Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum

Customer journey analytics and Big Data

McKinsey partner, Dorian Stone, and Clickfox CEO, Marco Pacelli, spoke at Fiserv Forum 2013 about the value of Big Data in understanding the customer journeys that matter. more

Beyond the hype: Capturing value from Big Data and advanced analytics

Consumer-facing companies must be able to gather and manage the right data, turn it into insights, and translate those insights into effective frontline action. more

The coming era of ‘on-demand’ marketing

Emerging technologies are poised to personalize the consumer experience radically—in real time and almost everywhere. It’s not too early to prepare. more

Follow the customer decision journey if you want B2B sales to grow

B2B organizations must focus on the people and moments that matter so that marketing spend turns into real sales. more

Fashion sense: Leading apparel companies are looking to cities for growth

The global economy is experiencing an unprecedented shift in shopping power toward emerging-market cities. more

The social enterprise

McKinsey partner, Lareina Yee, spoke at DemandCon about the power of social to drive growth in the enterprise. more

Using “Big Data” to optimize digital marketing

Companies have not yet reaped all the digital marketing benefits of “Big Data” and advanced analytics. more

Help your B2B salespeople improve their social media skills

As companies rely more on social-collaboration tools, some of the biggest productivity gainers are going to be salespeople. more

Invest in technology for innovation, not productivity

Will Forrest (@ayewill) and Kara Sprague, McKinsey partners, spoke recently at the Cloud Connect conference about the need for companies to focus on technology investments that innovate business models, not improve IT productivity. more

Marketing learns to speak the C-suite’s language

Jonathan Gordon, a McKinsey partner, talks about the future of marketing with Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter Group. more

Word of mouth: Social networking and online sales success in Brazil

Social networking is the number-one online activity among Brazilian iConsumers. more

No need to wait for Big Data’s “promised land”

Start creating action plans for producing hundreds of models that generate revenue quickly. more

Crunch time: Using Big Data to boost telco marketing capabilities

Breakthroughs in data storage and crunching power can transform the mountains of telco subscriber data into a marketing gold mine. more

Driving the top line with technology: An interview with the CIO of Coca-Cola

Ed Steinike is reshaping his CIO role as The Coca-Cola Company accelerates its use of technology innovations in operations, marketing, and sales. more

Advertising in 2020: The demand for marketing on-demand

Advertising will evolve in many ways that no one can predict. But the trend towards “on-demand” marketing is already clear and is placing new demands on marketers’ leadership and skills. more

Advanced analytics for better decisions

Matthew Jauchius, CMO, Nationwide Insurance, discusses what it takes to build an organization that can use advanced analytics to make better decisions and deliver value. more

E-journey: Digital marketing and “path to purchase”

Telecoms players need to focus on digital channels in their sales and marketing to reap both revenues and savings. more

Four ways to market like a startup

Large companies need to get comfortable with moving fast, making mistakes, and adapting in real-time – just like a startup. more

The case for crafting a Big Data plan

By assembling the building blocks of data, analytical models, tools, and people, companies can formulate an integrated big data plan. more

5 steps to squeeze more ROI from your marketing

To keep up with today’s channel-surfing customer, marketers need to move beyond traditional Marketing Mix Modeling. more

The sales hot zone: Take the guesswork out of selling in emerging markets

Consumer goods companies can now find out if the market is “hot” for their products more

Solving the CEO Social Media Riddle

Social media needs to be an integral part of a broader strategy to build consumer trust, a critical issue for corporations and executives today. more

B2B Business branding

A deeper understanding of branding’s role in decision making is critical if B2B companies want their brands to drive value. more

Video: The consumer decision journey explained

The dynamic of somebody shopping is just different than the way it has been understood by traditional marketing models. more

The big change: Building Big Data and social DNA

Dion Hinchcliffe, Chief Strategy Officer for the Dachis Group, argues that companies that want to make the most of Big Data and social media have to make significant — and sometimes painful — changes. more

Upward mobility: China’s premium car market

China’s boom in affluent consumers is translating into massive growth in luxury goods. more

Quiz: What is your customer intelligence quotient?

Take this quiz to see how well you understand consumer behavior. more

Core marketing capabilities for the road ahead

Insurers will need to develop a far more sophisticated view of the segments of insurance shoppers. more

Beyond price: Changing insurance shoppers

Insurers will need to develop a more sophisticated understanding of customer segments and shopping behaviors. more

How media companies can boost ad revenues

Publishers can package their insights about their site visitors and deliver them as hot leads to advertisers. more

Engaging boards on the future of marketing

At many companies, the whole organization is becoming more responsible for customer engagement. A few are extending this thinking to the boardroom. more

Driving digital change

McKinsey partner David Edelman joined Beth Comstock, CMO and SVP of GE, Sanjay Gupta, CMO of Allstate, and Laura Desmond, CEO at Starcom MediaVest Group, on a panel at Adobe’s recent CMO Connect event. more

Has the app economy peaked?

The app explosion has been a huge driver of the success of the smartphone. But people are becoming less willing to pay for those apps. more

Name your price: The power of Big Data and analytics

A new generation of pricing and revenue management practices can lead to meaningful results quickly. more

Yes, you can get satisfaction: Lessons from the Customer Experience survey

Widgets, bytes or wheels: Whatever the industry, businesses need satisfied customers. more

High influence: China’s social media boom

Social media has a greater influence on purchasing decisions for Chinese consumers than in any other country. more

Brazil’s e-psyche: Grasping trends in an elusive market

With the world’s sixth-largest economy, Brazil is site of a digital boom. Companies need to sharpen their online focus. more

Altering the approach: Mobile operators and online consumers

Mobile network operators now have an excellent opportunity to draw on an expanding segment of online buyers as a source of growth and savings. more

Digital youth: A glimpse into future market evolution

While many commentators note the swift uptake of all things digital by younger consumers, there are distinct and surprising differences in device usage and content consumption. more

New news: Content providers and mobile media consumption

The hottest news story today is the media’s own struggle to reinvent itself online. more

Six social-media skills every leader needs

Organizational social-media literacy is fast becoming a source of competitive advantage. Learn, through the lens of executives at General Electric, how you and your leaders can keep up. more

Profit paradox: Growing value and shrinking margins for mobile

Consumer communication patterns are evolving rapidly, driven by new devices and Internet heavyweights increasingly moving into the mobile arena. more

Purchase portal: The Internet as the shopper’s tool

Companies can address new online buyer segments to tap a strategic source of growth and savings more

Getting into your customers’ heads: An interview with the COO of Electronic Arts Labels

The success of Electronic Arts once hinged on managing relationships with retailers. Today, EA is learning how to use technology to get closer to its customers—the gamers themselves. more

Evolve or perish: Digital Darwinism for Belgian companies

Digital has greatly increased the number of conversations Belgian consumers have about brands, but companies have been slow to respond. Here’s what they need to do. more

For Big Data to work, you need intuition

David Edelman spoke recently at ADSCON about data science in advertising, focusing on how companies should use data to get a broader - and more accurate - picture of their customers. more

Go beyond the usual suspects to find growth in emerging markets

Multinationals who want to identify the most promising growth opportunities need to go much broader and deeper. more

The 400-billion-euro question: Where is French retail going?

French consumers seem to have reached a digital tipping point when it comes to going online. more

Mobile shopping is much more than shopping

McKinsey partner David Edelman spoke recently at the National Retail Federation with Martine Reardon, from Macy’s, and Suzan Kereere from American Express about innovations in mobile shopping. more

Outlook 2013

What to expect in 2013. more

CMO owns the growth agenda

While experimentation remains critical for innovating and spotting opportunities, 2013 will be about delivering and demonstrating value for CMOs. more

Online vs offline shopping boundaries disappear for the consumer

Brands will shift significant spend to promotions and other mobile communications to reach their customers. more

Going mobile brings old ideas to life, in new ways

Mobile in the home, for video, and entertainment is going to create many new opportunities for a broad array of players. more

Big Data: Stand and deliver in 2013

The “weight of responsibility” will shift from the data to the organization so that it can be agile and responsive enough to make those minute-by-minute adjustments and decisions. more

What CMOs think about the economy

The results from the CMO Survey are in, but what does it mean for the marketplace? more

To win the retail battle, think small in 2013

It’s time to get really granular to find growth. more

How to win in 2013? Customer experience

Companies that deliver a great customer experience will convert sales at a much higher rate. more

“Operations” becomes a key word in marketers vocabulary

Putting the right capabilities in place will not only help brands develop the right interaction strategies; it will give them a broader range of options that they can execute. more

Presentation: On-demand engagement

STANFORD – McKinsey's David Edelman explains how marketing today means being where your customers are, giving them control, personalizing their journey, and making it easy. more

Understanding the African digital consumer

Urban Africans are increasingly sophisticated when it comes to the Internet, creating new opportunities for telecom companies to explore. more

Retail Marketing and Branding: A definitive guide to maximizing ROI

Success in retail today requires business leaders to get the balance between science, art, and craft just right. more

Top Ten for 2012

We invite you to enjoy some of these selected highlights and insights from the past year. more

Marketing & IT in the Age of Big Data

At the NCDM conference, McKinsey’s Tim McGuire discussed how companies need to find talent that understands both marketing and technology. more

Retailers: Mobile is for “serving” your users

Mobile is now the 24-7 concierge of the modern retail environment. But retailers still think of it as just another communications tool. more

Turn customer care into “Social Care” to break away from the competition

Social care is about more than saving money; it’s about providing a better customer experience. more

Meet the ghost of marketing future: $200b for growth

Not that we’re comparing marketers to Scrooge, but the allegory of a crossroads from A Christmas Carol fits well with where marketing is today. more

Major bank, major digital transformation

BARCELONA – Robert Tas, managing director and head of digital marketing at JP Morgan Chase, and David Edelman, McKinsey partner, show why and how marketers have to be more systematic and disciplined about extracting value from every stage of the customer decision journey. more

Presentation: Strategic reputation management in a digital world

STANFORD - McKinsey’s Betsy Holden explains how companies should actively manage their social media to bolster their reputation. more

Presentation: Transform the way you market at social scale

STANFORD - Salesforce.com's Hilarie Koplow-McAdams, President, Commercial/SMB Business Unit, and Michael Lazerow, Chief Marketing Officer, look at how companies are not just adapting to the social revolution but also thriving. more

Holiday shopping trends: Making a list and checking-in twice

With the holiday season underway, retailers are experimenting with new ways to capture the imagination and attention of consumers. more

Target: Going Deep on Engagement

Target CMO, Jeff Jones, explains what it takes to build a meaningful multichannel experience for their customers. more

The Marketing Organization Of The Future

With radical forces reshaping the nature of marketing, it is up to organizations to adapt. more

Retail 4.0: The future of retail grocery in a digital world

Grocery store consumers are defining the trends that will shape this new generation of sales growth. In response, stores are changing how they do business. more

Digital luxury experience 2012: From customer experience to impact

Many executives have underestimated the extent to which digital channels will drive growth in the luxury goods market in the next five year. more

Big Data & Advanced Analytics: Success stories from the front lines

Companies that incorporate data into their operations show productivity rates much higher than those of their peers. more

Mobile Has Created The Veruca Salt Doctrine: I Want It, And I Want It Now

Mobile has delivered ubiquitous connectivity, and customers now expect meaningful information, service, and content from brands. more

Making sense of e-detailing in Japan’s pharmaceutical sector

After much trial and error, pharmaceutical companies might be on the cusp of a promising new electronic sales strategy – and Japan is leading the way. more

Gilt Groupe: Using big data, mobile, and social media to reinvent shopping

Gilt Groupe provides instant insider access to today’s top designer labels and has grown to a half billion in sales since its founding. Co-founder Alexis Maybank talks about how they did it more

How ‘social intelligence’ can guide decisions

By offering decision makers rich real-time data, social media is giving some companies fresh strategic insight. more

Eight trends shaping digital marketing in the auto industry

Marketers need to shift digital marketing into overdrive to enable a new, highly effective, targeted, and “real-time” approach to customers. more

Know your customers wherever they are

Retailers often don’t know that a customer who hits many touchpoints is the same person. They should. more

The Social Enterprise: How your customers produce and consume in the social world

B2B customers are becoming more social, and their expectations are changing rapidly. more

Secrets of the 30%

5 rules to turn B2B marketing & sales into a growth engine. more

Anatomy of a Consumer Decision Journey

Different consumers take different journeys to purchase. more

3 phases of Consumer Decision Journey in action

Brands in the initial consideration set can be up to three times more likely to be purchased eventually than brands that aren’t in it. more

Putting big data and advanced analytics to work

Companies must focus on the big decisions where better data and models will improve marketing return on investment (MROI) more

Infographic: Anatomy of a Smartphone Purchase

85 people from around the world track the process of buying a smart phone. Here's what the journey looked like. more

Simplify Big Data – or it’ll be useless for sales

3 lessons to make Big Data help sales reps rather than making their lives harder more

Global digital diaries: Buying a smartphone

We followed almost 100 consumers from eight markets (Brazil, Britain, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the US) as they went about buying a smart phone. more

Building brands in emerging markets

Companies that get three things right are more likely to capture the loyalty of emerging-market consumers. more

Amazon’s Secret Sauce

Fanatical attention to customer needs and smart tech investments underpin e-commerce excellence and customer loyalty. more

The modern marketer’s nemesis: “Shiny Object Syndrome”?

Organization, operations, IT systems, and analytics isn’t sexy work but can unlock millions of dollars of value. more

Getting beyond the buzz: Is your social media working?

Companies need a Social GRP to measure and manage the business value of social media. more

What you need to make Big Data work: The pencil

Building out Big Data capabilities too often becomes the end goal itself. more

Steal that idea: 5 Smart ways presidential candidates mine Big Data

CMOs would do well to learn a thing or 5 from the campaigns about connecting the right message with the right people. more

Ear to the ground: China’s smartphone market

China’s smartphone market is booming. more

How to reach today’s “channel-surfing” customers

What does it really mean to be a multichannel retailer today? Companies need to focus on the details. more

Act like a local: How to sell in emerging markets

Emerging markets can be fertile ground for enormous sales growth, but each market has its own unique hurdles. more

Making advanced analytics work for you

Fully exploiting data and analytics requires three mutually supportive capabilities. more

Mobile in Europe is growing: Are you ready?

Mobile network operators have an excellent opportunity to find growth and savings in the expanding segment of online buyers. more

The future of brick & mortar retail in the digital era

The rapid change in shopping behavior is creating massive strains on brick & mortar retailers, who need to not just adapt but get ahead. more

How is the American online consumer evolving?

Just a decade ago, online commerce was the exception. Now it is routine. Retailers must adapt and get ahead of the curve. more

Five new responsibilities for marketing

As touch points with customers grow, so too does the list of marketing's responsibilities more

Get in touch with customer touch points

Customers are demanding very different kinds of relationships with companies. Here are some ways to jump-start customer engagement across your organization. more

The social care imperative

Four steps to drive brand health and customer acquisition more

Five “no regrets” moves for superior customer engagement

Customers are demanding very different kinds of relationships with companies. Here are some ways to jump-start customer engagement across your organization. more

Don’t forget offline: Insurers need to be where their customers are

Direct distribution is the key to growth for carriers, but few have the capabilities – or the channel strategy – to do it well. more

Selling into micromarkets

Micromarket strategy has emerged as the most potent new application of big-data analytics in B2B sales. more

Three lessons for today’s Chief Marketing &
Sales officers

Companies can forge deep relationships with customers thanks to social media - as long as it's at “click speed.” more

Measuring marketing’s worth

You can’t spend wisely unless you understand marketing’s full impact. Here are five questions executives should ask to help maximize the bang for their bucks. more

The next stage: Six ways the digital consumer is changing

The Internet, not yet 20 years on from its emergence into the consumer mainstream, is evolving as fast as ever. more

Infographic: Are you ready for the digital revolution?

Understand your customers, harness big data, master multichannel delivery, and transform your organization. see infographic on pinterest

Video: the #1 challenge marketers face

David Edelman, McKinsey partner, discusses how CMOs and marketers need to work much more closely with leaders across the C-suite to develop an agile organization for the digital age. more

Unleashing the power of algorithmic marketing

A new, scientific form of marketing is disrupting industries. It will require companies to consider new strategies, technologies, and talent to profitably use "big data" and fast computers. more

The challenges of using digital technologies

Executives are focusing on three digital trends, but are concerned that their resources won't be enough to reach their goals. more

Seven strategies to beat the retail apocalypse

Retailers need to understand and exploit their multichannel advantages if they want to survive in a digital world. more

Six strategies to win the mobile consumer showdown

Retailers need to focus on a specifically mobile strategy to win this new breed of customer more

How consumer healthcare companies can leverage social media

The online buzz in one product category—namely, over-the-counter medications—shows how makers of consumer health-care products can benefit from social media. more

Content is queen

Social media needs a woman’s touch more

Demystifying social media

As the marketing power of social media grows, it no longer makes sense to treat it as an experiment. Here’s how senior leaders can harness social media to shape consumer decision making in predictable ways. more

Sales Growth: Five Proven Strategies from the World’s Sales Leaders

Our book focuses on what’s on every leader’s agenda in today's turbulent business climate: growth. more

Fighting a PR fire in China with social media

Managing a crisis in China’s complex social media environment requires a tailored ready-react-recover strategy. more

Serious about SMB customer experience? Focus on your web site

To support small- and medium-sized business (SMB) purchasers throughout their decision journey, your site needs to be a core part of your multichannel approach. more

Creating a winning digital model

An effective social media strategy needs to build enough advocates so your real story is out there. Read the synopsis

Fighting back: The next frontier for consumer electronics retailers

Consumers are buying electronic devices by the boatload—but retailers are not smiling. more

How retailers can win the mobile shopper turf war

Retailers need to focus on the right mobile tactics to reach the anywhere anytime consumer and combat "showrooming". more

The central question for CMOs

Marketers need to reject the centralize v. decentralize debate, and realize that the answer is “both” more

The trouble with travel distribution

It’s among the biggest e-commerce markets, and maybe its most turbulent. To compete, players must define their place in travel’s next wave more

Mobile money: Getting to scale in emerging markets

Financial services using mobile phones can fill a needed gap if providers can overcome initial hurdles. more

New skills for a new age

Highlights from a speech during our recent Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum event in Paris. Read more

Ken Wach, Intuit: Connecting across a house of brands

In this interview, Ken Wach, the VP of Marketing for Intuit’s Small Business Unit, discusses how a decentralized organization manages the challenges of big data, social media, and relationships with IT. more

Taking social media along the Consumer Decision Journey

Buying something is not just a destination; it is a journey of many steps more

The war for digital talent is already here

Companies need new positions for “digital talent” to run your marketing. more

Gaming expands its presence in the digital universe

Update your business model for reaching your customers now that (nearly) everyone’s a gamer. more

John Battelle: Building the conversation economy

John Battelle, the founder and executive chairman of Federated Media Publishing, explains what it means to understand content not as a constellation of sites, but as a system of conversations. more

Break those old brand habits

The same old way of doing things won’t help you grow. Marketing and sales leaders need to take a hard look at how their brands are performing more

Loyalty: is it really working for you?

Just because you have a loyalty program doesn’t mean it's generating value. more

Value in an evolving multichannel world

Josh Leibowitz and Aaron Rettaliata jointly spoke at the National Retail Foundation annual convention about steps retailers can take to improve value perception and pricing execution in a multichannel world. more

The art of selling

Reports of the death of the salesman have circulated since the first dotcom boom. But those reports miscast the critical importance sellers have in today's market. more on The Economist site

Getting to “the price is right”

Companies can increase profit margins significantly if they can just get granular enough with their pricing more

Branding in the digital age: You’re spending your money in all the wrong places

The internet has upended how consumers engage with brands. For marketers, the old way of doing business is unsustainable. more

The new Japanese consumer

The attitudes and behavior of Japanese consumers are shifting dramatically, presenting opportunities and challenges for companies in the world’s second-largest retail market. more

Sales Growth: Five Proven Strategies from the World’s Sales Leaders

Through interviews with 110 sales leaders from the world’s most successful B2B and B2C companies, the authors have uncovered the stories and innovative practices that drive growth more

We’re all marketers now

Engaging customers today requires commitment from the entire company—and a redefined marketing organization. more

Rob Fuggetta

In this interview, Rob Fuggetta, the founder and CEO of Zuberance, discusses the role of brand advocacy in driving growth at the end of the customer decision journey. more

The Modern Consumer: How to differentiate products for the Baby Boomers

The internet has upended how consumers engage with brands. more

Japan’s globalization imperative