Nuts & Bolts - Tech Talk : CEM Optimization

CEM Optimization
Before marketers can manage their customer relations, it may help to visualize what their customers will experience. Hence, the Silicon Valley software and services company Chordiant created Chordiant Cx Visual Business Director to simulate, then track—down to an individual agent—how customers interact with businesses.

The Cupertino, Calif. company's customer experience manager software has a 3-D interface that allows users to visualize their multichannel strategies before putting them into action, then tweak them in real time.
www.chordiant.com

Creative Segmentation
Claritas GenerationIQ brings a new meaning to "talking about my generation." San Diego-based Nielsen Claritas built the segmentation tool that analyzes the events, lifestyles and values of seven generations of American consumers and gives marketers insight on how to target messages to each segment. For example, GenerationIQ breaks down baby boomers as "Counterculturals" and the group's younger segment as "Brady Boomers," with relevant marketing knowledge for each.

GenerationIQ is meant to work in conjunction with existing Nielsen Claritas' segmentation tools—including PRIZM, which tracks lifestyle preferences; P$YCLE, which categorizes financial behavior; and ConneXions, which looks at video, voice and data buying choices.
www.claritas.com

Interactive Marketing
Unica Corp. recently upgraded its enterprise marketing management software suite, Affinium, to include Affinium Campaign Interact. The Waltham, Mass.-based company calls this version 7.5, because the suite already offers many capabilities: customer analytics; event detection, which makes companies aware of customers' signals for either sales opportunities or retention needs; campaign management; interactive
marketing; lead management; and marketing resource management.

The new software features include the ability to get a total picture of inbound and outbound actions so marketers can determine the appropriate message to deliver, as well as the proper channel to send it through. Affinium Campaign Interact does this by analyzing the main source of customer interaction and responding accordingly. For instance, a customer who repeatedly reaches checkout on a retail Web site but doesn't purchase the product can be reached via a personalized message from that company, offering a chance to interact and learn about the consumer's concerns.
www.unica.com

On-Demand Budget Tool
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Allocadia Software recently unveiled its new on-demand application called allocadia.com. Giving marketers clear visibility into their marketing budgets, it helps marketers stay on budget or even reduce spending—a valuable benefit in the current economy that dictates more cost-conciousness among businesses.