Customer experience management: Industry trends – An interview with Bob Kennedy of Tealeaf Technologies

Abstract

Bob, let ' s start off with a little bit of your background and where you are now, with the idea that it will really provide a context for sharing some of your insights about customer experience management (CEM), web marketing and IT trends and some of the related industry consolidations. BK : Thanks Michael! It ' s great to speak with you today. To begin, I ' m presently employed as a regional sales director with Tealeaf Technology. Just briefl y, Tealeaf is the industry leader in CEM software solutions. As well, I ' m presently a member of the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association. In particular, I chair the Web Analytics Special Interest Group. That provides a fantastic opportunity to interact with 70-plus industry leaders and web analytics professionals in the Atlanta marketplace; and, to keep my fi nger on the pulse of trends in web analytics and interactive marketing. Before Tealeaf, I worked with Covario, an industry leader in solutions and services for online marketing analytics. Specifi cally, Covario provides a unique technology for auditing and interacting with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Competitive and Channel ' campaigns ' utilized to drive visitors to a company ' s web sites. MM : Bob, as I recall-one of the larger users of Covario is Intel. They manage an inventory of some 50 000-60 000 keywords across 15 languages. They create more of a dynamic marketplace around those 50 000-60 000 keywords. They use measurable traction behavior in any particular market as a way of subsequently buying into that keyword, and provisioning it in or out. Is that a fair summarization? BK : Like many of enterprise and global companies, Intel does manage thousands of keywords, on multiple search engines, in multiple languages, around the world. As well, this size organization will typically have multiple agencies serving them in various markets geographically and vertically. The challenge for these organizations is large, and includes: accurate reporting of campaign spend and effectiveness; elimination of internal competition; brand consistency; global and local Interview Customer experience management: Industry trends-An interview with Bob Kennedy of Tealeaf Technologies Bob Kennedy with more than 25 years of sales and customer consultation experience in high technology and Internet market segments, Bob Kennedy is currently a regional sales director for Tealeaf Technology and a board of directors member for the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association. For the past 12 years, Bob has held positions with leading enterprise software companies providing solutions for online marketing and customer management, including Covario (formerly SEMDirector), WebTrends, SAS and Art Technology Group. Bob has a broad network of professional associates managing some of the largest online brands in the world and working for many of the leading marketing agencies. He is frequently consulted on trends, emerging technologies and methods to increase customer success and s...