Tag Archives: ERP

How to Deliver Consistent Onmichannel Customer Experiences

I recently read somewhere that you know when a concept or practice or a technology application is new when you can’t find one unanimous way to spell it. For example, not that long ago, we would see EcommerceeCommerce, and e-commerce all used with near-equal frequency.

Today, omnichannel (or omni-channel or omni channel) has become a hot buzzword in business, marketing, and technology circles. The concept first gained attention in the retail sector, as retailers sought to link offline, in-store shopping activities and online shopping. During the past twelve months, many marketing pundits have expanded the concept and now use it to describe an approach to marketing that applies to many types of enterprises.

The term omni derives from the Latin word omnis, which means “all” or “universal.” As used today, omnichannel marketing usually means providing consistent, personalized, and contextually appropriate messages and customer experiences on all relevant communication channels and devices.

Some experts contend that true omnichannel marketing requires companies to capture customer interactions in all channels and then make the interaction data useable by allcommunication channels and platforms on a near real-time basis. For example, when a customer or prospect visits a website, the website needs to be “aware” that the customer/prospect just interacted with the brand on the company’s Facebook page.

The ultimate objective of omnichannel marketing is to tell a continuous story and provide a seamless experience that plays out whenever and wherever a customer interacts with a brand.

Few, if any, companies have achieved this level of omnichannel integration, but ominchannel marketing is clearly becoming an important priority for many enterprises.

Why Product Information Management is Becoming Critical

In the field of digital asset management, we often talk about the importance of having a single version of the truth. By this we mean that one objective of having a robust digital asset management system is to ensure that marketers and other employees and business partners use the right versions of marketing content assets.

It’s equally important to have a single version of the truth when in comes to product information. Unfortunately, creating and maintaining accurate product information is becoming more difficult, time-consuming, and costly, particularly for large enterprises with extensive product portfolios. Read More

Bridging the Gap Between Product Management and Product Marketing

In most large enterprises, basic product information is managed and stored in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. ERP systems typically contain product identification codes (SKU numbers), product cost information, and the data that drive manufacturing operations such as bills of materials and production scheduling. These systems are also used to manage order entry and order fulfillment.

As critical as these functions are, typical ERP systems are not equipped to handle the wealth of additional information that is required for successfully taking products to market. Marketing messages and materials such as print ads, brochures, catalogs, videos, etc. all require information that is not traditionally stored in ERP (and similar product management) systems because these systems are designed to manage products, but not to market them. Read More