2009 Readers' Choice Survey: Customer Relationship Management
In an industry one step removed from the end consumer, the need for better demand insights, marketing effectiveness and joint value creation becomes extremely important. A strong Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform can serve as "the platform for helping sales and marketing departments do a better analysis on downstream data, build more predictive analytics into marketing programs and demonstrate joint value for retailers on a granular and multi-dimensional set of metrics," says Rob Bois, research director, AMR Research, in the "2008 Sales & Marketing Report," jointly produced by CGT and AMR Research in June 2008.
This report revealed that 50 percent of the consumer goods executives surveyed currently used CRM technology. Another 50 percent of respondents planned to upgrade or replace their current systems sometime during the following 12 months.
"Due to the complex and specialized nature of sales and marketing in the consumer goods industry, most buyers gravitate to the large and established CRM vendors," said Bois.
But given the dramatic turn that our economy has taken since the aforementioned report was published, will these findings ring true in 2009?
Dale Hagemeyer, research vice president, Industry Advisory Services - Manufacturing, Gartner Inc., is skeptical given his market observations: "I've been waiting for durable and semi-durable consumer goods companies to get more into CRM, but the dire economy will set them back."
In the future, Hagemeyer says, "Look for CRM to move beyond the retailer and more toward the consumer as manufacturers increase their ability to interact with consumers at the shelf with new technologies. This will redefine loyalty programs," although he notes this is not likely to happen in the next year.
In the immediate future, Hagemeyer predicts that the major CRM players may make acquisitions to seize this in-store consumer connection opportunity.
BREAKOUT FAVORITES
Customer Experience: Oracle
"When polled in a recent Six Sigma study, our users identified Oracle Business Intelligence and Siebel applications as the most significant improvements to their jobs since our sales force reorganization."
-- Kevin Kroymann, National Manager, Trade Marketing, Hormel Foods Corp.
SMB Market: Microsoft
"By moving to the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we'll be able to take a leap forward in the way we serve our customers and sell our products."
-- Karen Navas, IT Manager, King Plastic Corp.
| Top 5 |
| 1. SAP |
| 2. Oracle |
| 3. CAS |
| 4. Microsoft Corporation |
| 5. MEI |
"Due to the complex and specialized nature of sales and marketing in the consumer goods industry, most buyers gravitate to the large and established CRM vendors," said Bois.
But given the dramatic turn that our economy has taken since the aforementioned report was published, will these findings ring true in 2009?
Dale Hagemeyer, research vice president, Industry Advisory Services - Manufacturing, Gartner Inc., is skeptical given his market observations: "I've been waiting for durable and semi-durable consumer goods companies to get more into CRM, but the dire economy will set them back."
In the future, Hagemeyer says, "Look for CRM to move beyond the retailer and more toward the consumer as manufacturers increase their ability to interact with consumers at the shelf with new technologies. This will redefine loyalty programs," although he notes this is not likely to happen in the next year. In the immediate future, Hagemeyer predicts that the major CRM players may make acquisitions to seize this in-store consumer connection opportunity.
BREAKOUT FAVORITES
Customer Experience: Oracle
"When polled in a recent Six Sigma study, our users identified Oracle Business Intelligence and Siebel applications as the most significant improvements to their jobs since our sales force reorganization."
-- Kevin Kroymann, National Manager, Trade Marketing, Hormel Foods Corp.
SMB Market: Microsoft
"By moving to the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, we'll be able to take a leap forward in the way we serve our customers and sell our products."
-- Karen Navas, IT Manager, King Plastic Corp.