Reporting from Forrester's Marketing Forum
Quaero recently sponsored Forrester's Marketing Forum 2011. (And if any of you were able to attend our reception or visit our booth, you'll agree that the event was a particularly sweet success; Quaero treated attendees to more than 2,000 pieces of gourmet chocolate!)
As always, the Forum provided marketers with a great deal of food for thought. This year’s theme was Innovating for the Next Digital Decade. Forrester warned that rapid innovation is creating radical shifts in the methods and media that people use to engage with your company, brand, and products, and promised to demonstrate how emerging tools can combine the targeting, customization, and measurement of online platforms with the rich, emotional brand experiences often associated with traditional ‘offline’ media.
One of the keynote presentations I found particularly interesting focused on the evolving role of the CMO. Forrester's founder George Colony illuminated "What CEOs Want From Their CMOs." As an interesting twist, Colony solicited input for his session through Forrester's online community prior to the event. You can read some of the contributions here.
Colony's research led him to five new requirements for the CMO:
Champion Innovation
Today's CEOs expect their CMO to drive success within the organization when it comes to traditional marketing metrics: acquisition, retention, awareness, marketing ROI. But, they also expect them to bring in fresh ideas from the outside world. This includes emerging best practices, unexpected partnerships, channel adoption, and leveraging new technologies.
Mediate the Cultural Conversation
Marketing's role is not one-way communication or even a one-to-one dialogue. It's an ongoing conversation and the CMO's role must include nurturing and leading it. It's up to the CMO to ensure that this conversation is genuine and meaningful. This is especially true as social media rises to the top of a customer's experience with your brand.
Illuminate Technology Opportunities
The CEO recognizes the mission-critical nature of technology advances — but, with everything else on his or her plate, simply can't keep up. Therefore, it's up to the CMO to stay abreast of developments, and more importantly, serve as the organization's filter, determining what matters most and where limited resources should be invested.
Prove ROI
This isn't really news — marketing budgets have always been suspect, and are often the first things to be cut in tight times. But today, with such a fragmented media landscape, demonstrating value is more critical than ever. The CMO must prove ROI for more traditional, measurable investments and create meaningful metrics for softer returns, such as brand awareness that results from blogging or other social media marketing activities.
Take the CEO Out for a Beer Talk
I love this last idea. The CEO needs to count on the CMO for brutally honest straight talk (preferably over a brewsky or two) about how the company is doing — not behind company walls but out in the marketplace. It's lonely at the top. The CEO can't afford to be isolated; the CMO is his or her bridge to the customer, competition and cultural insights that can help both of them succeed.
As always, one of the most valuable opportunities at Forrester's Marketing Forum was the chance to hear firsthand from brands that are innovating new strategies and best practices. One of the highlights for me this year was Kraft Foods.
Dana Anderson, Kraft Foods' Senior Vice President of Marketing, Strategy, and Communications, was exactly what you hope for in a keynote speaker. She's smart, funny and has inspirational success stories to share from a brand you not only know, but probably grew up with. Here are some highlights of her excellent presentation, titled "The Bad Boys' Guide to Digital Bliss:"
"Find your swagger."
If you're going to bend the rules and get things done, you have to be seen as the "cool kid." She reminded us that, "Recess trumps calculus every time." Don't settle for safe and boring. Do something that will make people say, "I want to be a part of that."
"Be sly."
Why waste time and effort battling entrenched silos? At an established brand such as Kraft, it would be nearly impossible. Instead, Anderson encourages people to find ways to go around them.
"Be reckless."
One of Anderson's key concepts is "the pilot program." She positions new ventures as pilots and creates a sense of drama around them, which makes people want to get involved. Many pilots fail, and that's okay — because when you find a winner, nothing scales quicker than success. In fact, Anderson seems as proud of the risks that were taken and failed as she is of some of Kraft's most exciting success stories.
In keeping with her presentation's title, Anderson offered some unusual role models for us as innovative marketers: entertainment "bad boys" Robert Downey Jr. and Jay-Z, as well as a couple of "bad girls:" Anjelina Jolie and Katy Perry. Needless to say, we all left the session determined to be our "baddest" selves.
My biggest take-away from Forrester’s Marketing Forum? With rapid innovation, the next digital decade will definitely provide us with new ways to target, customize and measure marketing. Online and offline channels are beginning to blur, as traditional media become interactive and digital media mature beyond information and transaction. But, with everything we have to learn, one thing is still key to marketing success: full customer engagement. Across new media, old media and every hybrid in-between, effectively connecting with customers — promotionally and emotionally — is the only way to improve the customer experience and increase customer value.
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