Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Forum

Marketers Are Not Publishing Enough Content

June 13 – It’s a tough lesson for new media thinkers to hear: traditional tactics like frequency and repetition work. Tripling down on relevancy, being contextual, and adding value will always help a brand to expand its audience.

Big Data Marketing Is All About The Questions

June 12 – The opportunity lies in defining how Big Data can help you better reach your customers with your messages in a way that gets them to act. And this starts with simple questions.

To Keep Users Happy, Loyalty Programs Must Walk a Fine Line

June 11 — More than half of those enrolled in loyalty programs stopped participating in at least one program in the past year. Brands must be sensitive to how they can provide mutually beneficial rewards that don’t tread too far on consumers’ private lives.

The New CIO: Chief Innovation Officer

June 10 – While CIOs emphasize process and efficiency, research shows that chief marketing officers care about success, relationships, and building value. Hardly surprising, then, that IT struggles for relevance while marketing grows its own technology budget independent of IT.

CMOs: Build Digital Relationships or Die

June 5 – The CMO who ignores digital disruption’s opportunity will watch it turn into a threat. But the CMO who turns his or her energy and budget toward the customer will find that digital disruption creates more than it destroys.

Good Analytics Can’t Save a Bad Strategy

June 5 – Analytics can improve the execution of virtually any strategy or business model—but only on the margin. If your strategy no longer works, make strategic changes first, and then use analytics to execute on the strategy.

Why Big Data is Not Truth

June 1 – Interesting cautionary viewpoint about Big Data. While suggesting certainty, data is subject to plenty of myths, some human and some inherent in the technology.

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

May 29 – The social customer experience is fast becoming the battleground on which brands live or die. But there is a silver lining—the social media blade cuts both ways.

Dear CMO, Your Best Marketing Strategy Is to Care More

May 29 – 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. Studies show that 10 percent of the population holding an unshaken belief about something can influence the entire population.

What Do CMOs and CIOs Really Think of Each Other?

May 29 – It’s widely predicted that more technology-related budget will move to the marketing department. Yet few CMOs or CIOs consider their counterpart to be their most valuable senior executive partner within the business.

From Clicks to Bricks: Online Retailers Dabble in Physical Stores

May 28 – A number of previously pure-play e-commerce retailers are establishing permanent physical stores. They are finding that customers who make their first purchases in-store typically makes second purchases, and usually online.

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

Ninety percent of people use multiple screens sequentially… and 67 percent of people have used multiple devices sequentially to shop online.

Measuring Social Media ROI: Companies Emphasize Voice Metrics

May 21 – Results from The CMO Survey® show that companies are starting to see the value of emphasizing voice-based metrics (e.g., referral, buzz). The emphasis on pure financial metrics is waning.

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

May 18 – With new digital tools marketers can reach the likeliest customers when they are most in the mood to buy. The biggest shock, say marketers, is the schooling in humility that comes with round-the-clock conversation.

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

May 16 – Large-volume, high-velocity, and unstructured data in large, well-established businesses must be integrated with everything else that’s going on in the company. Organizational structures and skills for Big Data in big companies are evolving and integrating with existing structures, rather than being established anew.

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

May 9 – Each channel, platform, and venue has a specific purpose. Each can deliver on interactivity and engagement—but they are all part of the same storyline. Using data, we improve our story and get more people engaged.

Dan Zarrella: Why All Marketers Should Embrace Data

May 8 – Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed. Always challenge superstitions and myths about marketing: ask yourself why you think that, and whether it is based on data.

8 Marketers Doing Big Data Right

May 7 – There’s no need for fluff and buzzwords when there’s rock-hard data to draw upon. Look around the business world, and you’ll see marketers who are enhancing their products with data-informed decisions.

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

May 7 – Marketers identified campaign effectiveness and channel effectiveness as benefiting the most from big data initiatives. For Sales, it’s identifying the most valuable customers for the organization

Keeping Time: Why CMO Tenure Has Doubled

May 6 – Building strong brands requires more continuity. Greater perceived value of marketing, based on better data accountability plus an increased need to reflect consumer preferences, has led tenure in the role to almost double over the past six years.

Free Yourself from Conventional Thinking

May 6 – Organizations that build their business strategy around old practices can’t capitalize on new opportunities. Encourage new ideas brought about by as many non-traditional interactions as possible.

Wearable Technology Lets Us Track Consumers’ Activity as Never Before

May 2 – Physical activity data is going to become increasingly available to marketers and advertisers as we head into the age of the cyborg. Consumers may share quite a bit if they receive something of value in return.

The Value of Big Data Isn’t the Data

May 1 – Data itself isn’t the solution. It’s just part of the path to that solution. What you want and what you need is to turn that data into a story.

How eBay CEO John Donahoe Keeps Founders From Leaving After Acquisitions

Apr. 30 – eBay encourages founders to execute their vision inside eBay, where they can innovate at a higher level. Acquisitions drive innovation; bringing in founders is key to this strategy.

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

Apr. 24 – In tomorrow’s business, big data can tell you more about your operations than your people alone. Human judgment must still have the last word—but be prepared to put your faith in a model that you don’t completely understand.

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

Apr. 22 – If you truly want to connect with people in a numb world—as well as ignite them—never underestimate the power of an idea to separate you from the noise. Even with messages for the head, always seek to gain entry through the heart.

Customer Experience is Everybody’s Business – Connecting the Dots

Apr. 20 – What does maximizing operational cash flow velocity have to do with growth of outstanding accounts receivable? Monitoring the interaction of seemingly unrelated trends helps to identify potential customer issues.

Data privacy: What your zip code reveals about you

Apr. 18 – Industry insists that data collection allows retailers to better target their marketing campaigns, ultimately benefiting consumers. Privacy advocates say consumers should know how they are being tracked.

Is ‘Showrooming’ the Future of Retailing?

Apr. 16 – A recent store opening by the “Netflix of Eye Wear,” Warby Parker, shows that even the very best e-tailers now believe that a physical showroom can help—even if most sales are online.

The Rise of the Digital CMO

Apr. 15 – Today’s digital CMO is different: They experiment aggressively, hire and empower digital natives, partner with great agencies, admit what they don’t know, toss out ambiguity, and let metrics illuminate results. These traits empower the role of the CMO.

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

Apr. 15 – Digital advertising’s major players need to unite around the desire to bring the most relevant and valuable information to the consumer. Successful publishing marketers are already using ad tech to drive real brand lift, conversion and sales.

How social media brought big power to the smallest players

Apr. 11 – In today’s social media-centric world, small is big. Author Nicco Mele’s new book looks at how new technologies, or “radical connectivity,” are putting serious power in the hands of small groups.

How Walmart wants brands to fuel Its content engine

Apr. 10 – The world’s biggest retailer is creating an even bigger need for brand content through its “Print Plus” (smartphone-scannable ads) program. This program pairs digital “liquid content” from brands with Walmart’s 80-million-circulation weekly circular.

Dehumanising human resources (video)

Apr. 10 – Noted Big Data author Kenneth Cukier illustrates how software crunching piles of personal data can help firms recruit workers more efficiently. Are deliberate browser downloads and criminal records correlated to employee performance?

Big Disconnect: Only 12% Implementing Big Data Strategy

Apr. 8 – Despite the hype, most organizations have yet to develop and implement a Big Data strategy.  Few are taking advantage of product, customer, and other data sources. Just 5 percent are testing, and 11 percent are planning.

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

Apr. 3 – Current number-tracking apps suggest a desire to also track whittled-down personal/public data, which Numbeez condenses into one interface. Users add stats to their dashboards using a bookmarklet (like a Pinterest “Pin It” button).

54% Of Retailers See Mobile As The Biggest Growth Area

Mar. 28 – For all the disruption that mobile has caused in the retail sector, many retailers also see it as an important source of growth. Mainstream purchases by mobile device, however, are still about two years away, according to this survey.

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

Mar. 27 – To offset Internet competition, a retail store is charging $5 for “just looking,” i.e., browsers who then buy online. The store is hoping to counter the “showrooming” phenomenon by featuring reviews available in-store, exclusive products, and in-store pickup of online purchases. Will it work?

Five Traits All Successful Content Marketers Share

March 26 – Empathy, curiosity, observation, packaging, and caring (the “why”) distinguish content that works as marketing. The art of explanation lowers the cost of understanding.

Honda CMO Hopes Agency Reorg Will Boost Brand Equity

Mar. 20 – Marketing spend efficiency is the precursor to understanding whether there’s a need to spend more or less. That transparency requires better metrics and marketing return on investment accountability.

7 things marketers muck up when communicating results to their CEO

Mar. 21 – Some good points here about how marketers should communicate with a CEO, but the one to emphasize is providing metrics that matter to the business’ P&L. Without those, marketers aren’t going to get the CEO’s (anyone else in the C-suite’s) ear.

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

Mar. 18 – Data can help overcome organizational barriers not just in managing social but tying its performance more closely to the business. Having a unified view of data is point of departure to help coordinate an organization’s social media efforts across the business.

How P&G inspired Cleveland Indians to offer fewer bobbleheads

March 18 – Marketing mix modeling (MMM) comes to the big leagues. Moneyball brought data to baseball, but MMM is bring is to the business of baseball.

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

Mar. 18 – Like Amazon, Hointer caters to shoppers who want to make smart purchases quickly and then move on. The whole process, including an automated stockroom, is designed to take 30 seconds or less.

Malls must move beyond shopping to survive in Internet era

March 17 – With people turning to Web to shop in droves, malls are already starting to experiment with new ways to become a destination for shoppers. This article puts forward some interesting ideas about how the mall of the future will need to include galleries, government services, healthcare outlets, and other attractions.

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

Mar. 7 – Figuring out how to use Big Data is delivering real value. But how much? Now we know.

When Ads Get (Too) Personal

Mar. 7 – Personalization and targeting have become the holy grails for marketers and advertisers alike. This piece, however, highlights some of the negative effects as personalization limits the effects of social reinforcement.

Advertising Analytics 2.0

March – Touchpoints do not work in isolation. This thoughtful piece examines how analytics is unlocking how customers truly behave.

In Atlas Deal, Facebook Gets Serious About Measuring Ads

Feb. 28 – The power of metrics and the need to get it right underpins an important move by Facebook. The push for improved marketing ROI is getting demands credible measurement.

Should Brands Have Newsrooms?

Feb. 22 – The trope “all companies are publishers” has been around for a while, but companies are now rushing into the publishing business. Should they? Good question.

Stop Selling Ads and Do Something Useful

Feb. 12 – Another perfect storm is upending the ad business – mobile adoption and poor mobile advertising options. To make it work, marketers need to think and act like tech and publishing companies.

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

Feb. 6 – Amazon is getting into the payments business to help drive commerce on their Kindle. As one of our colleagues asked, genius or folly?

Turn Your Customers Into Your Best Sales People: 4 Tips

Feb. 5 – Brand advocacy – also known as word of mouth in the olden days – is a powerful tool for any company. Companies should be doing more to get their customers to be their advocates.

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

Feb. 4 – Mobile now accounts for 10% of e-commerce. Still a small percentage of retail sales, but growing quickly. Some good data points here.

Pinterest’s Retail Problem

Feb. 4 – Shoppers are taking to Pinterest in droves; retailers are being left behind.

Facebook Is Growing Mobile Revenues Way Faster Than Anyone Thought

Jan. 30 – The power of mobile just keeps growing. Revenues tied to mobile for Facebook point to interesting ways companies can drive growth.

Social to Play Second String on Game Day

Jan. 22 – While social is still getting plenty of buzz, companies are more actively debating what it can do to generate more returns on investment. CMOs discuss social in the context of the upcoming Superbowl.

If These CMOS Could Turn Back Time…

Jan. 21 –  CMOs provide some pithy insights as advice they’d give to their younger selves.

Look Beyond Your “Social Media Presence”

Jan. 16 – McKinsey’s Jacques Bughin challenges companies to find more value in social media within their organizations. While many enterprises supper social media internally, few take full advantage.

Seven Ways To See Beyond The Next Quarter

Jan. 9, 2013 – Even during a new year with new goals, it is easy to miss the signs that your customers are operating in different ways. With those subtle shifts in mind, here are seven opportunities to push your thinking beyond 2013.

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth

Jan. 7, 2013 – In today’s increasingly data-driven world, creative quantitations are one of the most important players in the entire advertising industry. Drawn to advertising, they are using big data to help brands figure out who they are.

Connecting The Multichannel Marketing Dots

Jan. 2, 2013 – With information right at their fingertips, the multiple-gadget consumer is causing businesses to rethink the way they communicate and engage. Organizations now must deliver messaging that is consistent across all mediums, but still tailored to the individual needs of each customer.

Mobile and Social Technology: Emergence of a Shared Consumption Experience

Jan. 3, 2013 – As technology becomes more of a key facilitator of our daily activities, shared social consumption is on the rise. Despite the advances, it is not technology that consumers value, but the connections and experiences it facilitates.

7 Big Data Solutions Try To Reshape Healthcare

Jan. 3, 2013 – Big data medicine is still largely unproven, but that’s not stopping several medical centers and analytics vendors from jumping in with both feet. With that perspective in mind, InformationWeek Healthcare looked at seven companies and large medical centers that have already jumped into the water.

Big Data: Business or Technology Challenge?

Jan. 3 2013 – Advanced analytics continue to change the way enterprises store, manage and analyze data. Big Data is now a critical top-line business issue that enterprises must tackle in order to remain relevant.

Why India needs mobile banking & how customers benefit from it

There are more people using a mobile phone than a bank account in India. While the cost of building bank branches may be prohibitive, the solution for India’s banking woes might be mobile banking.

‘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. What may be most fascinating to experts is how this change has come so quietly and seamlessly.

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. The impact of this change could have managers not just delivering products, but impacting lives.

Mobile Apps Are Becoming as Popular as TV

Dec. 6, 2012 – Mobile app usage is gaining on TV – and fast. If the current trend continues, mobile apps could become the predominant form of media entertainment by the end of 2013.

So Much Data, So Little To Show For It

Dec. 4, 2012 – Despite the opportunities provided by big data, sales reps have found themselves paralyzed by the growing mountain of new information. The question now being asked is how reps can search and consume this information while not losing their edge.

The Future of Shopping

DEC. 2 2012 – As mobile shopping increases, larger retailers are being slaughtered by online retailers who offer the same merchandise at bargain prices. To survive, these big box stores will need to remake themselves by offering a more intimate and personalized customer experience.

Big Data Is on the Rise, Bringing Big Questions

Nov. 29 – What’s the business case for using Big Data? Evangelists claim that it 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 Big Data could provide.

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

Nov. 28 – 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. Human DNA offers a stable, long-term alternative to the massive libraries worth of digital data we’re creating.

Social Media Will Lose Out One Way or the Other

Nov 28. – As social media services become ubiquitous, they risk overshadowing traditional news outlets as vehicles for free speech. But just when 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.

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

Nov. 20 – A provocative look at how social media brings experiments from the periphery to the corporate center. The more corporations pay attention to today’s social media effectiveness, the more social media will play an advantage in forming tomorrow’s business.

‘Big Data’ Can Change the World

Nov. 19 – As Big Data multiplies, finding the right balance of opportunity and regulation is a growing concern. With the wealth of opportunities that this new information provides to marketers, privacy advocates and regulators are worried about how this data is being assessed.

Reinventing America: The Transformational Power of Technology


Nov. 19 – With the growth of Big Data and mobile technology, we are witnessing a monumental shift in how individuals work and companies compete. By continuing to explore the insights gained from Big Data and analytics, businesses can further their agility in an ever-changing marketplace.

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. Many of the lessons for ad companies are applicable to other companies as well, particularly those that need innovation.

Survey Probes The ‘CEO-Marketer Divide’

Nov. 15 – A recent survey of CEOs offers some sobering insights for marketers. Are you generating the customer demand and delivering results that matter?

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

Nov. 13 – Process innovation doesn’t sound sexy, but Zara has created a reactive, consumer-driven program that’s at the forefront of the digital revolution. As retailers think about how to engage the customer, they need to also figure out how their supply chain has to adapt.

A Glimpse Into Mobile Measurement and Apps Today and Tomorrow

Nov. 13 – Not surprisingly, mobile is increasingly important for marketers but 42% are still not accountable for metrics. Analytics, however, is surfacing marketers many opportunities they will be investing in.

Less is more when it comes to ‘big data’

Nov. 12 – It’s no news that companies are struggling to keep up with the volume of data out there. But three steps highlight what companies need to do to find value from that data.

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

Nov. 7 – 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. The critical component was not just having the right people in place but also merging various database to run sophisticated [...]

7 Lessons From Social Business Leaders

Nov. 7 – Companies are deeply engaged in social media, and are seeing the value. What that value is, however, varies and can be hard to quantify.

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

Nov. 6 – Big Data is the key to securing the viability of the CMO role. By unlocking value and driving growth, marketers are in the position to turn advanced analytics into corporate profits.

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

Nov. 6 – Social media are breaking into legal circles, as lawyers experiment with everything from dissemination to advocacy to fundraising. These are early days but it’s not too much to expect live Twitter feeds in criminal cases soon.

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

Nov. 6 – As the holiday season heats up, brick & mortar retailers are using their entire creative arsenal to get people into their stores and buying. The store is re-emerging as a critical piece of the full multichannel experience that shoppers expect.

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

Oct. 31 – Social media interactions apparently drove 66% of sales on Black Friday in 2011. Among some good guidelines for retailers is one that calls on brands to respect the customer by not overwhelming them with a flood of offers. Email is still the most effective route.

Mobile Marketing – The Elephant In The Room For Marketers

Oct. 29 – For all the promise of mobile, this piece argues that marketers still have used it to its full potential. This piece lays out some compelling data around mobile behavior though, unfortunately, provides few answers. Forbes

How Successful Companies Sustain Innovation

Oct. 23 – Interesting idea about innovation as journey, rather than destination. As change accelerates, companies that ingrain a culture of innovation are most likely to succeed. Three principles for sustained innovation. Fast Company

Internet Radio Listeners Also Researching Products, Shopping

Oct. 23 – Don’t forget the old media. Internet radio, it turns out, is for multi-taskers who are busy researching and buying while listening.

Does the Rise of the CMO Threaten CIOs?

Oct. 22 – Great line: With data comes power. As marketing becomes increasingly imbued with data, CMOs and CIOs are needing to form new relationships. The question is how that relationship will evolve as data becomes ever more core to the marketing function.

What Happens When Superpowered Customers Meet Smart Touchpoints

Oct. 22 – Companies need “smart touchpoints” to keep up with and understand their customers. Each of these touchpoints represents a new revenue stream, but also a new data stream.

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

Oct. 22 – The rise of mobile is forcing a massive disruption on tech disruptors. New mobile behavior is dictating new business strategies for what suddenly look like “old” companies.

Holiday Price-Matching Could Backfire for Retailers

Oct. 18 – Brick & mortar retailers are moving aggressively to combat showrooming phenomenon this holiday season. Here’s an interesting take on some of the pitfalls with the approach.

The CEO’s Frugal Innovation Agenda

Oct. 16 – Frugality and speed in innovation require a commitment to developing an organization that can handle both. This is a restructuring question that companies need to answer to remain competitive for the long term.

Six Tips for Creating an Analytics-Driven Marketing Culture

Oct. 10 – Analytics is critical if marketing wants to drive and demonstrate growth. Digital has made the world too complex to rely on gut calls; analytics is now the foundation of creativity.

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

Oct. 9 – A short survey shows that measuring the value of social business initiatives is the #1 item on our minds. Until social can prove its value in terms of sales and growth, it is in danger of being relegated to a sideshow.

Big Brother, Now at the Mall

Oct. 8 – Experiments in facial recognition software hold a lot of promise in terms of being able to better personalize shopping experiences. But the pitfalls are significant too, and companies need to be thoughtful about how to work with this technology.

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

Oct. 8 – Pickup lockers are a new innovation that can deliver more convenience to customers. And for online-only companies like Amazon, pickup lockers offer an interesting opportunity to establish a real-world footprint.

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

Oct. 3 – In a downturn, the best performing companies grow. Good example here shows how Journelle combined creativity and investment to grow in a tight retail world.

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

Oct. 2 – An older video, but focuses on important topic of social ROI.

Fostering Tech Talent in Schools

Sept. 30 – With an estimated 150,000 computing jobs opening each year in the US through 2020, schools need to step up to meet demand. Interesting Microsoft program tries to address the problem on the ground.

Airlines Take Mobile Services Beyond Check-In

Sept. 27 – Airlines are taking the lead when it comes to pushing the mobile travel experience. This goes beyond mobile check-ins to making flight changes and interacting with in-flight entertainment services. Lost towards the end is the key point: these mobile advances open up all sorts of new touch points along the customer’s travel [...]

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

Sept. 24 – Social media has been having trouble breaking through that glass ceiling because questions still exist about whether it drives sales. Good analytics and a clear sense of how social fits into the digital ecosystem can help give social media a seat at the grown-up table.

Mirror, Mirror, What’s the Weather?

Sept. 11 – The “Internet of things” is going to become a big market. As machine-to-machine connectivity becomes a reality, companies need to figure out how to use that analytical power to better serve their customers.

Collaboration Is The Path To Digital Connection

Sept. 26 – In our digital world, it’s well established that marketing needs to work with other functions in the organization more closely than ever. But how? Five practical guidelines here.

Amazon, Forced to Collect a Tax, Is Adding Roots

Sept. 11 – 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. Multichannel retailers and Amazon are in the grips of a massive competitive battle for the future of shopping.

How One Company Uses Customer Data to Drive Sales

Sept. 6 – In a world of “Big Data,” this piece reminds us that big wins come from getting some of the small data right too. The important lesson here is that if a company uses customer data well and protects privacy to create a great experience, customers will come back. Some good examples too.

Spirits Distributor Making Inroads With Data

Aug. 30 – A good case study here about how accurate statistics and having the capabilities to better run the business convinced the board to invest in big data.

Real Brands Need Real-Time Leaders

Aug. 14 – Interesting piece argues that CEOs and the rest of the C-suite need to jump into the social media pond. 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. Social media is becoming medium for trust.

Top Marketers: Digital Integration Still A Struggle

Despite generally strong support for digital marketing efforts across the corporation, marketers are having a tough time integrating it into the general business. Analytics and customization hold out plenty of promise but poor collaboration with IT  means that digital is not delivering they way it might be.

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. Great idea here around “productive paranoia” that is channeled into action. Leaders are also fanatic about discipline and are creative and willing to try things (but not take big risks).

Six Tips For Forging A Strong CMO-CIO Partnership

The CMO-CIO relationship will define success or failure for many companies. Some good, common sense tips in this piece – particularly interesting is the idea around sharing budget responsibilities. Could be a bridge too far in most companies but it’s a critical factor.

Brand Advocates are Here to Help

From Zuberance survey: 38 percent made a recommendation about once a month, and 12 percent said they did so several times a week. Advocacy increasingly needs to be an important part of any company’s marketing plan – strategy, budget and resources.

7 Universal Truths for Ensuring Brand Relevance

The age of co-creativity requires brands to connect with their customers. Larger, more risk averse companies have generally had trouble embracing the uncertainty and risk that this new era of connectivity demands. These seven truths are a useful roadmap though they aren’t new; what’s new is how big companies figure out how to systematically put [...]

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. Are you focusing on “magnets” or “takers”?

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? Good question and some initial answers though we’d love to see more details.

How the Professor Who Fooled Wikipedia Got Caught by Reddit

In a time when brands are striving for ever greater authenticity, here’s an interesting piece about the role of communities as the “trust police” and the flaws in the system. While it’s in vogue to say that consumers own the brand, the truth is that the web has made it much easier to manipulate stories.

Facebook’s Prospects May Rest on Trove of Data

There’s gold in them there data – a rallying cry for many a company these days. Interesting piece looks at the challenges of the big data promise. No one argues that Facebook has a vast amount of data; what’s not clear yet is how the company can use it given all the challenges around privacy, [...]

Turning the B2B Online Management Journal into an Interactive Client Development Tool

Authors argue that too many professional services firms have basically transported the print publishing model of “closed monologue” to the online world. “Open dialogue” is the publishing route by which an audience can become much more interested in the firm’s services.

Boston Does Digital: What We Can Learn From A City That Is Getting It Right

Companies talk about their constituents, but for city government the term is even more relevant. How Boston’s digital efforts are a useful lesson for corporations.

Social Media Is Not Social CRM, but It Can Be With These Five Steps

Apr 13 – For those who confuses social media channels and strategy, a short overview to help make social media a CRM engine. Main gain is how such an effort changes your company’s mindset.

Five Reasons to Use Social Media Analysis

Mar. 15 – Good argument focused on need for Social Media Analysis as foundation to react to what others are saying about you in the social media world. It’s fast and accurate – as long as you have the tools and the people who can use them. Huffington post

The Gettysburg Principles for Keeping Your Customers

Mar 28 – Businesses succeed when they are of, by, and for the people. David Weinberger raises the point that the best way to drive loyalty is by getting these three points right.

The Good Side of Quantifying Everything

Apr 13 – For those who confuses social media channels and strategy, a short overview to help make social media a CRM engine. Main gain is how such an effort changes your company’s mindset.

The Social Media Integration Gap

Mar. 13 – CMO survey shows that social media is still having trouble making it into the mainstream when it comes to marketing planning. Some good guidelines and suggestions for getting social onto top management agenda. TheCMOSurvey.org

Report: Klout doesn’t measure what it claims

Mar 23 – What is influence? Interesting piece based on Brian Solis’ analysis that pushes us beyond oversimplified numbers.

P&G’s Marketing Chief Looks to Go Digital

Mar 13 – Drive to reduce costs prompts review of how digital can make marketing more efficient.

Why Social Marketing Is So Hard

Mar 8 – A series of provocative questions focused on understanding why companies are having so much trouble executing “social.” Interesting idea to use mistakes to forge relationships and trust.

Critical Path to Customer Relevance (pt. 1)

Feb 13 – The convergence of disruptive technology, business processes, and customer experiences forces all organizations examines how to get closer to their customers.

Brands Are Lies

Feb 8 – Provocative piece that highlights how different what a brand believes about itself can be so different from what people (ie. Customers) believe. Brands need to look to their culture, and focus on treating customers as individual people.

Managerial Intuition Is a Harmful Myth

Feb 8 – An interesting piece about how experts can be “overvalued” when they rely only on judgment and expertise. Insights and decisions should be based on what can be measured, a recommendation that makes a lot of sense for marketing and sales leaders as well.

Social proof is the new marketing

Nov 28 – Helpful overview laying examples of the various ways business can build social influence. Important point is that there is no one size fits all, and that companies need to experiment to find out what works best for them.

Mobile deals set to lure shoppers stuck in line

Nov 20 – The multichannel battle is coming to a store near you. Mobile is gearing up to become the weapon of choice as retailers – both online and offline – battle for customers going into the holiday season.

The smartphonification of stuff

Nov 17 – A fun piece that highlights just how mobile our technology has become, and how much it has infiltrated into our daily life. This piece focuses on things the smart phone has replaced; where the real effects of smart phones will be felt, however, is in what things we do that the smart phone enables.

The basics of business-to-business sales success

Too many wrong messages on social media? Try leadership, not control

Corporate leadership needs to supplant corporate control in managing a company’s social media program.

The search for analysts to make sense of big data

Big data “ and trying to make sense of it “ is forcing companies to look for the right kind of talent.

5 Steps to a Digital-First Marketing Function

A good overview with some practical ideas for integrating marketing into your organization.

Social proof is the new marketing

Nov 28 – Helpful overview laying examples of the various ways business can build social influence. Important point is that there is no one size fits all, and that companies need to experiment to find out what works best for them.

Mobile deals set to lure shoppers stuck in line

Nov 20 – The multichannel battle is coming to a store near you. Mobile is gearing up to become the weapon of choice as retailers – both online and offline – battle for customers going into the holiday season.

The smartphonification of stuff

Nov 17 – A fun piece that highlights just how mobile our technology has become, and how much it has infiltrated into our daily life. This piece focuses on things the smart phone has replaced; where the real effects of smart phones will be felt, however, is in what things we do that the smart phone enables.

Highlights From The 2011 Multichannel Customer Experience Report

Nov 16 – A useful helpful summary of important attributes and barriers in delivering good customer experience based on a recent UK survey. No. 1 organizational attribute for delivering customer experience? Commitment from senior leadership, with the bigger issue of a motivated and empowered staff coming in at no. 2. No. 1 barrier? Complexity.

Social value chain analysis

Nov 14 – Don’t be put off by the title. This piece provides an interesting overview of how B2B companies are beginning to embrace social media for more than basic brand awareness. As B2B companies look at how social can help with R&D, product development, and customer service, they’re running into a familiar problem for large organizations: how to make it scale.

Walmart Brings Bricks and Mortar to Battle with Amazon

Nov 14 – Here is an excellent view into the ongoing bricks ‘n clicks v. pure online battle that is growing in retail. The piece spotlights how a large bricks and mortar company can use its physical presence to create – and cash in on – a compelling multichannel customer experience.

How Steve Case and His Company Are Driving the Sharing Economy

This thoughtful piece poses a great question through the prism of Steve Case’s recent spate of successful investments: Is the sharing economy a peculiarity of the recession or the beginning of a brave new market? It’s easy to say that sharing is good for efficient markets. It’s not so easy to say that sharing is good for a growing economy that depends on new shoppers.

What’s Required of the Next Generation of Marketers

The marketers of tomorrow (today, actually) need to be agile thinkers who understand digital and data. But something that we don’t hear as much is how important it is that they be able to bridge on- and offline worlds.

Digital Fitness Is Latest Craze in Building up Your Marketing Ranks

Interesting idea about how to get executives up to speed on digital: CMOs, CFOs, sales leaders, legal, PR. It’s about sharing a common vocabulary and vision. Would have been great to hear more about how marketing and sales leaders can work better together, but sharing a common understanding about digital is a good starting place.

Business executives back multichannel customer experience but fail to ‘walk the walk’

The big takeaway from this report from Foviance? Complexity of customer experience is now seen as the greatest barrier to improving multichannel customer experience. In 2010, it was organizational structure.

Infographic: An inside look at the social consumer

A good infographic that provides an overview on some of the data about social consumers. One of the graphics provides a helpful overview of the relative influences of earned, paid, and owned media across a number of sectors. Search dominates as a “gateway” to influence.

Advertising Companies Fret Over a Digital Talent Gap

The war for digital talent is heating up in agencies. Many companies will be looking to agencies to help them navigate the digital journey so agencies are going to need to find the necessary talent. Where’s the shortfall? “Data whisperers” – those who can make sense of Big Data and help inform business decisions.

Moving Past the Multichannel Conversation

Marketers and technologists are obsessing about the next “channel.” But with every channel that is created, the customer raises the bar higher and beats the drum louder and louder for integration. It’s worth remembering that it’s not about being multichannel; it’s about integrating channels for a seamless customer experience.

Data Points: Mobile’s Mojo Infographic

More than half of mobile users will use their smart phone for product information and coupons/sales info during the holiday shopping season. Cool infographic provides a nice overview of how mobile purchasing is revving up.

Innovation: What’s New?

Lots of innovation is dressing up old ideas in new clothes. But an analysis by Arthur D. Little based on interviews with 100 Chief Technology and Innovation Officers lays out what the new face of innovation will looks like. Most important: Innovation based on customer insights.

CMOs Struggle With Social Media: Vision And Guidelines To Succeed

Some good thoughts here about how CMOs can use social media to succeed. This piece is based on the IBM’s CMO survey. A point that’s buried but is critical is that if CMOs can show the value of social media, they can exert a lot more influence on their organizations.

When Marketing & IT Don’t Cooperate, E-Commerce Misses Target

In this era of Big Data, marketing and IT need to come together. Traditionally that’s been easier said than done. But getting data right can be the difference between growth and collapse. Here we find a cautionary tale for the digital age.

The Six Attitudes Leaders Take Towards Social Media

HBR might have titled this piece: the six stages to social media acceptance. This piece provides a good overview of how organizations approach social media that are shoe-horned into six “Fs”. The point at the end is most provocative – social media needs to be organization wide, not just a marketing or IT issue. So who takes the lead?

Friends with digital benefits

One of the biggest priorities for a CMO now is to build bridges to his/her CIO. Markeitng is too reliant on good technology not to take this relationship very seriously. In a sign of the times, agencies are noticing how often they’re meeting with and pitching to CMOs and CIOs jointly these days.

Tips to Defend Your Digital Reputation

A set of tips that add up to rapid reaction mindset to possible online threats. A company that handles itself well online says much about its ability to execute in this modern age and helps define how a company is perceived, according to author Leslie Gaines-Ross.

How Jeff Bezos’ long-term thinking paid off big for Amazon

Some great insights about how Jeff Bezo’s built Amazon. Playing slow and steady allowed Amazon to weather numerous economic crises. The secret sauce: “If you place enough of those bets, and if you place them early enough, none of them are ever betting the company. By the time you are betting the company, it means you haven’t invented for too long.”

Why is multichannel customer service important?

Poor customer service costs the UK economy £15bn per year, according to a survey by Genesys and Ovum/ Datamonitor. We’re not sure about the numbers, but it does highlight how critical getting multichannel right in customer service. This piece provides a good overview of what channels companies need to consider in serving their customers.