[Report] Real-Time Marketing: The Agility to Leverage 'Now' by Rebecca Lieb & Jessica Groopman

A Market Definition Report

Real-Time Marketing:
The Agility to Leverage ‘Now’
December 17, 2013

By Rebecca Lieb
with Jessica Groopman and Charlene Li
Includes input from 18 ecosystem contributors

Executive Summary
Real-time marketing (RTM), the strategy and practice of reacting with
immediacy in digital channels to external events and triggers, has been
steadily growing in use and popularity. An expanding array of tools and
digital channels (e.g., social media and listening capabilities) has made
real-time accessible, in theory at least, to virtually every marketer. As digital
channels become increasingly more real time, all marketing organizations
must consider to what degree they will function in real time. We found that
successful RTM requires enormous strategic and tactical preparation. This
report, based on interviews with 18 executive industry practitioners, explains
the benefits of RTM, outlines the business cases to which it can be applied,
and identifies the best practices and steps necessary to move an enterprise
toward RTM readiness.

Table of Contents
The Benefits and Problems of Real-Time Marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Six Use Cases of Real-Time Marketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Preparing for Real-Time Marketing Requires Two Types of Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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I. Planning Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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II. Planning Execution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Ecosystem Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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End Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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About Us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Real-Time Marketing

The Agility to Leverage ‘Now’
The Benefits and Problems of Real-Time Marketing

Real-time marketing

Altimeter Group defines real-time marketing as:

The strategy and practice of

The strategy and practice of responding with immediacy to external events and triggers. It’s

responding with immediacy

arguably the most relevant form of marketing, achieved by listening to and/or anticipating
consumer interests and needs.
RTM has been entrenched in the digital arsenal for well over a decade. Triggered email

to external events and
triggers. It’s arguably

and text messaging, search results and search advertisements, and ad retargeting are

the most relevant form

all existing RTM examples. However, the current trend in RTM, and the one primarily

of marketing, achieved

considered in this research, is considerably more human and less automated. It’s
worth noting in this context that two forms of RTM are emerging: one that is entirely

by listening to and/or

hand-crafted and the other sparked by increasingly sophisticated digital triggers. All

anticipating consumer

real-time marketing is deeply rooted in both content and social strategy.
Benefits of RTM span the business and consumer. It supports the individual on the one
end, through hyper personalization, customization, surprise and delight. And it serves
the brand on the other end, as companies enjoy tremendous media buzz, increased
following and positive sentiment. Our interviews with real-time marketers surfaced
some specific benefits of RTM:
•

“Surprise and delight.” This is the feeling an individual has as the result of a more
human (less corporate) interaction, the semblance of spontaneity, dialogue, and
brand interest in the individual.

•

The right message at the right time. This is the ability to reach audiences with
timely engagement throughout the customer journey, greater relevance, resonance
and personalization.

•

Brand relevance. This is the opportunity for brands to actually be cool. When
brands do this right, they effectively tap into the Zeitgeist, bridging brand relevance
with what is hip and trendy. Consider the tremendous resonance of Oreo’s nowinfamous tweet: “You can still dunk in the dark,” both in social and traditional
media, when the lights went out at the 2013 Super Bowl.

•

Always-on. Participating in RTM enables brands to appear always on, available, and
listening through evergreen content, thought leadership and excellent customer service.

3

interests and needs.

prospects for many organizations. From an

RTM is also known to lift literally all desirable

organizational standpoint, RTM can be confusing,

marketing metrics (e.g., interest, consideration,

planning and resource-intensive, and requires

search, word-of-mouth, media receptivity, etc.), as
well as to turbo-charge other marketing initiatives.

immense preparation and coordination. Many

1

companies will grapple with approvals, particularly

Eighty-three percent of marketers say they plan to
begin to use or to increase their use of real-time data
in marketing campaigns this year.2 The movement

those in regulated industries.
RTM requires a shift in mindset: Brands are

toward RTM is being driven in part by consumer

relinquishing a measure of control in exchange

expectations for immediacy, relevance, and access

for more opportunities for relevance and deeper,

increase with technology.

more personalized customer experiences. “A lot of
organizations aren’t comfortable with this concept

Yet while RTM comes with real benefits, so too are

of real time,” explains Chad Warren, Senior Social

its many challenges. The first are plotting strategy
and analysis. The potential for risk is greater in RTM,
given the (near) immediate nature of interactions and
posts. Brands must take extra precaution, planning,
and listening to mitigate these risks. The other set

Media Strategist at Adobe. “Culturally, we’re about
reviewing and scrubbing, and generally quite guarded
in how we present ourselves in front of the public.
There has to be a recognition that we don’t control
the conversation anymore as brands, and real-time

of challenges are in execution and organization.
Speed, agility, scale, approvals, legalities, technology,
analytics, and the ability to deploy teams around

marketing helps stakeholders understand that and
how we can still harness it.”

the clock are daunting, not to mention expensive,

Fig 1. The Six Use Cases of Real-Time Marketing
Fig 1. The Six Use Cases of Real-Time Marketing

Planned
Location-based
Brand Event
Predictive Analytics
Anticipated Event

Reactive

Customer Interaction
Breaking News

Unplanned

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Proactive

Six Use Cases of Real-Time Marketing

fans a $5 rebate on any Pizza Hut purchase over
$10 by checking in — not to Pizza Hut — but

To better understand just what RTM is, and isn’t,

to the Foursquare app’s Super Swarm Sunday

Altimeter Group has identified six business use

feature and then paying with their AMEX.4

cases for real time marketing, identified below and
accompanied by case examples. These six use cases
fall into two axes of RTM: Reactive & Proactive, and

•

national event benefitting millions of small

Planned & Unplanned (see Figure 1). Organizations

businesses, in which AMEX helps small, local

will maintain the most control and can expect the

businesses prepare for marketing in real time

best results from RTM when their efforts fall in

prior to the event by providing shops tools,

planned/proactive sector of the RTM quadrant.

signage, templates and more, as well as offering

These use cases are discussed below in the order

rebates to customers who use their AMEX cards

from the lowest degrees of planning and preparation

when purchasing.5

needed to the highest.
These use cases are listed hierarchically, from the

•

models of the Focus, the auto brand worked to

preparation. Note: These are graphed-based on

amplify the new feature’s win in real time. When

qualitative research interviews; categories do not

Daft Punk’s new single beat Spotify records

bear actual numerical coordinates.

and #daftpunk began to trend in on Twitter,
Ford leveraged the buzz with promoted tweets

Use Case #1: Brand Events

conferences, and media and customer-facing events
where content strategy, pre-approvals, media and
channel plans, hashtags, creative elements, editorial
calendars, etc., can all be prepared in advance.
During these events, staff are available to push out
announcements and react to anticipated posts in
social media. There should be few surprises in these
planned brand events, but it should feel fresh and
authentic rather than canned in advance. Some
examples include:
•

Pepsi debuts its skinny can during Fashion
Week as a way to simultaneously promote its
new thinner can design alongside a series of
fashion events, generally geared toward an

containing #daftpunk, #spotify and #fordsync.6
Use Case #2: Anticipated Events
A growing number of organizations have become
mature enough to fully prepare for real-time events
that can be anticipated in advance to fully leverage
opportunities. Like Branded Events above, they
prepare by having business goals, strategies, teams
and approvals all done in advance, and they have
content at the ready. This “locked and loaded”
approach is deployed by advertisers and sponsors
(brands) in advance of major events not of their own
making like the Super Bowl and the award shows.
Some examples include the following:
•

to prepare content across social channels (primarily

product was integrated into the event as Pepsi

Twitter) anticipating the Emmy’s outcome in

amplified “get the skinny” content on Twitter

advance of the live event — giving the appearance

and Foursquare and other social channels.3
Pizza Hut / AMEX / Foursquare SuperBowl promo in
which all three brands partnered to offer hungry

5

While HBO couldn’t know how many shows would
win which categories, HBO seized the opportunity

audience that emphasizes lean bodies. The

•

Ford on #daftpunk on Twitter and Spotify: After
partnering with and launching Spotify in new

highest to lowest degrees of possible planning and

Examples of brand events include product launches,

AMEX sponsors Small Business Saturday, a

of real-time content as the program aired.7
•

In February 2013, Starbucks promoted its VIA
coffee when Blizzard Nemo hit the Northeast.

The coffee giant prepared location-based

•

MGM sends notifications for nearby restaurants,

promoted Tweets to offer gentle suggestions

shopping, show deals, etc., for hotel guests

to enjoy a warm beverage (e.g., “Snow Day?”;

staying in Bellagio Las Vegas via their

“Grab some Via and enjoy the snow!”) amidst

smartphones and the MGM app.12

the ensuing buzz of Blizzard Nemo as it dumped
snow across the Northeast.8
•

•

Macy’s enables in-store targeting with
Apple’s iBeacon, where it is installing iBeacon

Although Oreo’s famous tweet during the Super

transmitters throughout two stores in NYC.

Bowl captured the limelight, it was the fully

Macy’s then pushes special offers and

staffed Super Bowl “war room” (uniting all brand

recommendations to customers based on the

and agency stakeholders) that enabled the rapid

specific department in range.13

design, approval, and publication of that tweet.9
Use Case #3: Location/Object-Based

Use Case #4: Predictive Analytics-Based
Another relatively small but growing area of triggered

A small but promising use case of RTM taps into

RTM is based on predictive analytics. Amazon has

location and object-based triggers. Hand-crafted

been using predictive data for some time to display

examples of this type of RTM include local food

recommendations to customers based on browsing

trucks and or @ChicagoCabbie publicizing specials

and purchase history. This practice is slowly being

and their current locations. Yet increasingly

adopted by B2B marketers as well, sometimes

sophisticated mobile apps, such as iBeacon, can

combined with marketing automation solutions.

target a consumer’s location down to the store-shelf

We predict the trend will gain momentum as data

level and push a promotion to that person’s phone

solutions become more accessible and simpler to

at that moment. That’s literally targeting the right

implement.

person at the right time and the right place.

•

Salesforce.com uses its own toolset to track

The emerging Internet of Things where sensors are

lead interactions with content (e.g., clicks,

deployed throughout our physical world creates

downloads, shares, time viewed, etc.), funneling

dazzling possibilities for RTM to exist in true real

this data back into its CRM and deploying

time and with uncanny relevance. Marketers will have

automated follow-up content based on an

to understand how to balance expectations around

individual leads phase in purchasing process.14

engagement versus privacy or face being seen as
creepy. Some current examples of this use case
include the following:
•

•

Walgreens’ SoLoMo (social, local, mobile)
Foursquare program reaches in-store shoppers
who check-in at a Walgreens location on
Foursquare. These shoppers instantly receive a

trigger location-based ads to appear on drivers’

coupon for a special offer with an added bonus

smartphones when they are near a restaurant —

of the coupon being scannable directly from the

but, wisely, only when stopped at red lights.10
•

Taco Bell partnered with GPS phone app Waze to

phone.15

Yelp partners with businesses small and large
to provide coupons and deals, some based
on users’ locations and others prompted via
checking in, all in real time.11

Use Case #5: Customer Interaction
Customer interactions take many forms: CRM,
customer service, handling complaints, and
community interactions being the primary examples.
While many organizations handle such interactions

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to customer service, the very public, visible and
occasionally even viral nature of these interactions

Fig. 2: SmartCar’s Clever Response Tweet

in social channels means they are increasingly
becoming the purview of the marketing organization.
This is especially true now that customers have
come to expect brands to respond to their digital
queries and complaints in near-real time.16 This
requires a combination of both reactive and
anticipatory work: triage workflow, determining
what types of messaging will be responded to and
in which channels (public or private), empowering
staff to address complaints, and having a breaking
news communications plan ready for crises. It also
means close coordination between customer service,
communications, and marketing on all of the above.
This category includes traditional customer service,
community building, and crisis management use cases:
•

Pretzel Crisps listened for tweets from people
who wrote that they were hungry but not sure
what to eat. The company then replied back to
them with an offer to send product samples.17

•

Citi Bike saw a distressed call over Twitter
from a rider, having just fallen off his Citi Bike
in the rain on the way to a meeting, soiling his
pants in the process and using the hashtag
#PLEASESENDPANTS. Citi Bike quickly jumped
into action, with the help of J.Crew, sending the
rider a new pair of #PANTSFORPAUL. Rider, @
PaullYoung, director of digital at charity : water,
tweeted the entire experience to his 10k+

together a hilarious, scientifically valid infographic
and tweeted back, “Couldn’t have been one bird,
@adtothebone. Sounds more like 4.5 million.
(Seriously, we did the math.)”20 See Figure 2.
Use Case #6: Breaking News
The most reactive form of RTM is responding in a

followers.18

challenging and difficult type of RTM brands will
encounter. Advance preparation is all but impossible,

time), both engaging with happy customers and

and all too often breaking news isn’t good news,

helping frustrated ones.19
•

JetBlue uses Twitter to be as responsive as
possible (aiming for less than an hour response

•

legitimate, relevant manner to unanticipated breaking

so an acute degree of sensitivity is called for. The

SmartCar responded to a particularly snarky tweet
claiming, “Saw a bird had crapped on a Smart
Car. Totaled it.” The brand responded by putting

news. This can also be the most spontaneous,

requirement is often not just getting a polished
message out in a short period of time in reaction to
an event, but also following the arc of a story as it
unfolds. There is an opportunity in this use case to
hit it over the fence by appropriately leveraging the

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Fig. 3: Coca-Cola Saw Significantly Increased Mentions After Announcing Typhoon Hayann Relief

event in a way that is contextually relevant, both to

be able to respond. When the power went out, the

the event and to the brand.

team put out its inspired tweet, which would not have

For example, Coca-Cola announced it was

been possible without those assets in place.

suspending all brand advertising dollars for

An important risk to consider in this use case is

a month and putting that spending into relief

inappropriate or insensitive posting around an

toward Typhoon Hayann disaster recovery in the

event. This is when brands inject themselves into

Philippines.21 The company is donating $2.5M

event commentary in a way that is artificial, overly

toward the cause but received significant global

promotional, irrelevant to the brand, or just plain

recognition, publicity and social amplification by

crass, often termed “culture-jacking.” Epicurious

leveraging real time to maximize the impact of the

found itself backpedaling and apologizing in the

announcement (see Figure 3).

wake of the Boston Marathon bombings when pre-

In addition, real time can last many days, or even

loaded tweets promoting cranberry scones went

weeks in some cases. Jason Miller, Senior Manager
of Content & Social at LinkedIn, shared, “Real time

Fig. 4: Example of Poorly Executed Real-Time

lasts as long as volume of conversation is still

Marketing

there. If you can ride that wave, push it out as much
as you can. It can be anywhere from two days to a
couple weeks, so long as your customers are still
talking about it.”
The poster child for this type of RTM is Oreos at
the Super Bowl. Because it was practicing the
second use case of RTM — anticipated events — the
company was lucky to have the right team onsite to

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live shortly after the tragedy. A real-time response

Listen & Learn

expressing condolences, yet promoting another

Success in real time is contingent on

recipe, only fanned the flames (see Figure 4).

understanding your audience, who

Adobe’s Chad Warren sees this as, “In a desperate

they are, where they go, what they care about,

effort to stay relevant, brands attach themselves

how they perceive the brand, etc. While traditional

to any and everything, losing sight of what their

research methods like focus groups and surveys

audiences actually care about and see in the brand.”

are instructive toward this end, the literal real-time
nature of RTM requires more real-time information

Preparing for Real-Time Marketing Requires
Two Types of Planning

gathering. Listening and analytics tools help monitor
the audience’s pulse, sentiments, behaviors and

How companies prepare for real time will dictate

buzz as it happens and as it evolves. Are customers

the effectiveness of RTM programs. We found that

complaining about not getting a response? What

planning falls into two areas, one that looks at the

are competitors doing, and what is happening in

overall strategy and approach to RTM and the other

adjacent industries?

that focuses on the organization and resources

Equally important is having the analytic capacity

needed to execute RTM itself. The following outlines

to mine findings from these discussions and apply

the top 12 steps businesses should take to maximize
success and scale in RTM (see Figure 5).

learnings to continually improve campaigns and

I. Planning Strategy

always be listening and learning, both for cues from

uncover new creative ideas and insights. Brands must
the audience, industry and pertinent cultural events —

This first phase of preparing lays a foundation of

this is absolutely necessary to lay the foundation for

customer understanding, goals and content strategy

being as relevant as possible with RTM.

that is essential.

Fig. 5 Twelve Steps to Prepare for Real-Time Marketing
12. Periodically Evaluate Scale

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11. Identify Analytics & KPIs

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PLANNING STRATEGY

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7. Anticipate Negative RTM

Define RTM Business Goals
The next step to RTM preparedness is
defining the goals RTM will serve, both at
a program and business level, e.g., brand relevance,
favorability, consideration, purchase intent, etc. Be
sure to extend this beyond simply the number of
times a post gets favorited. Aligning real time with
existing business goals is important, because it helps
contextualize and justify the program to executive
decision-makers and will increase the likelihood
for executive sponsorship as the program evolves
across functions.
Integrate with Content Strategy
Aligning real-time marketing with content
strategy is foundational to creating
guidelines around what, how, and when to respond,
publish and listen. Integrating real time into the
greater content marketing strategy also provides
a reference point for rapid decision-making around

Content strategy should not only have guidelines
around voice, tone, POV, messaging, brand values, etc.,
but should invest in educating those executing in real
time, whether they are brand employees or agency
partners. “Develop a brand compass if you don’t
already have one, and apply it to real-time marketing,”
explains Sabrina Caluori, Vice President of Digital
and Social Media at HBO. “Set the boundaries around
what makes sense for you to participate in and what
doesn’t so that every time something is trending, the
team isn’t asking, ‘Is this appropriate?’”
At an executional level, integration with strategy
also aids in the creation of more anticipatory
locked and loaded content assets, which facilitate
the appearance of real time to customers, but can
be created, approved and queued for deployment
well in advance. In fact, real time can be integrated
entirely with ongoing content marketing initiatives
through modular, re-purposeable, or even evergreen
content hubs.

brand relevance, messaging and strategy.

Fig. 6: Pepsi Pulse Creates a Content Hub That Supports Real-Time Marketing

10

Pepsi Pulse exemplifies embedding a real-time

they consider ramping up to a 24/7 environment.

approach into its content strategy through an

The fastest-responding brand on Twitter in 2013 was

evergreen content hub. Relating to its slogan, “Live

Halo BCA, of the Bank of Central Asia, averaging a

for Now,” the site aggregates hot content (tweets,

three-minute turnaround in over 95% of customer

videos, photos — largely earned) from across the web

inquiries.22 In fact, a recent study finds that 72%

in an effort to provide visitors the most inspiring now

of customers expect brands to respond to Twitter

moments based on social popularity (see Figure 6).

complaints in less than one hour.23 Dell aligns its

Integrate with Channel Strategy
The where of RTM is as critically
important to its success as content
strategy. Channel strategy is dependent on many
factors, including in what channels the target
audience is to be found; the channel(s) in which
relevant conversations are occurring; and having or
having the ability to quickly make content assets
that are appropriate to the channel in question (e.g.,
photos, videos, text, animated gifs, etc.). Currently,
the most critical channels for RTM are Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Reddit, and, of course,
e-mail. Secondary, but still important, are owned
channels, such as the company website, YouTube
and Facebook channels, mobile app, etc. Channel
selection is always dependent on a variety of factors,
including content strategy, audience targeting, and
rapidly shifting media habits.

customer support around this in their policy to
respond to 100% of inbound customer interactions
within a 2-hour time period, through the channel in
which it was received.
Real time can also span a temporal continuum of
days, weeks and even months (e.g., the BP Gulf
oil spill or the Icelandic volcano ash cloud). The
temporal definition of (and imperative to respond
in) real time depends on the context and will differ
by situation, organization and business goal. As
Symantec’s Charlie Treadwell, Director of Social
Media Marketing, puts it, “I think it can be turned up
and down, but never off. You always have to be ‘on’
at some point.” Ultimately, brands must define the
what real time means for their unique programs and
channels and then let this guide expectations for
responding and publishing based on organizational
capabilities.
Establish Clear Guardrails & Trust

Multinational and even many national enterprises
must also deeply consider time zone issues

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to the

simultaneously with channel strategy. Having a

adoption of RTM is the perceived barrier

separate Facebook page for India vs. the USA, for

of approval processes: internal, legal, client, etc.

example, or for the Northeast vs. the Southwestern

Yet the organizations that are practicing RTM most

US, may be as much a component of RTM strategy

successfully shrug off this concern. “We have a

as it is cultural relevance when it’s important to

great relationship with legal,” is a typical, dismissive

generate conversation, excitement, buzz or other

response to what, for others, is a seemingly

RTM initiatives around a local event, be it news or

insurmountable obstacle. Our research unearthed

even local weather.

the following best practices to pre-define guardrails

Define “Time” Element & Expectations
Not all organizations are prepared to
operate 24/7 or to respond to customer
queries with literal immediacy. The Clorox Company
currently has a response goal of one hour or less as

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before operating in real time and then streamline
processes once deployed.
•

Simplify legal approval to a Yes/No response.
Standard legal approvals can take hours, days,
even weeks. These are eons in the world of
real time, where every second can make the

difference between crisis and diffusion. “You
can’t go through the standard legal process with
multiple levels of revisions and emails. Instead,
you should sketch out what scenarios could
look like in advance and get legal to quickly say
‘yay or nay,’” explains Shankar Gupta, Director of
Strategy at 360i. Taking this step helps twofold:
one, by streamlining the approval process when
acting in real time; and two, by exposing legal to
anticipated scenarios early on.
•

Have the necessary teams on deck. Whether
in the room or a phone call away, it’s critical to
have access to key stakeholders involved (or
who may need to be involved) when deploying
in real time. Common stakeholders include

behalf of the brand. Ultimately, Treadwell contends,
“It’s all about common sense and what feels right.”
For a planned real-time event, such as the Emmy
awards, HBO’s Sabrina Caluori informs internal
stakeholders (management, legal, communications)
about overall strategy and what her team will do and
react to and then develops guidelines. “We know we
need freedom to develop content on the fly, but we
need to know the guardrails [and] if anything we did
needed to be escalated. There are built-in parameters
for the campaign.”
Anticipate Negative RTM
Opening up an organization to realtime events, reactions, and interactions

those responsible for creative, copywriting, the

increases the risk of backlash and social media

brand team, the social team, the measurement

crises. While preparedness and governance help

team, corporate communications/PR and legal.

mitigate these risks, companies must actively and

For more anticipatory use cases, brands like

proactively be ready for anything. When it comes

Adobe assemble these stakeholders for weekly

to societal events, brands can generally choose

meetings to discuss newsworthy events and

if, or to what degree, they want to chime into the

RTM as related to strategy. For more immediate

conversation. But, when negative brand events

use cases, accessibility is imperative. “We

are unfolding in real time, there is an imperative to

have a point person in Corporate/Crisis

respond and message in real time.

Communications who I have on speed dial and
that I can text anytime. They’ll often give us
recommendations for how to respond, or they
will call [an angry customer] directly,” explains

One company we interviewed explained just how
integral its listening tools and agility were to
preventing negative real time during the Boston

Charlie Treadwell at Symantec.
Construct a mini playbook. These will look less

runners find useful. Even before the news of the

like traditional procedural handbooks and more

Boston bombing hit the airwaves, the company

like a list of three or four questions to which all

detected mentions of it on Twitter and quickly

RTM decisions must be accountable. Symantec,

pulled infographic from the queue, sidestepping

for example, is developing three questions that all

what would have come across as insensitive in the

employees must ask and answer before posting:

•

Marathon. The company had pre-loaded to publish

face of the tragedy.

an infographic on emerging technologies that

• Am I creating unneeded risk to the brand?

When brands find themselves in a foot-in-mouth

• Could this impact the company or myself

situation, as Mountain Dew did, one of the best ways

negatively?
• Would I want my grandmother to read this?
This simple system helps build confidence and
empower employees to act autonomously but on

12

to recover is to amplify the apology itself in real
time. After receiving a tremendous backlash and

Fig. 7: Mountain Dew Promotes Apology Tweet after Ad Blunder

accusations of racism and misogyny for its “Felicia

execution. To this end, multiple companies we

the Goat” video, Mountain Dew promoted its own

interviewed underscored the importance of having

apology in the form of a tweet, as seen in Figure 7.

a “war room,” akin to a newsroom of sorts, where

24

Active preparation for negative RTM includes direct
communication with Corporate Communications/

all teams can literally be present and collaborate
together and in real time.

PR and legal; clear guidelines around what, how,

This can take three forms, depending on the use

and where to respond and message; and a plan for

case the team serves. For unplanned, reactive

action, apology or improvement. Prepare proactively

RTM execution, either the existing content hub or

for negative RTM through monitoring social buzz

social media team takes the lead or a pre-identified

with listening tools, setting alerts for suspect

and trained virtual team that has been identified in

mentions or keywords, and staying agile.

advance leaps into action.

II. Planning Execution

For anticipated events, a war room is often the hub,

Once you have your strategy in place, it’s then time
to turn to the execution side of RTM, and in particular
enabling it to happen in a seamless, scalable way.
Assemble Team & Tools

driving approvals, design, triage and publication in
real time. Even brands without 24/7 RTM teams can
assemble trained, prepared teams for special events,
as Oreo did for the Super Bowl.
Anticipated or planned events with content

Successful RTM requires the right

created in advance assemble teams with regularly

constituents be available, informed,

scheduled meetings to discuss event strategies

educated and empowered. Assemble the proper

and guidelines, as well as identify areas of

teams (i.e., social, creative, copywriting, legal, PR,

opportunity. “At Adobe,” explains Chad Warren,

etc.) and tools (i.e., listening, analytics, design, digital

“we operate a creative newsroom that meets on a

assets, publishing tools, etc.) to ensure streamlined

regular basis to identify upcoming items to plan

13

for (e.g., news, events, etc.) and talk about what is
relevant, what we could do more of, where we could
take certain ideas. We have the right people in the
room on an ongoing basis so that we don’t need a
lot of levels of approval and everyone understands
their role — this helps us go from ideation to action
much more quickly.”
Establish Triage
Establishing how to triage based on
scenarios is one of the single most
effective ways to streamline RTM execution. It
reduces the need to be fully reactive by connecting

Strategic:
•

and brand strategies
•

should be able to identify what types of language
indicate threats or risks for the brand and how
and when to escalate them to legal, PR, or the
appropriate team. When developing content for RTM,
consider how users may respond, and then identify

Consider all employees and teams involved, how
team members will communicate, and how to handle
messaging in a personalized and human way. The
more detail provided, the more teams accounted for,
and the more scenarios planned for, the better.
Train & Test All Parties
A big part of operating in real time
is enabling key employees to be
and feel trusted and empowered to act on their
judgment. This level of confidence is really only
achieved through thorough education and training
across all stakeholders — not only those posting
and responding, but those creating, approving,
distributing and monitoring, both internally and

Deep training around the brand identity, voice,
vision, risks, affiliations and programs

•

Which channels will support RTM, which will not,
and why

•

How the RTM program will be measured and
optimized

•

The role of agencies and technology vendors (if
applicable)

Executional:
Guidelines, guardrails, roles, triages, response time
requirements
•

How to manage workflows based on RTM’s role
across the organization, as well as when triaging

what warrants response and build workflows based
on positive and negative interactions or needs.

RTM’s role across the organization (e.g.,
Customer Service, Sales, HR, etc.)

•

certain cues or events that will trigger repeatable
workflows. For instance, community managers

How RTM is integrated with the larger content

to other functions
•

Sample scenarios of how customers, the crowd
and media could respond to RTM

•

How to leverage measurement and reporting to
plan and act in real time

•

Best practices using technologies supporting RTM

•

Resources (e.g., contacts, phone numbers,
vendor support, etc.)

Training tools and testing will vary for each
organization, based on resources and stakeholders.
The goal of training and testing, however, is universal:
to establish confidence for those executing, and trust
in them, by all stakeholders, management, and the
brand at large.
Identify Analytics & KPIs

externally (i.e., agencies and vendors). Training

As with any program, you don’t know

should include both strategic and executional

where you’re going unless you know

(tactical) elements:

where you are. RTM measurement instructs the
effectiveness of current efforts, as well as pinpoint
areas to explore more deeply. Listening should
inform planning, targeting and action, as outlined

14

above. Analytics capabilities monitor performance
and optimization. Define Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) for RTM by aligning them with
overarching content strategy indicators. Jason
Miller, at LinkedIn, rolls RTM metrics into what he
calls the top three KPIs:

Evaluate Scale Periodically
“But will it scale?” is a very real question
in real time, particularly regarding staffing
and customer channels. For large brands that have
traffic and interactions numbering in the thousands
per day, real time carries a host of risks that must

Increased non-branded referral traffic: Are people

be addressed when thinking about response at

going where you want them to go without typing a

scale. Enterprises must frequently (e.g., monthly or

keyword into Google?

quarterly) assess and evaluate the scale of their RTM

Engagement: However engagement is defined for

initiatives: headcount, talent, tools, roles, etc.

your brand, are users interacting with content, aligning

Appropriately scaling RTM is complex, difficult and

themselves with brand or content? The higher the

cost-intensive, necessitating frequent reviews and

engagement, the higher the Google ranking.

assessments against business goals.

Increased quality of leads: Is sales benefiting with

Scale must be evaluated on a foundation of

more qualified leads or just a longer list of names?

benchmarking against KPIs. Adobe’s Chad Warren

Real-time analytics capabilities are also important
to RTM in order to capitalize on every effort made
— not just the bigger, more planned initiatives, but
the lesser planned, more reactive ones as well.
360i’s Shankar Gupta measures interactions over
content: “When responding in real time the majority
of successes will be modest, because they don’t
all catch on that way. If you want to hit a homerun
with real time marketing, put yourself in a position
to take lots of swings. Then measure real-time
responsiveness as a program, rather than focusing
on specific pieces of content. Successful audience
engagement should happen over the course of the
program, not jus as a result of one or two posts.”
Finally, performance measurement of real-time
engagement, content and activities should tie to
support and help optimize the convergence of paid,
owned and earned media.25 To this end, RTM can
be an effective testbed for larger content initiatives;
a support hub for triaging customers to owned
properties or helpful content; or even provide clues
or fodder for developing catchy ads and promotions.
Measuring these efforts instructs where to invest
time and resources across all brand assets.

15

explains, “If you don’t have a means to understand
whether something is working in your favor or not,
you’ll have trouble knowing when and where to scale
those efforts.”

Conclusion
Real-time marketing is a present reality, not a distant
future, for enterprises functioning in the digital
age. The speed and immediacy of news cycles and
social media, not to mention the very public media
sphere in which brand and product events operate,
make it imperative that enterprises strategically
adopt real-time marketing in a fashion that will both
benefit the business now and scale to address future
requirements.

Methodology
Altimeter Group conducted qualitative research and
analyses for this report, using briefings on real-time
marketing. This included:
•

Briefings 8 brands running real-time marketing
programs.

•

Briefings with 10 agencies and vendors assisting
brands in real-time marketing programs.
Altimeter conducted these interviews between
October and December 2013.

Ecosystem Input
This report includes input from market influencers,
vendors, and end users who were interviewed or
briefed by Altimeter Group during the course of
this research. Input into this document does not
represent a complete endorsement of the report by
the individuals or the companies listed below.
Brands (8)
The Clorox Company, Helen Lee, Social Media Lead
Dell, Stephanie Losee, Managing Editor
Harvard, Perry Hewitt, Chief Digital Officer
HBO, Sabrina Caluori, Vice President, Digital and
Social Media
Hewlett Packard, McKaela Doherty, Global Digital
Marketing & Social Media
Juniper Networks, Ashton Bothman, Social Media &
Digital Communications Strategist
LinkedIn, Jason Miller, Senior Manager, Content
Marketing & Social
Symantec, Charlie Treadwell, Director of Social Media
Marketing

16

Software Vendors & Agencies (10)
360i, Amanda Bird Malko, Vice President of
Marketing
360i, Shankar Gupta, Director of Social Marketing
Strategy
Adobe, Chad Warren, Senior Social Media Strategist
Big Fuel, Michoel Ogince, Director Product Platform
& Strategy
Engauge, Danielle Donnelly, Director of Social
Engagement
Engauge, Teresa Caro, Senior Vice President, Social &
Content Marketing
Mass Relevance, Sam Decker, Founder & CEO
Mass Relevance, Meghan Shannon, Senior Manager
of Brand Communications
Oglivy & Mather, Irfan Kamal, Global Head of Social
Data, Products, and Partners
Oglivy & Mather, Luca Penati, Managing Director,
Content & Social
W2O Group, Michael Brito, Group Director of Media &
Engagement

Acknowledgements
First and foremost, our gratitude to the executives
and industry experts who gave so generously of their
time and knowledge by consenting to be interviewed
for this research. Additional thanks due to insights
and/or support from Charlene Li, Christine Tran,
Susan Wu, Julie Viola, Cheryl Knight, Alec Wagner,
Vladimir Mirkovic, Sally Glynn, and Heidi Krizansky.

End Notes
1 “Four Reasons to Add Real-Time Marketing to Your

Mix.” Golin Harris Research. http://golinharris.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/02/Insights_RealTimeMarketing_
Downloadable-PDF3.pdf
2 nfogroup Targeting Solutions and Yesmail Interactive, Data
I
Rich and Insight Poor, Jan. 21, 2013. http://lp.infogroup.com/
Global/FileLib/Infogroup_Targeting_Solutions/Data-Rich_and_
Insight-Poor_Survey_Findings_from_ITS_and_Yesmail.pdf
3 “Diet Pepsi Debuts its Sleek New Look at Mercedes Benz

Fashion Week.” Pepsi Corporation. http://www.pepsico.
com/PressRelease/Diet-Pepsi-Debuts-its-Sleek-New-Lookat-Mercedes-Benz-Fashion-Week02082011.html
4 “Pizza Hut, AMEX Team Up on Foursquare for SuperBowl.”

Click-Z. http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2143661/
pizza-hut-amex-team-foursquare-super-bowl
5 “Small Business Saturday,” American Express Corporation.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/
Shop-Small/
6 When daftpunk’s new single beat Spotify records, the

band’s name began trending in Twitter. Ford Focus focused
attention on the brand — in real time. www.salesforce.com
7 “HBO infuses Character Commentary into the 2013

Emmys.” 360i Blog. http://blog.360i.com/social-marketing/
hbo-infuses-character-commentary-into-the-2013-emmys
8 “Starbucks Pushes ‘Snow Day’ on Facebook, Twitter. Coffee

giant uses clever real-time ad buy” AdWeek. http://www.
adweek.com/news/technology/starbucks-pushes-snowday-facebook-twitter-147187
9 “Oreo’s Super Bowl Power-Outage Tweet Was 18 Months in

the Making.” Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.
com/oreos-super-bowl-power-outage-tweet-was-18months-in-the-making-2013-3
10 “Taco Bell’s Digital Guacamole Dips Heartily into

Social to Debut New Appetizers.” AdWeek. http://www.
adweek.com/news/technology/taco-bells-digitalguacamole-146149
11 I’m a Business Owner: What is a Yelp Check-In Offer?”
“
Yelp Blog. http://officialblog.yelp.com/2010/11/just-intime-for-black-friday-check-in-offers.html
12 elighted Customers: MGM Corporation. http://
D
internetofeverything.cisco.com/see/delighted-customers
13 Apple’s iBeacon Comes to Retailers Via Shopkick’s
“
ShopBeacon” TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.
com/2013/11/20/shopkick-rolls-out-ibeacon-enabledshopping-alerts-with-shopbeacon-with-macys-as-its-firsttrialist/

17

14 nside Salesforce.com’s Social Media Strategy. Salesforce.
I
com http://www.slideshare.net/Salesforce/insidesalesforcecoms-social-media-strategy
15 Walgreen’s SOLOMO Fourquare Program.” Hubspot Blog.
“
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33696/7Inspiring-Examples-of-Real-Time-Marketing-in-Action.aspx
16 Social Users Expect Brands to Respond in an Hour or
“
Less.” Lithium Research. ClickZ. http://www.clickz.com/
clickz/news/2304563/social-users-expect-one-hourresponse-time-from-brands-on-twitter-study
17 oberts, Meg. “Pretzel Crisps Uses Super Bowl Social
R
Media Buzz to Engage with Twitter Users.” http://
megroberts.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/pretzel-crispsuses-super-bowl-social-media-buzz-to-engage-withtwitter-users/
18 Soil Your Pants? CitiBike’s Got you Covered” Digiday.
“
http://digiday.com/brands/jcrew-citi-bike-give-man-cleanpants/
19 Four Examples of Exceptional Customer Service
“
on Twitter.” Social Media Examiner. http://www.
socialmediaexaminer.com/exceptional-customer-serviceon-twitter/
20 8 Types of Real-Time Marketing and Brands that Got it
“
Right.” Adweek. http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/8types-real-time-marketing-and-brands-got-it-right152261#real-time-marketing-comebacks-3-4-14
21 Coca-Cola Contributes More Than US$2.5 Million In
“
Typhoon Relief Aid.” Coca-Cola Corporation. http://www.
coca-colacompany.com/press-center/press-releases/
coca-cola-contributes-more-than-us-25-million-intyphoon-relief-aid
22 The Top Fastest Responding Brands on Twitter,
“
Worldwide!” SocialBakers Blog. http://www.socialbakers.
com/blog/1871-the-top-fastest-responding-brands-ontwitter-worldwide
23 Social Users Expect One-Hour Response Time from
“
Brands on Twitter.” Lithium Research. ClickZ http://www.
clickz.com/clickz/news/2304563/social-users-expectone-hour-response-time-from-brands-on-twitter-study
24 Mountain Dew Uses Twitter Ads to Promote Apology.”
“
AdWeek. http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/
mountain-dew-uses-twitter-ads-promote-apology-149116
25 ieb, Rebecca, and Jeremiah Owyang. The Converged
L
Media Imperative: How Brands Must Combine Paid, Owned,
andEarnedMedia.http://www.altimetergroup.com/research/
reports/how-brands-must-combine-paid-owned-and-earnedmedia

Authors
Rebecca Lieb, Industry Analyst

Rebecca Lieb (@lieblink) is an analyst at Altimeter Group covering digital advertising and media,
encompassing brands, publishers, agencies and technology vendors. In addition to her background as
a marketing executive, she was VP and editor-in-chief of the ClickZ Network for over seven years. For
a portion of that time, she also ran Search Engine Watch. She’s written two books on digital marketing:
The Truth About Search Engine Optimization (2009) and Content Marketing (2011). Rebecca blogs at
http://www.rebeccalieb.com/blog

Jessica Groopman, Senior Researcher

Jessica Groopman (@jessgroopman) is a Senior Researcher with Altimeter Group where she
researches the evolving challenges and opportunities of disruptive technologies on businesses,
primarily focusing on how data is shifting business models and behaviors. She has experience
conducting business, technological, and anthropological research.

Charlene Li, Founder and Analyst

Charlene Li (@charleneli) is Founder of Altimeter Group and author of the New York Times bestseller,
Open Leadership. She is also the co-author of the critically acclaimed bestselling book, Groundswell,
which was named one of the best business books in 2008. She is one of the foremost experts on
social media and technologies and a consultant and independent thought leader on leadership,
strategies, social technology, interactive media, and marketing.

About Us
Altimeter Group provides research and advisory for companies challenged by business disruptions, enabling them to
pursue new opportunities and business models. We share our independent research on business disruptions via research
reports, webinars, speeches, and more. We also offer advisory services to business leaders who wish to explore the specific
implications of these disruptions within their organizations.
Contact us: 650.212.2272 • sales@altimetergroup.com • altimetergroup.com • @altimetergroup

Open Research

This independent research report was 100% funded by Altimeter Group. This report is published under the principle of Open Research and is
intended to advance the industry at no cost. This report is intended for you to read, utilize, and share with others; if you do so, please provide
attribution to Altimeter Group.

Permissions

The Creative Commons License is Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0.

Disclosures

Your trust is important to us, and as such, we believe in being open and transparent about our financial relationships. With permission, we
publish a list of our client base on our website. See our website to learn more: http://www.altimetergroup.com/disclosure.

Disclaimer

ALTHOUGH THE INFORMATION AND DATA USED IN THIS REPORT HAVE BEEN PRODUCED AND PROCESSED FROM SOURCES BELIEVED TO
BE RELIABLE, NO WARRANTY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED IS MADE REGARDING THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, OR USE OF
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