Business Intelligence and Predictive Analytics

Posted on September 14, 2007 by Kevin G.

I just read a great blog article about a type of analysis that is making a storm here at BeTuitive.  Mix extensive data mining, complex mathematics, and an intuitive approach and you have the field of Business Intelligence.

Business Intelligence discovers insightful trends in data to help direct business initiatives and better understand segments.  The next step in Business Intelligence is utilizing predictive analytics to develop business practices that "read the minds" of customers or clients.

James Taylor writes, "If BI tells you what’s happened, predictive analytics tells you what to do."  Click here to get the whole story.

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September 14, 2007 in Blog Outsourcing, blog publish, Blogging Tools, Blogs, Brand enhancement, build credibility, custom magazine, custom newsletter, Custom publication, Custom publications, Custom publisher, Custom publishing, Customer Intuition, customer magazine, customer retention, Customizable publication, Educating Clients, Educating Prospects, email tracking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Lego: Building Online Marketing

Posted on September 12, 2007 by Kevin G.

Lego, one of the toy companies that doesn’t have to worry about lead paint, has begun a new e-mail campaign with ESP (email service provider) Responsys.  The B2C campaign is geared towards generating transactions and keeping buyers updated on new products.
The emails are segmented by geography and purchasing power.  Lego has recently been bulking up its internet presence with expansion in the U.K.
Lego Home Page

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September 12, 2007 in Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, bulk email marketing, Business Marketing, Business relationships, Company newsletters, create a newsletter, create email newsletter, create newsletter, creating company newsletter, creating newsletter, Customer Intuition, customer magazine, customer retention, E-Marketing, e-newsletter, e-zine, electronic magazine, electronic newsletter | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack

Judge a book by its cover...

Posted on August 09, 2007 by Jeff Sanchez.

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We all do it...walking through a bookstore or browsing a website an attractive and enticing book/magazine cover always can draw us right in, no matter what the content may be. The blog Cover is now dedicated to the art of book cover design. Several recently released books are stacked up against each other based solely on their cover designs.

Take a gander to see if your favorite summer reads are in there and which books you would take a pass on. Other designers and industry professionals provide great two sense, also. Start judging.

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August 9, 2007 in award winning magazine, Award winning publications, Brand enhancement, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, create newsletter, creating newsletter, Custom email, Custom publication, Custom publisher, Custom publishing, Customer Intuition, customer magazine, customer retention, email marketing solution, email newsletter marketing, Email Newsletter Outsourcing, Email newsletter template, email services, how to publish a magazine, how to publish and promote online, how to publish online, how to write a newsletter, how to write and publish a paper, magazine design, magazine publishing, Marketing Communication, marketing magazine, marketing newsletter, Newsletter Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Hitting Two Birds With One Stone With SEO

Posted on June 13, 2007 by Kevin G.

It appears that even Google and Yahoo’s search engines can be consolidated in one main service. The search engine, SearchBoth.com allows users to simultaneously search on the Google and Yahoo search engines on the same screen.

The interface is easy to work with and search results are easy to navigate through. Powered by Yellow Pages Corp., it seems to be the easiest solution to win leverage against the two internet powerhouses. Check it out.

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June 13, 2007 in award winning blog, award winning magazine, award winning newsletter, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Business editorial, Business relationships, Corporate Blogging, create newsletter, custom newsletter, Custom publication, Customer Intuition, e-newsletter, Educating Clients, Educating Prospects, email marketing solution, email services, Newsletter Marketing, newsletter outsource solution, Newsletter ROI, Print newsletter | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Keep Your Company On Target: Top 3 Lessons Learned from the Target Corporation

Posted on May 31, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

The Target Corporation has a loyal customer base whose enthusiasm has become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon. From the pet name Tarzhay (a “French” pronunciation of Target) to the scores of shoppers professing their love for the red bull’s-eye, Target is a force to be reckoned with in the discount retail industry.

In her book On Target: How the World’s Hottest Retailer Hit a Bull’s-eye, author Laura Rowley expounds on Target’s business and marketing strategies. And although the book is retail-centric (and at times a bit promotional), I think it offers some valuable insight into what makes a business—any business—successful. The following are my top three lessons learned from the Target Corporation.

Lesson One: Take the best of both worlds

Die-hard Target shoppers will adamantly dispute the idea that Target is “just another discount store” like Walmart or Kmart. How has Target so effectively differentiated itself from its competitors? They did it by taking the best elements of a high-end department store--a clean well-lit sales floor, stylish products and friendly customer service--and tailoring those elements to fit a discount store.

“’Before I was a professor, I worked at a housewares distribution company which sold to Target,’ said Michael Levy, a professor of retailing at Babson College in Massachusetts and co-editor of the Journal of Retailing. ‘They always paid a lot of attention to detail. Their stores always looked a lot better than the discount store competition. Even though the shelves were stacked a little higher and the displays were not as slick as department stores, they looked more like department stores in those days than the sort of dark, dingy look of a discount store (On Target, p11).’”

Consider your chief competitors, and companies that provide high-end services in your industry. What are the most attractive elements of their offers, and how can you integrate those elements into your business in a realistic, manageable way? Take the best of both worlds and you’ll make your customers feel like they’ve hit the jackpot.

Lesson Two: Design is king

From the basics of product selection to larger decisions about its marketing campaigns, Target takes design very seriously.

Tupperware chairman and CEO Rick Goings: “I think they are looking for brands that really draw people into Target stores.  If you compare them to some other retailers, they have a fairly narrow product line that they show in any category in Target, but it’s usually brands or product categories where there’s a panache to it, or a design element (On Target, p23).”

Following the iMac model of “show, don’t tell” Target ads and commercials are visually compelling, with very little text. The bulls-eye logo is so strongly branded that the Target name is usually not even included in advertisements.

“This is the ultimate emotional connection,” says Mark Gobe, founder of the branding and design firm Desgrippes Gobe Group, “when your message is so powerful and so unique that visual expressions can stand alone (On Target, p58).”

Lesson Three: Partner with people who are experts in their fields

The “do-it-yourself” method seems like a frugal choice for home owners, but it isn’t always the best financial decision for a business. So when Target decided to join the e-commerce market, it turned over its Web operations to Amazon.com.

“’I think [the Amazon deal] gives them an edge,’ said Cynthia Cohen of Strategic Mindshare. ‘You can create your own infrastructure for e-commerce, hire people, teach them—but that is expensive and time-consuming, versus going to somebody whose core competency is e-commerce. Amazon already has this knowledge—so [Target is] buying the knowledge—their dollars versus their time frame, their risk. This isn’t entirely risk-free, but Target is reducing risk by using knowledge from a company whose core competency is e-commerce (On Target, p76).’”

Whether you’re trying to break into e-commerce or start a custom publication, partnering with an expert can increase efficiency, reduce risk and optimize results while sparing your company the cost of internal time and resources.

Visit Laura Rowley.com


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May 31, 2007 in award winning blog, award winning design, blog publish, Blogs, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building Customer Community, Building Customer Intuition, business credibility, Business Marketing, Business relationships, Corporate Blogging, Customer Intuition, customer retention, E-Marketing, Email Marketing, email marketing solution, grow relationships, Marketing Communication, marketing solutions, nurturing relationships, online marketing, publish, Strategic Internet Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Reinforcement and Challenge: The Components of Strong Branding

Posted on May 16, 2007 by Kevin G.

I have been thinking a lot about branding lately and came up with a couple ideas about it.  Branding is all about the relationship a consumer has to a company and its products.  This relationship is enhanced through new experiences, better quality, and improved reputation.

Often a relationship is strengthened by reinforcing the positive qualities.  This is found in reward points for a certain amount of purchases, excellent customer service around trusted products, or improved stores or website to better serve customers.

Brands are also strengthened when they challenge their consumers into thinking differently about their product, service or company.  Apple did it with computers and Starbucks did it with coffee.  By challenging the consumers, they learn to refocus their view of a brand in an effort to improve the relationship.

These two commercials for BMW seem to do just that.  Watch both and see which is more effective for you and how you see BMW as a brand.

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May 16, 2007 in award winning design, Blogging Tools, Building B2B Relationships, Building Customer Community, bulk email marketing, business credibility, business magazine, Business relationships, CMO, Company publication, Corporate Blogging, Corporate newsletter, creating company newsletter, Creative emails, Custom publisher, Customer Intuition, Educating Clients, Educating Prospects, forbes magazine, grow relationships, magazine design, Strategic Internet Marketing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Break-Up

Posted on May 15, 2007 by Kathryn Regina.

Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is making a mini-movie about the disjunction between advertisers and consumers. It's called "The Break-Up" and it's replete with actual Hollywood actors, a movie poster, and a great tag line:

She is a consumer.

He is an advertiser.

All she wants is genuine affection.

All he gives is loyalty reduction.

The Break-up: A story of love gone wrong.

Coming Soon.

Learn more about the mini-movie at Bring the love back.

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May 15, 2007 in Custom publications, Custom publisher, Custom publishing, Customer Intuition, customer magazine, customer retention, Customizable publication, direct email marketing, E-Marketing, e-newsletter, e-zine, Educating Clients, Educating Prospects, electronic magazine, electronic newsletter, Email blast, Email management, Email Marketing | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Let's Get Personal

Posted on March 26, 2007 by Vinnie Lacey.

Custom publishing is what we do here at BeTuitive, so its no surprise custom tools for the internet get our motors running. Customization, especially in the information-bombarded electronic arena, can transform a relatively detached experience (cyberspace floating) into a personal one (still floating, but with purpose).  It's part of the same brainstorming strategy we use in our B2B publications to determine what kind of content a company's readers will find attract and actually useful. And useful can certainly be a commodity on the internet these days.

That's why I found today's Lifehacker posting quite helpful.  As far as customizing my own internet experience, I have been sorely lacking in the most intimate area: my homepage; instead relying on several different websites for, admittedly, very small, targeted bits of information.  If you need some help on the wealth of homepage choices out there, Rick Broida provides you with a good place to start getting personal.

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March 26, 2007 in blog publish, Blogging Tools, Blogs, Brand enhancement, build credibility, Building B2B Relationships, business credibility, Business publications, Business relationships, company blog, Custom email, Custom publication, Custom publications, Custom publisher, Custom publishing, Customer Intuition, Customizable publication, grow relationships, publish online, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack