Publication Date: June 2010

Introduction

The direct marketing communications business and its ecosystem are experiencing a dramatic change. This year, the market will see the convergence of three factors that have been strengthening over the past decade. First, today’s consumers are “always on”—they are enjoying more connectivity and control than ever before. Second, the media environment has become more complex than any marketer could have imagined ten years ago. In particular, consumers are engaging in online activities more than ever before, making the Internet a powerful tool that offers many new ways of reaching customers. Third, these economic times have created an intense demand to demonstrate return on investment (ROI). All three of these factors create a “perfect storm” for service providers, as well as an opportunity to capitalize on the cross-media direct marketing opportunity.

Cross-media marketing can be defined as follows:

Cross-media marketing refers to the comprehensive range of traditional and digital media options that can be used in a marketing communications program to deliver an integrated marketing message, including traditional media (such as print, mail, and TV) as well as emerging media (such as Internet, mobile, and social media).

Marketing executives in every line of business, whether business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C), are trying to better understand and optimize the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data and digital assets for more efficient cross-media marketing communications. They need a trusted advisor who can lead them through the complexity of the marketing campaign and technology integration:

• The vendor community needs to enable service providers by better understanding the markets, applications, and specific workflow integration requirements demanded by end-customers
• Service providers need strategic direction on how to migrate effectively into the cross-media space. They need to know how to position, sell, integrate, and deliver cross-media services

This study will provide a comprehensive view of the cross-media direct marketing value chain, as well as its opportunities and trends. It will review market adoption across key verticals and highlight prevailing applications, business models, and enabling technologies.

Project Objectives

InfoTrends will examine how marketing executives are using print, online, mobile, and social media, as well as identify opportunities for technology vendors and service providers throughout the cross-media marketing value chain. The study will allow readers to:

• Understand marketing executives' perceptions, priorities, and strategies for print, online, social, mobile and other marketing media within key vertical industries
• Examine consumer preferences and usage of marketing media by key demographics
• Analyze how marketers track interactions and utilize data to optimize marketing programs
• Profile the marketing data lifecycle, including capture, mining, hygiene, optimization, cross-media composition, delivery, and analytics
• Identify opportunities for technology vendors and service providers to enable effective cross-media marketing programs
• Profile vendor solutions for cross-media marketing including CRM, DAM, composition, mining, and analytics
• Develop case study examples of successful marketing organizations that are deploying cross-media marketing effectively
• Estimate the market size and forecast for cross-media marketing tools and services, including data mining and analytics, data hygiene and optimization, composition, asset management, and campaign management.
• Recommend strategies for technology vendors and service providers to expand their cross-media marketing business

Analysis & Project Deliverables

InfoTrends’ professional staff will perform an extensive analysis of the desk research, one-on-one interviews, and structured surveys to develop an understanding of the opportunities and issues surrounding cross-media direct marketing. Clients will receive a combination of documents, including a report; presentation materials; and research data for senior managers, product managers/planners, and sales/marketing executives. The materials will include:

• A written summary report, detailing the key findings and recommendations:

- Primary research with marketing executives and agencies on the best practices used to deliver successful programs as well as insights into what works and what does not
- Key early adopter target market segments and “killer applications”
- Insights into “how-to” sell and deliver cross-media direct marketing programs, and who is buying the programs
- Analysis of the enabling technologies used to deliver cross-media direct marketing campaigns
- Insights into when to use certain types of media, and advice on how to gain the multiplier effect of simultaneous delivery
- An understanding of the business implications for the new cross-media value chain (e.g., print, Internet, mobile, and social) from a marketing executive/agency, service provider, technology supplier, and consumer perspective
- Market size and forecast analysis for cross-media marketing tools and services

• An executive management presentation (PowerPoint)
• Full survey results delivered as data tabulations and a PowerPoint file
• An optional on-site presentation

Getting Started

For more information on the study or to sign up as a participant, contact Keith LaVangie at +1 781 616 2100 ext. 132 or via e-mail at keith_lavangie@infotrends.com. Early subscriber discounts are available until February 1, 2010.