The CMO Dilemma continues: IBM’s 2011 Global CMO Study

IBM recently released “From Stretched to Strengthened: Insights from the Global Chief Marketing Officer Study”.

The executive summary is here. To obtain the full text, go to:  http://www935.ibm.com/services/us/cmo/cmostudy2011/cmo-registration.html .

The most compelling finding is the first: CMO Underpreparedness. Thematically, it fits a number of opinions expressed in the 4ScreensMedia online journal. Data, devices and social/digital media are three of the most challenging areas for a CMO to understand and leverage. This triad, if you will, is characterised by exponential growth, the shortest of product lifecycles and the problematic aspect of measurement.

 

I highly recommend you read the report especially as a marketing professional. Getting a perspective on what’s on the mind of the global CMO is extremely valuable when it comes from a large and respected firm such as IBM.

As much as technologists are shedding light on the marketing function, marketers ought to be doing some listening of their own and thinking like ‘marketing technologists’.

- Ted Morris, 4ScreensMedia

The CMO Dilemma: The Digital Divide

What I’m actually referring to here is the divide between theory and practice of digital strategy.  Whether by accident or design, the latter which I doubt, the optics of this juxtaposition of an article about a poor struggling couple in the American South and a banner ad for a luxury vehicle points to a number of things: 

1. With all of the analytical tools available, it’s astounding such a placement of advertising would even take place, especially in a relatively sophisticated content environment such as CNN;

2. This also suggests that no one is monitoring the actual placement vs. planned placement of digital advertising;

3. Either Jaguar or the agency in charge of media placement has no idea of the digital footprint for their brand. Juxtaposing an ad targeted to the highest of income brackets against a story ofAmerica’s poor is not only in bad taste, it just doesn’t make sense in terms of goood media management and social responsibility.

 There a lot more work to do in the digital space to get it right.

The CMO Dilemma continues…

- Ted Morris, 4ScreensMedia

The Marketing Technology Landscape

I’m not 100%  sure how to address the growing complexity of the marketing function, except to suggest that you take some time to re-evaluate and redefine what marketing is about. Consider layering in your technology mix along with your media and marketing mix. Then bring together a team of mobilists, technologists, data analysts and creative folks and you can get the ball rolling.

- Ted Morris, 4ScreensMedia