Vice president of ecommerce says agencies need to be better economic analysts to be more effective.

Greg Smith is vice president, ecommerce for Cendant. Cendant is one of the world's foremost providers of travel and real estate services, one of the largest hotel franchisors, the largest vacation ownership organization, and one of the largest car rental operators. It also is the largest real estate brokerage franchisor, one of the largest retail mortgage originators in the United States, the largest provider of outsourced corporate employee relocation services, and a leading provider of travel information processing services worldwide.

iMediaConnection: What was your biggest online "win" this year, and how did you sell it throughout the company? 

Smith: Without a doubt, the biggest win this year has come from enhancing site conversion with our merchandising programs. Our ROI has been off the charts by providing users with more relevant offers based on prior search activity at any of our travel Web sites.

iMediaConnection: How has your job changed this year?

Smith: Last year I spent almost all of my time planting seeds by selling concepts and implementing technology on our travel sites such as Avis, Budget, Cheap Tickets, Ramada and Days Inn. This year, now that most of the programs are live, I have been focused on optimization based on search activity, creative units, ad size units, publisher sites, etc.

iMediaConnection: What surprised you in the online world this year?

Smith: There seems to be a resurgence in the marketplace of behavioral targeting on the publisher side. Both Engage and DoubleClick spent millions of dollars a few years ago and were unsuccessful in getting substantial lift in results and the market correspondingly collapsed. I am somewhat suspect of whether players like Revenue Science, Tacoda and Dotomi can succeed.

This is not to say that I am not a proponent of behavioral targeting. To the contrary, I am a big believer in the power of advertiser-side data. I have seen it work in many different applications.

iMediaConnection: Have you realigned internal structures and resources to simplify or increase integrated marketing? 

Smith: Yes. While we continue to look at the world by channel, we are on the cusp of closing the gaps to create a more integrated approach.

iMediaConnection: How do you determine your marketing mix, and how has the role of online in it changed?

Smith: It all comes down to ROI. We like the fact that online is so trackable. That said, there is always more than one way to interpret data and the impact of branding. We apply as much science as we can, but there is always some art in determining the mix.

iMediaConnection: What haven't you brought into the marketing mix yet that you want to try?

Smith: I would like to bring digital cable into the mix, but I think we will wait until there is a significant universe available to optimize media and/or creative messaging at the household level.

iMediaConnection: Have you seen specific evidence of online driving offline sales?

Smith: We are in the midst of a project that can potentially yield us some estimate of that impact. Stay tuned.

iMediaConnection: Are you using consultants, software, agencies or other tools to help with search engine  marketing?

Smith: Yes. We have used both consultants and an agency to help us on a project basis. We try to do as much in-house as possible, but we only have so many hands and minds.

iMediaConnection: What do you believe is the future of ad agencies?

Smith: I started my career at Young & Rubicam in New York and worked in the media and account management functions for two and half years. It was a great place to learn the business.

In order for the agency business to grow and for there to be less account turnover in the industry, agencies need to be closer to the economics of their customers’ businesses and they need to be better analysts. They have to think beyond advertising and think about the more general aspects of marketing -- like fixed costs, marginal costs, break-even points, etc. Very few agencies really do this today. Those that do can build integrated and long-term relationships with their clients.

iMediaConnection: What do we need to be doing as an industry to help you make interactive marketing a bigger piece of your marketing pie?

Smith: Make more broadcast media digital and trackable.

iMediaConnection: Are you being affected by any consumer-generated marketing (CGM) -- blogs, user groups, etc.? Are you using any blogs or other social networking tools to market?

Smith: Not today.

iMediaConnection: How important is CRM in your marketing efforts? Give us an example of what's working.

Smith: Very important. We are just in the process of developing sophisticated capabilities to understand better what is working.

iMediaConnection: What are you investing in now for next year’s marketing program?

Smith: We are in the midst of a major CRM database integration effort.

iMediaConnection: Does anything still frustrate you about what online can or can’t do?

Smith: It seems like search tracking is in the same situation that banner tracking was in five years ago -- still in the first inning.

iMediaConnection: What blogs do you read?

Smith: None.

iMediaConnection: What are your daily "must-see" Web sites and why?

Smith: I check out MLB.com everyday. We have a successful targeted ad campaign on the site and I am a diehard [St. Louis] Cardinals fan -- it is great to see them having such a good year.

iMediaConnection: What are you reading these days, other than iMediaConnection.com, of course?

Smith: Read? I wish I had the time. Vanity Fair when I am on an airplane.