Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum

The New CIO: Chief Innovation Officer

Even as technology grows, the scope of IT control and impact is decreasing, due to operational rather than customer focus. more

CMOs: Build Digital Relationships or Die

As business models, traditional processes, and long-standing industry practices dissolve, the relationship the CMO has with the customer can actually become stronger. more

Good Analytics Can’t Save a Bad Strategy

Analytics can improve the execution of virtually any strategy — but only on the margin if the strategy itself isn't sound. more

Why Big Data is Not Truth

While suggesting certainty, data is subject to plenty of myths, some human and some inherent in the technology. more

Don’t Be Fooled: Social-Media Consumers Aren’t in a Relationship with You

The social customer experience is fast becoming the battleground on which brands live or die. more

Dear CMO, Your Best Marketing Strategy Is to Care More

Companies need to embrace a culture of innovation by defining what the culture should be and using that as a map to drive business success. more

What Do CMOs and CIOs Really Think of Each Other?

Few CMOs or CIOs consider their counterpart to be their most valuable senior executive partner within the business. more

From Clicks to Bricks: Online Retailers Dabble in Physical Stores

Online retailers are finding that hands-on experience with products can add to sales. more

The New Multi-Screen World: Understanding Cross-Platform Consumer Behavior

Ninety percent of people use multiple screens sequentially, according to recent Google research. more

Measuring Social Media ROI: Companies Emphasize Voice Metrics

Companies are starting to see the value of emphasizing voice-based metrics, vs. purely financial metrics. more

Less guff, more puff: Thanks to new digital tools, marketing is no longer voodoo

With new digital tools marketers can reach the likeliest customers when they are most in the mood to buy. more

Why Large Firms Don’t Need ‘Big Data Departments’

Large-volume, high-velocity, and unstructured data must be integrated with everything else that’s going on in large companies. more

A 4-Year-Old Gets To The Heart Of Marketing

Each channel, platform, and venue has a specific purpose—but they are all part of the same storyline. more

Dan Zarrella: Why All Marketers Should Embrace Data

Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed. more

8 Marketers Doing Big Data Right

Big Data Gold Isn’t Always Where You Would Expect It

Keeping Time: Why CMO Tenure Has Doubled

Free Yourself from Conventional Thinking

Wearable Technology Lets Us Track Consumers’ Activity as Never Before

Physical activity data is going to become increasingly available to marketers and advertisers. more

The Value of Big Data Isn’t the Data

Data itself isn't the solution; it's just part of the path to that solution. more

How eBay CEO John Donahoe Keeps Founders From Leaving After Acquisitions

eBay encourages founders to execute their vision inside eBay, where they can innovate at a higher level. more

The End Of Judgment? Big-Data Analytics Still Needs People

In tomorrow’s business, big data can tell you more about your operations than your people alone. more

Customers Want Emotional Connections, Not Data: What moves us?

Never underestimate the power of an idea to separate you from the noise. more

Customer Experience is Everybody’s Business – Connecting the Dots

Monitoring the interaction of seemingly unrelated trends helps to identify potential customer issues. more

Data privacy: What your zip code reveals about you

Data collection: better targeting (more customized offers), or needless intrusion? more

Is ‘Showrooming’ the Future of Retailing?

The very best e-tailers now believe that a physical showroom can help—even if most sales are online. more

The Rise of the Digital CMO

Today’s digital CMO hires, partners and empowers effectively, letting digital metrics illuminate results. more

Publishers, ad-tech firms, marketers need to connect, build trust

Digital advertising’s major players need to unite around a shared interest—the consumer. more

How social media brought big power to the smallest players

In today's social media-centric world, small is big. more

How Walmart wants brands to fuel Its content engine

The world’s biggest retailer is creating an even bigger need for brand content through its “Print Plus” (smartphone-scannable ads) program. more

Dehumanising human resources (video)

Noted Big Data author Kenneth Cukier illustrates how software crunching piles of personal data can help firms recruit workers more efficiently. more

Big Disconnect: Only 12% Implementing Big Data Strategy

Despite the hype, most organizations have yet to develop and implement a Big Data strategy. more

A personalized news app at its simplest: no articles, just data

Current number-tracking apps suggest a desire to also track whittled-down personal/public data, which Numbeez condenses into one interface. more

54% Of Retailers See Mobile As The Biggest Growth Area

For all the disruption that mobile has caused in the retail sector, many retailers also see it as an important source of growth. more

Store Charging Patrons $5 For ‘Just Looking’, To Offset Losses From Internet Shoppers

To offset Internet competition, a retail store is charging $5 for “just looking.” more

Five Traits All Successful Content Marketers Share

Empathy, curiosity, observation, packaging, and caring (the “why”) distinguish content that works as marketing. more

Honda CMO Hopes Agency Reorg Will Boost Brand Equity

Marketing spend efficiency is the precursor to understanding whether there's a need to spend more or less. more

7 things marketers muck up when communicating results to their CEO

Without providing metrics that matter to the business' P&L, marketers aren't going to get the CEO's (anyone else in the C-suite's) ear. more

The role of real-time data in mature social marketing strategies

Data can help overcome organizational barriers not just in managing social but tying its performance more closely to the business. more

How P&G inspired Cleveland Indians to offer fewer bobbleheads

Moneyball brought data to baseball, but marketing mix modeling is bring is to the business of baseball. more

Men, let robot find your size at jeans store run by former Amazon exec

Like Amazon, Hointer caters to shoppers who want to make smart purchases quickly and then move on. more

Malls must move beyond shopping to survive in Internet era

The mall of the future will need to include galleries, government services, healthcare outlets, and other attractions. more

Cukier and Mayer-Schönberger: The Financial Bonanza of Big Data

Figuring out how to use Big Data is delivering real value. But how much? more

When Ads Get (Too) Personal

Personalization and targeting have become the holy grails for marketers and advertisers alike, but with negative effects. more

Advertising Analytics 2.0

This thoughtful piece examines how analytics is unlocking how customers truly behave. more

In Atlas Deal, Facebook Gets Serious About Measuring Ads

The push for improved marketing ROI is getting demands credible measurement. more

Should Brands Have Newsrooms?

The trope "all companies are publishers" has been around for a while, but companies are now rushing into the publishing business. more

Stop Selling Ads and Do Something Useful

To make mobile advertising work, marketers need to think and act like tech and publishing companies. more

Amazon Launches Its Own Currency to Make It Easier to Spend on the Kindle

Amazon is getting into the payments business to help drive commerce on their Kindle. more

Turn Your Customers Into Your Best Sales People: 4 Tips

Companies should be doing more to get their customers to be their advocates. more

How A New Wave Of Mobile-Social Commerce Has Powered Online Retail

Mobile now accounts for 10% of e-commerce – a small percentage of retail sales, but growing quickly. more

Pinterest’s Retail Problem

Shoppers are taking to Pinterest in droves; retailers are being left behind. more

Facebook Is Growing Mobile Revenues Way Faster Than Anyone Thought

Revenues tied to mobile for Facebook point to interesting ways companies can drive growth. more

Social to Play Second String on Game Day

CMOs discuss social in the context of the upcoming Superbowl, and what value it really adds. more

If These CMOS Could Turn Back Time…

CMOs provide some pithy insights as advice they’d give to their younger selves. more

Look Beyond Your “Social Media Presence”

McKinsey’s Jacques Bughin challenges companies to find more value in social media within their organizations. more

Seven Ways To See Beyond The Next Quarter

Even during a new year with new goals, it is easy to miss the signs that your customers are operating in different ways. more

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth

In today’s increasingly data-driven world, creative quantitations are one of the most important players in the entire advertising industry. more

Connecting The Multichannel Marketing Dots

With information right at their fingertips, the multiple-gadget consumer is causing businesses to rethink the way they communicate and engage. more

Mobile and Social Technology: Emergence of a Shared Consumption Experience

As technology becomes more of a key facilitator of our daily activities, shared social consumption is on the rise. more

7 Big Data Solutions Try To Reshape Healthcare

Big data medicine is still largely unproven, but that's not stopping several medical centers and analytics vendors from jumping in with both feet. more

Big Data: Business or Technology Challenge?

In today's increasingly data-driven world, Big Data has become a critical top-line business issue that enterprises must tackle in order to remain relevant. more

Why India needs mobile banking & how customers benefit from it

While the cost of building bank branches may be prohibitive, the solution for India’s banking woes might be mobile banking. more

‘Big data’ transforms our lives and lifestyles

Micro-bursts of technological innovation over the past decade have created a supernova of new data and a virtually limitless capacity to create and store it. more

Business Should Focus on Sociality, Not Social “Media”

With the social media bubble on the cusp of popping, sociality may be the new key to meaningful brand building. more

Mobile Apps Are Becoming as Popular as TV

If the current trend continues, mobile apps could become the predominant form of media entertainment by the end of 2013. more

So Much Data, So Little To Show For It

Despite the opportunities provided by big data, sales reps have found themselves paralyzed by the growing mountain of new information. more

The Future of Shopping

As mobile shopping increases, retailers will need to remake themselves by offering a more intimate and personalized customer experience. more

Big Data Is on the Rise, Bringing Big Questions

Evangelists claim that Big Data has the power to reveal hidden truths about our lives and our society, but research has shown few companies have explored the full range of opportunities that this information could provide. Read more on the WSJ.com site

What if Big Data is Too Big? A Radical Solution May Be in DNA

With the capacity of hard drives not increasing fast enough to keep up with the explosion of digital data, scientists have discovered how to encode this information inside human DNA. more

Social Media Will Lose Out One Way or the Other

Just as social media has started to become a powerful tool in global politics, the rules of the game could be re-written by new government policies. more

Social Media Will Play a Crucial Role in the Reinvention of Business

A provocative look at how social media brings experiments from the periphery to the corporate center. Read more on the HBR site

‘Big Data’ Can Change the World

As Big Data multiplies, finding the right balance of opportunity and regulation is a growing concern. Read more on the Los Angeles Times site

Reinventing America: The Transformational Power of Technology


With the growth of Big Data and mobile technology, we are witnessing a monumental shift in how individuals work and companies compete. Read more on the Forbes site

Why the Ad Industry is in a Talent Rut and a Prescription for Change

An interesting indictment of an ad industry that has failed to develop the talent it needs for the digital age. Read more on the FastCompany site

Survey Probes The ‘CEO-Marketer Divide’

A recent survey of CEOs offers some sobering insights for marketers. Read more on the Media Post News site

What Zara, the World’s Top Fashion Retailer, Tells Us About Innovation

Process innovation doesn’t sound sexy, but Zara has created a reactive, consumer-driven program that’s at the forefront of the digital revolution. Read more on The Atlantic site

A Glimpse Into Mobile Measurement and Apps Today and Tomorrow

Not surprisingly, mobile is increasingly important for marketers but 42% are still not accountable for metrics. Read more on Google Analytics blog

Less is more when it comes to ‘big data’

Three steps highlight what companies need to do to find value from that data. Read more on the FT site

Inside the Secret World of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win

With an analytics department five times as large as the one Obama had in 2008, this election was a victory as much for Big Data as it was for the Democratic candidate. Read more on the TIME site

7 Lessons From Social Business Leaders

Companies deeply engaged in social media see value though it can be hard to quantify. Read more on the InformationWeek site

Embracing Big Data Can Add Years to a CMO’s Tenure

By unlocking value and driving growth, CMOs are in the position to turn advanced analytics into corporate profits. Read more on the Chief Marketer site

Social Media, Growing in Legal Circles, Find a Role in Florida Murder Case

Media are breaking into legal circles, as lawyers experiment with everything from dissemination to advocacy to fundraising. Read more on the New York Times site

Let Me Entertain You: Retail’s New In-Store Strategy

As the holiday season heats up, brick & mortar retailers are using their entire creative arsenal to get people into their stores and buying. Read more on the CMO.com site

The Key To The Holiday Sales War? Winning The Social-Media Battle

Among some good guidelines for retailers this shopping season is one calling on brands to respect the customer by not overwhelming them with a flood of offers. more on the Fast Company site

Mobile Marketing – The Elephant In The Room For Marketers

For all the promise of mobile, this piece argues that marketers still have used it to its full potential. more on the Forbes site

How Successful Companies Sustain Innovation

As change accelerates, companies that ingrain a culture of innovation are most likely to succeed. more on the Fast Company site

Internet Radio Listeners Also Researching Products, Shopping

Don’t forget the old media. Internet radio, it turns out, is for multi-taskers who are busy researching and buying while listening. Read more in the Media Daily News site

Does the Rise of the CMO Threaten CIOs?

As marketing becomes increasingly imbued with data, CMOs and CIOs are needing to form new relationships. Read more on the CIO Magazine site

What Happens When Superpowered Customers Meet Smart Touchpoints

Each customer “smart touchpoint” represents a new revenue stream, but also a new data stream. Read more on the Fast Company site

In Mobile World, Tech Giants Scramble to Get Up to Speed

The rise of mobile is forcing a massive disruption on tech disruptors. Read more on the New York Times site

Holiday Price-Matching Could Backfire for Retailers

Brick & mortar retailers are moving aggressively to combat showrooming phenomenon this holiday season. Read more on the WSJ.com site

The CEO’s Frugal Innovation Agenda

Frugality and speed in innovation require a commitment to developing an organization that can handle both. Read more on the HBR site

Six Tips for Creating an Analytics-Driven Marketing Culture

Analytics is critical if marketing wants to drive and demonstrate growth. Read more on the MarketingProfs site

Social Business Mini Survey Results: Measuring the Value Is on Your Minds

A short survey shows that measuring the value of social business initiatives is the #1 item on our minds. Read more on the MIT Sloan Management Review site

Big Brother, Now at the Mall

Experiments in facial recognition software hold a lot of promise in terms of being able to better personalize shopping experiences. Read more on the WSJ.com site

Your favorite retail ‘store’ might just be your pickup locker

For online-only companies like Amazon, pickup lockers offer an interesting opportunity to establish a real-world footprint. Read more on the Retail Customer Experience site

How This Lingerie Store Boosted its Bottom Line, Despite the Downturn

In a downturn, the best performing companies grow. more on the Harvard Business Review site

A Social Media Keynote that talks about executing with a business agenda

An older video, but focuses on important topic of social ROI. more on the LinkedIn

Fostering Tech Talent in Schools

With an estimated 150,000 computing jobs opening each year in the US through 2020, schools need to step up to meet demand. more on the New York Times site

Airlines Take Mobile Services Beyond Check-In

Mobile advances open up all sorts of new touch points along the customer’s travel journey. more

Why You Can’t Sell with Social Media (And 3 Things to Do Instead)

Social media has been having trouble breaking through that glass ceiling because questions still exist about whether it drives sales. more

Mirror, Mirror, What’s the Weather?

As machine-to-machine connectivity becomes a reality, companies need to figure out how to use that analytical power to better serve their customers. more

Collaboration Is The Path To Digital Connection

Five practical guidelines for how marketing can work with other functions in the organization more closely. more on the CMO.com site

Amazon, Forced to Collect a Tax, Is Adding Roots

For brick ‘n’ mortar retailers who’ve been able to provide the “gotta-have-it-now” fix for today’s shopper, Amazon’s effort to build warehouses closer to population centers is another cause for concern. more on the New York Times site

How One Company Uses Customer Data to Drive Sales

In a world of “Big Data,” this piece reminds us that big wins come from getting some of the small data right too. more on the Harvard Business Review site

Spirits Distributor Making Inroads With Data

Accurate statistics and having the capabilities to better run the business convinced the board to invest in big data. more on the CIO Journal site

Real Brands Need Real-Time Leaders

A recent survey showed that 82 percent of respondents were more likely to trust a company whose CEO and leadership team engaged on social media. more on the Blue Focus Marketing site

Top Marketers: Digital Integration Still A Struggle

Despite generally strong support for digital marketing efforts across the corporation, marketers are having a tough time making it part of the business. more on MediaPost

How Great Leaders Make Their Own Luck

In this video interview, Morten Hansen, management professor at UC Berkeley, describes what traits leaders need in times of uncertainty. more on HBR site

Six Tips For Forging A Strong CMO-CIO Partnership

The CMO-CIO relationship will define success or failure for many companies. more on Forbes

Brand Advocates are Here to Help

Advocacy increasingly needs to be an important part of any company's marketing plan - strategy, budget and resources. more on emarketer site

7 Universal Truths for Ensuring Brand Relevance

Larger, more risk averse companies have generally had trouble embracing the uncertainty and risk that the new era of connectivity demands. more on co.exist site

How To Identify Your Customers, Make Them Love You, And Keep Them Hooked

All your customers aren't created equally. A good piece about how brands need to target those segments that are most profitable, and avoid trying to be all things to all people. more

Gasp! Thanks To These Startups, Teachers Are Making Money On The Web

Teachers are taking to the web to earn extra cash – and transforming education along the way. There are lessons here for companies in finding early tech adopters if the right incentives are in place: value and convenience.

How Baby Boomers Are Stifling The Marketing Revolution

Are baby boomers marketers ready to engage with Gen Y? more

The basics of business-to-business sales success

B2B customers say they care most about product and price, but what they really want is a great sales experience. For sales reps, that means getting the basics right. more on the McKinsey Quarterly site