‘Each year, $112 billion in advertising is wasted.” This was the provocative claim made by Yousef Hamidaddin, Chief Executive Officer of Acxiom MENA, in a paper he shared recently with Saudi Gazette. He said he has developed a model that will allow businesses to make the best use of their advertising budget. “Our aim when working on this report was to find ways to help our clients become more efficient and effective. The white paper's goal is to enable firms to redirect 15 to 30 percent of their media expenditure to higher performing alternatives,” added Hamidaddin. He explained that digital innovation has shifted power from brands to customers, while new media and new business models have undermined traditional strategies which were previously considered tried and tested. Hamidaddin said that the future generation is more geared to the Internet and online businesses. He said there are four main thrusts to his business model. The first is called “Broadcasting transitions to narrowcasting” where “wasteful” advertising is targeted at the right people, across many channels and at the right scale, to impact sales. The second is “Multidimensional Insight and false signals” where business must discover what their customers want, across a broad spectrum of needs and to filter out false insights. The third is “Marketing central nervous system” which basically means having a business use its technological infrastructure as a marketing “central nervous system”, sending and receiving signals about customer behavior and recalibrating accordingly. The fourth part of the model is “Personalized and Coordinated engagement” which advocates a personalized and coordinated engagement in the form of a uniquely relevant communication that compels each consumer into action. Hamidaddin also said that the strength of the white paper, which he labels the “Moment of Truth”, has already demonstrated benefits exceeding $100 million per year for three leading companies in the retail banking, consumer goods and technology sectors. “However, the same principles apply to any business with a progressive way of thinking, which realizes that the only way forward is realizing the power of insight and building relationships in a way that serves customer needs,” he said. Nevin Ceylan Aydar, Acxiom MENA's Marketing and Communications Director, explained that Acxiom is able to help brands connect with consumers and prospects, providing consulting and turnkey solutions, which assist marketers configure their plans so they can treat each customer in a special manner. “Our vision began with providing the best data to drive our customers' success. Over the last 41 years, our customers have trusted us to provide the information, products and services to maximize their marketing investment,” added Aydar.
