With improved database software, the advent of the Web and a more interactive society, the concept of 1 to 1 marketing took off like a rocket at the turn of the century. The common view was that now companies could form deeper relationships with their customers, who would in turn become more loyal to the brand and buy more goods. Unfortunately, research shows that less than 30% of 1 to 1 CRM implementations are successful and even less deliver expected results. What happened? We believe this has to do with approach.

Most organizations approached 1 to 1 marketing strategies through the integration of technology and the belief that the software solutions and databases would enable these relationships to happen. They made large investments, built up databases and implemented call centres. Great. The reality, we have found through experience, is that 1 to 1 relationships are impossible. This is because a “company” cannot truly be considered “one” as much as we might like to think it can. A company is made up of many people, performing many tasks, with many different personalities. The customer or prospect communicating with the company, is focused on the particular issue with the company, but that is only one part of the many things they too are thinking about and working on.

When a company has implemented a CRM and takes the understanding that the customers data can travel seamlessly, but that the individual will interact in different ways with different areas of the organization, these solutions start to become more effective. A prime example is FedEx and Royal Bank of Canada, both organizations have been able to better leverage call centres by understanding trends and enabling their call centre teams to handle multiple issues. Yet they are able to pass the customer, and the data behind that customer, through the organization and let the different points of contact communicate in their unique way with each client. This is what we call the Brand to One approach, since it uses more of the elements of a brand strategy approach than a data-oriented approach.

Similar approaches to how and what content is served up to participants, and then passed into the CRM can help companies better manage results from online marketing activities.