An Interview with Paul Lee, Director – Professional Services Asia Pacific, Unica
Paul Lee is the Director of Professional Services for Unica in Asia/Pac. Our team has worked with Paul to place some of the first web analytics professionals for Unica in Australia. Unica is growing their web analytics (NetInsights, etc.) business in the region aggressively, so we asked Paul to sit for an interview.
1. On which parts of Unica’s product suite are you focusing for the Asia/Pac market? What is the reason for that focus?
Historically, Unica Asia/Pac has had a focus in the direct marketing space. Customers here have seen the demonstrated benefits of Unica’s suite from markets abroad and have realised that it is indeed the most comprehensive and progressive solution to support next generation marketing needs. Unica is now expanding into the on-line marketing arena as marketers recognize that the online channel is becoming the key marketing channel, and provides a wealth of opportunities for marketers. Online behavioral data is a mission-critical asset that businesses can leverage to increase revenue, improve results and deliver differentiated and more personalized customer experiences. As web data and web marketing needs to be managed in much the same manner as any other critical business data Unica’s heritage in data-driven marketing technology solutions sets it apart from competition in terms of being able to help clients with their progression online.
2. What are the main differences between the Asia/Pac marketplace for web analytics and the EU market and the US market?
Generally speaking, the Asia/Pac marketplace is not too dissimilar to the EU or US market other than perhaps in terms of scale. With the penetration and usage of high speed internet being some of the highest in the world it is logical that more and more businesses will be attempting to establish marketing dialogues with these online customers. It is also fully expected that customers in Asia/Pac will seek advantage in leveraging a platform that can integrate cross channel marketing initiatives.
3. What do you see as the main competitive advantages that NetInsight has over your competitor’s products (webtrends, omniture, etc.)?
Unica’s approach to online marketing is advantageous in a number of ways. Unica NetInsight is based upon superior technology compared to our competition. NetInsight uses a soft tagging approach to data collection instead of traditional hard coded page tags which allows marketers the flexibility to keep up with the pace of business change. This approach minimizes the need for marketers to decide up-front what site goals and visitor segments need to be implemented via page tags, which typically have been complex, prone to error, slower to deploy and more intensive to maintain.
NetInsight is also designed with a flexible and open data architecture which means that marketers can now drill down into web data like never before. NetInsight stores data down to such a granular level that users can implement segments, reports, metrics or dimensions for analysis far easier than before and all this can be configured through a single role-based interface – providing businesses with unsurpassed flexibility. At Unica we’re proud that our product is ‘Democratizing’ access to web analytics by extending self service for web marketers and empowering them, and in turn the business they represent, to grow and be successful.
NetInsight is also clearly differentiated via its deployment flexibility. Unlike other vendor offerings, it is available both as an on-demand or enterprise software solution with the ability to shift seamlessly from one delivery model to another, over time, with the same product. Whether the shift is due to business growth, IT or compliance requirements, Unica’s solution can adapt with you.
Lastly, NetInsight is part of Unica’s leading marketing product suite. For companies that need a broader next generation marketing solution, for example email, campaign management, marketing resource management, website personalization across on and offline channels, Unica is uniquely placed to take your business on this journey. Only Unica truly offers a comprehensive interactive marketing solution enabling companies to engage customers, prospects and anonymous web visitors in an interactive cross-channel dialogue.
4. How do you think your professional services / support organizations stack up against those of your competitors?
Unica is very committed to web analytics success in Asia Pacific and despite a global financial crisis of a depth and scale never before seen, our professional services team has been expanded in every major geography, giving good coverage of major business centres in the region. We have also made investments in Customer Engagement resources to ensure that we do our utmost to enable customer success and have our customer’s solutions optimally tuned so they are gleaning the benefits of our best in class platform. For our NetInsight on-demand offering, Unica has invested in Technical Account Management resources to ensure that online marketers and IT stakeholders alike have ready access to experts within the region as required. In addition to this, Unica has also made further investments in enhancing service levels provided from our Asia Pacific technical support centre, along with the implementation of online portals and user forums to foster greater customer intimacy and also to facilitate networking and knowledge sharing.
5. What is the perfect NetInsight customer?
The perfect NetInsight customer is one that wants to get up and running quickly and also has a vision beyond just web measurement and into integrated on and offline marketing. They would typically be on a growth path beyond just reporting into optimization and segmentation and has an eye toward interactive marketing, that is, behavioural targeting on a site and into the future perhaps even beyond the web site. Unica is confident that there are many businesses like this in Asia/Pac.
6. What are your biggest human resource challenges in the Asia/Pac region?
Characterised by the diversity of more than 35 distinct sovereign countries, each with a blend of cultures and languages spread over vast physical distances, the business environment in Asia/Pac is as challenging as it is unique. These characteristics present special needs and considerations with respect to human resource management, some of which include:
- Geographic coverage and alignment. Countries within the region have vastly different business environments, protocols, cost structures and expectations. This often requires an in-country or close- proximity presence in order to be successful. Equally, having a distributed organisation requires innovative solutions to foster communication, collaboration and development.
- Language and cultural considerations. Like localized software, human resource also requires ‘localisation’. There are quite a few countries in the region, where English is very much a second language in business. It is often advantageous to have local staff or partners with language skills and sensitivity to local customs and cultural requirements. HR policy and regulations also differ across each country so a working knowledge of these differences, along with processes to deal with them, is critical.
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