European digital marketing specialist Neolane hits US
European marketing software provider Neolane Inc., which specializes in integrating emerging technologies with traditional channels of communication, has launched operations in North America.
The company first opened its doors in 2001 in Europe, where the use of text messaging by consumers and marketers has been more pervasive than in the US. With mobile technology finally beginning to pick up steam on this side of the Atlantic, the company decided the timing was right to open up an office in Newton, MA.
"Marketers need to be able to embrace and leverage all channels together in a cohesive way for the consumer," said Patrick McHugh, who is executive vice president of North American operations. In the past, a lot of marketers dealt with each communications channel individually, which is counter to the "highly interactive, highly relevant personal engagement" offered by digital marketing, McHugh continued.
In Europe, where Neolane (www.neolane.com) has offices in the UK, Denmark and France, the company's clients include SAS, Carrefour, EMI Music and Porsche. A typical challenge presented by marketers is that they have a large customer base that they need to interact with frequently but which has diverse needs in terms of how individuals would like to be communicated with: Some prefer text messaging, some e-mail while others want to receive direct mail.
Neolane's software, which is available either as an on-demand or a licensed solution, automates all of a marketer's strategies in the market, enabling the delivery of content via all channels in a coordinated way.
"We really are talking about a 360-degree view of the customer and a 360-degree strategy," McHugh said.
Customers can also purchase individual portions of Neolane's platform, which include Multichannel Campaign Management, Lead Management, Dynamic Content Management, Marketing Resource Management and Analytics and Reporting.
By bringing Neolane's experience in the European market, McHugh feels the company will be able to help marketers better leverage mobile technology as part of their strategies.
For example, a customer arriving at a shopping center can click on a link in an e-mail and receive coupons for that day from stores in the center. Or, there might be a digital sign in the center that is broadcasting a digital code that the customer can punch in as a text message and receive back an offer.
