Vendor lines are blurring as cross channel marketing dominates
Today at the Responsys Leaders Forum, the technology company announced the release of their latest marketing product suite called the Responsys Interact Suite. The new technology includes a lot more than just e-mail marketing tools and integrates e-mail with social, mobile, online and data from across a brand's business,It seems that many vendors today are getting into more integrated technology offerings, as well as services, blurring the lines between an e-mail marketing company, a search company, a mobile company, and even an ad agency. As technology vendors become more services focused, they compete with the traditional agencies and interactive ad folks. The rules are no longer set.
Last week, I wrote about Agency.com, traditionally an online agency, doing a TV commercial as part of an integrated campaign. Responsys is blending data from search and mobile campaigns into social media and e-mail.
We are going to see more of these blurring of the lines as brand marketers are focused on driving ROI across channels wherever a customer is. This morning's keynote by Pat Connolly, CMO of William Sonoma, addressed this idea of the importance of cross channel integration and the importance of data in this equation. “Think of the difficult economy as a gift telling us to focus on data,” he said.
I think this approach to data driven marketing is what we will be seeing more of, as well as this attention to a cross channel approach. While who you work with on what may matter less these days, the ROI is ever more important.
