P&O tests the water with CRM project

P&O Stena Line has embarked on a customer relationship management (CRM) programme to counter challenges from the Channel Tunnel and the scrapping of duty-free goods.

The ferry company's Network Enterprise initiative aims to create tailored marketing to each of its 11 million customers. It follows last month's launch of its www.posl.com website.

The project will replace legacy systems and shift the focus of the company infrastructure from the internal needs of the business to the customer, according to John Govett, P&O's marketing and sales director.

"Network Enterprise is a systems structure looking at how we can have a one-to-one dialogue with customers over time, and deliver a lifetime's value to each customer," he said.

The project is part of the company's wider Profit For Passenger strategy, triggered by the increasing capacity carried by the Channel Tunnel. A ticket price war is not an option, admitted P&O, so the company needs to find new ways of increasing profitability and attracting customers, explained Govett.

P&O investigated the marketing techniques used by airlines, car rental companies and even casinos. It realised there was a need to change from booking systems to marketing tools that could integrate with the company's ecommerce plans.

The first phase of the project was to revamp the website, which was completed with help from integrator Business Integration Services and marketing consultancy Link ICA.

"We knew the vision of Network Enterprise allowed us to develop posl.com as part of it. Now we can target price-promiscuous people without taking revenue away from the core business," said Govett.

Over the next 18 months, work will be completed on the four "pillars" of the project: revenue management, CRM, data warehousing and pricing.

Oracle software will be used to support the database and CRM functions.