We live and work in a Marketing 2.0 world. Gone are the days when companies establish their brand’s genetic code and simply push it into the market. The market drives now. Bad ideas/products/services cannot hide behind jazzy marketing anymore, because buyers are smarter. Not only must companies fill an underlying need, as defined by customers, companies must now also open a two-way dialogue with customers directly, and frequently.

This one day, ‘nuts-n-bolts’ workshop is designed to teach the most critical orientations, approaches, and techniques required to study and execute on customer intimacy. It has been designed around the needs of both client-side marketers (brand managers, marketing executives, and business development professionals) and marketing services specialists (creative directors, PR professionals, brand evangelists). B2B is as much a focus area as B2C.

The Partners at Torque have worked on customer intimacy opportunities and problems with Fortune 500 firms such as HP, Rogers, Ford, Yahoo! Canada and RIM, as well as growth firms such as FCI Broadband, The Shaw Festival, Genworth Financial and Yogen Früz. This experience fuels an action-oriented workshop which starts with Customer Intimacy 101, before delving into methodologies for gathering and interpreting the intelligence, and ultimately making the connection to the customer. Case examples and small group working sessions help bring the concepts to life, and compliment the direct ‘tell it like it is’, dynamic delivery style of the two presenters/facilitators.

Participants Will Learn

Customer Intimacy Orientations

• How customer intimacy fits into a marketing 2.0 orientation
• Compelling arguments to senior management/clients for investing in customer intimacy

• Break down revenue or sales problems/opportunities into manageable pieces
• Structure customer intimacy studies around proven approaches

• Carry out deep and insightful customer interviews
• Design and launch meaningful customer surveys
  • Drive participation to levels 2-3 times industry averages
• Prepare for and facilitate powerful focus groups
• Conduct unobtrusive retail observations

• Pull critical insights out of the data
  • Segment your customers based on behaviours, not demographics
• Translate the insights into customer activation
  • Connect/reconnect with customers in a very personal way
  • Micro-target customers with relevant messages
• Metrics, measurement and ROI

Who Should Attend:

• Client-side marketers
  • Marketing executives, vice-presidents, managers
  • Brand managers
  • Business development and sales professionals
  • Presidents and CEOs of growth firms
• Marketing services specialists
  • Creative directors
  • PR professionals
  • Brand coaches
  • Marketing consultants

Seminar Outline:

1. Customer Intimacy 101 [Lecture & Case Studies]
2. Building the business case for customer intimacy [Interactive Exercise]
3. Customer intimacy in the B2C and B2B context [Case Studies]
4. Study design – macro level [Case Studies]
   1. Customer experience mapping
   2. Loyalty assessment
   3. Brand auditing
5. Structured study approaches [Interactive Exercise]
   1. Buyer behaviour
   2. Behaviour-based segmentation
   3. Channel analysis
6. Statistical validity & behaviour validity [Model Reviews]
   1. Rules of thumb and statistical models
   2. Behavioural pattern validation
7. Tools & techniques [Interactive Exercise]
   1. Reconnecting with customers
   2. Customer intelligence gathering
   3. Loyalty and channel data
8. Data analysis & translation [Interactive Exercise]
   1. Pulling insights from the data
   2. Segmentation based on the data and insights
   3. Correlation analysis
9. Customer activation [Case Studies]
   1. Creating the personal connection
   2. Micro-targeting and relevant messaging
10. Metrics, measurement & ROI [Case Studies]

Seminar Instructors

Mark Healy
Partner
Torque Market Intelligence

Mark Healy is a partner at Torque, a Toronto based market intelligence consultancy, specializing in customer intimacy via customized primary research on customers, competitors and channels.

Mark has completed over 50 projects in this new space over the last four years. Mark is regularly quoted as an expert in the Globe & Mail and marketing publications on topics ranging from customer intimacy to managing professional service firms.

Mark has a twice weekly blog on Reportonbusiness.com and has contributed to The Loyalty Library. He presents a “Demystifying Consulting” lecture series yearly at The Richard Ivey School of Business and the Schulich Business School, and has been a guest speaker at University of Toronto. Mark also teaches customer intimacy and loyalty to business executives in Toronto as part of a breakfast seminar series.

Mark holds a chemical engineering degree from Queen’s University and an MBA from The Richard Ivey School of Business. He was recently nominated for a Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award.

Tasha Mazza-Kelton
Partner
Torque Market Intelligence

Tasha Mazza-Kelton is a partner at Torque, a Toronto based market intelligence consultancy, specializing in customer intimacy via customized primary research on customers, competitors and channels.

Tasha has worked extensively with Fortune 500 organizations such as HP, Rogers, Ford and Yogen Früz specifically on driving customer intimacy. In today’s complex marketing landscape, organizations are pushed further from customers and Tasha designs blueprints for clients who are looking to engage customers in direct and frequent conversations that can drive powerful marketing strategies.

Tasha is frequently quoted in the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, and recently completed an exclusive weekly blog for the Toronto Star on business and marketing challenges that ran for a four-month period. She has also participated in public speaking events on emerging marketing topics such as loyalty, competitive insights, and managing growth to Toronto executives.

Tasha is a Dean’s Honors Graduate of the Ivey MBA program and studied international business management at Italy’s leading business school, Universita di Bocconi. She is also a member of the Women’s Executive Network, Canadian Marketing Association, American Marketing Association, and the Empire Club.