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Alea Fairchild – Strategic Views

Alea Fairchild – Strategic Views

Tag Archives: marketing

GDPR for Marketers – Distraction or Opportunity?

25 Monday Mar 2019

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brand impact, data privacy, GDPR, marketing, protection, SAP, trust

On March 28th at 11am EDT (4pm CET), Dr. Alea Fairchild will participate in a webinar on “How to Thrive in the World of Data Protection and Privacy for Marketers”. Registration is still available via this link.

Post-GDPR – how does your marketing team deal with data privacy now?

GDPR came into force on May 25th of last year, and for many marketers, it was a wake-up call to reexamine internal procedures and processes.  

GDPR as a regulation takes a wide view of what constitutes personal identification information. Companies now need the same level of protection for things like an individual’s IP address or cookie data as they do for name, address and national ID number. The GDPR carries provisions that require businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states. And it also regulates the exportation of personal data outside the EU.

Since its implementation last May, marketers are still not clear on how it is enforced, what the penalties are, and how best to tackle compliance for those small and medium size businesses without an internal legal team. And since May, we have seen other regions refocus their efforts on privacy and consumer data rights.

So is GDPR taking time from other priorities, like cybersecurity or data protection policy, or does it bring a benefit to better engaging the customer? Or are the two related?

According to a recent Ovum report, about two-thirds of U.S. companies believe that the GDPR will require them to rethink their strategy in Europe. Even more (85 percent) see the GDPR putting them at a competitive disadvantage with European companies.  That last figure is puzzling, but culturally telling, as I believe from my experience that U.S. companies view customer and prospect data differently than in other regions of the world.  So how can data handling be transparent and create a climate of trust in the business ecosystem?

Let’s highlight some of the topics we will be discussing on March 28th in the webinar.

How did consumers react prior to GDPR last May?  Businesses were confused on how to reach out to prospects and customers in their data systems, so many marketers did mass mailings to notify people that they held data on as to ask permission to continue communicating with them. This provided a terrific opportunity to cement a closer relationship with prospects and customers.   And of these many marketers blew it, and instead gave reason for people on their mailing lists to opt-out with pleasure.  Why?  Because instead of telling people how important they are and how you plan to interact with them going forward, these mails just reminded them they were signed up to a mailing list that was no longer relevant to them.

Have we seen a business impact? Let’s face it, data privacy is a business issue with strong implications on customer experience, brand reputation, and personalization. Trust, transparency and reputation are all on the line every time we engage with a prospect or customer. Those that took this as an opportunity worked on addressing this as a benefit to the relationship by pointing out how they handled data, why they collected it and how it was used, as well as how they plan to use it going forward.

Were there any early adopter benefits? Firms that were first to embrace GDPR consistently report improvements in their business outcomes, including their customer experience and data strategies. GDPR has also been pushing firms to innovate and prepare to deliver services of the future, in line with compliance and transparency. GDPR can be an opportunity to more clearly engage the prospect or customer as a trusted provider of service.

Where is data protection and privacy headed next? Tech companies cannot require that to receive value from their products and services, you must give up your data. If you want to ask for data, there should be a reason for it and there must be an option to revoke the information if requested. To be precise: Consent must stand out, be clear and include the reasons for collection.

Where should we focus our DPP efforts? Decide the purpose for collecting the data, and the manner in which it is collected.Make the necessary process investments, supported by good tools, to know the state of your data protection efforts beyond a dashboard. DPP efforts should include internal data protection awareness workshops, privacy impact assessments (PIAs), managed breach detection and response, and breach notification policy.  Get the necessary tools for a data audit, as data discovery, mapping, and protection technologies are all key aspects to protecting consumer data and privacy. Cybersecurity monitoring, threat detection, and alerting systems are necessary to ensure GDPR compliance. Because under current GDPR requirements, organizations have to report a breach within 72 hours of discovery.

What can I do to proactively make this an opportunity for our marketing team?  Privacy protection compliance should be enforced through not only business processes and strategies but also investment in technologies and incident response management.  Data breaches are not only expensive but erodes trust in the brand.

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Opening the door to old age

30 Thursday Jul 2015

Posted by afairchild in Uncategorized

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marketing, old age, target audience

I had to stop by my doctor’s office yesterday afternoon, and was waiting with a whole truck load of other people for his speaking hours (first come, first serve – something nice in the Benelux to quickly see your GP / physician).   And my doctor is starting his retirement shortly and had posted a notice on the changes in the practice in the waiting room.

What was particularly striking to me was how many older patients he had, as we all started discussing how long we had been with the practice when we were reading the note.  The majority of his patients were well over 50.  And as a marketer, it occurred to me what a vast population of over 50s exist in my geographic area.

But as I said in a previous post, unless you need long term community care, most of the health needs of the 50-65 year old set are not obviously marketed to in Europe.  This is not the “ask your doctor” ads of the US pharma industry, but advice and services for folks who are still working and have viable incomes to pay for services.

Missed opportunity?  I think it is time that we opened the door to old(er) age as a great target audience for services.

 

The Lost Demographic…or missed opportunities?

23 Thursday Jul 2015

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baby boomers, consumer goods, demographics, marketing, spend

Today, 11,000 visitors will physically stream into Belgium for Tomorrowland, with many more attending virtually. And as I see all the local marketing efforts towards them, I really start to realize that I am part of the Lost Demographic.

I am at the very end of the Baby Boomers, and a good 15+ years from retirement, but find that my demographic is not interesting to marketers anymore.  I am not retiring, still having my teeth, hair and (somewhat) eyesight.  But going to a weekend festival with a tent is not for me either. I have a decent middle class income, and between myself and my husband, a decent joint income.  But products and services are not customized for my needs, and frequently ignore my existence.

In searching on this topic, I found an interesting Canadian article from 2006 that highlights the issue.   We are somewhat between empty nesters (adults 50+), and  wealthy baby boomers (40-60+).  We do not necessarily have that much disposable income (thank you banking crises), but spend our money on experiences and valuable products/services that are not cheap and flimsy.  We like to be pampered, but disdain ostentatious trappings of wealth.

I see a missed opportunity here for marketers. They forget that the baby boom spanned 18+ years, and assume we are all pining after the same things.  This article calls us “Generation Jones”, and illustrates our feelings that we should be saving for retirement, but with so many current requirements, there’s nothing left over and most of our spend goes to consumer goods.

Any one for a missed opportunity?  😉

 

Prediction check: 2014 review, and 2015 predictions

15 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by afairchild in Uncategorized

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2015 predictions, CDO, digital, marketing, mobile, omni-channel, risk

What did I say would happen in 2014?  Was I right?

In looking back at my predictions for 2014, I am reflecting today at how accurate I was, and what really happened.

P1: Data visualization tools did grow as a business. However, the growth this year was across different industry verticals which was fueling the demand for new tools that are more industry specific.

P2: Business model shifts involved a great deal of risk, and those shifts in 2014 included mobile payments, banking and news publications. For example, these publication shifts included less frequency in publication, different distribution models, and more sophisticated paywalls.

P3: I was wrong on this one, specifically WiFi networks. Bandwidth capacity is still a limiting factor, and who pays for the privilege is still up in the air for business models. One of the nicer hotels I stayed at recently in Berlin had a pay-only WiFi network in the hotel, no free model. Because it was paid, it functioned very well with good availability throughout the facility. You get what you pay for, it seems.

P4: Yes, the rate of data consumption is critical for reflection and analysis, but the tools are still not at the level to do this analysis with ease. Tool providers, listen up!

 My predictions for 2015?

P1:   More conversion of the CMO role to a Chief Digital Officer (CDO). Omni-channel experience marketing, combined with big data, makes for an experience effect that needs to be better controlled.

P2: Not mobile first, but desktop last. More combined interactions with multiple devices will make customer tracking solutions come of age. With opt-out privacy options, of course!

P3: Location based marketing and mobile interaction will increase. It will not be enough to personalize the experience anymore, retailers will be proactively luring you based on where you are standing.

And more to come….. !

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