Challenging the status quo.

The power of data plus creativity

Frederik Scholten has been drawn to art and science since childhood, in part inspired by his engineer father and artist mother. He explored both disciplines further at university and today his passion for seeing the world through the eyes of an artist and scientist is as strong as ever. It’s a perspective that helps fuel his success as CMO at Danish telecom Telmore.

Scholten explains, “With data and science, we can understand how people think and behave. Creativity then enables us to come up with experiences that inspire them to act.”

Telmore isn’t a typical telecommunications company. It’s also a leader in video, music, and entertainment in Denmark. Since disrupting the industry two decades ago, the company has embraced a spirit of innovation and infuses fun into everything it does, from “Pink Friday” when employees wear the brand’s cheerful pink shade, to acts of kindness and secret concerts for loyal customers.

In a country with just under six million people and more than a dozen telecom providers, competition in the Danish market is intense, to say the least. Adding to the competitive challenges is the fact that Danish consumer legislation limits contract lengths to as little as one month with a six-month maximum. If telecom providers don’t deliver the services people expect, consumers can easily jump to another provider.

While Telmore consistently ranks as a top consumer brand with around 15% market share, Scholten is always looking for new ways to stand out. “To succeed in such a competitive and highly regulated market, we need to lean into our creative spirit,” says Scholten. “Working with Adobe, we can create digital experiences that show customers the exact bundles and services they want to build a contract tailor made for them.”

From one-size-fits-all to personalization in real time

People want to do business with companies that know them, and over more than two decades Telmore amassed a wealth of customer data. Unfortunately, much of that data was siloed, making it more difficult for marketers to show customers the right bundles for them. A customer who enjoys listening to music would see the same offers as a casual TV watcher or a media fanatic who wants access to all the streaming services.

“We’re young at heart, but we have some legacy systems that can struggle to connect and limit our ability to innovate,” says Scholten. The Telmore team already trusted Adobe Analytics and Adobe Target, so they felt comfortable expanding their Adobe footprint to create a single source of truth for customer data.

Scholten’s team now benefits from a richer view of customers, with online and offline data from across systems — from subscriptions and churn scores to website and app behavior data — unified in Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform (CDP). Now when customers visit the website, the app, or browse Facebook, they see consistent campaigns and offers because Telmore marketers know what interests them.

Telmore increased matches with 65,000 customers on Facebook, so existing customers no longer see campaigns for products they already own. Customers aren’t inundated with irrelevant ads, and marketers can stretch the media budget further by limiting campaigns.

The Telmore.dk website shows different hero banners and call-to-action cards delivered through Adobe Target depending on the preferences and behaviors of each customer. A customer who only buys Android phones might see a banner for Android-compatible accessories instead of a deal for the newest iPhone. Movie fans see streaming bundles, while high-speed internet deals appear for gamers. In testing, the personalized banners increased new sales by 11% compared to non-personalized experiences.

The unified customer profiles feed into Adobe Journey Optimizer to send well-timed, personalized emails to customers. If someone starts looking at an offer for streaming services online but didn’t finalize the purchase, Telmore sends an abandoned flow email to remind them of the interaction. Many customers appreciate the reminder, with up to 80% opening messages and up to 11% completing their purchase.

“We’re shifting away from optimizing experiences for audiences to giving each person what they want,” says Scholten. “Customers see more relevant offers, encouraging them to add on services or even switch over from competitors.” The results speak for themselves, with digital sales growing 21% and cross-sales to existing customers improving by 25%.

Strong returns from AI-based strategies

Scholten encourages marketers to take advantage of artificial intelligence when searching for creative new ways to engage customers. People see next-best offers powered by artificial intelligence (AI) in cross platforms. The result is that customers are presented with more offers that relate to them as determined by their current bundles, usage, and factors such as their likelihood to churn or purchase additional products and services. If a customer browses cancellation pages and has a high churn score, they'll see better offers that encourage them to continue their subscription.

In a test of offer decisioning, Scholten’s team compared personalization using their manual ranking of next-best offers versus personalization using AI-based offer rankings. While the manual personalization delivered a 9% lift in sales compared to non-personalized experiences, AI-based offers out-performed both with a 11% increase in new sales. Customers benefit from more relevant content and recommendations in less time when marketers take advantage of AI. That means more time to be creative and reach even more customers with unique experiences.

“Adobe gives us lots of built-in functionality powered by AI, from look-alike segmentation to churn and propensity scoring, so we can increase retention, conversion, and sales,” says Scholten.

Improving customer experiences everywhere

Rich personalization across the digital self-service platform encourages more customers to turn to digital platforms first when they want to change plans or add services. This allows call center operators to focus on handling more complex customer requests. Bringing together the online and offline data, operators have a more complete view of each customer to address customer challenges more efficiently and make helpful recommendations.

“People view us as a company that does things differently and isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo. We want our marketing to reflect that,” says Scholten. “Adobe gives us the power and flexibility to keep surprising customers with new helpful experiences.”

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