New study by London analyst firm highlights barriers to adoption of effective customer retention strategies for global mobile operators.

So says a mobile community research report commissioned by Business Logic Systems and conducted by London analyst firm Freeform Dynamics.

Called Mobile Marketing Imperatives: Transitioning to a customer-centric approach, the report is based on interviews with chief marketing officers (CMO) and campaign managers at 13 Tier 1 and Tier 2 mobile operators in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

At a time when many mobile markets are saturated, the report reveals panel members are placing ever more emphasis on developing customer loyalty programs, improving customer segmentation and aligning systems and processes to make customer-centric marketing a reality. However, they are facing significant constraints and capability gaps:

„« Customer data limitations - Data is fragmented and not up to supporting micro-segmentation

„« Inefficient campaign set-up process - Poorly defined collaboration processes and high reliance on manual processing throttles the ongoing dialogue

„« Limited real-time response capability - Reliance on custom integration and/or manual processing for customer response further undermines the dialogue mentioned directly above

„« Inadequate reporting/monitoring capabilities - A fragmented and incomplete view of activity

Using the insights into best practice gleaned from discussions with the panel, Mobile Marketing Imperatives outlines a set of key principles and imperatives that mobile marketers should consider in their path toward a genuinely customer-centric culture, which include:

„« Redefining the role of the CMO as that of ¡¥orchestrator¡¦

„« Automating campaign execution wherever possible

„« Using a blend of IT systems

Stewart Goldberg, chairman of Business Logic Systems, comments: ¡§This study highlights that mobile operators need effective tools, which can be integrated easily with existing systems, to develop fully-automated marketing processes.  By building personalised and relevant dialogue with their customers, mobile operators can encourage profitable behaviours and create long-term subscriber loyalty.  The challenge lies in rapidly interpreting customer usage data to gain an holistic view of customer activity for accurate campaign targeting.  Business Logic Systems is working with a number of operators to address this ¡¥real time¡¦ challenge and achieve improved ROI from CRM systems.¡¨