sascom voices - The sascom magazine blog

Beginning this Thursday, October 2nd, SAS and HP will launch a new, unique series of eight, 15-minute video blogs titled Grounds for Conversation: Practical Insights for Customer-Focused Marketing.

Several components of this project are very exciting:

First, There’s no product pitch or sales agenda – just a lot of great ideas about how you can build closer and more productive relationships with your customers.

Second, the project is video based. It’s not a series of lengthy white papers or articles, and it’s not another 60-minute webcast discussing how wonderful a particular company’s products are. These are short, 15-minute conversations between people who know the Customer Intelligence market.

Third, it’s a series that will last at least eight weeks, perhaps longer given your involvement via comments and questions. And I have commitment from each of the subject matter experts to respond to any questions you raise or comments you have. So let us know what you think – about the videos or content, or about the process or concept behind this project. I promise, we’re listening.

Fourth, as a company, we’re learning a lot with this project. Almost everything we’re doing is different. We’re not making anyone register to view the content. We’re publishing the content through our blog to invite audience participation. And although we used a script and a teleprompter for the opening and closing statements, the discussion is free-flowing and conversational. There are no PowerPoint foils. No product pitches. You’ll notice that even the imagery we used is different: it’s minimal, simple and devoid of ostentation, just like the content.

I’m lucky to have found two wonderfully intelligent and personable hosts for this series. Each week Jeff Gilleland, Global Strategist of SAS Customer Intelligence Solutions, and Karen Heath, a Managing Practice Principal with HP, sit down with experts in the customer intelligence field to discuss how organizations can achieve higher value and profit through marketing.

Much of what’s discussed is related to the Three I’s of Marketing: Insight, Interaction and Improvement, which are described in further detail as the videos progress.

Here’s a quick video introduction:



Of course, a big part of this experience is you! I encourage you to contribute to the discussion by sharing your ideas and questions with the speakers and fellow viewers via the comment box below.

There will also be additional resources that we’ll be offering you throughout the weeks. You’ll be able to download related whitepapers, webcasts, case studies and more!

This is undoubtedly going to be a great learning experience for us all, and I’m excited to begin. Meet us back here this Thursday to watch the first episode!

P.S. You can click the “continued reading” link below to view the full video transcript.