Not Six Figures. Not 8 Figures. Low 7 Figures.

A source of mine recently told me that a big bank at a big conference was discussing their efforts to consolidate customer data to drive targeted and well-timed marketing communications. I heard it was an impressive solution. The audience was impressed. So much so, the speakers were continually prodded for the solution's price tag.

The first response was “it wasn’t six figures.” Assuming it wasn’t a five-figure solution, the audience pressed on. “It wasn’t 8 figures” the speaker said. I can imagine the audience was glad to hear that. Finally, the presenter from the big bank spilled the beans, “Low seven figures, and that includes IT costs,” he said.

Man, that’s a lot. But, more material than the actual amount is what it represents – complexity. For most folks, a seven-figure solution to overcome that complexity is prohibitive. However, the goal of the solution, consolidating data to drive relevant experiences, is something every marketer should be focusing on.

Last Friday during our webinar, Taking Shape: The Online Marketing Database, we covered this topic in-depth. Suresh Vittal, Senior Analyst from Forrester Research, discussed trends driving the need for a consolidated online database, the latest research pertaining to multi-channel data strategies, and the five challenges marketers must overcome. My portion focused on best practices for streamlining implementation and the four keys to success, which I’ll cover in more detail in my next post.

Thanks to everyone who attended the webinar. If you missed it, you can watch the entire replay here. Enjoy.