Given the powerful effects of some viral-marketing efforts, even those previously immune are seeing possibilities of epidemic proportions.

CRM Magazine  I  Jessica Tsai  I  October 2009

You know you’ve got it made when you sit down to a meeting with executives from the largest consumer electronics retailer in the United States and before you can get through your corporate spiel, they say, “Oh, we know who you are.”

Credit the prospect’s due diligence but Michael Phelan, executive director of marketing for technology support provider PlumChoice, would like to think it had something to do with his company’s marketing transformation. Maybe it was the purple “Plumtinis”; or the “purple brick road” that leads to the best part of any conference, the cocktail event; or the models—both male and female—engaging passersby at the booth; or the purple stuffed monkeys to take home to the kids.

Whatever it was, PlumChoice was resolute on breaking out of the typical tradeshow monotony. “You can spend nearly as much money doing a bad job as you can [doing] a great one,” Phelan says. You can sink tens of thousands of dollars into an event, but if you don’t activate it, he says, you’re wasting your money.

Phelan doesn’t know exactly which portion of PlumChoice’s sales can be attributed to attendees who stopped by PlumChoice’s booth. What he does know is that when people do come by, they’re having a blast—and happiness is a good emotion to align with. “When two people are sitting at their booth using their BlackBerry, no one’s going to go near them,” he says. Your brand is being talked about, and getting good buzz has helped PlumChoice in everything it does—conversations are coming easier, the requests for proposals are getting bigger. Beyond that, he says, “You see it in a lot of different, subtle ways.”

Subtle—that’s certainly one way to describe viral marketing. “Word-of-mouth is interesting,” says Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of Nielsen Digital Strategic Services. “Intuitively everyone gets it, but when it comes to weaving it into marketing mix models and [return on investment] forecasts, everyone struggles a little bit, even within Nielsen.”

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Response Magazine  I  Jacqueline Renfrow  I  October 1, 2009

Scott Couvillon is CMO of Dukky, a comprehensive direct mail platform that makes coupons, gift cards and other DR programs more valuable through personalization.  The idea behind the platform is that a brand can send a consumer, by mail, a personalized gift card — complete with the consumer’s name — that can be tracked from when the consumer gets it in the mail throughout the purchasing process.

Each card comes with a personalized URL, and when a consumer logs into a personal Dukky page, he or she can drag and drop in offers that are of interest.  The gift cards are more targeted and more personalized to to a consumer, making a customer more likely to redeem an offer, which can be pre-loaded onto the gift card online.

From a marketer’s standpoint, a gift card bearing a consumer’s name has a higher chance of getting a second look, and the ability of a consumer to personalize it later also increases ROI.A long the way, every question asked by a brand and answered by the consumer, and every product offer clicked-on by the customer, is recorded and serves as important data for future marketing campaigns.

Recently, Dukky partnered with BMW for a campaign to get consumers to test drive a BMW.

“[BMW] wanted to do the campaign for people driving other luxury makes,” says Couvillon, “But they didn’t want to tarnish the image of BMW.”  The offer, which came from a Dukky, included a $25 American Express gas card if the consumer went to a local dealership to test drive a BMW.  Couvillon sees this as a much more valuable way to gauge interest than a print ad or in a magazine or someone asking questions on a dealership lot.  The platform is a way to build a relationship with consumers and exchange value.

“Here is a gas card and an excuse to come in and test drive a BMW,” says Couvillon.  “What they’re essentially buying is, say, an Audi driver’s attention and feedback.  What BMW will know is who would consider buying a BMW.”

Chief Marketer I Richard H. Levey I September 22, 2009

The buzz about social media’s value is taking root. Based on two polls hosted by Dukky, a direct mail/new media advertising firm, marketers get it… they just ain’t spending on it.

Scott Couvillon, Dukky’s CMO, is surprised 93% say this is either a good time or a great time for them to experiment. Marketers exist in a “lemming society,” he says, underscoring his belief that the pack mentality most adhere to hasn’t fully embraced new media.

One reason why that number is as high as it is may be the survey’s methodology. It was conducted among mid-tier executives or management of marketing service firms or marketing communications units through LinkedIn, meaning that respondents are already predisposed to participating in some form of comparatively new communication.

Another reason is the deliberately vague wording of the question. The New Orleans-based company asked about “new marketing channels” without providing guidelines for answers.

“We let people define it,” Couvillon says, adding that to him it means they’re “doing something tomorrow that they aren’t doing today.”

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Sales and Marketing Management I Anthony Crupi I September 8, 2009

BMW is kicking the tires on a direct response campaign targeting luxury auto enthusiasts, turning to an often undervalued marketing platform as a means to entice Mercedes, Volvo and Audi drivers to come in for a test drive.

In a bid to draw likely buyers to their local BMW dealership, last week the New Orleans-based DRM firm Dukky began sending out some 25,000 mailers to premium vehicle owners in the Tri-State (New York-New Jersey-Connecticut) area. Upon registering for a test drive, the recipients of the direct mail material are presented with a $25 American Express gas card.

Participating consumers are directed to visit a unique URL, which directs them to a personalized activation site powered by Dukky. Once the user has registered for a BMW test drive, he or she can share the promotion via email or social networking sites. The digital activity feeds into a dashboard which reports back to the client in real time, thereby creating a database of purchase intent and user feedback.

Although the DRM strategy may seem a bit low rent for the likes of BMW, there are a number of advantages to targeting the mailbox. “BMW for years has been all about acquisitions, whether you’re talking email lists or traditional mailing lists,” said Scott Couvillon, chief marketing officer, Dukky. “By its very nature, direct mail is much more impactful than even the greatest email because it’s there and it’s tangible. Then you take the next step with the PURL and you’re getting feedback on an individual consumer level.”
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