MxMIndia

Tag: echo

  • The DMA International ECHO competition began in 1929 as the first direct mail awards show

    DMAi brings ECHO to Asia

    By A Correspondent

     

    DMAi, from 2015, will be the exclusive association to enjoy an expanded affiliation with the DMA International ECHOâ„¢ Competition to funnel entries from across Asia. ECHOâ„¢ Awards honors exceptional creative work that has delivered results. The DMA International ECHO competition began in 1929 as the first direct mail awards show and is currently the oldest direct response awards program in the world.

     

    Speaking on the occasion, Thomas Benton, CEO, Direct Marketing Association (DMA), US said “Marketers around the world and the ecosystem that supports them benefit when their trade associations collaborate and put a spotlight on innovation and success.  In that spirit, the Direct Marketing Association is very pleased to be partnering with the DMAi to increase participation in the ECHOâ„¢ awards from DMAi’s breadth of creative and innovative members.  We celebrate this partnership and look forward to seeing DMAi and its members at our annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts in October.

     

    The DMA International ECHO Awards celebrate the best and the brightest data-driven, direct response marketing campaigns from around the world. Those that are honored by receiving an ECHO Award have demonstrated superlative marketing strategy, exceptional insight into audience behavior, a responsible use of data and the ability to conceive and execute inspired creative that delivers an overwhelming return on marketing investment.

     

    DMA India has brought this credible awards program to India since 2012. The DMA India ECHOâ„¢ Awards in 2014 had over 383 entrants from over 150 brands and 70 top agencies in fray locally. Globally India has had an unrivaled run for last two years beating all international participating countries and having won the highest tally of metals at the International Edition.

     

    In an added development, both Vatsal Asher, CEO DMAi & Shelly Singh COO, DMAi, have been appointed as an official International ECHO™ Envoy, for all the hard work they have put into the ECHO’s over the past five years. As an Envoy, they will join the DMA International Ambassador Committee, which is responsible for unifying all of the local international DMA’s as well as being a liaison to the DMA in New York. Vatsal and Shelly join a dignified group which includes ECHO™ Board of Governors, Mark Allen (also a member of the DMA Board of Directors), Debbie Roth, Henry Hoke and Tedd Aurelius.

     

    All entries can now enter simultaneously for both awards, 2015 DMA Asia ECHOâ„¢ Awards and The DMA International ECHOâ„¢ Awards 2015 at a single subsidized entry fee. All qualifying DMA Asia award-winning campaigns will enter into the prestigious International ECHOâ„¢ Awards 2015 bypassing the first round of judging and fast track to the semi-finals of the competition.

     

    The entries are judged on the basis of the regular 15 Business Categories viz, Automotive, Business & Consumer Services, Communications/Utilities, Consumer Products, Education, Financial Products & Services, IT, Insurance, Not-for-Profit and so on. Starting 2014 the expanded DMA ASIA Awards has introduced a new sub-category “Creative Effectiveness” under a new program called “CREATEFFECT” which covers the Direct Response, Craft and Interactive elements of the campaign too.

     

    Grand Jury Chairperson for 2015, Rakhshin Patel, Managing Director, Pi Communications said “For an athlete, the Olympics are the ultimate stage. Data driven marketers share the same feeling about the ECHO™ program. There is indeed no bigger stage to showcase ideas and work that have yielded measurable, tangible, real results. There are many reasons why creative and marketing professionals should be excited about this year’s ECHO™ awards. The most compelling of them is: They deserve to! Their hard work and smart thinking has resulted in many memorable experiences for audiences far and wide. It’s now time to send in those entries, and then wait for the applause to echo in their ears.”

     

  • 64 per cent of Indians lose their temper with a customer service executive, far higher in comparison to an average of 48 per cent

    Indian consumers highly impatient with customer service execs: Study

    By Sagar Malviya & Maulik Vyas

     

    If you have been using foul language on the customer service associate, threatening to switch to competition, you aren’t the only one to do so. In fact, 64 per cent of Indians lose their temper with a customer service executive, far higher in comparison to an average of 48 per cent in other markets, says a survey that highlights the rising importance of customer service in the country.

     

    Nearly two in five Indians threatened to switch to a competitor while a third of them hung up the phone on customer care executives.

     

    While around 61 per cent insisted on speaking to a supervisor, 12 per cent of Indians use profanities or abusive language as against an average of 7 per cent globally, according to the survey by American Express and global research firm ‘echo’.

     

    “Great customer service is great business and positions a brand with staying power,” said Pradeep Kapur, Senior Vice President, World Service India & Process Excellence, American Express said.

     

    The American Express Global Customer Service Barometer – an annual survey of attitudes and preferences towards customer service in India and ten other countries -was done online among shoppers above 18 years of age.

     

    Over than a quarter of the survey participants said the whole ‘customer service experience’ that marketers talk about missed their expectations completely.

     

    “We are very relationship-oriented country and we love to know the name of the person and see the face of an individual who caters to us at other side of the phone call,” said Harish Bijoor, brand consultant and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. “Moreover, Indians are very new to remote complain and data services, hence their aspirations will obliviously higher compare to other mature markets such as the US.”

     

    Indian consumers discuss good customer service more than any other nationals; 97 per cent of the participants talk about ‘after-sales service’. Indians are becoming quite vocal about poor quality service too as each one tells approximately 47 people about their bad experience. One out of every five consumers feels businesses pay less attention to providing good customer service. And four out of five believe that smaller businesses give more importance to customer service than large ones.

     

    “When customers know that a company is listening to them and addressing their needs quickly and responsively, they will not only spend more – they will spread the word to others as well,” added Mr Kapur of Amex.

     

    As per the survey, seven in ten consumers intended to conduct a business transaction or make a purchase, but decided against it due to poor service experience. This particularly applies to service sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, finance, telecom, airlines and retail that contribute around 60 per cent of the country’s GDP.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

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