Direct 2.0
The art and science of Direct 2.0
Archive for the ‘Client briefs’ Category
Aetna sought to build a portfolio offering for individuals and families to capitalize on changes in the healthcare insurance category. DVI was asked to help develop a financially sound launch and expansion plan covering all channels of distribution, both direct and third-party.
Teamed with partner agency TDO and Aetna’s Strategic Marketing Group, we assessed the business environment, consumer wants and needs, the competitive landscape and internal capabilities. We developed a comprehensive marketing strategy, a multi-channel go-to-market plan (DRTV, print, DM, email, key word search, events and guerrilla marketing), an internal infrastructure development roadmap and high, medium and low ROI projections.
Our initial pilot exceeded expectations upon which a rapid expansion plan was created, in phases, to allow for careful control versus test experimentation. Over time, coverage in 30+ states has been achieved meeting business objectives for both effectiveness (# of members acquired) and efficiency ($ cost per member) and is today, a multi-billion dollar business!
IBM’s inside sales organization needed structured processes to optimize conversions. At the same time, increased importance of social media required integration of new channels within the marketing and sales mix.
DVI, with partner agency Inergy Group, documented ibm.com infrastructure and processes, met with solution and product owners, visited ibm.com’s tele-web sales centers and interviewed select business partners. We then created go-to-market templates, including online and offline tactics, covering both complex solutions and simple product offerings for large, medium and small businesses.
Using a “build once / use many” approach, we populated each blueprint with content creating six unique pilots that were measured on speed-to-market and expense-to-revenue (E/R) ratios. Our blueprints are now institutionalized across ibm.com’s solutions and brand/product organizations.
Pitney Bowes required an up-market strategy to reach Fortune 500 C-suite executives to raise awareness and improve perceptions of the brand. Best known for its core offerings, these targets were generally unaware of the company’s new strategic direction and executive thought leadership.
DVI conducted a comprehensive audit of similar brands and their use of thought leadership programs and documented key C-level executive wants and needs. We created Pivotal Thoughts, a quarterly peer-to-peer publication in analog and digital versions and an ongoing campaign for the Harvard Business Review. To support these programs, we helped build and validate a C-level contact database.
Using pre- and post-measurements, we achieved a remarkable 80% recall amongst the C-level executives we targeted (5X gain). Longitudinal tracking of key AAU (awareness, attitudes and usage) measures over time showed improvements that created a more fertile environment for enterprise-level consultative solution sales.