IBM, interviewed 1,734 CMOs from 19 industries and 64 countries.
Here’s their worry list:
Posts Tagged ‘CMO’
What keeps marketing VPs up at night?
October 31, 2011Maybe marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department …
October 28, 2011History has it that David Packard (of Hewlett-Packard fame) was the first to say that “marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department”.
Hmmm.
Seth Godin – of “All Marketers are Liars” notoriety — has been echoing the Packard theme for years.
Recently, the McKinsey Quarterly published an article “We’re All Marketers Now”. The thinly veiled message: “marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.”
Ouch.
Since marketing was the central hub of business activities at the companies where I worked, I just shrugged off the critiques.
But, some data has come to light that supports the Packard theme.
IBM’s interviewed 1,734 CMOs in 19 industries and 64 countries to better understand their goals and the challenges they confront.
According to the report, the respondents came from a wide variety of organizations, including 48 of the top 100 brands listed in the latest Interbrand rankings.
Here’s the finding that hit me hard:
If CMOs are to be held responsible for the marketing returns they deliver, they must also have significant influence over all four Ps: promotion, products, place and price.
Surprisingly, this is often not the case.
CMOs told us they exert a strong influence over promotional activities such as advertising, external communications and social media initiatives.
But, in general, they play a smaller role in shaping the other three Ps.
Less than half of all respondents have much sway over key parts of the pricing process, for example.
Similarly, less than half have much impact on product development cycles or channel selection.
Apparently many companies have, in fact, concluded that marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.
Bummer.
IBM study indicates CMOs are old school … but trying to catch-up
October 20, 2011Punch line: This IBM study outlines top concerns from global CMOs and highlights how CMOs fail to analyze and capitalize on digital channels …
* * * * *
Excerpted from “IBM Study Shows CMOs Fail To Monitor Digital Channels”
“From Stretched to Strengthened,” IBM’s latest Global Chief Marketing Officer Study, interviewed 1,734 CMOs from 19 industries and 64 countries. Topline findings converge on three points:
- The empowered customer is now in control of the business relationship
- Delivering customer value is paramount — and an organization’s behavior is as important as the products and services it provides
- The pressure to be accountable to the business is not just a symptom of hard times, but a permanent shift that requires new approaches, tools and skills.
While 82% of marketing chiefs rely on traditional market research — which delivers information about consumers in the aggregate — comparatively few “are exploiting the full power of the digital grapevine,” with only 26% regularly tracking blogs, 42% tracking third-party reviews and only 48% tracking consumer reviews.
Four major priorities concern CMOs:
- Data explosion
- Social media
- Proliferation of channels and devices
- Shifting consumer demographics.
… IBM warns that a majority of CMOs are missing the personal touch, by paying more attention to markets than individuals and “peddling, not partnering,” and favoring data over relationships.
The researchers offer three key areas for improvement:
- understand and deliver value to empowered customers;
- create lasting relationships with those customers;
- measure marketing’s contribution to the business in relevant, quantifiable terms.
While more than half of the interviewees are confident their organization’s corporate character is understood in the marketplace, just 20% believe their employees are fully on board, and 75% believe marketing should oversee brand reputation inside and outside the enterprise.
Conclusions on how to “Get fit for the future” include:
- Create value for customers as individuals
- Reprioritize investments to analyze digital channels to access customers’ views and use advanced analytics to recognize preferences and trends across every touch point
- Work with IT to assess potential data and infrastructure exposures, employ tools to secure customer data and update privacy policies to address customers’ concerns
- Capitalize on new digital channels to stimulate customer conversations and new relationships; use tangible incentives to attract followers.
“Marketing people will need unique skills in the near future. They’ll need to be capable of integrating marketing and IT – like footballers who can kick with both feet,” concludes Jeroen de Punder, CMO of Ricoh Netherlands.
Edit by KJM.
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