Building Customer Loyalty

Colleague Damon Ragusa writes:

" ... Loyalty is a Behavior. So Start Measuring It Like a Behavior. 
Customer Loyalty (much like its first cousin, brand equity) is a lot like religion:  there are more than a few views on what it is, some strongly held beliefs on how it works but some common threads across all those views.  I'm fairly agnostic on the how it all works.  But I do believe that regardless of your preferred view, loyalty is a set of behaviors that can be observed.  So that got me thinking...  " 

Digital Attribution

Former colleague Damon Ragusa on marketing complexity. In Linkedin:

" ... A growing chorus of articles recently have extolled the virtues of various attribution models and derides the notion of the last click model. You’ve read them - they all start with an example day-in-the-life of a person engaging with advertising online, using a search engine to do some research, seeing an ad on their phone and then using their computer to go to a company’s website. These articles then point out that one of the activities will get under-valued because of the position it fell in and the fact that your attribution model doesn’t account for it. They make it clear that you need to understand the path a consumer takes, or more romantically, the customer journey. That is the only way to truly understand how your digital marketing is working. But here is the rub. Even if you’re investing in a small number of digital tactics the number of combinations of paths is huge. As a data geek, I can’t help but do the math on this. ... "

Thinkvine and Damon Ragusa

Have followed Thinkvine here for some time, out enterprise connected with them and have touched base  number of times since their creation in 2000 by Damon Ragusa.     They have done some very novel  work integrating agent based modeling simulation, marketing mix and related problems.  I like their new video on their offerings.  Simulation is a very powerful analytic technique to understand marketing operations.  In the news today, Damon Ragusa is back at the helm.  More details in today's Cincinnati Enquirer.  Hope to reconnect in the coming weeks.

Idio Platform

I see that longtime  correspondent Damon Ragusa of Thinkvine is now connected with Idio.   Which "... understands your customer’s interests and intent through the content they consume and uses this to deliver personalized and relevant multi-channel communications  ... " .  Learning more and will report. See also their blog.

Predict Marketing ROI with Next-Gen Planning Tools

I repeat this invitation for a Webinar next week. We worked with Thinkvine in the enterprise and remain impressed with their work.

March 18, 2010 | 2 p.m. ET | Duration: 1 Hour
More information and Register Now

Can you predict marketing ROI before spending a dime? Marketing Simulation technology can! This new technology is allowing CG companies to test and learn from an unlimited number of detailed “what if” scenarios – even the ability to test new media.

On March 18, 2010, join AMR’s Senior Analyst Steve Steutermann and ThinkVine CEO Damon Ragusa for the latest on Marketing Optimization technologies. Speakers will answer critical questions such as:
--What is the optimal mix of my marketing dollars?
--What is the ROI of each marketing outlet?
--What would happen if I moved a large portion of my budget into an emerging media vehicle?
Plus, hear case studies from brands with marketing budgets ranging from $10 Million to $80 Million on how they are using these cutting edge planning tools.
...
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Overcome Media Fragmentation with Next-Generation Marketing Planning Tools

Upcoming webinar of interest, given on March 18, 2010, click through for more information, times and registration:

Program: Consumer Goods Technology webCONNECTIONseries
Panelist(s) Info: Moderator: Kara Romanow, Executive Editor, CGT, Steve Steutermann, Research Director, Consumer Products, AMR Research, Damon Ragusa, CEO, ThinkVine, Duration: 1 hour

Description: Today’s Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) need better planning tools to keep up with the fragmentation of media and pace of change of today’s dynamic marketplace. On March 18, 2010, join AMR’s Senior Analyst Steve Steutermann and ThinkVine CEO Damon Ragusa for the latest on Marketing Optimization technologies. Hear case studies from brands with marketing budgets ranging from $10 Million to $80 Million on how they are using these cutting edge planning tools. Speakers will answer critical questions such as:

--How do simulation tools accurately project marketing scenarios?
--What is the optimal mix of my marketing dollars?
--What is the ROI of each marketing outlet?
--What would happen if I moved a large portion of my budget into an emerging media vehicle?

Also, learn why marketing simulation technology is giving consumer goods companies the ability to know the ROI of a marketing plan before the investment is made; test and learn from an unlimited number of detailed “what if” scenarios; and test new media that has not been tried before. ... '
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ThinkVine Addresses CMO Priorities.

A few posts ago I mentioned ThinkVine's 'editors pick' award, they worked with us in the enterprise, here are more details from their press release:

" ... ThinkVine, a marketing simulation & planning tool provider, announces that it has been named a 2010 Editor’s Pick in the magazine’s annual Reader’s Choice issue.

ThinkVine launched its flagship product in March 2009 and its immediate marketplace adoption speaks to the alignment of our capabilities with the priorities of today’s Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs):

1. Knowing what the ROI of a marketing plan is before spends are made
2. Ability to run an unlimited number of “what if” scenarios
3. Ability to test new media that has not been tried before

..... “It’s an honor for CGT to highlight the success we’ve been having in the Consumer Goods space,” said Damon Ragusa, President & CEO of ThinkVine. “Today’s CMOs need better planning tools and the market seems to be responding to what we have to offer.”

To read the entire 2010 Consumer Goods Technology Editors’ Pick article, click here.... "

ThinkVine Named Cool Vendor

Thinkvine, a local advanced analytics vendor that I have met with a number of times:

Gartner Names ThinkVine 1 of 4 “Cool Vendors” in Consumer Goods, 2009
... ThinkVine, a marketing simulation & planning software provider, has been named a 2009 “Cool Vendor” by Gartner in Consumer Goods. The 2009 research report highlights four vendors from around the world whose technology helps Consumer Goods manufacturers improve revenues while decreasing costs.

Advanced analytics and internal collaboration are central themes in this year’s ‘Cool Vendor Report’ as Consumer Goods companies seek to improve their advertising, forecasting and product development capabilities in response to a difficult economy. ThinkVine’s Emerging MarketplaceTM helps marketers understand the collective impact of traditional and non-traditional marketing on the consumer and provides a means to capture ROI from advertising.

Gartner defines a “Cool Vendor” as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are:
Innovative: Enables 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: Have caught Gartner’s interest or curiosity in the past 6 months

“We are excited to have been chosen by Gartner as a cool vendor,” said Damon Ragusa, Founder & CEO of ThinkVine. “As the report points out, Consumer Goods companies have never faced a greater need for better tools to understand the impact of advertising and promotion in the face of economy-driven shifts in the marketplace.”

The “Cool Vendors in Consumer Goods, 2009” report is available at http://www.gartner.com.

... ThinkVine helps some of the world's most respected companies better align marketing & advertising with consumer behavior. Our application, The Emerging MarketplaceTM, simulates the interactions between different mixes of marketing and consumers in a virtual environment that mirrors the “real world.” Built on an agent-based modeling (ABM) framework, The Emerging MarketplaceTM lets marketers run “what if” scenarios and turn marketing/media planning into an iterative exercise versus a “one shot” approach. ThinkVine is currently deployed in consumer packaged goods (CPG), food & beverage, pharmaceutical, technology and other vertical markets ... "

Re-Examining MIT's Starlogo

Some time ago we talked about MIT's StarLogo project. I was reminded of the package during a tutorial by Damon Ragusa of Thinkvine. A new version called Starlogo TNG has come out and it is a considerable update. Damon has used it to create a number of agent model prototypes of consumer systems. Although Starlogo was designed to teach computing and logic to kids, this new version is considerably more powerful and useful than previous versions. My only problem has been that it won't work on my issue Dell laptop which apparently has a problem with its Nvidea graphics board. Cannot find a workaround.

" ... StarLogo is a programmable modeling environment for exploring the workings of decentralized systems -- systems that are organized without an organizer, coordinated without a coordinator. With StarLogo, you can model (and gain insights into) many real-life phenomena, such as bird flocks, traffic jams, ant colonies, and market economies... "