This director of relationship marketing and interactive is on the leading edge of strategy, exploring content integration, behavioral targeting and emerging technologies.
Todd Manion joined the Nestlé USA organization seven years ago to manage the joint venture between Coca-Cola and Nestlé in North America. He then took on the assignment of director of ebusiness in the beverage division. In his current role as director of relationship marketing and interactive he is responsible for integrating technology into current business practices and developing the overall CRM and interactive strategy to support Nestlé's core marketing principles.
Additionally, he co-led the launching of Nestlé's newest consumer-centric platform, VeryBestKids.com, bringing multiple brands and divisions together with a single solution for the consumer.
iMedia: With P&G's recent announcement that it's pulling some dollars from network TV, and ZenithOptimedia's new predictions showing internet advertising increasing, it seems "spray and pray" is starting to feel some pressure. Is this a good thing for interactive marketers? Has it opened some budget for you?
Todd Manion: Yes, absolutely. What it has done, it has taken both interactive and CRM from out of the stepdaughter or stepson status to sitting at the table with everyone else. All touch-points are now integrated. What we see is that because interactive and CRM are so measurable, dollars are moving there -- we can see the results much easier.
iMedia: Following up on that, how has the media mix changed for you over the last few years?
Manion: One: the measurability; two: the specifics in terms of geo and demo marketing; and three: cost. We can now reach a specific group of people faster and more directly with more relative information.
iMedia: What was your most successful online or integrated campaign recently and what made it successful?
Manion: The most recent one was an integration with "The Apprentice." It was a cross of TV, print and online. It involved content integration into the show of the Nescafe Tasters Choice product, followed by a drive to web through a sampling program. It was integrated into the content as one of the tasks the teams had to complete. It became the basis for ongoing communications with consumers.
iMedia: What do you think is the greatest benefit of online advertising? The ability to measure? Precisely target? Gather data? Something else?
Manion: The combo of all of these things. You can put it all together and track. Also, the immediacy of the information; how quickly you get the information.
iMedia: Is there a "killer app" for you? What is it (email, search, advertising on certain sites, integration of advertising)? Why do you believe that works for your company/product/service?
Manion: It all depends -- each year there's a new killer app. We consistently have new things coming at us. When something works, we move it through the organization very quickly. Search, for the last six months or year, has been the killer app, but we're starting to move to other things. That doesn't mean the last one goes away, though. Content integration may be the new killer app -- integrating content with major portals of information where you'll get the most bang for the buck
iMedia: So what do you think is the next big thing and how will it affect you?
Manion: I think it will be a combination of a couple of things. Certainly content integration as I just mentioned -- what information about our brands and about consumers should we be developing to partner with those people who are destination sites?
Also, how to address dual language households -- how deep do we have to go with providing bilingual sites? That's going to be huge.
iMedia: What still frustrates you most about online advertising? What can be done to improve the situation?
Manion: There still is room for the portals to take all of their properties and present them from a singular perspective as a partner versus as a vendor. That goes both ways. It still frustrates me internally when we treat people who act as partners like vendors.
iMedia: Speaking of partners, what's the key for having a successful relationship with agencies?
Manion: It's critical that everyone understands goals and objectives of any program, and then that you track against those objectives. You also have to have open communications. And, as I just mentioned, you need to work as partners on the program. Taking ownership is another key -- whoever is responsible for a project needs to own that project.
iMedia: Are you doing any behavioral targeting? If yes, please describe.
Manion: Yes. We're targeting, through a combination of offline and online vehicles, based on a group of questions we're asking consumers, both from a consumption modeling perspective and with regards to trends or nuances. We're asking the questions so as to identify key consumer groups. Based on that information, we're testing and then going out with communications for those people.
It has been a successful strategy so far, and we're shifting more dollars toward it moving forward.
iMedia: Are you being affected by any consumer-generated marketing (CGM) -- blogs, user groups, et cetera? Are you using any blogs or other social networking tools to market?
Manion: Both. We're watching it all closely. We're looking at some elements to see how we leverage them to both help brands and satisfy consumers. We're in the early stages of that.
iMedia: Have you done much with wireless, iTV or other emerging mediums?
Manion: We're testing some of the social gaming through wireless.
iMedia: Any final words of wisdom for other marketers? Something you've recently learned, perhaps, or some advice someone has given you?
Manion: Treat people as you would want to be treated, and, it' not a short race.