It’s Never Too Late to Develop a Customer Engagement Strategy
Greg Nelson, Director - Customer Engagement
Does your company have a strategy to engage its clients and customers? As businesses face increasing competition and financial pressure, it is more critical than ever to understand how to turn customers into brand advocates.
Brands like Ritz-Carlton, American Express, Target and Apple have achieved iconic status by anticipating the changing needs of the marketplace. These household names go one step further by creating meaningful integrated marketing strategies that begin and end with customer relationships. People choose and remain loyal to these brands not only for the services they offer, but for the experiences they provide.
If your business is new to the concept of customer engagement, it isn’t too late to invest in an engagement blueprint. Recently, I had the opportunity to conduct an internal presentation on what it takes to create engaged customers. The presentation below summarizes my thoughts about customer engagement and offers insight into Q’s approach to helping our clients develop strategies that build meaningful long-term relationships with their customers.
Allison Mataya Joins agencyQ as Director, Business Development
Washington, D.C. — agencyQ, the D.C.-based interactive agency that imagines, designs and delivers integrated digital solutions, has hired Allison Mataya as Director, Business Development.
Mataya brings a record of working with premier consumer brands and driving record growth at large agencies. At Q (formerly Q-Industries), Mataya will oversee business development opportunities, attracting new clients and growing relationships with existing clients who seek an agency with deep digital marketing, technology and customer engagement expertise.
Prior to joining Q, Mataya was Director, Business Development for the D.C. office of Arnold Worldwide. Her efforts led the agency to its best year on record in 2008 by driving growth among current and new accounts such as the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Choice Hotels and Amtrak. She also launched Adcision Networks, an online luxury ad network.
Previously, at Merkley+Partners, Mataya managed corporate advertising efforts for Mercedes-Benz and ran the regional advertising for a network of 63 Mercedes-Benz dealers extending from Virginia to Maine. She also has worked at agencies Young & Rubicam and Grey Advertising, handling accounts such as Xerox and Kraft Foods.
“Allison truly reflects Q’s mission to develop productive and healthy partnerships with clients,” said Brad Heidemann, Executive Vice President – Strategy. “She possesses a thorough understanding of the challenges faced by today’s chief marketing officers, backed up by an impressive track record of working with exceptional brands and growing those accounts. We’re excited to have her passion, positive energy and experience.”
“Clients will always seek an agency that they can trust, that knows their business and that understands the problems they’re facing,” said Mataya. “What’s changed in today’s digital environment is that they’re now looking for a partner with both the marketing and technology expertise to deliver a new generation of solutions. Being at a firm like Q, which offers great ideas, extraordinary service and incredible talent, makes my job of business development very exciting and gratifying.”
An active member of the DC Ad Club, Mataya graduated from Bowdoin College with a B.A. in Art History and Government.
About agencyQ:
Founded in 1999 as Q-Industries, Q has grown from a small, technology-focused interactive shop into a full-service agency that excels in three core practice areas: Digital Marketing, Technology and Customer Engagement & Loyalty. Q’s account teams combine industry-leading subject matter expertise with a client-focused perspective – imagining, designing and delivering integrated solutions that attract, convert and retain customers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a new location in Columbus, Ohio, Q serves a global portfolio of commercial, government and association/nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit www.agencyq.com.
Media Contact:
Joel Greenberg
DCPR
(202) 363-1065 | 202-669-3639 cell
joel@dcpr.com
Does Your Company Have a Crisis Contingency Plan for Social Media?
Greg Nelson, Director - Customer Engagement
Twitter has become a major source of news, with organizations like the American Red Cross using it to support relief efforts. The earthquake in Haiti, the first global humanitarian crisis since its launch, has put Twitter to the test.
Twitterers rallied. They shared minute-by-minute updates of rescue efforts, as well as where and how to donate money to relief funds, urging followers to “pass this on.”
On January 14th, a few days after the earthquake, I noticed something odd on Twitter. Here’s a sampling of tweets I received that morning from a few major television stars:
Q’s Heidemann Talks Social Media, Marketing Trends With the WBJ
Matt Smith, Marketing Manager
Brad Heidemann, Q’s Executive Vice President of Client Services, is featured in the December 11-17, 2009 edition of the Washington Business Journal. Speaking to reporter Darlene Darcy, Heidemann spotlighted Q’s leadership in the social media space and discussed marketing trends related to the economic downturn and changes in technology.
“You can’t drive demand without spending money on sales and marketing,” Heidemann noted to the WBJ in the feature article “Local Companies Cash in on Social Media’s Popularity.”
Speaking directly about social media, Heidemann noted that “it’s not just certain customers. Everyone one of them wants a social media component. It’s a mandatory part of the solution now.”
The article also mentioned Q’s recent revenue and staff growth, as well as its expansion plans for 2010.
To read a full PDF version of the article, click here and scroll to pages 32-33.
If you are a Washington Business Journal subscriber, click here to read the story online.
Q Spotlighted in Rackspace Enhanced Partner Network Announcement
SAN ANTONIO — Rackspace® Hosting (NYSE:RAX), the world’s leader in hosting and cloud computing, has restructured its global Rackspace Partner Network to help partner companies grow their business, better serve customers and realize a competitive advantage. Rackspace actively solicited feedback from its partners to make enhancements to the Rackspace Partner Network, which include a new tiered structure, highly competitive financial incentives, greater access to training and marketing resources.
To add more structure and clarity to the program, Rackspace created four levels of commitment based on company size and level of sales: Platinum, Gold, Silver and Member. Additionally, Rackspace is offering partners aggressive commissions and, at certain partnership levels, will even pay commissions on upgrades and renewals, a significant benefit many competitors fail to match.
“We regard partners as an extension of the Rackspace family and have updated the Rackspace Partner Network to help ensure they receive the services and support necessary for long-term success,” said Robert Fuller, vice president of Rackspace’s Worldwide Channel. “Rackers worked closely with our partners to develop a program that creates the biggest impact and provides the best experience for them, which we believe will in turn impact the broader customer experience.”