CRM Marketing Automation

Starting a new job is rated one of the top most stressful life changing events in a person's life. It's rated in the top 5 along with getting divorced, married and having a kid!  I will admit when making the change I was very scared of the unknown and leaving my safety net. Walking into this strange office with a deer in headlights look wondering what will my first day be like - Will I love the work? Who do I sit with at the lunch table? And who's the weird girl always singing??

Of course with every new job there's a change in terminology and coming out of the food broker industry, I couldn't understand but a few words in the daily conversations around the office. Everybody's been there before - just give the head nod and say "hhhmm interesting."  There's no way I could have told you what CRM Marketing Automation, product launch marketing, or channel marketing software meant! On top of learning a new world of advertising, all of my accounts are doctors! Double whammy! I have learned more in the past few months about dental implants, cosmetic dentistry, prosthodontist versus periodontist than I ever could have imagined. 

Luckily Balihoo is an amazing place to work! Most people in the world don't get to say that they really enjoy work; more often than not you hear how much they dread waking up every morning and driving to their dull, unfulfilling, unappreciated, suck-the-life-out-of-you cube jobs. The people and culture set Balihoo apart from those jobs. Fortunately my program manager is amazing and a very patient teacher! I'm very thankful for this new opportunity and for the people who welcomed me with open arms!

Earlier this week we learned that research giant Gartner, Inc. has identified Balihoo as one of its "Cool Vendors" in the Marketing space for 2010. Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, analyzes a number of industries and identifies a select number of vendors within each category that are innovative, impactful and intriguing. Of the hundreds of CRM marketing vendors, Balihoo is 1 of 4 that were honored.

So what is this "Cool Vendor" title based upon?

Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are:

• Innovative - enable users to do things they couldn't do before
• Impactful - have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology)
• Intriguing - caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months

Check out the full press release here!

Or better yet, our team at Balihoo performs live demos of our local marketing automation solution daily, SCHEDULE YOURS TODAY!

Like most people in Boise, I’m an outdoor enthusiast. It’s a big part of why I chose to live here. With a love for outdoor activities comes the insatiable thirst for top of the line gear. Sure, call me a gear-head. Self admitted.

When it comes to purchasing the latest and greatest outdoor gear, I automatically gravitate to REI for two simple reasons. One, their customer service is second to none. And two, I’m a member of the REI co-op program. REI was established as a co-op providing members with an annual dividend check formulated from the member’s total purchases throughout the fiscal year. The use of co-op for retail stores is a simple concept that has worked incredibly well and is best seen by REI’s history of steady growth in a crowded retail sector.

So if it is so simple, why aren’t more brands using co-op for their retail distributors the way retail distributors use co-op for their customers? Easy answer. It’s too damn complicated. The paperwork and filing process associated with co-op reimbursement for distributors has been so cumbersome that, oftentimes, retailers will leave eligible dollars on the table at yearend simply because the co-op marketing program wreaks havoc on the retailer’s cash flow by the time they are finally reimbursed. The concept of co-op advertising works so long as it is easy to use and straight-forward.

Enter Balihoo’s new Integrated Co-op Marketing Solution: An easy solution to enable effective co-op marketing at a local level. For fun, let’s play out a brief scenario to show just how powerful co-op marketing can be.

Brand X releases a new lightweight soft-shell jacket with state of the art fabric technology and happens to offer a 75% co-op for all advertising dollars spent by retailers promoting the product. Brand X does this via Balihoo’s new solution. Retailer, REI in this scenario, decides to run a strategic local advertising campaign at their Boise location that features a co-branded advertisement with Brand X’s new product and REI’s logo. And for the sake of this story, the ad happens to be localized via Balihoo’s local marketing automation tool (yep, all located in the same online portal). Brand X loves this because their product is being marketed at the local level. REI loves this because it is simple and Brand X is helping pay for the ad real-time, meaning that there is no waiting or messy paper work associated with receiving reimbursement. Co-op is applied at the time an order is placed and full transparency is seen by all parties involved.

…Along comes a gear-head such as myself. I see the ad, and go to REI to check it out because I trust the retailer and the products they sell. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I go to REI because I love the REI member co-op program? I purchase the product, and go figure, I use my REI Visa to purchase the coat because it increases my eligible co-op amount on the product and thus results in a larger yearend dividend. I then receive my dividend check and the whole process starts over when I see another co-branded REI ad promoting a new Brand Y cycling shoe that REI just started selling. And guess what? Brand Y is offering a 90% co-op.

To sum it up, much like retail stores can drive consumer behavior via co-op, brand’s can drive retailer behavior using the same simple concept.

Co-op advertising. It’s a beautiful thing.

 

Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing

For those of you involved in Co-op advertising or co-op marketing programs, I wanted to make you aware of a new whitepaper we have entitled, "Integrated Co-op Marketing." 

You can access the whitepaper here:  Integrated Co-op Marketing

The overall concept of the whitepaper is that organizations who integrate the creative and financial components of their co-op marketing solution see significantly increased results from their channel marketing program.  We believe that by deploying sophisticated co-op marketing software an organization can dramatically increase reseller participation and success in their co-op marketing solution. 

Marketing software tools, specifically co-op marketing software, have made significant strides in recent years and this whitepaper will help you understand how to identify and deploy the most effective co-op marketing solution. 

Would love to hear any feedback! 

 

Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing

Sales promotion marketing, using co-op advertising funds, has typically been a very promotional-based type activity.  The brand builds the ad, in which the retailer plays a minor role, then a print ad builder is used to customize it for the retailer. 

However, as suggested by this Ad Age article, Walmart is taking a unique spin on these ads.  They're focused more on the product itself, with the retailer taking the back seat in terms of visibility.  It suggests that because Walmart has established a positioning of low-price leader, they're able to run these more brand-based (or product based) ads without the need for a heave dose of sales promotion marketing messaging. 

While interesting in and of itself as a general trend, I think it's important for product manufacturers to consider how this could play out in their co-op advertising programs.  Specifically, manufacturers need to consider the role their creative and creative templates play given this information.

Our recommendation to clients of our co-op marketing solution is that they need to develop creative templates that allow for a spectrum.  At a very basic level you can create two versions of your product ad - one where the retailer plays a starring role and one where the retailer plays a minor role.  Then, fund these templates at different levels (for example, 25% co-op for one version and 50% co-op for the other).  Approaching it in this fashion allows the retailer to implement their sales promotion marketing efforts in the manner the best suits them and they're rebated at a level that is comfortable to the product manufacturer. 

Of course, this approach assumes that you have a print ad builder (or other mediums) implemented in your co-op advertising program that can manage this level of specificity.  Balihoo's channel marketing software can handle that, I hope yours can too.   

 

Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing

Note:  This post originally appeared on the older Balihoo blog on 10/27/09. 

JUST in case you missed our announcement on PRweb or our News section (we like to be thorough) I wanted to let everyone know that we have some pretty exciting news today - we’re announcing the wide availability of our Integrated Co-op Marketing Solution. 

This is a big deal for us - we’ve had co-op functionality in our system for awhile, but for the first time we’re packaging it up nicely and making it widely available to all of our customers (and potential customers).  I’ve seen firsthand the delight on a reseller/distributor/franchisee face the first time they log into this co-op marketing solution and realize that they can manage both the creative and financial ends of their co-op advertising spend through one easy system.  The time savings and cost savings they realize are immediate and significant. 

And for the national brand running the co-op advertising program - the biggest deal here is the visibility they have into what’s going on at a local level.  Imagine being able to completely understand the local support of a product launch BEFORE it’s launched.  Or, view marketing activities at a local level to understand what’s working for your affiliates.  Invaluable. 

If you want to learn more about using a centralized system to manage a co-op program, check out our Integrated Co-op Marketing Software whitepaper at:  www.balihoo.com/icm

OK, enough about us, back to our regularly scheduled programming……

 

Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing

NOTE:  This was originally posted on the older version of the Balihoo blog on 10/20/09 by Marcie Blagden. 

Here’s an interesting blog posting - Co-op or MDF: Who cares? in which the author discusses the differences between Co-op advertising and MDF advertising programs and analyzes the current trend of  manufacturers to move more towards MDF-based programs. 

I agree with the author here – who cares as long as it’s successful? 

Regardless of the format of the program, more time and attention needs to be placed on building programs that are easy-to-use (both for manufacturer and distributor) and ultimately successful in the marketplace.  The MOST successful co-op advertising programs minimize the administrative efforts required by both parties while maximizing the return-on-investment (and time) of dollars placed into the system.

 

Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing  

Co-op marketing solutions and co-op advertising program can be incredibly valuable and effective; however, unless they are clearly executed by all involved parties they can be reduced to simply an additional headache that never seems to perform quite as desired.

Consider the following:

• Do you really believe your co-op advertising budget is being well spent?
• Can you guarantee coordination of timing and messages for product launch marketing efforts?
• Are your resellers spending more time complaining about delayed reimbursements than working to achieve results in your upcoming key selling season?
• Have your competitors started to outflank you with more effective co-op advertising program - even though they offer an inferior product?
  
  
  Co-op Marketing Strategies: Building a Better Co-op/MDF Program

  View more presentations from Balihoo.

  

  

  Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing

Note:  This post originally appeared on Balihoo's old blog on 11/17/09

The Trade Promotion Marketing Association (TPMA) reports that there are approximately $50B in co-op/MDF dollars available in a given year, while only $30B are actually used. This means that 40% of the dollars that manufacturers make available to their channel to drive local demand generation go unused.

Let me rephrase that - manufacturers offer free money to resellers to drive their business and it’s only accepted 60% of the time. Does that sound right to you?  Does that sound like an effective co-op marketing solution?

As channel and trade managers, you should not accept this as the due course of business. My belief is that adoption rate - the % of your resellers eligible for your co-op program who actually engage - should be the key front-end metric you measure to understand the value of your overall co-op marketing solution. No, it certainly won’t replace the key back-end metrics of revenue and ROI, but on the front-end it is the main thing you should be looking at in your co-op marketing software. Why? Because your adoption rate can tell you so much about your program.

Getting a deep understanding of your adoption rate (over time) can help you understand:
- Are my salesforce engaged and being ambassadors for the program?
- Am I effectively communicating the program?
- Is the program easy-to-use?
- Am I providing enough flexibility within the program?
- Is the creative valuable to my partners?

So - tip of the day - track your adoption rate. If you see it anywhere below around 80%, you should be taking a deep dive to understand why your resellers are not taking advantage to move their business forward.  FYI - your co-op marketing software should be able to help here! 

 

Tags:  Channel Marketing Software, Co-op Advertising, Co-op Marketing Software, Co-op Marketing Solution, CRM Marketing Automation, Retail Marketing, Sales Promotion Marketing, Trade Promotion Marketing