What's New In Marketing

What's New in Marketing - Issue 50, July-August 2006

http://www.wnim.com

A new dawn for web analytics

2006 heralded a step change in the web analytics market. Businesses with an online presence wishing to succeed in this rapidly changing world are welcoming the next evolution in marketing analytics. By combining the science of online optimisation with the creative art of marketing, they have realised that you can not only prove but also dramatically improve your marketing results.

As more and more businesses bolster their web presence, analysing web visitor behaviour is crucial. No longer is web analytics purely about number crunching for backroom IT dwellers, but a vital tool in analysing business trends and stats for senior management. CEOs have woken up to the fact that they have to be involved in their marketing campaigns and become more marketing-savvy. As a result they are embracing advanced marketing measurement and web analytics as an indication of organisational performance.

This move beyond conventional web analytics has been coined Marketing Performance Management and matured to meet the growing requirement to identify what customers want in order to deliver the right messages at the right time. Of course the web is key in bringing this change about, allowing businesses to measure all of those fragmented media channels, quantify the results of your marketing campaigns to the whole organisation and target messages to customers effectively.

Marketers are now calling for a total system of measurement, with the web as the hub. They face a myriad of challenges in today’s competitive marketplace and are increasingly being called upon to demonstrate the success of their campaigns. However, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have remained inconsistent, despite the fact that more and more organisations are embracing them as a means to measure the strength of their business. Consistent KPIs mean streamlined operations, increased customer lifetime value, and reduced business costs. However, different teams are receiving different information from different systems, that measure campaigns differently, which is where the route of the problem lies.

In this respect data is left languishing in silos. And with so many campaigns to try and keep track of, from search to email to advertising, the amount of data can become overwhelming to a frazzled marketing exec with a hundred actions on the to do list. Couple this with the continued explosion in the breadth of media opportunities and new and exciting ways to reach consumers through the net, and the problem can only be exacerbated. If everyone in an organisation is measuring marketing campaigns with opposing and uncoordinated systems, valuable insights will continue to fall by the wayside.

Another issue that has brought about this change in the market is poor targeting of campaigns. Sending a one-size fits all message simply doesn’t provide the results it once did. In order to create marketing campaigns that resonate, it is imperative to understand the intent of customers and tailor the message to it. This is a key aspect of relationship marketing - and a powerful benefit of communicating with the web as the hub.

Marketing departments must now begin to provide metrics and demonstrate accountability – just like their peers in other departments. A recent survey by WebTrends revealed that over 56 per cent of marketing executives stated that the web was either the hub of their organisation’s marketing strategy, or that it would become the hub in the next year. As online marketing is rapidly maturing, businesses must ensure their web analytics keep-up with their online campaigns. In particular there is a real need for organisations to recognise the importance of web analytics within every part of their marketing spend.

Not only has online marketing needed to take a more sophisticated approach in measuring visitor behaviour and accountability, but also it must be more closely integrated with offline marketing activity. A recent survey compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that an integrated online and offline marketing strategy remains the exception rather than the rule. 52 per cent of executives admitted that online and offline marketing efforts either run in parallel or are not integrated at all. A 360-degree approach to customer data analysis can provide a business with a complete insight into the online behaviour of customers and is vital in ensuring that both existing and potential customers can be targeted more explicitly.

Measuring and tracking online marketing performance is key to ensure only the most effective, profitable and loyalty-building marketing activities are executed. As CEOs embrace Marketing Performance Management as an indication of organisational success, marketing teams are being held accountable for creating ‘web-smart’ campaigns that optimise online marketing spend and campaign elements to generate the maximum number of sales leads.

The next generation of web analytics is here, with tailored solutions that meet the needs and objectives of a variety of members from the marketing team - not just the technical guys sitting in the basement.

About the author

By Conrad Bennett, Technical Services Director, WebTrends

Mobile Is Accepted As The Third Screen For Marketing,
So How Do You Get On Board?

Mobile is proving to be one of the most effective channels for recruitment consultants to communicate directly with their clients. It is instant, targeted and gets results. SMS messaging is used by many to communicate a range of information, from text-to-win to gym membership reminders.. Consultants are managing clients’ appointments by integrating with their existing administration systems.

Text messaging (SMS and MMS) is no longer seen as something just for the youth market. Its applications extend much further. Even 1 in 3 over 65s is a regular texter! The sector is growing, and in many cases we’ve only just scratched the surface.

Choosing The Agency

Many agencies specialise in mobile applications, providing the tools, techniques and expertise to communicate with clients. So, with all this choice and all this expertise, which do you choose?

This is a question I have been asked many times, and my answer is always the same.

Choose an agency that has read and digested the Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (2003) as well as the Data Protection Act. The soft opt-in needs to be understood carefully and opt-outs handled right. The agency should also confirm that consumer data does not leave the EU (for DPA reasons) and that messaging is direct to UK networks to ensure you get a delivery receipt and that messages are not delayed along the way.

Use an agency that has all the mobile data services under one roof, or has a proven track record in project managing suppliers. If you are using existing client lists your agency should be able to clean the database for you. If you want to allow staff to complete timesheets or feedback through their mobile phone you need someone who knows how the mobile internet works and understands the 30 or so different phone software types.

Campaign Roll-out

So, now you’ve selected your agency and you’re ready to communicate with your clients, what do you do next? Follow this advice and you can’t go far wrong:

Keep your text messages simple and use plain English
Avoid over zealous use of exclamation marks and capitalisation
Do not put spaces in telephones numbers but include them as a single number so they can be dialled easily from within the message
Plan your communications in advance and keep a record of what you have done and to whom
Offer a mobile option alongside other response methods advertised in traditional media – let the consumer choose
Promote the mobile option on communications to reinforce the option
Consider an incentive for choosing the mobile channel, especially if your operational (acquisition/service) costs are reduced through this medium
Allow opt-outs via text, web and through your ‘front desk’ and highlight these clearly
Train all customer-facing staff in your permission/privacy policy including how to manually record of opt-outs
Keep your database up to date

If you are going to be co-ordinating candidates make sure they can reply to your text message, i.e. your software handles and re-routes the reply. The software you use should be capable of supporting a thread so that a conversation of several text messages is grouped together on screen for ease of use.

Finally, when you run an advertisement for a job include a text-back call to action with a unique code – being the job itself – and prospects can find out more. If they send their house number and postcode you can post a job summary or if they text their email address you can automate an email reply even containing an interactive questionnaire.

So, don’t be put off by the minefield of mobile marketing agencies. Remember, mobile communication is highly effective, direct and immediate. Follow the rules before engaging in any campaign and reap the rewards.

About the author

Jonathan Bass is the Managing Director of Incentivated, the mobile marketing agency that provides software for simple integrated mobile communication activities. Incentivated’s solutions are used to improve the effectiveness of communication between business and clients.

www.incentivated.com

Why transparency is good for business

In the ever-changing world of marketing one thing is becoming increasingly apparent….client transparency is good for business. For years the marketing industry has shielded its eyes to account management practices, however as clients are increasingly looking for more efficient agency management and greater transparency, the industry must now stand up and be counted.

As marketing departments are forced to tighten their belts, agencies are equally beginning to feel the squeeze. Under the watchful eye of procurement departments, inspiring creativity and flair must now be underpinned by excellent time and financial management processes. A recent Profitwatch survey revealed that thirty six per cent of agency time remains unaccounted for via time capture systems. Agencies must now deliver campaigns that not only impress the client on a creative front, but are also on target with supplier and business performance metrics.

Whilst marketing businesses may cry that procurement is threatening creativity, they must recognise the increasing importance of providing clients with an open-door policy. Agencies, as they should, are starting to be held accountable for every part of the campaign and this can only be achieved when agencies look closely at their own internal processes. As the liaison between the client and the agency, it is imperative for account handlers to be aware of each aspect of the campaign so that they can keep clients informed for the duration – and in my experience nothing annoys a client more than confusion over budgets, billing and deadlines.

Secondly, agencies must shake off the perception that they are techno-phobes and instead be seen to recognise the benefits that technology can bring. Account administration must mature from the trusty excel spreadsheet and instead embrace technology-based solutions that offer clients a means of managing internal processes and communicating critical information. Systems tailored to meet individual client needs and deliver real-time reporting will ensure that clients get the information they want when they want it. In addition, it will help develop a relationship based on trust between client and agency – something that is missing from many client/agency marriages.

In the UK, good client/agency relationships are often the secret to the success of a long and happy marriage; alarmingly forty four per cent of businesses believe a change in client contact is the main reason why clients re-pitch their business. Efficient account management not only lengthens the life of an existing relationship, but can also form solid foundations for a new one. Profitwatch revealed that in the quest for excellent service and value for money, it is not uncommon for clients to re-pitch their business to ensure they are getting the best from their agency, not only in terms of creativity but also tight account management. Although the procurement and marketing department may be like chalk and cheese, in new business pitches, agencies need to win over both camps if they’re serious about winning the business.

As the truth rarely comes out until the client asks for a campaign evaluation, efficient account management systems will eliminate disputes over billing and schedule delays. With fifty six per cent of respondents agreeing that invoices are often queried as a result of erroneous information, agencies that demonstrate to clients how and where their money is being spent and that they are willing to work within the procurement processes, are much more likely to succeed.

Account transparency not only benefits clients but can also help agencies to tackle the problem of over-service levels. The creative services sector currently over services accounts by fifteen per cent on average and although there is an industry wide aim to reduce this, the target figure still remains high at eight per cent. By investing in measures to control account management and manage costs, an agency can ultimately improve their own profitability.

In an increasingly competitive environment, agencies must stand out from the crowd and be viewed by their clients as a business partner rather than just a supplier. Whilst creativity remains top of the agenda, a culture that revolves around account transparency and excellent management will be beneficial to both client and agency. The marketing world is beginning to face the ‘accountability’ issue, and by effectively aligning themselves with changing organisational needs, agencies will profit from long and happy client/agency marriages.

About the author

By Marcus Leathwood, Business Development Director, Maconomy

Clicking with consumers

The Internet is not only changing the way people communicate and share information with each other, it is also changing the way organisations discover information about customers – what they do, how they interact, what and where they buy and what they might buy in the future. And with the Internet still in its infancy, this process has only just begun.

Passive data collection, to build up a profile of you as a consumer, is on the cusp of breaking through. For some time, websites have been collecting browsing data and other passive measures such as cookies and web bugs. To date, these approaches have only delivered limited returns, particularly in the area of market research. But things are changing fast.

The Internet has given consumers a voice to express their views on anything and everything using a variety of media – from text to video. Chat rooms, blogs and forums contain vast amounts of information. Called ‘Word of Mouth’ or Consumer-Generated Media (CGM)1, various phrases have been coined to encompass the millions of consumer-generated comments, opinions and personal experiences. Posted in publicly available online sources, these comments cover a wide range of issues and touch on products, services and brands. It is estimated that 25 million2 postings will be made on blogs this year alone.

The challenge for marketeers is that the messages are likely to be more prolific and viral when negative about a product or service. Tools and techniques are rapidly being developed to help brands manage and exploit ‘Word of Mouth’ swiftly. The opportunity is there for real time interaction with consumers.

We can only begin to imagine the potential for exploiting information on the Internet. Readers of last month’s New Scientist (June 2006) may have been shocked to read about what is happening in the US. The Pentagon's National Security Agency (NSA) is funding research into mass harvesting of personal information that people post on social networks like MySpace. " You should always assume anything you write online is stapled to your resumé,” according to Jon Callas, chief security officer at PGP, a Silicon Valley-based maker of encryption software, quoted in the article3.

To date, capturing this information on the web requires manual intervention as it is contained in different formats. But the next stage of the web could change all that. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is developing the new semantic web which incorporates the Resource Description Framework (RDF) – a common data structure which allocates unique tags or common machine-readable descriptors to information so that it can be captured and processed by computers.

The possibilities for market research are far reaching. Imagine you want to launch a new widget product – potentially the semantic web would be able to capture how many widgets are made worldwide, where, how many are sold and who bought them – and possibly even produce the spreadsheet at a click.

Ahead of such technical advances, online panels are increasingly being used for research projects. Online research got off to a flying start in the US, accompanied by the early development of online access panels. Europe followed with similar changes in 2004 and 2005. The tools are accessible, well constructed panels are widely available and, as debates about ethics, reliability and appropriateness are coming to an end, online research is fast becoming the norm.

Today ESOMAR, the world research organisation, affirms that 11 per cent of all market research worldwide is conducted through the Internet although this varies across countries4. The UK, for example is estimated to be as high as 20 per cent while China is as low as 2 per cent. The USA and the Netherlands are growing fastest. And the use of the Internet is likely to grow at an increasing rate not just because of improving technology but because telephone survey response rates are falling for a number of reasons, including empty households during the day (multiple earners), busy lifestyles and respondents’ lack of cooperation because of aggressive telemarketers.

How will using online panels change the market research industry? An obvious effect of the Internet is that the cost of market research is falling, led by cost reductions in the US. In some ways research is becoming more of a commodity than a craft. However, falling average costs hides the fact that while the cost of standard research is declining, more complex bespoke projects are becoming more expensive as they require more time and complex analysis.

Another significant change is speed. However, it is important to understand that the Internet only makes the non-thinking parts of the project faster – ie the data capture – but has only a limited impact on the higher thinking elements of the research. For example, the same time is required to understand the client’s needs, think about the best questions, structure the survey, explore the data and ‘open ends’, develop hypotheses and validate them, and then develop intuition. And, most importantly, the amount of presentation time, discussion time, and communication time required to impart the research insight to the client are equally the same.

In essence, the time scale of a fast research project is defined by technology and logistics while that of a slow research project is defined by the amount of thinking required. Shorter timescales typically mean a short shelf life of the finished product and, with the ever increasing pace of change, has significant implications for brands which need to be updated continually to keep pace. For example, as large supermarkets start to follow the electronic wake of customers and use this to understand shopping patterns, competitor organisations will be forced to follow suit to compete.

In the past, market research has relied on random sampling, but this is now a thing of the past because of online panels and professional respondents. Individuals now self select to be on a panel and typically these people will complete between 50 and 70 online surveys a year. We estimate that around two million people in the UK are on online panels and, with just 10 main panels, the same people may be answering questions over and over again. Inevitably this will influence how they answer questions, which has implications for the way surveys are structured in the future. In addition, large panels are developing around the Western economies and these are being absorbed into a small number of large companies.

As the scripting of Internet surveys is weighted towards data programming skills rather than language skills, increasingly we are seeing this area of work shift from research companies to panel organisations or being outsourced to third parties, often based in India or developing countries. The effect of this on the local market research skills base is marked. Already the Internet means fewer field based market researchers are required and the shift in scripting means a further reduction in head count. Employment in the market research industry is also being impacted as regional or local offices are no longer required for field or tab operations, as these can be run anywhere in the world.

While the gap between pure research and database marketing is closing, new techniques are appearing, which focus solely on the Internet, from marketing science techniques and interactive reporting to full-blooded product development processes.

1 CGM was first coined by Pete Blackshaw of Nielsen BuzzMetrics (http://www.buzzmetrics.com/)

2 Based on Nielsen BuzzMetrics estimates for English language CGM sources and postings, and is an average estimate for the year.

3 New Scientist, June 2006 (http://www.newscientist.com/)

4 ESOMAR Industry Study 2004 - ESOMAR is the world organisation for enabling better research into markets, consumers and societies and has 4000 members in 100 countries (http://www.esomar.org/)

About the author

Ray Poynter, director of marketing sciences at Virtual Surveys, is a recognised expert in Internet research and statistical and analytical techniques.

For further information on Virtual Surveys see http://www.3m.com/uk and on ESOMAR and Congress 2006 see http://www.esomar.org/

Marketing 2.0

The broadband revolution is sparking a new battle of the brands. Its affordability, availability and penetration in the UK mean that online offerings are becoming as, if not more, important than the in-store experience.

Site visitors are becoming increasingly demanding, and marketers need to address these needs. After TV, broadband is the second most consumed media in this country, it is vital that marketers ensure they are up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in a space which is often a fearful place to the less technically savvy. With competition on the web increasing all the time, marketers can no longer afford neglect their online brands.

Although it’s essential to stay on top of the latest web trends the key is to evaluate whether each new trend will add value to the brand, satisfy customer requirements or help the company remain competitive in the marketplace. The buzz-word of the moment is Web 2.0, but what does this actually mean, and how can it bolster the marketing message?

The first thing to be clear about is that Web 2.0 is not a software launch. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the private-sector, non-profit organisation that co-ordinates the Internet, has not issued a new release of the Web. Instead, Web 2.0 can be thought of as the maturing medium, which is evolving to become increasingly orientated toward interaction and rudimentary social networks.

In other words, it is an evolution involving new technology rather than being a technology itself. Websites have grown to become much more than catalogues of information. Users want quality, interactive, online experiences rather than surfing between layers of webpages or sites. Web 2.0 is transforming the web and the way visitors use it. It is a conduit to interaction, rather than a navigation tool for a multitude of pages. It supports social networks, community-based ranking systems and a rich user experience through emerging web technologies such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS), Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) and Application Program Interfaces (API). It also offers users open data formats – sharable, editable, “create your own” web applications.

But Web 2.0 is a tricky proposition for the marketer. It cannot be pinned down to one exact definition or technology. It is still very much an organic, work in progress; an ideal of sharing and participation, rather than publishing and declaration. In fact Tim O’Reilly, of the eponymous publishing house that organised the first Web 2.0 Conference, has described Web 2.0 as “an attitude not a technology”, suggesting that it is more of a cultural change in the Web’s development. But how can marketers embrace this change, reflect it in their websites and how can it benefit the brand?

Web 2.0 presents marketers with the opportunity to create a compelling online brand and user experience. Lower technology barriers, such as bandwidth costs, and develop new web technologies adhering to well defined standards, marketers can integrate social software and services onto their websites at little cost as Web 2.0 technologies are cheap and easy to maintain. Marketers need to be confident and work with web developers to pioneer new, engaging applications by taking advantage of emergent online techniques.

But how does it help? Monetising the social network can be achieved through highly targeted tailored but definitely not mainstream advertising. There is a new generation of brand aware, web savvy consumers, who are advertising adverse. Managing advertising and messaging across multiple platforms and ensuring that it is neither annoying nor repetitive is the key challenge for marketers. However, if you can manage the message in the right way and be accepted, the opportunities for penetration and engagement with your target market are huge.

There are already a number of interactive sites that are superb examples of how Web 2.0 has helped companies remain competitive by rejuvenating communication and marketing messages. Jobster.com uses social networking to fill positions, using the central tenants of Web 2.0 to drive this multi-million dollar company’s business. Etsy.com is a fantastic example of a retail store that reaped the Web 2.0 benefits by aligning strong brand messages with core features which drive sales. American Express also uses Web 2.0 technology to improve the richness of the user experience, even for filling in an application form.

Weaving Web 2.0 into the online offering can empower marketers to leverage the opportunities in this space and help bolster the brand. Web 2.0 can be seen as having inherent values of trust, usability, vibrancy and sharing. If a brand can be associated with these values, it will be dramatically strengthened.

But a word of warning, existing, established brands claiming to have embraced Web 2.0 can run into some serious problems. It is important to remember that this is a pull and not push environment. It is a classic case of “if you need to shout about it, you don’t know what you are talking about.”

Marketers need to ensure that they fully evaluate each possibility Web 2.0 has to offer, only integrating valuable functions onto their websites, rather than jumping on the bandwagon. User needs must be assessed by determining “What would our clients love?” and then creating Web 2.0 technologies to deliver the results. Testing these technologies with focus groups, friendly clients and usability testers is also vital – something may be great in theory but not work in practice.

Websites and technologies date quickly, and with the rapid penetration of broadband, users are becoming increasingly demanding. Don’t let them down with outdated website design and features, find out what they really want and give it to them. As technology continues to evolve, barriers around website design continue to fall and the human brain faces less restraint on the art of the possible, Web 2.0 will come to influence most aspects of how we interact with the Internet. The only remaining question is what will Web 3.0 look like?

About the author

Simon Conroy is CEO for Madgex, the UK market leader in B2B web publishing systems. For more information, please go to: www.madgex.com

Addressing the Product Introduction
and Product Change Management Challenge

IP-transformation and accelerating competition is forcing service providers to become more creative and agile in rolling out new products and services. The primary way in which operators can differentiate themselves going forward is around innovative product offerings. Consumers will increasingly expect specialised offerings that are linked to events or their lifestyles. A recent NOP survey of more than 800 mobile phone users has shown that for the right price, consumers will embrace a whole range of technology to follow the results and coverage of games in the upcoming World Cup. Of respondents in the 15-34 age bracket, more than half (52%) want to receive instant SMS updates on scores on their mobile phone to stay up to date on the games and results, while 31% want to see video footage or clips of when their team scores.

Although the above NOP survey is just one data point, there is little doubt about an accelerating trend where operators are looking to introduce offerings that are built from a vast selection of underlying components, have many variations, are introduced quickly, are retired sooner, and more importantly, are lifestyle linked. This trend will clearly have an impact on the product development and management processes of integrated operators. What are some of the product introduction and product change management challenges operators are facing today or will face soon? Do they have the processes and systems in place to manage new product introductions and changes in a timely and efficient manner?

Assume you are part of a product management team working at a telecommunications service provider that is committed to delivering richer and more varied offerings. Your team is responsible for defining a set of new multi-play product bundles for the residential market. Each bundle will include 5 basic services - high speed internet access, VoIP service with a package of voice features, a package of TV channels, email and web hosting. Let’s get started with this exercise.

Challenge number one. Where does the team get the latest information on the alternatives available to you within each of the 5 services domains? Let us assume for now that you do have an updated and readily available set of documents that list all the alternatives and their details. Based on the information in these documents, there are 3 to 5 alternatives available to you in each service domain. For example, for high speed internet access, you have the option of using your own network facilities in some areas, and also have the option of 2 or more alternative access providers in other areas. Finally, each service has associated with it 4 to 6 attributes of interest that you want to look at and evaluate in assembling your bundles. Attributes of interest for the high speed internet access service, for example, would include things like download speed, serving area coverage and cost.

Challenge number two. How do you determine and identify all the meaningful bundled solution options to create offerings around? Believe it or not, the exhaustive combination of all the components for the above scenario will result in over 1 million solution possibilities! True, many of these possibilities will not be valid, but figuring out which ones are is a significant challenge. So you plod through the painful, tedious and time-consuming process of working out service combinations on paper, and manually iterating on the bundle requirements, constraints and dependencies, to eventually end up with a set of sub-optimal and potentially invalid or erroneous bundled product possibilities. These bundled product specifications are then documented somewhere by the team. The process does not end here. After converging on a handful of bundled product possibilities and after understanding the feature/capability characteristics of each bundle, you now need to add in all the commercial elements to make these into sellable market offerings. This involves adding customer eligibility rules, pricing, channels where the offers will be available, applicable promotions, up-sell/cross sell rules, and options.

Once the offering descriptions are finalised, the product management team then begins the process of working with the IT team to update and code all the various CRM, order management and billing product catalogues involved in the service delivery chain. Each of these applications has its own unique data format, data structures and modelling capabilities, and is typically capable of maintaining in its product catalogue only a portion of the full detail on market offerings and products. At some point, once all the disparate catalogues are updated, the collective data spread across all these systems becomes your “database of record” for the product and offer definitions. Not sure you are entirely comfortable with the situation where you need to look in 6 different places to piece together the current picture of products and offerings. Anyway, you are now finally ready to start selling these new offers to your customers. Your team is feeling good about things, since you managed to get through the Herculean task of introducing a new set of offerings in the marketplace.

But wait. Changes are starting to occur in your network, in your supplier relationships, and in the market in general. The reality is that your company is operating in a highly dynamic environment. The competition is now bundling merchandise and streaming video packages into its offerings. You need to add these service components to your bundles to remain competitive. Also, your business development team has just signed a deal with a new access provider that is offering higher download speeds and better service quality at a lower cost. The supplier of two of the premium TV channels in your TV packages has just increased its prices in the recent contract renewal, given the high popularity of its content. Your team starts scrambling to figure out the implications of all these changes. Which offerings are going to be affected by the cost increase in the two premium channels? Given this price increase, as well as the availability of a new lower cost access option, is there a different set of service combinations that could better meet the needs of your existing product offerings? How do you answer these and other questions in a timely manner, and how do you quickly react to these changes to ensure that you continue delivering differentiated offerings and superior customer service? Maybe its time to get another job!

Hold on. Help is on the way. A new class of operations support systems called Next-Generation Product Lifecycle Managers (NGPLMs) are making their way into the market. These software systems are targeted towards product and marketing managers as the primary application users, and these systems will help service providers speed-up and simplify new product introduction and product change management. These systems herald a major new approach to product lifecycle management for operators, as a single integrated software solution can now be used to manage the cradle-to-grave lifecycle of all product offerings. Product and marketing managers within service providers will be able to move away from paper-based and highly manual processes currently being used to define and roll-out of new offerings. Furthermore, the processes to handle product changes will become more complete and timely, and figuring out the implications of product changes will no longer be a ‘best effort’ task.

Operators are faced with significant challenges related to new product introduction and product change management. Many operators already have millions of product items and options to manage and hundreds of changes per month to contend with, and it is only going to get worse. The good news is that the tools to better manage these processes are becoming available now. Product lifecycle management systems have become a strategic imperative rather than an operational efficiency consideration. They will dramatically reduce the new product introduction cycle-time, improve product offering quality, and enable efficient and effective change management.

About the Author

By Yogen Patel, VP Marketing, at Ceon (http://www.ceon.com/) a developer of software solutions for telecom operators