NEWS AND LINKS - Updated November 2008
Chronological additions to this news page are made at the beginning of every month
Best practice stakeholder management: Is the topic of this article commissioned by www.MyMarketingLife.com and first posted on their members networking forum at www.Viadeo.com with Bryan Foss as author click here for the article as a PDF download The paper is relevant to board members and marketing management of commercial and public sector organisations aiming to improve their interactions with all stakeholders, whether individuals or groups.
Prof Merlin Stone, Bryan Foss and Prof Philip Kotler were keynote speakers for a regional Financial Services CRM and 'Credit Crunch' conference in Belgrade, Serbia in conjunction with Milan Ristic and the Profile Marketing Agency. In addition to numerous international and regional banks and insurers as conference attendees, interviews were conducted with The Economist and Business Week magazines, following Merlin and Bryan's book signing of the new Serbian translation of 'CRM in Financial Services'. Click here for full details of the conference
Integrating the value of salespeople and systems: adapting the benefits dependency network is a new paper published in cooperation with Portsmouth University Business School and based on the sponsored research of two major UK B2B utilities (power and telco). The paper considers the successful deployment of CRM and sales force automation systems (SFA) for business benefit and is co-authored by Beth Rogers, Professor Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss. The draft paper can be downloaded here
IoD Certificate in Company Direction: Bryan Foss completed this Institute of Directors (IoD) qualification during September 2008 and continues towards the Diploma in Company Direction and Chartered Director qualification. Topics assessed within the Certificate include: Role of the Company Director and the Board, Director and the Law, Finance for Non-Financial Directors, Strategic Business Direction, Effective Marketing Strategies, People Mean Business and Leading Strategic Change
Value of the Corporate Brand: 'The role of top management in the creation and application of the winning brand'. Bryan Foss, Professor Merlin Stone and Philip Kotler open with keynote presentations at this regional conference on 9-10 October 2008 in Belgrade, Serbia. Our co-authored book 'CRM in Financial Services' is being simultaneously launched in a new regional translation on Day 2 of the conference which focus on 'Value of the Corporate Brand in Financial Services'. Click here and here for full details of these events
Organisational agility and speed to market can be achieved through the improved application of Incentive Management (IM) systems. This is the topic of a third in the series of Point-of-View papers developed with Callidus Software Inc. Click here to download
What makes for CRM system success — or failure? is a unique new report based on researching the change programmes of 50 national and international organisations, over a ten year period. Bryan Foss, Professor Merlin Stone (Brunel) and Dr. Yuksel Ekinci (Oxford-Brookes) are co-authors of this free report download here published in Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management Vol. 15, 2, 68–78 (a Palgrave Macmillan Ltd publication)
Business and customer governance deteriorates when MI fails to deliver: The FSA confirm that only 13% of financial services companies have implemented sufficient Management Information to support senior and middle management in demonstrating good governance of the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles. This second in a series of Point-of-View papers (developed with Callidus Software Inc) outlines how accurate and dependable MI can be delivered more quickly where incentive management (for sales and service) is a primary focus. Non-FS industries can benefit in exactly the same way. Click here to download
SMEs: The backbone of the UK economy. This special edition of ''The Bridge', a publication of the Industry and Parliament Trust, features two SME CEO interview's (Concep Global and Customer Essential Ltd) which were identified, conducted and documented for Sally Muggeridge (IPT CEO) by Bryan Foss. Click here to download these extracts
Shifting organisational culture and driving stakeholder benefits & outcomes via improved incentive management schemes is the topic of the first of a series of Point-of-View paper developed with Callidus Software Inc. Click here to download
Our Customer and Citizen Management Group relaunches on 9th July at the City Inn, Central London following Merlin's completion of his expert witness role on a major commercial legal case. On June 4th Merlin also launches a new range of services in his role as Research Director with WCL, which operates primarily in the public and charitable sector
Our joint research work on the improved governance of large scale change programmes has resulted in the launch of a series of market leading offerings for the Public Sector by WCL Consulting. What is IT Governance? Better IT Governance Summary and Better IT Governance in 6 page are three new descriptions of the WGAF (WCL Governance and Assurance Framework) offering led by Professor Merlin Stone as Research Director
The CIM Diploma for Sales Directors runs at Moor Hall, with Bryan Foss as speaker on the topic of sales & service transformation and the explotiation of sales productivity systems and data.
Changes in the Marketing of Activist, Islamic and other Ethical Hedge Funds (post credit crunch) is a new report just completed and awaiting Publication in the Palgrave Macmillan Journal of Financial Services Marketing. The paper is researched and co-authored by Thomas Bullman, Prof. Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss. Click here to review a pre-publication draft
CRM programme success and failure research findings and conclusions will be published in full shortly, click on this link to view our (Bryan Foss, Prof. Merlin Stone and Dr. Yuksel Ekinci) full advance draft article or click here for the shorter (3 page) version with diagrams. A second paper considering improved governance models is currently under development.
10th B2B Sales and Marketing Congress met on 18th March 2008 at the Hilton Antwerp, where Bryan Foss provides a keynote on Key Account Management. Click here for Dutch version or French version of the agenda or review Bryan's Dutch 'Marketing Driven' article here and his Key Account Management slides here.
Prof. Merlin Stone warns of specific supplier types in the article 'Beware of the box ticker'' and summarises our views of CRM programme failure in the article 'Success and Failure , both recently published in 'Database Marketing'
The Institute of Chartered Accountants NED Special Interest Group feature an interview with Bryan Foss and associated article for new or potential non-executive directors within their resource library and 1Q2008 first quarterly magazine. The NED SIG is a subscription-based group (hence the password), and new members can subscribe from the web page above. Membership is open to ICAEW members as well as other interested parties.
Customer Knowledge and Key Account Management is the topic of this pre-publication paper click here to read 'Excellence in Key Account Management requires a strong focus on Customer Knowledge - including the motivation of sales teams to provide and use it'.
Financial i (business solutions for banking) interviews Bryan Foss on the integration of 'Know Your Customer' (KYC), CRM and MiFID capabilities within customer facing business processes. (see page 3 here)
Strategic Planning for Pharmaceutical Sales conference 2008 in Amsterdam Jan 29/30 invites Bryan Foss to present Slides on Best Practices in KAM and SMB marketing from Financial Services that are relevant to Pharma. For full details of the event and agenda see this link.
Good governance and beneficial deployment of innovation and IT was the forum's topic as www.fsclub.co.uk invited Professor Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss to co-present on 'Innovative Technologies in Financial Services' on Tuesday 11th December 2007 at their Quarterly Technology Briefing, Lloyd's Insurance Building, Lime Street, London. Click here for slides
CRM success and failure was the topic of a rapid research update led by Bryan Foss and Merlin Stone, across the UK Customer Management Group (CMG) companies. Of 90 requests 40 detailed responses were received from companies including Lloyds TSB, P&O, BP, HSBC and many more. Substantial desk research of analyst s (e.g.Gartner Group), application vendors (e.g. Siebel, SAP, Chordiant) and consulting integrators (e.g. IBM, Accenture etc) case studies supplemented our primary research through the CMG. The conclusions and resulting presentation were delivered to the CMG and an associated article formally published shortly after.
Integrated B2B communications Including email, instant messaging, contact centres and more is the topic of this article co-authored by Bryan Foss and Alex Noble of Cisco. Click here to read our lead article. The same edition includes associated articles from James Munro (DRltd B2B e-contact examples), Beth Rogers (Portsmouth University B2B Research Club) and Neil Wilson & Caroline Pearce (B2B benchmarking from Customer Essential).
The National School of Government (Centre for Strategic Leadership) invites Bryan Foss to present on 'the role of the Non-Executive Director in the Public Sector and Commerce' to executive attendees at the Cabinet Office 'Board Effectiveness Masterclass', Admiralty Arch, London
The ICT Forum Wales invites Bryan Foss to open as keynote speaker at the ICT in Financial Services event Friday 16th November 2007, at the Vale Hotel, Golf &Spa Resort, Cardiff see the link here. The event is actively supported by the British Computer Society (BCS), of which Bryan is a Fellow and Chartered Engineer.
The Portsmouth University B2B Research Forum invites Professor Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss to assist in the development of board level business cases for improved deployment and integration of Customer Experience systems. Contributing companies included Powergen, Opal Telecom, Ecclesiastical Insurance and others. Click here for more details of this current research forum.
Risk Reward Propositions in B2B was the topic of two evening executive workshops hosted by Bryan Foss and Rick Wolfe (CEO of PostStone, Toronto) in London on 18th and 25th of September 2007. Contributing companies included Samsung, UK Online, Concep Global, Zafinlabs, Tokio Marine Europe Limited, Direct Response ltd, Callidus Software, ABA Research, Earthshine Solutions and more. Read a summary of conclusions here
Powerful Communications is the theme of a new article that considers how financial services board teams might move their business-to-business (with examples from Capital Markets and the London Insurance Market) companies from transaction management to customer and case management - click here for the full text.
The 'Raising Business Capital' section of the advisory site New Life Network highlights Bryan's recently published review of the new Keith Arundale book 'Raising Venture Capital in Europe' at the bottom of this web page.
New Tokio Marine Europe (TMEI) case study highlights the application of integrated email and document management within the London and Regional Commercial Insurance market as a B2B professionals productivity tool click here to view the case study
The International Journal of Bank Marketing publishes our paper 'Degrees of separation: technological interactivity and account management' Vol.25 No.5 2007, by Tim Hughes, Bryan Foss, Merlin Stone and Peter Cheverton. This paper reviews, from different and unique perspectives, the very extensive Key Account Management research we carried out during preparation for the book 'Key Account Management in Financial Services'.
B2B customer loyalty is achieved through positively interacting with customers. Case studies of Trafficmaster SmartNav and NCP describe the way these companies embed and deliver Customer Experience in practice at The Marketing Leaders (August 2007)
Our 'relationship stages model' is now recorded in the inventory of the 'world's best brand management models'. The foundation for Scientific Research on Commercial Communication (SWOCC) is located at University of Amsterdam and aims to expand the knowledge of brand communication in such a way that it gains day-to-day functionality. WARC ( the World Advertising Research Centre ) publishes an inventory of models for its members and has selected our Relationship Stages model from the 2004 book 'Consumer Insight' to become part of this best practice inventory.
The Marketors 'Common Hall' event has been attended and documented by Liveryman Bryan Foss for members of the Worshipful Company of Marketors (WCoM), providing members with an opportunity to hear updates on Livery Company strategy from the Master and Committee chairs, also to question the Court and make suggestions for future efforts in support of the commercial development of the City of London..
Business Ecosystems (including examples from the Apple iPod, SAP and Microsoft) is the topic of the latest article for The Marketing Leaders July newsletter, co-authored by Professor Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss
Raising Venture Capital Finance in Europe is the topic of a unique new book reviewed for Marketing and other board directors of private companies by Bryan Foss. Find this online at the link Raising VC Finance or at the bottom of the 'Raising Capital' page at The New Life Network
Are customer reviews really reliable recommendations? This challenging article considers how online companies such as www.thebestof.co.uk are planning and piloting the use of new techniques that will ensure the integrity of supplier recommendations on their website. Find this online at 'Who can we trust? - We trust our peers'
Are you a good networker? Exploring and using Networking in Marketing using online tools and face to face meetings is the topic for a co-authored article and top-ten tips list developed with Rachel Brushfield of www.energisingconnector.co.uk. Find this article online at The New Life Network
Samsung UK Marketing Director Anthony Marsella co-authors an article and B2B case study with Bryan Foss on the new Marketing and Sales Standards (MSSSB). Find this online at www.TheMarketingLeaders.com
Market Location now features a series of B2B articles by Bryan Foss and colleagues at www.marketlocation.com, Market Location is a premier provider of B2B data and analysis services.
Global Account Management best practices (GAM is not just 'key account management with time zones) achieve new visibility and understanding for B2B marketers through this online publication by Peter Cheverton and Bryan Foss. Click here to read this new GAM article
New B2B quarterly email newsletter is launched 8th February by the IDM B2B Council, TheMarketingLeaders and sponsor Market Location, with facilitation and advisory support from Bryan Foss. The combined subscriber base is estimated at around 50,000 marketers, all of whom will be invited to contribute to B2B market research and ongoing development initiatives. Click here to access the first B2B email newsletter
An organisation goes in the direction of its measures: In this Marketing Leaders article Alison Bond and Bryan Foss explore the linkage between well chosen (Halo aligned) targets and maintaining Ethics in Corporate Governance
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), appoints Bryan Foss as the external and OGC (Office of Government and Commerce) representative to their 'Operational Improvement Plan' (OIP) agency Board. This substantial transformation project impacts the productivity and case work of 10,000 agency staff, and is dependent upon the successful deployment of a series of substantial case management upgrades to their EDS provided systems and BT / Avaya call centre environment.
The Marketing Dashboard as a tool to achieve real competitive advantage through marketing / sales / service process improvement is explored in this joint article by Rick Wolfe (CEO of www.PostStone.com) and Bryan Foss, published here on The Marketing Leaders website
The Institute of Direct Marketing B2B conference was a great success in March 2007. As a member of the IDM B2B Council access was provided to our guests at the IDM member price of £395 - see this link for full details of the conference
Market Research costs and time reduced by 90% as the Halo Works delivers early testimonials for it's brand-new client and staff online research method. It makes sense to 'measure benefits to get better, rather than measuring transactions to make you busier),see a number of real examples of how this has been achieved.
National School of Government (supported by the Cabinet Office and Treasury) this week briefed Non-Executive Directors on the development process for new Government policy, the delivery of new Departmental Capability Reviews and their role in new audit and risk management methods. Bryan Foss will chair an early 2007 conference for Government NED's on Adopting best practices from Commerce and Kingsley Weber will lead sessions on Exploiting the benefits of diversity in the board room and workforce, click here for details and dates.
B2B 'comes of age' as Prof. Derek Holder and Bryan Foss launch the new IDM B2B marketing Certificate and Diploma qualifications in this article. Bryan Foss and Caroline Marrows (www.customeressential.com) have also been commissioned to develop the Key Account Management module by January 2007.
The Department for Work and Pensions, appoint Bryan Foss to chair the Client Standards Committee, which is responsible to the agencies main board and the Secretary of State (previously John Hutton, then Peter Hain), for compliance of client decision making standards, which are deployed through operational staff contact with clients and the service escalation and appeals processes.
Navigating a successful CRM implementation is the topic tackled by Bryan Foss and Liz Machtynger in the October edition of The Marketing Leaders online newsletter. See the article here
Public Sector and commercial companies can benefit from providing TA officers through improved leadership and asset management skills, Bryan Foss & Alison Bond are working with 151 Logistics Regiment to improve officer recruitment through online Halo surveys and board level HR contacts. L.Colonel Sam Evans outlines the case for board members in this www.non-execs.com article,or link here for more on 151 Regiment.
The value of Non-Executive Directors to fast growing companies is summarised by CEO Mark Power in this article, published at www.Non-Execs.com. Bryan Foss has been a long term adviser to the CEO and board of www.ConcepGlobal.com
Bryan Foss works with Q.Know and CSC to develop and coordinate a joint Information Management offering for re-insurers Click here for details
ABA Research launch a new online research tool which dramatically reduces survey times and costs, while providing exceptionally high response rates and insights which are immedately actionable. Bryan Foss is working with ABA Research on business growth and launch planning activities, including marketing and distributor management. See The Halo Works for more information on this low cost PAYG service, which can be 'white labelled' as part of your own company's integrated solution set.
Concep Global host their first ever B2B client conference. This fully booked working conference featured top B2B marketing speakers and updates from Concep executives on new email, web, event, audit and survey solutions. See Concep Global Client Event Summary for more details of these new and well integrated digital communications offerings. Bryan works as a business growth adviser with the Concep executive team.
Q.Know (supplier of B2B desktop information solutions) win a further UK / US client and supplier management project with London Market based Financial Services company Carvill. Bryan Foss works with Q.Know as an adviser and connector within the Financial Services marketplace.
Concep (one of the UK's leading providers of digital communication tools and services for corporate clients), also launch a new brand identity to reflect its new business structure, which includes the opening of offices in New York and Sydney to service its global client base. Concep's new corporate identity has been designed to reflect the company's core values; expertise, innovation and people, and helps place it at the forefront of the corporate digital communications market. As a retained adviser, Bryan Foss has worked with the Concep team throughout the international expansion and corporate rebranding programme..Click here to see the new branding
The Non-Executive Director magazine features Bryan Foss in their August interview on managing risk for non executive directors and advisers to public and private organisations. Click here to view the interview
The Key Account Management workshop of 19th October 2006 was supported by Bryan Foss and led by Professor Malcolm McDonald and Peter Cheverton of Insight-MP. Click here for the brochure and full details
Other August news. Holidays in the UK and elsewhere (including Merlin's honeymoon) were accompanied by major business events including the Marketors luncheon at the Lord Mayor of London's Mansion House. Early August also included a visit to 151 Regiment of the British Army to discuss recruitment and marketing methods, accompanied by a 'Skill at Arms' shooting competition which was ably won by the officers of 151 Regiment despite the Marketors best efforts.
Aspen re case study for Q.Know B2B collaboration and Information management Systems. This case study introduces a unique Key Account Management support technology into the UK, initially through Lloyd's Of London and the London Insurance Market. The interview and writing of the case study was carried out by Bryan Foss. Click here to view the case study.
Bryan Foss presents at Brazil's CIAB Financial Services conference, 21,22,23 June 2006. In its 15th year edition, the CIAB - The Information Technology Congress and Exposition of Financial Institutions, promoted by FEBRABAN - The Brazilian Bank Federation, established itself as the most outstanding event of Latin America's financial sector. The numbers speak for themselves: 1,433 congress people, 14 thousand visitors (67% more than in the 2003 edition), 26 sessions held during the three days in three different auditoriums, 115 experts including lecturers and panel presentators, and 78 expositors with stands scatered about over an area of 14 thousand square meters. Conference brochure Bryan Foss interview Day 3 highlights
Foss Initiatives supports Sally Muggeridge (CEO) and the Industry & Parliamentary Trust in arranging an EU Parliamentary Seminar in Brussels. Business and public sector delegates toured the Brussels parliament and met with MEPs (including Richard Ashford, Kent & SE England), UK Council members (including David Eacott, FS regulatory compliance lead for the Foreign Office and FSA) and top lobbying consultants.
Professor Merlin Stone appears on two BBC Breakfast TV slots, also BBC News24, to comment on Customer Experience Management (CEM) in Contact Centres and more recently Powergen's decision to reopen UK call centres, click here to open a summary article
The UK Department for Work and Pensions appoint Bryan Foss to a DWP agency Audit Committee. A major change programme (the Operational Improvement Plan) is underway within the agency, in parallel to the Sir David Henshaw policy review. The terms of reference and agency business plan can be downloaded here Agency Assessment, Policy Review and 2006 / 7 Business Plan
Bryan Foss appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the UK Government Department for Work and Pensions. Effective March 15th Bryan joins one of the primary agency boards of the DWP as an Officer. The DWP aims are to promote opportunity and independence for all, help individuals achieve their potential through employment and to work to end poverty in all its forms. promote opportunity and independence for all through modern, customer-focused services. The DWP helps people to achieve their potential through employment, so that they are able to provide for their children and to work and save for secure retirement.
Foss Initiatives Limited writes for and supports the April launch of The Marketing Leaders .com which delivers a new website and newsletter for modern marketing, for professional marketers and managers with a passion for profit.
Foss Initiatives Limited leads the development of the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) first B2B focused marketing qualification. Sponsored by Professor Derek Holder (MD, IDM) and the IDM B2B Council, this initiative aims to provide the first recognised development path & assessment scheme for B2B marketers. Please contact us to have your say on the requirement and content for both a Certificate and Diploma level qualification.
Foss Initiatives Limited supports the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) launch of a Business to Business (B2B) website. To meet the needs of B2B marketers the IDM will shortly be launching a B2B website, closely following their B2B annual conference (click here for B2B conference March 2006). The website will include B2B case studies, research and thought leadership articles, also details of B2B skills development workshops. Bryan Foss is an IDM B2B council member providing contributions and drive to this initiative, while Professor Merlin Stone leads a monthly newsletter and research exercise. Watch this space for the web link when launched.
Admission to the Livery of the Worshipful Company of Marketors Probably the most senior group of marketing professionals in the UK have admitted Bryan Foss as a full Liveryman, following his recent admission as a Freeman of the City of London. This provides a personal responsibility to uphold the values and standards of the marketing profession. The London livery companies date back to the 12th and 13th Centuries. Marketors website
Consumer Insight book launched in Chinese Sponsored by the Market Research Society (MRS), IBM and Ogilvy, this book has recently been translated into Chinese in a simplified form. Integrating best practices from market research and customer analytics this book is a unique guide to the practicalities of consumer insight. Alison Bond, Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss are co-authors. Please select 'contact us' to request ordering details for all our translated publications.
Insight-MP launch a Masterclass on Financial Services Key Account Management with Prof Merlin Stone, Bryan Foss and Customer Essential, based on our joint book (see publications page). Event details & application forms are accessed by clicking here This event is scheduled for 30th March at the London Stock Exchange
Q.Know appoint Bryan Foss as an adviser to the CEO (Vineet Kalucha) and board. Based in Washington USA. Q.Know provides information management and team communication solutions to companies across the US and Europe. Clients include Lloyd's of London re-insurers, brokers and other businesses dependant on the effective management of Business to Business (B2B) sales and service relationships.
WCL appoint Professor Merlin Stone as a Director and adviser to the CEO and board. WCL is a leading consulting and services company with exceptional experiences in change and risk management within the UK Public and Commercial sectors.
Concep Global appoint Bryan Foss as a board adviser. Concep is a London based specialist provider of permission-based corporate email marketing solutions internationally, offering extensive expertise in the creation and delivery of engaging corporate interactive email and print campaigns. Complementary PR, web, event, survey, ad and design solutions complete an integrated approach to interactive digital communications, in support of delivering an end to end brand strategy. Bryan joins Concep as board adviser on business growth and solutions strategies.
Research report now available: B2C Financial Services 'Treating customers fairly' (TCF) compliance and Customer Experience Management (CEM) survey. This joint research project with Mulberry House Consulting is available free of charge on request to banks, insurers and other financial services companies. Survey results were recently presented alongside the ABI perspective (Martin Shaw) and is now highlighte d in the LIMRA Europe. newsletter (Life Insurers membership publication) click here for the published LIMRA TCF article
Research report now available: B2C Customer Experience Management (CEM) status and best practices in Banking, Automotive, Distribution and Telecomms. This IBM / Ogilvy research project was contributed to by both Professor Merlin Stone and Bryan Foss. Launched in December 2005 the report highlights current status and best practices in Customer Experience Management across and within these important industries. click here for the banking CE report or click here for the multi-industry CEM report
Research: B2B sales and distribution teams - email & document management systems support. A key account management research and B2B distribution management survey is underway and already providing useful insights into the way KAM teams are supported by email and document management systems in support of business growth. If you are a B2B supplier or buyer please contact us to take part in this survey and to see the results. Associated short articles on insurance B2B Underwriting and Compliance are already available free of charge on request.
New B2B Distribution series launched by Bryan Foss and colleagues. A series of B2B focused 'best practice' articles and accompanying case studies have been developed for publication by the Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM), the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and other thought leadership websites. Early B2B topics include Key Account Management systems, Marketing for Growth, New Product Development & Communications, Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance, Commercial Insurance Underwriting, Contract Certainty for Lloyd's, Life Insurance sales forecasting through B2B distribution and more. Contact us to request personal copies of these articles and case studies, or to suggest additional topics for our attention.
'Marketing Revolution' book launch with Kogan Page publishing. Professor Merlin Stone, Anthony Marsella, Paul Gamble and Alan Tapp recently launched this extremely innovative new marketing book, which can be purchased via Amazon and other distributors worldwide. Reviews will be published shortly on www.bettermanagement.com, www.theidm.co.uk and other partner sites
Bryan Foss and Professor Merlin Stone