Head of Marketing and CRM at Grupo Chedraui

Ana Mara Alvarez Bujalil is a successful C-level executive with over two decades of experience and a proven track record of inspiring leadership, team building, and management. She has demonstrated exceptional proficiency in integrating offline and online marketing strategies with multi-channel marketing strategies. As the head of marketing and Customer Relationship Management at Grupo Chedraui, she is spearheading the development of a new omnichannel loyalty program, redefining the value proposition, and shaping the communication strategy.

In an exclusive interview with CIOReview Latin America, Ana María Alvarez Bujalil shares her valuable insights on the importance of multi-channel communication in collaboration with commercial partners.

Could you describe your role and responsibilities as the Head of Marketing and CRM at Grupo Chedraui?

As the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the company, my role encompasses overseeing both the marketing and CRM functions. I handle the day-to-day operations, which involve creating and disseminating various types of advertising across different media channels, including TV, radio, outdoor, digital, and direct media.

I also oversee all CRM initiatives related to our loyalty program and manage the relationships we establish with the clients. This includes supervising the Customer Contact Center and overseeing initiatives like the marketing automation that includes more than 8 direct channels including WhatsApp service. Furthermore, I'm actively involved in identifying and evaluating strategic projects to secure a competitive edge in the industry as a retailer.

What are the current challenges you face in the marketing and CRM industry?

The global inflation poses a substantial challenge for our clients and the company. Due to the socioeconomic distribution in Mexico, we have a significant portion of the population very price sensitive. Inflation severely impacts their purchasing power, making it increasingly difficult to afford their necessities.

Our mission is to offer people the best prices possible. While there has been some relief in recent months, inflation hasn’t completely subsided. The company remains hopeful for further improvement in the coming months, but the gap between our clients' purchasing power and the rising prices continues to be a pressing concern.

Additionally, in the current retail landscape, with its dynamic pricing strategies and yield management practices, it isn't easy to convey the advantages of our pricing structure.

What are some of the initiatives your team has taken to overcome the challenges in the marketing and CRM space?

Addressing the challenges in marketing and CRM requires close collaboration with commercial partners to find innovative ways to cater to our customer’s requirements. Currently, direct communication with clients proves to be highly effective but also comes at a higher cost compared to mass media. Based on its client’s preferences and transaction history, the company implements a loyalty program. Through this, it engages in personalized and direct communication with the customers.

To pinpoint the most relevant products and messages for our clients, we focus heavily on developing our prediction models and statistical analyses. This enables us to communicate directly through various channels like personalized emails, SMS, and emerging platforms like WhatsApp. These initiatives have shown remarkable returns on investment, although they clash with other media investments.

The positive trajectory of our performance over the past three years is a testament to the effectiveness of our strategies, and I'm dedicated to further enhancing the competitive advantage through these initiatives. Given the broad market in Mexico, which caters to a wide demographic, we're compelled to utilize multiple communication channels. It is imperative to leverage our technological capabilities to improve the performance of our marketing innovations.

Could you talk about some exciting trends we can see in the retail industry?

The current surge in AI technologies holds great promise for enhancing our communication with clients. Platforms like WhatsApp, becoming more cost-effective, efficient, and user-friendly, are assured to play a more significant role in various aspects of communication and service. This positive trend will likely lead to substantial improvements in the months ahead.

We are optimizing our media budget though Programmatic buying tools for a number of different channels, which maximizes in real time not only the media, but the content, reach and frequency.

While these are notable examples, I'm confident the company will uncover numerous other applications where artificial intelligence can be leveraged to benefit the clients. This will ultimately enable us to provide even better service, meeting client’s needs more effectively.

What advice would you give to budding professionals in the industry?

A comprehensive evaluation of various media and communication channels should encompass the cost per impact and consider the revenue generated and return on investment. By optimizing the budget, time, and resources, one can aim to achieve maximum efficiency through non-real-time online adjustments. This approach ensures that each medium is utilized for the right message, at the right time, and to the right client. This can be better achieved with the use of AI and other marketing technologies.