On the ability of ad agencies to assist in developing one‐to‐one communication: Measuring “the core of dialogue” Available to Purchase

The development of database marketing has brought a new set of possibilities to marketers. The use of one‐to‐one communication is a new way of closing the gap between the clients’ expectations and experiences. However, the realization of new one‐to‐one communication strategies has its limitations. According to Norwegian research presented here, the preconditions for carrying out one‐to‐one communication are only present to a very limited extent. The possibility of the ad agencies assisting their clients in their efforts to exploit a new individualized strategy by using marketing systems in their customer approach is very limited. The “core of dialogue” consists of six elements: the strategic formulation ability, the level of knowledge about one‐to‐one communication, the use of suitable marketing systems, what kind of data is registered, to what extent “soft” data on the client’s opinion is collected, whether changes in the agency’s organization is done according to demands from the market and whether product development is done according to demands from the market. The expression made up from the six elements constitutes the preconditions for communicating in dialogue. That is why we named the phenomenon “the core of dialogue”. A tool for clients and agency managers to test their own ability to perform dialogue‐based one‐to‐one communication is presented.