I’ll never forget the first time many years ago that I saw the Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams showing Dilbert getting transferred to marketing, approaching a doorway that says “Welcome to Marketing - Two Drink Minimum.” I found it so funny until I realized that my friends in IT and finance found it even funnier. With that cartoon, Scott Adams succinctly captured the corporate zeitgeist where if the IT, finance or engineering departments were to personify marketing, they’d choose Rodney Dangerfield’s “can’t get no respect” persona. He’s that affable guy having a good time with tons of friends, but trying very hard (and not really succeeding) to get respect.

How times have changed.

Yes, by and large marketers are still those interesting, fun-loving people you’d put first on your party invitation list, but along the way we’ve started showing up with quantifiable results (as if someone connected the dots on our big game of Twister). How did that happen? Two words: customer intelligence.

Customer intelligence has enabled marketers to gain accurate insights into what drives customer behavior, predict outcomes and report measurable results. These insights enable marketers to work strategically and focus on higher-margin customer segments by prioritizing their needs and operating accordingly. One notable example is the communications titan Verizon – improving campaign close rates (sales) by 250% in the middle of the 2009 recession with customer analytics and a 360-degree view of its customers. Another example is Staples, Inc., which showed a 137% Rate of Return on their implementation of Marketing Automation. How about Europe’s TeliaSonera improving its targeting and driving a 134% increase in profitability? You think those results got the attention of their CFOs? I'll bet it did.

There are so many more examples of how customer intelligence has enabled marketing to show its contributions to the top line and to the bottom line. My point here is that with that ability, marketing has achieved internal relevance in the enterprise. And that relevance could not have come at a better time.

Not to dwell on the obvious, but customers have always been critically important to companies. B2C, B2B, B2whatever – every company has customers. And in the midst of the worst global recession since the Great Depression, and with the understanding that a customer retained is worth more than the cost to acquire a new one, customer relationships have never been more valuable. And customer intelligence has never been more critical to business strategy because marketers have the means to be better than ever at protecting and nurturing customer relationships.

I think we’d get Dilbert’s attention again - but this time it would be different. Why? Because we’re talking customer analytics - a language he would understand. I hope he’s listening. Are you?