In the interview with Andres Dickehut, CEO of the German marketing and IT service provider Consultix GmbH

As an internationally operating IT and marketing service provider, the Bremen-based company Consultix GmbH, with around 100 employees, has developed into a technology leader in the field of administration and storage of personal data. In an interview with CEO Andreas Dickehut, we discuss CRM solutions as well as cybersecurity and DDoS attack mitigation.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Mr. Dickehut, your digital marketing software ProCampaign® is the only one in the industry to have been awarded the European Data Protection Quality Seal European Privacy Seal (EuroPriSe) multiple times. What makes it so unique?

Andres Dickehut: ProCampaign® is a digital marketing platform that stores, secures, manages, and analyzes personal data in a central location. In addition to the numerous integrated functionalities for conducting campaigns and open interfaces, the SaaS also features a comprehensive data protection and data security concept. From the outset, ProCampaign® has taken all aspects of data protection and IT security into account – both in technical areas and in less technical areas such as procedures, processes, and documentation.
To support users in the area of data protection and consent, the latest version ProCampaign® Lighthouse also offers the “Permission Text Management” module, enabling legally compliant management of all permission and legal texts. This means that the temporary version of the consent provided by the customer is available in the hub for each customer profile. With a certified double opt-in process, individual authorization concepts, defined approval processes for data export, and automated and data protection-compliant deletion processes, we ensure our customers are well-equipped. ProCampaign® also features a process that enables easy extraction of all stored personal data – even from connected systems. This makes it easy for marketers to fulfill their obligation to provide information under the GDPR.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Your company offers renowned companies a secure haven for their customer data, with more than 100 million in over 50 countries. This seems to me to be quite an interesting target for attackers. How do you protect yourself from becoming the target of a hacker attack?

Andres Dickehut: For example, our technical infrastructure features an Intrusion Prevention System as well as a DDoS attack mitigation system, which automatically fend off attacks from the internet. In addition, we store all data processed in ProCampaign® in our own high-security German data centers.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Digitalization in the field of marketing and customer service has steadily gained momentum in recent years. In your opinion, what are the most important trends that marketing professionals should not miss?

Andres Dickehut: Generally, more and more communication channels are emerging, such as social messengers, which consumers use in their private lives. As these channels become more widespread and relevant, the expectation grows that these media should also be used for communication with companies and brands. In dialog marketing, it is important to keep pace with constant channel expansion and consolidation while maintaining a 360° view of the customer. Additionally, the development of the new ePrivacy directive must be closely monitored.
With ProCampaign®, we offer the market the aforementioned toolkit for forward-looking dialog marketing. It is a system that balances personalization, privacy, and efficiency. The tool provides open interfaces for integrating all systems, channels, and touchpoints used within the company. This means that no customer has to abandon proven routines and processes when choosing ProCampaign®.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: The cost pressure in marketing departments is enormous. They are constantly looking for even better ways to allocate their budgets more efficiently and achieve better results. Can you perhaps give us and our readers a good tip?

Andres Dickehut: Digitalization offers marketers numerous opportunities to use customer data and achieve a positive return on investment. It is crucial to always keep the customer's benefit in mind and create added value for them. Marketers must identify the expectations, needs, and desires of their customers and leads without these needs necessarily being explicitly stated.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: With a sophisticated CRM system, users also have access to data that can provide additional insights for their strategic decisions within the company. What opportunities does your tool specifically offer for the executive level to make the right decisions?

Andres Dickehut: ProCampaign® offers various analysis and evaluation options. In the dashboard and monitoring, executives and marketers quickly gain an overview of the most important KPIs and the performance of ongoing campaigns. The dashboard can be customized to the specific needs of the company, for example, if other metrics are more relevant. Additionally, ProCampaign® enables the creation of detailed analyses and reports that can go down to the smallest detail.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: The topic of data protection regulations under the GDPR is not only important but unfortunately also very costly, especially for SMEs. As the managing director of a family-owned company, what do you recommend to your colleagues in management?

Andres Dickehut: Personally, I see the GDPR more as an opportunity than a risk. In Germany, we’ve always had very strict data protection regulations. Now, however, these apply not only in Europe but worldwide due to the territorial principle, whenever personal data of EU citizens is processed. This creates equal conditions for all companies, including US companies. My recommendation: Use the GDPR to build trust with your customers and leads through data protection topics. Review all processes in your company where personal data is processed and adapt them if necessary. Communicate your activities and thus create a basis of trust with your customers. In the words: Do good and talk about it.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: In addition to a very good CRM solution, Consultix GmbH also offers dedicated hosting, private cloud services, integration of public cloud services, VMware services, disaster recovery, and much more. What is the advantage for the customer when they can access such a broad portfolio?

Andres Dickehut: Our customers get everything from a single source at Consultix. We are pleased that, since our company was founded, we have built long-standing and close customer relationships and maintain them intensively. This means we know our customers’ needs comprehensively and can respond to them with holistic concepts.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: You will also be represented with a booth at the Digital FUTUREcongress on November 8 at Messe Essen. Which of your services will you highlight at the event?

Andres Dickehut: At the Digital FUTUREcongress in Essen, we will present our digital marketing software ProCampaign® with all its marketing functionalities and data protection aspects, and additionally introduce our new high-security data center ColocationIX in a former nuclear bunker. The data center offers a genuine alternative to data centers in Frankfurt.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: That sounds very interesting. We look forward to your presentation and are excited to see you there.