When I tell people at swanky Hollywood gatherings that I work on glamorous high profile CRM campaigns for the world’s top brands, the universal response I hear is inevitably “oh, I wish I could do that, but I’m sure it’s too complicated for my tiny brain.” To which I say, “nonsense, just because you’re a famous supermodel/crimefighter known only for your looks, I’m sure you’d do just fine.” Then I fix us another drink and we see where the evening goes.
But I digress; I think the reason people are so gunshy about CRM is that the murky fog of the discipline has never been defogged. Throw a rock in the air* & you’ll hit some specialist willing to tell you all about their idea of what CRM means. Well, I’m here to tell you the three core elements of solid, effective CRM can be yours today, all you need to do is familiarize yourself with some poems. What could be easier than poems? Ask any poetry major & they will tell you, learning about poems was way easier than learning how to operate the espresso machine at the coffee shop where they currently work.
*do me a favor – throw it hard
Concept 1 – The Data Haiku
We like to say that “data is both the fuel & the byproduct of effective one to one marketing”. You can’t motivate behavior at the individual level without targeted information to guide you, and the consumer response to your marcom generates more information, which leads to better targeting, creating a perpetual, self-refining loop of increased marketing efficiency.
This brings us to our first poetic form, the haiku. Composed of three lines, non-rhyming and constrained by the 5 syllable / 7 syllable / 5 syllable format, the haiku was invented in the 1400s by the Japanese, who needed a way to express complex marketing concepts in 17 syllables or less. Our data haiku is as follows:
data drives marcom
influences behavior
generates data
Go ahead, count it. Not bad, huh? 5/7/5. That’s right, I nailed it. Some of you will complain that haiku are supposed to focus on the natural world as a topic, and thus the poem above is more of a senryu than a true haiku. To you, I say, “you call this a Venti mocha latte? Do it again!”
Concept 2 – The Test Matrix Limerick
In a medium so rich with feedback, every interaction between the audience and the CRM communication is an opportunity for learning. Put simply, if you’re not testing, you’re wasting money. Depending on the size of your marketable universe & the number of variables you’re deploying, you can get quite granular in your test matrix. At the very least, you should have cohorts set aside for multiple creative tests, offer/call to action tests & audience/list tests. Each test cell should be large enough to accommodate response rates that are still statistically valid.
This brings us to our second poetic form, the Limerick. Invented in Ireland as a way to settle a bar debt, the Limerick is one of the most respected and honored forms of communication known to man. As you doubtless know, the Limerick has five lines, and they follow the rigid rhyme scheme of AABBA,
If you need a marketing assist
Take this tip and you’ll get the gist
First establish a Control
Then tests out you can roll
For creative, offer & list
Concept 3 – The ROI Cinquain
Unlike promotions, branding, general advertising or any other marketing pseudoscience,* CRM is grounded in observable response data. And when you have a cost to market meet with a financial response from that marketing campaign, you have the greatest combination since peanut butter met chocolate.
*note to other companies in the Omnicom family – just kidding – still friends, yes?
CRM is inherently self-promotional; the ability to know what’s working, what isn’t & how to make efficiencies is perhaps the single greatest benefit of the discipline. Frankly, if you’re not tracking revenue as a factor of marcom expense, I’m just not sure we can be friends.
And with that, we close with our third & final obscure poetry form, the Cinquain. According to Wikipedia, the Cinquain is a European poetry format composed of five lines following a rhyme scheme of ABABB. Also according to the Wikipedia (for now at least), I’m a handsome devil.
In these tough economic times
You need to know what you get for your spend
It’s my hope that these humble rhymes
Add CRM to your marcom blend
And with that, we have come to an End.
Now, where were we? Ah yes, I was refreshing our drinks. Let’s see where this evening takes us, yes?
Print, subscribe to, PDF, email or share this article:
Learn CRM through Obscure Poetry Forms
When I tell people at swanky Hollywood gatherings that I work on glamorous high profile CRM campaigns for the world’s top brands, the universal response I hear is inevitably “oh, I wish I could do that, but I’m sure it’s too complicated for my tiny brain.” To which I say, “nonsense, just because you’re a famous supermodel/crimefighter known only for your looks, I’m sure you’d do just fine.” Then I fix us another drink and we see where the evening goes.
But I digress; I think the reason people are so gunshy about CRM is that the murky fog of the discipline has never been defogged. Throw a rock in the air* & you’ll hit some specialist willing to tell you all about their idea of what CRM means. Well, I’m here to tell you the three core elements of solid, effective CRM can be yours today, all you need to do is familiarize yourself with some poems. What could be easier than poems? Ask any poetry major & they will tell you, learning about poems was way easier than learning how to operate the espresso machine at the coffee shop where they currently work.
*do me a favor – throw it hard
Concept 1 – The Data Haiku
We like to say that “data is both the fuel & the byproduct of effective one to one marketing”. You can’t motivate behavior at the individual level without targeted information to guide you, and the consumer response to your marcom generates more information, which leads to better targeting, creating a perpetual, self-refining loop of increased marketing efficiency.
This brings us to our first poetic form, the haiku. Composed of three lines, non-rhyming and constrained by the 5 syllable / 7 syllable / 5 syllable format, the haiku was invented in the 1400s by the Japanese, who needed a way to express complex marketing concepts in 17 syllables or less. Our data haiku is as follows:
data drives marcom
influences behavior
generates data
Go ahead, count it. Not bad, huh? 5/7/5. That’s right, I nailed it. Some of you will complain that haiku are supposed to focus on the natural world as a topic, and thus the poem above is more of a senryu than a true haiku. To you, I say, “you call this a Venti mocha latte? Do it again!”
Concept 2 – The Test Matrix Limerick
In a medium so rich with feedback, every interaction between the audience and the CRM communication is an opportunity for learning. Put simply, if you’re not testing, you’re wasting money. Depending on the size of your marketable universe & the number of variables you’re deploying, you can get quite granular in your test matrix. At the very least, you should have cohorts set aside for multiple creative tests, offer/call to action tests & audience/list tests. Each test cell should be large enough to accommodate response rates that are still statistically valid.
This brings us to our second poetic form, the Limerick. Invented in Ireland as a way to settle a bar debt, the Limerick is one of the most respected and honored forms of communication known to man. As you doubtless know, the Limerick has five lines, and they follow the rigid rhyme scheme ofAABBA,
If you need a marketing assist
Take this tip and you’ll get the gist
First establish a Control
Then tests out you can roll
For creative, offer & list
Concept 3 – The ROI Cinquain
Unlike promotions, branding, general advertising or any other marketing pseudoscience,* CRM is grounded in observable response data. And when you have a cost to market meet with a financial response from that marketing campaign, you have the greatest combination since peanut butter met chocolate.
*note to other companies in the Omnicom family – just kidding – still friends, yes?
CRM is inherently self-promotional; the ability to know what’s working, what isn’t & how to make efficiencies is perhaps the single greatest benefit of the discipline. Frankly, if you’re not tracking revenue as a factor of marcom expense, I’m just not sure we can be friends.
And with that, we close with our third & final obscure poetry form, the Cinquain. According to Wikipedia, the Cinquain is a European poetry format composed of five lines following a rhyme scheme of ABABB. Also according to the Wikipedia (for now at least), I’m a handsome devil.
In these tough economic times
You need to know what you get for your spend
It’s my hope that these humble rhymes
Add CRM to your marcom blend
And with that, we have come to an End.
Now, where were we? Ah yes, I was refreshing our drinks. Let’s see where this evening takes us, yes?