Anyone who’s been following the Acoustic blog or met with us, will have heard how marketing is changing almost by the day, how digital transformation (and disruption) is coming your way, and how convergence is redefining the marketing communications industry (hint: it’s not just about advertising). But we do understand that some of these processes and service offerings can be complicated to understand and seem like large investments from day one.

It can also be difficult to see where to start. To make this more accessible and easier to engage with, we have created some tangible, bite-sized offerings that will allow brands to get a head start in their journey to re-engage with audiences and grow their business – without having to commit to retooling the whole business. Our main offerings are still Integrated Communications (“advertising”) and Digital Transformation (“applied technology/customer centric solutions”), but these 9 product/service offerings will help brands compete more effectively in the marketplace – and connect with customers and potential customers in a more engaging and long-lasting way.

So here is a presentation of our service menu:

1. Digital Audit
How is your brand performing in digital channels? In what way do you connect with the culture of digital that is prevalent amongst the consumers and within the business sector today? In a Digital Audit process, we assess the current digital campaigns, tools and processes for your brand, and suggest how it can be improved on a strategic level. This will be an important first step towards developing a Digital Transformation strategy and a pathway to becoming a truly integrated brand.

Output: A Digital Audit report with recommendations for improvements and opportunities.

2. Re-Integrate
Most brands start out fully integrated in their marketing approach, but over time they develop so many different campaigns and concepts that brand disparity develops over time. On top of that, the brands employ a range of agencies, adding to the divide. Re-Integrate is a strategic process, where we evaluate the level of integration in the marketing communications for the brand or product line, and develop a plan to fix it. It will help not only with the external communications process, but set clear roles and responsibilities for the partners the brand works with.

Output: An integration plan with recommendations for improvements and integration opportunities as well as a suggested organisation structure (internal and external) to improve the process.

3. Fast Innovation
There are challenges in every company and every product line. Often, the issues seem insurmountable and daunting – which leads to the fix being postponed until enough resources can be set aside. But in many cases, the fear is a figment of imagination. In many instances the issue can be addressed and fixed through a short and focused approach. Fast Inovation is an efficient process, where a specific problem is addressed. It is scoped out in one-week cycles, where the challenge is sought fixed within the period. The process can be used for old issues that have been lingering in the organisation, or for new and more acute situations.

Output: Concrete solutions and recommendation for implementation.

4. Mobility Next
Mobile is the new frontier of marketing communications and innovation. Most consumers are 5-8 years into their true mobile journey with connected smartphones. Apps, webapps and mobile centric websites are dominating the marketplace, and people are integrating these services into their everyday lives. Through Mobility Next, we take a look at how your company and your brand can connect with consumers through mobile services and tools in an efficient and cost effective way. Through developing brand utilities or branded entertainment, we can help you leverage mobile technology in a way that benefits your audience and your bottom line.

Output: A plan for how to implement mobile solutions in the business in order to increase engagement, create connections, improve experiences and generate revenue.

5. Future Vision
We live in a climate of never ending changes. New players, new consumer behaviours, new technology, new ideas, new markets and new benchmarks are popping up on a daily level. Through Future Vision, we will look at the business strategy and plan the next five years, provide clarity and help you envision how the company and brand can be re-imagined in this new climate.

Output: Vision, mission and strategic engagement plan for the next 5 years.

6. Audience Audit
Some audiences are especially elusive. These could be younger audiences, professional/executive audiences, various specialised psychographic audiences or other groups of people that can be hard to pin down. In the Audience Audit we evaluate the audience, their demographics/psycographics and their preferences. We look at how they connect with brands today, the opportunities the audience represents now and in the future, how the audience utilises technology and how we can connect with this audience in a more efficient way. This is done through our Infinite Loop strategy model, which has a customer lifecycle view, rather than a short-term or campaign view.

Output: An audit report and action plan.

7. Social Immersion
Social media is the strongest digital connector, it brings people together, re-unites old friends and allows brands to speak candidly and casually with their customers and fanbase. With Social Immersion, we analyse today’s use of social media from the brand, from competitor brands and within the target audience. The goal is to go from reach to engagement. With Social Immersion develop and recommend strategies that would put the brand at the forefront of social interaction within the industry.

Output: A Social Immersion report covering Best in Class in the industry, how target audience(s) behave in social media and a plan on how to implement category-defining contextual social activities.

8. Customer Connect
Customer-centric communication is the key to building experiences and connections with consumers over time, in order to generate re-purchase, cross-sell, upsell and advocacy. Through customer connect, we look at how brands can take advantage of the opportunities that lie within customer programs, CRM and CMR (customer managed relationships). By going through a Customer Connect process, the company can start a new relationship paradigm immediately, generating longer lasting relationships and stronger connections.

Output: A plan for increasing revenue through better relationships and connections.

9. Service. Designed!
Marketing is more than advertising, PR and social. Marketing is looking at the whole ecosystem that the brand and the consumer operates in. Through our Service Design offering, we will look at the entire service structure and customer interaction, to look at where improvements can be made in order to build better experiences for the customer, more profitable solutions for the company and how we can utilise technology to improve the service levels over time

Output:Service Design strategy and ideas to improve the customer journey and experience.

Through these 9 solutions, you can get going on the path to world domination (or local domination, if you prefer) faster and more cost effectively than ever before. If you have any questions or thoughts, do not hesitate to get in touch. Our job is simply to help businesses become more customer-centric, more digitally connected and grow their revenue. You know where to find us.

Erik Ingvoldstad is the Founder & CEO of Acoustic.
Follow Erik on Twitter @ingvoldSTAR, follow Acoustic at @AcousticGroupSG
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[Main photo by Haldane Martin, under CC]