: product experience, CX, employee experience (EX), and brand experience (BX). In other words this means experience management (XM), as the system of record for all of company’s experience data so as to delight customers at every touchpoint, building both an adequate employee culture and iconic brands.

Also at the end of November 2018, the reputed customer experience transformist Bruce Temkin argued that CX and EX insights can be improved by adequately managing the combination of X-data and O-data, achieving the necessary company’s results: more both loyal customers and targeted use of resources; more high-performing workforce because of

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investments in the right employees. (Temkin, 2018) On the other hand, it is worth mentioning within this framework of XM, that: ▪ in the same month McKinsey’s representatives showed that as unfair outcomes for customers could be caused by individual or group actions generating incidents of misconduct in retail and commercial banking, capital markets, and wealth management (only recently becoming the conduct risk recognized as a stand-alone risk category), institutions can use advanced analytics and machine learning to “connect the dots” across customer and other sources of data in order to detect conduct risk both comprehensively and cost-effectively, as shown in the figure below: (Baquero et all., 2018)

Figure 1: The advanced-analytics approach to conduct monitoring ‘connects the dots’ drawn from many sources of data (McKinsey & Company) Source: Baquero et all. (2018). The advanced-analytics solution for monitoring conduct risk, McKinsey & Company, November 2018 (work cited)

▪ in October 2018, an Interactions representative referred to their online research study addressing the concerns about the potential benefits and costs of the artificial intelligence (AI), whether consumers will adapt to using AI including and so on, the research findings revealing that the majority of consumers are comfortable interacting with AI solutions (when AI enables speedier interactions or personalizes the experience), in some cases even preferring AI over human interactions (when there are convenient and effective self-service options available, when they are addressing embarrassing financial information, when they are in a bad mood/angry, when they are addressing a private/personal issue, when they are trying to get a good deal/discount); (Wildt, 2018) as it was argued in the Interactions eBook, AI can both improve CX and lead to significant cost savings for a business when it is done well.

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Simplifying a company’s marketing stack approach, considering both the opportunity provided by an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform, and the fact that customer feedback goes multi-channel In September 2016 we underlined the real challenge for marketers of continuously building marketing capability, starting from marketers’ undoubtedly preoccupation about their marketing technology stack (as a grouping of technologies that marketers leverage to conduct and improve their marketing activities), including by having a clear picture of the necessary workflow in developing a Marketing Capabilities Platform. (Purcarea, 2018) Within this above mentioned framework, an article by Ontraport published in Adweek, in November 2018, and entitled “Here’s How to Put Together the Best Marketing Software Platform” attracted our attention.

This recently published article by Ontraport made reference to its new report – “The Renaissance of CRM and Marketing Automation Software” – demonstrating how useful is to have an integrated platform which accomplishes all the necessary tasks to be done, as the proper solution to the current standalone-marketing-app stress, taking into account not only the time and money saved by an all-in-one apps, but also the opportunity of both using more personalization in marketing communications (offering customers and prospects a one-to-one experience), and offering streamlined learning and support to company’s marketing team. As revealed by this Ontraport’s new report, such an integrated platform is like a one-stop-shop which enables the running of a company’s entire business from inside a single application, including for smaller and mid-size businesses, as shown in the figure below:

Figure 2: An all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform for smaller and mid-size businesses Source: The Renaissance of CRM and Marketing Automation Software, Ontraport (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

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The advantages of such an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform are illustrated in the figure below:

Figure 3: The advantages of this all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform Source: The Renaissance of CRM and Marketing Automation Software, Ontraport (work cited)

We see here other links, which we also underlined before in relation with the need: ▪ (in June 2017) of keeping the pace with the quickly evolution of the technology landscape, creating a roadmap based on an assessment of company’s direct marketing capabilities, evaluating new technologies, and making CX a strategic priority, including by measuring touchpoints and better understanding the power of cutting-edge design and digital capabilities; (Purcarea, 2017) ▪ (in June 2018) of having one-on-one interactions with company’s customers, and effectively managing customer feedback (shared with a company using different channels and platforms), making difference between structured and unstructured data. (Purcarea, 2018) And all this allows us to consider useful to make reference to other recent findings revealed on the occasion of a CustomerThink Thought Leadership Webinar, such as: marketers focused on creating an Omni channel view must be aware that customer feedback goes multichannel (these are the top 5 ways to provide product or service feedback: email, phone, face-toface; social media & online reviews; online chat with a human; the most common devices used to provide feedback are: mobile phones, desktop/laptop devices, tablets, landline); brands are Holistic Marketing Management

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challenged to optimize the digital experience across touchpoints, needing to engage customers in the moment and improve experiences. (Sopadjieva and Lane, 2018) Working hard to give customers value and delivering them a great CX The reputed “Chief Marketing Technologist” Scott Brinker, President & CTO of ion interactive (recognized as a leading provider of post-click marketing software and services), underlined in August-September this year very significant aspects: ▪ the marketing operations leaders must ensure the balance between the two axis of opposing forces (centralize vs. decentralize, depending on the company, its strategy, its capabilities, and a particular moment in time; automate vs. humanize, both happening at the same time, depending on the company’s unique circumstances and identity), as shown in the figure below: (Brinker, 2018)

Figure 4: The 4 Forces of Marketing Operations & Technology Source: Brinker, S. (2018). The 4 Forces of Marketing Operations & Technology, Chiefmartec, August 8, 2018 (work cited)

▪ marketers need to increasingly benefit from competition between the MarTech vendors within the context of the large marketing technology landscape, while competing for delivering the best CX (including customer-friendly sales and retention policies); (Brinker, 2018) Brinker, who is also the VP of platform ecosystem at HubSpot, gave two recent published examples: the Customer Code (broader than MarTech) launched by HubSpot (see the figure below); the Unmartech Manifesto launched by CaliberMind (echoing many of the same ideals as of the Customer Code; see the other figure below).

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Figure 5: The Customer Code launched by HubSpot Source: Brinker, S. (2018). Martech companies talk customer-centricity, but can they be customer-centric?

CustomerThink, September 17, 2018 (work cited)

Brinker commented the report card of HubSpot’s own grades on each of these above illustrated 10 points, underlining the need for improvement, while working hard to give customers value and delivering them a great CX, letting them go if they choose to leave and hoping to bring them back (word-of-mouth about treating them well).

Figure 6: The 10 Commandments of how marketing technology companies should treat their customers Source: The 10 Commandments of #UnMarTech (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

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Instead of conclusions: In the midst of the next disruption of the CX market there is an increase in marketers’ focus on insight and action It is well-known that a marketing stack is a group of technologies used by marketers to guide and improve marketing activities and the process of analyzing data encompassing customer behavior. Eight years ago, “a technology for automating multi-channel customer feedback, analysis, and response and the related workflow associated with closed-loop voice of the customer programs” – “Customer Insight and Action (CIA) Platforms” – was labeled (as a substitute for Enterprise Feedback Management – EFM, term coined in 2004 by Carl Henning, founder of survey vendor Perseus – applications) by the Temkin Group report (“The Evolution Of Voice Of The Customer Programs”), these new applications called CIA Platforms supporting closed-loop VoC programs which were going beyond solicited feedback, offering new channels of feedback (“listening posts”) and providing actionable insights. (Temkin, 2010) This year, in March 2018, Bruce Temkin expressed the opinion that the market is already serving as a head for the next generation of CIA platforms (advanced analytics, smarter analytics, highly customized dashboards, integration of targeted feedback with customer data from other systems etc.).

(Temkin, 2018) Indeed, the evolution of CIA platforms confirmed marketers’ struggling to provide smart analytics and tailored, actionable, and contextual insights across the organization, covering trends and patterns from the data across entire segments of customers and increasing retention and reducing churn, closing the loop on each piece of customer feedback and achieving a more comprehensive picture of the customer across every part of the customer journey. (Bassig, 2018) And as marketers are more and more convinced about the strong inter-dependence between the elements of their right measured customer strategy (acquisition, retention, growth, win-back, divestment), they have to address all five challenges, being aware of the fact that almost always customer acquisition costs more than customer retention, of the need of matching company’s capabilities with external opportunities, and of its responsibility to accomplish its promises and to provide ongoing reciprocal value. (Rudin, 2018) On the other hand, marketers must be aware of what it was recently argued on Verint Community by Ben Smith, Global VP/General Manager, Customer Experience Solutions, that we are already in the midst of the next disruption of the CX market which, among other aspects (such as that it will access AI to evolve from reporting to prediction; please remember that we have shown above as Interactions research findings revealed recently when the majority of consumers were comfortable interacting with AI solutions), will connect X-data and O-data in order “to automatically deliver the right insight to the right person at the right time to take the right actions across engagement channels.” (Smith, 2018) References Holistic Marketing Management

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Baquero, A.J., Eceiza, J., Krivin, D. and Venkatesh, C. (2018). The advanced-analytics solution for monitoring conduct risk, McKinsey & Company, November 2018. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/businessfunctions/risk/our-insights/the-advanced-analytics-solution-for-monitoring-conduct-risk Bassig, M. (2018). Build a Strategy From Your Customer Insight and Action Platform, ReviewTrackers, October 19, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.reviewtrackers.com/customer-insight-and-action-platforms/ Brinker, S. (2018). The 4 Forces of Marketing Operations & Technology, Chiefmartec, August 8, 2018. Retrieved from https://chiefmartec.com/2018/08/4-forces-marketing-operations-technology/ Brinker, S. (2018). Martech companies talk customer-centricity, but can they be customer-centric? CustomerThink, September 17, 2018. Retrieved from http://customerthink.com/martech-companies-talk-customer-centricity-butcan-they-be-customer-centric/?

Purcarea, T. (2015). Rethinking the Business by Ensuring Marketing Transformation, Holistic Marketing Management, September 2015, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 13-19 Purcarea, T. (2017). Marketing’s progress beyond its heritage functions, New marketing, New CMO, and the Revenue Potential, Holistic Marketing Management, June 2017, Volume 7, Issue 2, pp. 18-28 Purcarea, T. (2018). CMOs’ strategic empowerment by effectively managing customer feedback, Holistic Marketing Management, June 2018, Volume 8, Issue 2, pp. 17-25 Purcarea, T. (2018). The practice of marketing under the pressure of continuously updating the marketing capabilities platform, Holistic Marketing Management, September 2016, Volume 6, Issue 3, pp. 27-41 Rudin, A. (2018). Acquisition and Retention: The Yin and Yang of Customer Strategy, CustomerThink, October 22, 2018. Retrieved from http://customerthink.com/acquisition-and-retention-the-yin-and-yang-of-customerstrategy/?

Smith, B. (2018). Are You Ready for the Next CX Market Disruption? We Are. Verint Community, 28 Nov 2018.

Retrieved from https://community.verint.com/b/customer-engagement/posts/are-you-ready-for-the-next-cxmarket-disruption-we-are Smith, R. (2017). Manage Every Experience That Matters: Why X-Data Is the New Imperative, Qualtrics, March 16, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/manage-every-experience-that-matters/ Sopadjieva, E., Lane, R. (2018). Connect in the Now: Preparing Your Brand to Engage with Today’s Consumers (Medallia), CustomerThink Thought Leadership Webinar, Oct. 25, 2018. Retrieved from webinar102518. pdf Temkin, B. (2018). What’s All This About X- And O-Data? Customer Experience Update, November 26, 2018.

Retrieved from http://www.customerexperienceupdate.com/edition/weekly-call-recording-customer-confidence2018-11-24?

Temkin, B. (2018). Why the future of Voice of the Customer is about action and insight - not feedback, MyCustomer, 19th Mar 2018. Retrieved from https://www.mycustomer.com/experience/voice-of-thecustomer/why-the-future-of-voice-of-the-customer-is-about-action-and-insight Temkin, B. (2010). Customer Insight and Action (CIA) Platforms Emerge, Customer Experience Matters, September 20, 2010, October 1, 2010. Retrieved from https://experiencematters.blog/2010/09/20/customer-insight-andaction-cia-platforms-emerge/

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Treacy, M., Wiersema, F. (1997). The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market, Basic Books, Expanded edition, January 10, 1997 Wildt, T. (2018). AI and the Customer Experience: 3 Situations Where Customers Prefer AI, Interactions, October 3, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.interactions.com/blog/customer-care/ai-and-the-customer-experiencecustomers-prefer-ai/ Zimmerer, J. (2018). Align Customer Experience Strategy to Business Metrics, Topdown, November 29th, 2018.

Retrieved from http://www.topdownsystems.com/resources/blog/align-customer-experience-strategy-tobusiness-metrics ZimmereR, J. (2015). New ebook: Close the Gaps in Your Customer Experience, Topdown, June 29th, 2015.

Retrieved from http://www.topdownsystems.com/resources/blog/ebook-close-the-gaps-in-your-customerexperience *** https://www.r2integrated.com/r2insights/the-paradigm-shift-of-business-transformation *** The Future 100: 2019, JWT Intelligence, November 27, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.jwtintelligence.com/2018/11/the-future-100-2019/ *** TopDown_DXD_v_CCM_eBook.pdf *** Interactions, Artificial Intelligence and the Customer Experience. How comfortable are consumers interacting with AI for customer service? Retrieved from Interactions_Artificial_Intelligence_and_the_Customer_Experience.pdf *** Here’s How to Put Together the Best Marketing Software Platform, Ontraport. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/sponsored/heres-how-to-put-together-the-best-marketing-software-platform/? *** The Renaissance of CRM and Marketing Automation Software, Ontraport. Retrieved from TheRenaissance_OntraportWhitepaper.pdf *** The 10 Commandments of #UnMarTech. Retrieved from https://www.calibermind.com/unmartech-manifesto

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Prof. Dr. h. c. Léon F. WEGNEZ (by courtesy of) – The honorable Léon F. WEGNEZ is a distinguished Member of the Editorial Board of our “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal.

As Administrator Secretary General of the Diplomatic Club of Belgium, and Co-Founder of the Diplomatique Gazette, he was the author of the book “Belgium and Diplomacy”. He recently sent us an article published in the Diplomatique Gazette, 4th quarter 2000, and allowed us to present it in our HMM journal, but this time entitled “Tribute to Syria, martyr country of modern times...”

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