Exacttarget EMEA

"We record anything, anywhere, anytime.” - Sam Phillips

Way back when in the year of 1950, Sam Phillips created a platform for what would become the foundation of American rock and roll. Sam Phillips founded Sun Records, a recording studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Phillips not only discovered Elvis Presley, he also helped launched the career of many of the most important artists in music history: Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Howlin’ Wolf, just to name a few.

Back in 1950, there were far fewer channels to reach customers: television was a luxury that few could afford, only 10% of homes had a telephone, and the transistor radio was the closest thing to a portable media device that existed. Not to mention, "social" still meant being face to face with someone else. Sharing, liking, and chatting were still just something you did at the local diner… and you didn’t even think of checking-in on Foursquare when you were there.

At the time, entrepreneurs like Phillips knew that to capture the attention of the buying public: he needed to produce music that was relevant to the masses. To do so, Phillips created what was the most unlikely and successful emergent strategy of all time: “We record anything, anywhere, anytime.” When you are responsible for discovering the King of Rock and Roll, it’s hard to argue with that plan.

If Phillips were to try and apply that strategy in 2013, he would need to tweak it just a bit. It might read something like this: “We reach people anywhere, anytime, anyhow.” With so many channels available to marketers today, it is not just what you are sharing with and offering your customers, but how you reach them with your offers and content.

Your customers are waiting for you. Are you ready to meet them? We as marketers are facing a huge challenge: how do we create a truly cross channel marketing program to meet the needs of our demanding customers… and reach them anywhere, anytime, anyhow? And while Phillips was successful at recording anything, today’s customers don’t just want anything, they want their thing. They want to only be communicated to with relevant messages.

Customers are using more channels than ever before to interact with brands. How can you join up email, mobile, and social to create campaigns that deliver relevant and timely messages where your customers expect them?

On February 21, the ExactTarget London office is kicking-off a six-part breakfast briefing series with the first of our Digital Mornings with ET where we address these and other issues: The Cross Channel Challenge - Reaching Your Customers Anywhere, Anytime, Anyhow. We will take a look at how effective cross channel campaigns can support the customer lifecycle: acquire, on-board, engage, and retain. We will also be sharing best practices and cases studies on cross-channel programmes that incorporate email, mobile and social.

We will be sharing more information on the event in the coming weeks. Register today to attend the event at our London office. Who knows, with a winning cross-channel, anywhere-anytime-anyhow strategy, you too could become just as legendary as old Sam Phillips.