MarTech Interview with Redickaa Subrammanian, CEO at Resulticks

Tell us about your role and journey into Technology.

I have a rather diverse educational background, with a Diploma in Fine Arts, a B.A. in History from the University of Madras, and an MBA from the State University of New York, Buffalo. After school, I started out as a Xopywriter, then as an Account Manager with a couple of agencies, head of an interactive engineering practice in a global technology company before moving out and starting my own digital agency with our Co-Founder, Dakshen. The Interakt Digital Group ran from 2006 until 2014, and was a highly successful, globally deployed, independent Digital Marketing network. By 2014, the agency had grown its client base to more than 150 highly respected B2B and B2C brands with more than 200 staff members in 10 international locations. In 2014, we took the agency to the next level by transitioning it into a real-time, Omnichannel Marketing solutions company: Resulticks.

We decided to capitalize on Resulticks’ strengths and focus on transforming the company to compete in the real-time Marketing Automation space. As the agency of record for brands in more than 60 countries, Interakt had gained experience with virtually every Marketing Technology platform, learning both their strengths and weaknesses, and becoming acutely aware of the universal difficulty in quantifying Marketing ROI and overcoming fragmented systems and data silos. The Resulticks team applied that knowledge and experience in designing and building the platform from the ground up between 2012–2014, then launching it in fall 2014 in San Francisco to position Resulticks as a new global platform rather than an Asian platform entering a new market. Our goal was to empower brands with an integrated, next-gen solution that delivers on the full promises of real-time, Omnichannel customer engagement.

As a woman CEO in Marketing Technology, what unique challenges did you meet and overcome in this journey?

There are challenges for women aspiring and determined to lead in certain patriarchal societies, but the will to succeed, to define a future for oneself, will always overcome.

What is Resulticks and how does it fit into a modern Technology stack?

The Resulticks platform was designed to be an AI-powered, one-stop solution for executing, scaling, measuring, and attributing real-time, Omnichannel communications. The solution was designed to easily coexist with a brand’s existing technology ecosystem or to establish a powerful ecosystem from the ground up, depending on what stage of  maturity cycle the business is at.

Resulticks’ three key pillars—Customer Data Platform, Communication Orchestration, and the collective power of AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Analytics—combine to help brands deliver seamless, individualized experiences across a multitude of channels and in real time. They combination also harnesses unified customer and campaign insights and measures the revenue impact of their Marketing efforts at the segment-of-one level.

We support businesses with a broad spectrum of capabilities, ranging from predictive/prescriptive marketing analytics and advanced audience segmentation to intuitive experience orchestration and comprehensive reporting. Resulticks’ unique hybrid deployment option also helps businesses ensure data security and regulatory compliance without losing the benefits—speed and scale—of a Marketing Cloud solution.

Tell us how Brand-Audience relationship has evolved over the last 12-18 months?

One of the interesting trends we have noted in the last 12 to 18 months is the growing tension between customers wanting greater control of their personal data and their expressed desire for more personalized experiences. While these two might sound contradictory  to each other, the dynamic actually presents an opportunity for brands to be more strategic about the data—first-party, second-party, or third-party—they leverage.

This shift is also an opportunity for brands to build greater trust with their customers. A brand that communicates clearly to customers about the information it collects, what it does with the data, and the advanced technology it employs to ensure robust data security, stands to gain more customer goodwill than brands that remain passive or non-communicative about privacy initiatives.

What titles and geographies are you currently targeting? How hard is it to acquire and retain customers in your industry?

In terms of geographies, we’re experiencing considerable growth in Southeast Asia. We’re headquartered in Singapore, and have launched five new offices across the region in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand to meet fast-growing customer demand. As for industries, we’ve seen strong traction from B2C industries, including retail, travel, BFSI telecom, and healthcare brands. In addition, we continue to see strong growth within the B2B, B2B2B and B2B2C sectors.

In terms of customer acquisition, our research found that over 71 percent of Southeast Asian brands already plan to increase investment in Omnichannel readiness, which means there is built-in demand for our services. Additionally, approximately 40 percent of respondents said their main challenge is either software limitations or having too much data to manage. This speaks to a need in the market for a solution like Resulticks that harnesses the full potential of big data and can truly meet marketers’ needs fo  scalable, intuitive Omnichannel customer engagement.

What are the unique opportunities for Omnichannel Marketing teams? How does Resulticks help such marketers meet Omnichannel goals?

Based on our latest data in Southeast Asia, brands in the region have indicated that real-time Marketing and Omnichannel delivery and engagement are their top two priorities for 2019. In terms of Marketing channels, social, website, and email continue to be the most common channels used by brands, with over 70 percent using at least one.

It is interesting to note that technologies tying physical spaces to digital systems are becoming increasingly common. For example, 23 percent of brands use beacon technology and 32 percent of brands use QR codes. Combined with the fact that 71 percent of brands indicated they plan to increase their investment in Omnichannel readiness, the research indicates there is strong demand for Omnichannel solutions in the market.

What do you think about the fine combination of Content Marketers, Digital Anthropologists and Data Scientists in the modern Marketing world?

While we don’t have digital anthropologists on our team, it is fascinating to see the evolution of people’s relationships with digital technology. Because of this interplay between people and different technologies, I feel the strongest Marketing organizations are those composed of people with expertise in multiple disciplines. For example, a Data Scientist might be able to extrapolate relationships between data points at scale, but having someone who also has field marketing experience could help the Data Science team identify the underlying customer motivations driving these relationships. Similarly, when creating a real-time integrated campaign, brands need to combine creative insights and technical know-how. In many ways, Resulticks does just that—bring out the science and art of Marketing through the latest technologies.

Which Marketing and Sales Automation tools and technologies do you currently use at Resulticks?

We are, of course, believers in our own products and we do use our own platform for our Marketing. This type of testing helps us optimize our products and ensure that as marketers ourselves, we are only providing the best product to our customers.

What are your predictions on the most impactful disruptions in AI-based Marketing Automation for 2019-2024?

Though the results of our study in Southeast Asia found brands focusing heavily on real-time Marketing and Omnichannel delivery and engagement, AI is playing a bigger role in optimising these Marketing strategies and will continue to increase in popularity.

At this stage, we see the impact of AI not being driven by leaps in technological advancements, but by a deeper understanding and more wide-spread adoption of AI in the Marketing community. Brands and Marketing professionals looking for a competitive edge should look to invest in building their understanding of this technology as it can be leveraged in driving more engaging campaigns.

How do you prepare for an AI-centric world as a Business Leader?

AI is not a monolithic technology, both in terms of its development or application. So, to me, it’s essential that I take a multidisciplinary approach to understanding how this technology can be leveraged best in Marketing. It is also necessary to have a diverse range of perspectives. I also rely on my team to let me know their thoughts and opinions.

How do you inspire your people to work with technology?

I think people who work in technology are intrinsically curious, and I want to let my team members inspire each other. To that end, I take deliberate time and effort to bring together the best and brightest from different disciplines and functions so that we have a diverse set of perspectives and expertise all working towards the common goal of transforming the Marketing Automation landscape.

One word that best describes how you work.

Collaborative

What apps/software/tools can’t you live without?

Calm, WhatsApp, Google, Pinterest, and Microsoft Office.

What’s your smartest work related shortcut or productivity hack?

An early riser with immense focus on the tasks at hand.

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Trillionaire Dollar Coach by Bill Campbell. The two books that I always have with me are Autobiography of a Yogi and the Bhagavad Gita.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice was from my mother who told me, “There is nothing you cannot do as long as you set your mind to it.”

Something you do better than others – the secret of your success?

I face every challenge with resilience, courage and determination

Tag the one person in the industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read

Bill Gates. He has had a monumental impact on the world through his his altruism and passion to imagine a better future. He’s thought hard about how technology and knowledge can contribute to the good of humanity throughout the world, and that’s a remarkable thing.

Thank you, Redickaa! That was fun and hope to see you back on MarTech Series soon.