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Filed Under: Branding Yourself Online, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Marketing Conferences & Events, Spotlight On

DMA2014 Has A Magic Opening

DMA2014 needed a spark to ignite some passion into attendees at the annual conference held this week (Oct. 27-29th) at the San Diego Convention Center. DMA got that and more from keynote speaker Earvin “Magic” Johnson, 5- time NBA champion, NCAA champion, and successful business entrepreneur.

Magic lit up the crowd, much as he did years earlier playing for the LA Lakers at the Forum, with his big smile and warm, winning personality. And Magic’s message went far beyond his sports career and basketball successes. Many were surprised to learn Magic Johnson Enterprises has partnered with over 20 corporations, including Allstate, Delta, Disney, Sony Theaters, Starbucks, and Toyota…building successful businesses serving Urban American consumers.

Magic shared his winning marketing strategies of targeting urban consumers, knowing their needs, tailoring his product/service/message, and then over-delivering every day. “I love to over-deliver” was a strong message Magic shared while taking countless pictures and selfies with the engaged crowd of DMA2014 attendees. Magic also shared the value of persistence…never taking “no” for an answer…and believing in yourself (and your product/service) no matter what others say. After he was turned down five times in his attempts to raise institutional capital to expand his urban-targeted small businesses, Magic finally received his first institutional fund of $50M…and he has subsequently raised funds of $300M, $600M and most recently $1B.

The DMA2014 theme is Don’t Market Alone and Magic emphasized the importance and power of building successful partnerships…by understanding your partner’s vision, mission and core values. One example Magic shared was his unique partnership with Howard Schultz and Starbucks…where he was the first outsider to build, own and operate 175 Starbucks units in urban neighborhoods…which he later sold back to Shultz at a significant profit. In addition to switching scones for sweet potato pies, Magic spoke about treating customers special, knowing their names and favorites drinks…so loyalty remained high during times of economic recession.

Magic spoke about the value of mentors. When he left the LA Lakers he called 20 CEOs who met with him and gave him advice as he started his business pursuits. Magic ended his keynote address by challenging each attendee to perform 2 SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats) analyses each year…..then working hard to improve yourself and your business based upon these insights. Magic stressed the importance of paying attention to your competition. He spoke about his relationship with Larry Bird…..and how Larry drove Magic to become better. “I knew Larry was in the gym 3 hours every day so I knew I had to work hard to beat him.” Magic still gets up at 4:00am daily, hits the gym for 2 hours, and his mantra is “nobody outworks me.”

Magic Johnson was the spark DMA2014 needed to kick itself off in high gear…and everyone left the opening session buzzing.  JoAnne Monfradi Dunn, DMA Chair, even sold Magic a DMA membership backstage just prior to the opening session, so business had begun happening even before the opening bell.

You can learn more about conference highlights by visiting DMA2014.

You can also reach out to me directly (jgunderen@executiveconnectionsllc.com) or check my BLOG postings (@JeffGundersen) for additional highlights from DMA2014.

Filed Under: Announcements, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Marketing Conferences & Events, Personal Branding

Marketing EDGE Holds Successful 2014 Annual Awards Dinner

As a Board Trustee, I was proud to attend the MarketingEDGE (www.marketingEDGE.org) 2014 Annual Awards Dinner held Oct. 25 at the US Grant Hotel in San Diego.

The mission of this non-profit organization is to Educate, Develop, Grow and Employ college students in the field of marketing…and as MarketingEDGE approaches its 50th year anniversary (in 2016)…support could not be higher from its three constituents…students, educators, and employers.

This year’s annual dinner raised over $600,000 to support EDGE’s ongoing student programs including scholarships, one-day student forums, one-week data-analytics and digital bootcamps, summer internships, and job placements.

This year’s Corporate honoree was Google, which underscores the transition of marketing to “all things digital.” Google has become a major corporate sponsor of MarketingEDGE and will be hosting both data-analytics and digital bootcamps on their campus headquarters in 2015. Google also utilizes custom data-driven and digital educational programs developed in partnership with U. Chicago, an EDGE participating university and DMA educational partner.

Michael Becker, Founder of mCordis, a mobile training company, was the Individual honoree, underscoring the rapid development of mobile advertising, marketing, and m-commerce as the fastest-growing part of the marketing eco-system.

Accenture Digital, another EDGE sponsor, released their 2014 Global CMO Survey just prior to the dinner which revealed the majority of CMOs believe digital marketing in all forms will exceed 75% of total marketing spend within 5 years…with mobile exceeding 50% as part of this rapid digital media transformation. This underscores research we have seen from several sources confirming mobile devices (especially tablets) are the new “first screen” for consumers who are increasingly shopping and researching online.

As a follow-up to the Annual Awards dinner, MarketingEDGE held a Student Forum on Monday, Oct. 27 at the San Diego Convention Center, in partnership with The Direct Marketing Association (“DMA”). This event included 100+ students who also received free passes to attend the 2014 DMA Annual conference.

One of the themes highlighted for students and corporate attendees is the widening skill gap developing in the rapidly changing marketing environment. According to a recent McKinsey study, by 2018 there will be approximately 140,000-190,000 unfilled positions for data analytics experts in the U.S. alone. This emphasizes the need for more math, economics, and engineering majors to enter the marketing field including receiving new relevant courses in data analytics, digital marketing and media as part of revised college curricula.

MarketingEDGE is partnering with over 175 colleges and universities nationwide (i.e., including U. Chicago, MIT, NYU, Northwestern and Wharton) to develop next-generation curricula in data-driven and digital marketing. Also, as part of the weekend’s events, EDGE hosted a professors’ Research Summit, where attending professors presented recent papers on data-driven and digital marketing.

MarketingEDGE is the connector between students, educators and employers…helping students by providing real-world experiences during junior and senior years, helping educators stay current by providing educational materials and forums to share research and trends, and helping employers find the motivated and highly-qualified (and increasingly technical) entry-level marketing talent.

Are you involved with MarketingEDGE?

There are several ways to engage…please visit www.MarketingEDGE.org to find out how you can participate in one of the 2015 programs and obtain the EDGE your company needs to remain competitive in the rapidly shifting marketing eco-system.

You can also reach out directly to me (jgundersen@executiveconnectionsllc.com) for additional information.

Filed Under: Ask Our Coach, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing

What Does It Take To Be A Winning CMO?

It has been well-publicized that CMO tenure is one of the shortest life spans among C-level executives. With the rate of change accelerating, and many categories reaching a mature, slower growth stage, how do CMOs transition from “survive to thrive” mode. Here are some key insights to consider.

Listening to CMOs recently during Advertising Week NYC XI, it became clear the issues keeping CMOs up at night include (1) keeping up with the pace of (consumers) changing behaviors; (2) the rapid transition of marketing to digital and mobile channels; (3) required investments in new marketing technologies; (4) delivering exceptional customer experience in an omni-channel world; and (5) finding the new (organization) talent required…the needs are significant and expensive.

Dana Anderson, new CMO at Mondelez, stated these are the “new marketing basics”…requiring transparency, openness to collaboration internally, and listening to everyone’s POV to develop and deliver integrated solutions. Brian Jones, CMO at Dell, added “it’s about the right organization structure…and the skills required are changing…including consideration of “build vs. buy” options, and also a realignment of the right agencies/partners. Lisa Cochrane, SVP Marketing at Allstate, added “change is happening faster so it’s essential to be nimble to stay on top of priorities including improving customer experience, launching new products and acquiring new marketing technologies.”

Each CMO indicated their company presently spends between 25-30% of their marketing budgets in digital…and all expect this to grow to more than 50% within 5 years. Accenture Digital just published their 2014 global CMO survey of over 550 senior marketers in 11 countries and spanning 10 industries…and 37% of participants projected digital would represent 75%+ and mobile 50%+ of marketing budgets within 5 years. So this underscores the rapid pace of change and certainly confirms digital marketing will become the dominant channel shortly.

So how do you become a “winning CMO” in the face of these rapid digital changes?

Here are 5 key steps according to Accenture Digital:

  1. Lead and transform the marketing role as a digital perspective transforms the enterprise.
  2. Embrace the full omni-channel customer experience.
  3. Integrate channels with real-time analytics and then act on the insights.
  4. Invest in agile technologies and cloud-based services.
  5. Re-orient the marketing operating model and integrate new talent to harness digital innovation.

Each of these 5 steps are challenging and require significant changes both within the marketing organization as well as collaboration on an enterprise-wide level. We are certainly hearing this from our CMO clients as they reshape their organizations to a digital- and mobile-first mindset, increase investments in analytics, new technologies, and new people in order to provide leadership in transforming omni-channel customer experience. Digital domain expertise is essential, however, it is becoming the “price of entry.” In all our assignments, our clients are asking for digital strategy, customer experience, and marketing talent with the leadership skills to collaborate and drive change on an enterprise-wide level influencing LOB teams as well as corporate staff functional areas.

This reminds me of previous studies we have seen, and reported upon, where the differentiator between successful and unsuccessful leaders was the ability to implement change successfully across large, matrix organizations. Strategic skills are only the starting point…60-70% of the success (or failure) of marketing programs rests in the execution. That’s why we look for tangible examples of specific measurable results produced by executives in previous assignments.

Are you a winning CMO? What areas do you need to embrace more proactively in order to lead marketing transformation most powerfully?   

Filed Under: Announcements, Ask Our Coach, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, LinkedIn, Personal Branding, Recommended Articles

Can Business Learn From Sports?

When the aging San Antonio Spurs basketball team recently defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat (reigning NBA champions), Greg Popovich (Spurs Coach) and R.C. Buford (Spurs GM) were lauded for their innovative practices in recruiting “role players” and building a “team first”, “non-star” philosophy, which enables them to conserve the energy of their aging veteran players and thoroughly outplay the Miami Heat in a one-sided NBA Finals.

Well, the Spurs have not been resting on their laurels since winning the NBA championship. In another innovative recruiting move, they recently signed Becky Hammon, a soon-to-be retiring WNBA star, as an assistant coach.

What a great example of gender diversity in the selection of Hammon to her new post.

Please read the attached CNN article which includes comments from Popovich, Buford, Hammon, and some of the players. It’s clear the Spurs considered Hammon’s basketball skills, work ethic, and interpersonal skills…and did not let gender influence their decision. It also fits the Spurs’ philosophy that Hammon was un-drafted by the WNBA in ’99 and went on to become one of the top 15 all-time players. Hammon has a history of over-delivering and exceeding the expectations of others.

This is a great step for the San Antonio Spurs, an innovation the NBA can build upon, and it sets a great example for businesses in every sector.

Read complete article…San Antonio Spurs hire Becky Hammon as assistant coach

Filed Under: Announcements, Connections E-Zine, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Marketing Conferences & Events, New Executive Search, Recommended Articles

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 71

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  Who Is Really Capitalizing on Big Data?
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog –  Highlights from MMA CEO/CMO Summit – July 14-15, 2014 – Hilton Head, SC
  • Special Announcement:
    • Harmony Outdoor Brands LLC – CEO, Jim Doyle
  • Career Opportunities:
    • Chief Lending Officer
    • VP, Digital Marketing – Global Financial Services
  • Article:
    • Data-Driven Marketing Is The New Imperative – by Lorraine Barber-Miller

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

Who Is Really Capitalizing on Big Data?

We had an abundance of replies to June’s article and we were offered a speaking engagement, so we decided to take this month and create a follow-on to the article in last month’s ezine,  “Where is Big Data Heading?“

So much is being written about Big Data, the Cloud, and the need for top global advertisers to create a Chief Data Officer position to create new business, services and revenue/profit opportunities, and this is done by making data a key strategic business priority.

Making Data a Key Strategic Priority

If this is not on your agenda presently, it will swiftly become an even hotter C-suite agenda topic given this week’s Apple and IBM news. The announcement to form a joint venture to develop 100 new apps for iPhone and Tablet users leveraging IBM’s enterprise data analytics capabilities…brings big data into more actionable decision making by business leaders.

How many of the top 100 global advertisers/marketers are ready for this move?

Still, how many companies are ready to move forward with an enterprise-wide big data initiative? Where are you in the process?

We think Thomas C. Redman hit it straight on in his HBR Blog when he said, “A company only needs a Chief Data Officer when it’s ready to fully consider how it wishes to compete with data over the long term and start to build the organizational capabilities to do so. You need to charge the CDO with fully exploring what it means to compete with data. To gain some real end-to-end experience – perhaps make a concerted effort to try out advanced analytics in the hiring process, improve content in financial reporting, bring more data to decisions made by the senior team, and improve the quality of data used in marketing.”

Only approx. 25% of Fortune 100 companies have established a CDO role.

Following the recent MIT Chief Data Officer Forum, Randy Bean, CEO of consultancy NewVantage Partners, wrote the summary article entitled “Chief Data Officers Blaze Uncharted Corporate Frontier.” In this article, Professor Yang Lee of Northeastern indicates, “The roles of CDOs are diverse and evolving. Traditional data practices were led by middle managers lacking executive collaboration. The emerging CDO practices are executive-led, accountable, and sustainable.” However, this is only a trend emerging in the past 3-4 years, and only approx. 25% of Fortune 100 companies have established a CDO role at the executive level.

Cutting across the entire business and IT ecosystem

Derek Strauss, CDO at TD Ameritrade, says he “has peer relationships” with the CIO, CTO, Head of Applications Development, as well as various business functions and operating units. This enables him to implement an enterprise  data and analytics program that cuts across the entire business and IT ecosystem.

Venkat Varadachary, CDO at American Express, echoed Strauss’ observations. “The CDO at American Express provides leadership and governance across the organization to continually nurture, enhance, and fully leverage our data assets in order to drive value for our customers. This role reports to the Chief Risk Officer and also has accountability to a broader set of senior leaders in the company.”

Data is an Enterprise Asset

As Randy Bean reports, terms used by CDOs to characterize their roles include “ambassador,” “reporter,” “experimenter,” and “coordinator.” The complexity of the CDO role is underscored by the recognition that data is an enterprise asset that crosses all lines of business and corporate functions. These terms underscore CDOs as “evangelists” helping business heads to think and approach data in fundamentally new ways. “I sometimes say CDO stands for Chief Diplomacy Officer,” says Jennifer Ippolitti, CDO for Raymond James Financial. “The CDO functions as a conduit among business, technology, and operations to ensure that the solutions we build are aligned with business strategies.”

The evolution and early stage of the CDO role are underscored by preliminary data gathered by Professor Lee which shows – 65% of CDO positions have only been established within the past 3 years; 64% of CDOs report to a business executive – CEO, COO, CRO or CMO; 36% of CDOs report to a technology executive – CIO or CTO.

“Democratization of Big Data involves ensuring transparency and access to data, but also a cultural transformation for our people to embed data in their daily thinking,” said Venkat Varadachary from American Express. And this is from a leading credit card organization with a rich history of database management, huge credit and purchase information on customers, and a heritage of direct and database marketing as part of their corporate culture.

What about consumer banks and other financial services organizations which are not already as committed to using data as a primary business asset? Who will bear the cost and be the executive sponsor for these initiatives and the corresponding investments?

Key challenges include:

  1. System limitations – Most large companies are still burdened by cumbersome, legacy information systems which are not integrated and do not speak to each other…sorting this out is a major technological challenge for any Chief Data Officer and it takes the ability to operate at the highest levels of the corporate ecosystem to define opportunities and changes.
  2. Organizational Boundaries – For the most part, each division of large companies operate independently, and corralling them to comply with an enterprise-wide Big Data initiative will be very challenging. Most divisional CEOs will resist making the investment unless this is mandated by the corporate CEO. That is why 65% of CDO positions report to a C-suite executive.
  3. Financial/Capital Investment – Who bears the cost of changing technology systems and priorities and building the new technology platforms for leveraging Big Data on a real-time basis? Most operating companies within a large holding company structure will not share in this investment since it adversely impacts the bottom line in the short-term. It is clear the mandate and executive sponsorship has to come from the CEO and financial resources need to be mandated by the CEO/CFO at the corporate level.

The MIT CDO Forum called the CDO a pioneer position. “Charting the uncharted corporate frontier, CDOs are 21st century ‘pathfinders’ forging the information and enterprise data frontier. Westward ho!”

Bottom Line: Clearly, with customers in control, it’s increasingly imperative for Fortune 100 companies to utilize data in increasingly smarter ways to offer exceptional customer engagement and experience at every touch point.

Where is your company on the uncharted corporate frontier? Have you created a CDO position or are you still considering this initiative?

We want to know
As always, we value and appreciate you feedback!   Connect with us — we want to hear your experiences and opinions.

Lola and Jeff

BLOG Roundup: Did you catch our recent blog posts?

Highlights from MMA CEO/CMO Summit – July 14-15, 2014 – Hilton Head, SC

Lola and I attended the 2014 MMA CEO/CMO Summit this week in Hilton Head, SC which included a keynote address by John Costello, President – Marketing & Innovation, Dunkin’ Brands. John is also Global Chairman of MMA and his perspective  included “We are seeing what will be the most profound change in marketing and e-commerce through mobile.” This is why approx. 150-200 people attended including senior marketers from American Express, Campbell’s, Chase, Coca-Cola, Cosi, GM, Heineken, Hilton, P&G, Perry Ellis, Reckitt Bensicker, and Sears.

Jeff Hasen was one of 60-70 CMOs in attendance and his conference highlights are below.

Read more…

Special Announcement

Harmony Outdoor Brands LLC – CEO, Jim Doyle

Executive Connections LLC is now pleased to announce Jim Doyle has joined Harmony Outdoor Brands LLC as CEO effective June 30, 2014.

Prior to accepting this new CEO role, Jim was Chief Marketing Officer & GM, Garden at Central Garden & Pet where he led the transformation of the $800M+ Garden business with P&L responsibility. Central is the second largest Lawn & Garden business and Jim consolidated 10+ acquisitions moving from a siloed Sales & Operations approach to a centralized, integrated, consumer-centric CPG model.

Prior to Central, Jim was SVP, Marketing & GM at Evercare and earlier he was VP/GM of Remington Products which was sold successfully to Spectrum Brands. As part of the sale to Spectrum, Jim relocated the business successfully from Bridgeport, CT to Madison, WI rebuilding the organization in the process.

Jeff Gundersen and Lola White of Executive Connections LLC led this exclusive retained search for Harmony Outdoor Brands LLC. EC will continue to provide support to Jim Doyle in his transition into the Harmony CEO role by providing Jim our unique, Blended Solutions approach for one year of confidential career transition support.

Career Opportunities

Chief Lending Officer
VP, Digital Marketing – Global Financial Services

Learn more…

Guest Author

Data-Driven Marketing Is The New Imperative — by Lorraine Barber-Miller

Marketers have always had the mission for building brands, creating demand, advancing sales and helping their companies earn customers’ loyalty. In the past decade, how marketers engage customers and what they do to drive advocacy has changed almost beyond recognition. Strategies based on intuition and engagement techniques that were once cutting-edge are fast becoming obsolete, with new methods emerging every day.

Read Complete Article…  Data-Driven Marketing Is The New Imperative

LBM Headshot for E-zine

About the Author:  Lorraine Barber-Miller is an accomplished international sales, marketing and communications leader.  Passionate about the customer experience, advancing the art and science of marketing, and establishing new businesses in global growth markets, Lorraine spans the globe evangelizing on modern marketing practices. (See Lorraine’s complete bio at end of article.)

 

Filed Under: Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Marketing Conferences & Events, Recommended Articles

Highlights from MMA CEO/CMO Summit – July 2014

Lola White and I attended the 2014 MMA CEO/CMO Summit this week in Hilton Head, SC which included a keynote address by John Costello, President – Marketing & Innovation, Dunkin’ Brands. John is also Global Chairman of MMA and his perspective  included “We are seeing what will be the most profound change in marketing and e-commerce through mobile.” This is why approx. 150-200 people attended including senior marketers from American Express, Campbell’s, Chase, Coca-Cola, Cosi, GM, Heineken, Hilton, P&G, Perry Ellis, Reckitt Bensicker, and Sears.

Jeff Hasen was one of 60-70 CMOs in attendance and his conference highlights are below.

Key Highlights by Jeff Hasen – Mobile Marketing Strategist in Seattle, WA

Jeff Hasen
Jeff Hasen

Predictably, the topics of privacy, personalization and ROI led the discussion at the recent CEO/CMO Summit staged by the Mobile Marketing Association. What was new was talk of the use of technology that gets marketers too close to mobile users.

xAd showed how a toothpaste brand can serve up an ad to someone that it knows is at the dentist’s office. There was significant pushback during the presentation and afterward with several noting that a dentist’s visit is off limits for brands even if the technology is there to reach out to a mobile user before, during, or after a deep clean or root canal.

The MMA opened the conference by teasing the notion that a 16 percent share of the marketing spend for mobile could bring companies such as Coca-Cola an additional $1 billion in market cap. Most brands spend in the single digits and have yet to be convinced that more is justified.

Still, we learned lots from major brand marketers.

For instance, addressing questions about the ROI on mobile, Andrew Flack, Hilton Worldwide’s vice president for product marketing and customer insights, said that just as Hilton knew when it was time to put TVs and air conditioning in rooms, it knows that “now is the time for mobile.”

Mr. Flack’s advice?

“Be prepared to not be perfect,” he said. “In a year, three or four things will work. One will be OK. One will be a learning.”

 

Filed Under: Ask Our Coach, Digital Proficiency, Executive Talent, Personal Branding, Spotlight On

Meet The 2014 Marketing EDGE Rising Stars

As an executive search and consulting firm positioned at the cutting-edge of marketing transformation and development, we continuously stay connected to the “next generation” marketing leaders who are changing the landscape of “best practices” in customer acquisition, engagement, retention, and loyalty/advocacy. One of our favorite events to find this talent is at the annual Marketing EDGE “Rising Stars Awards Dinner” which happened  Tuesday night  June 3rd in NYC.

Not surprisingly, this year’s best and brightest under 40YO come from backgrounds focused on new technologies, international/global markets, content strategies, social networks/business, and data analytics. We are pleased to offer a summary of the 2014 award recipients:

  • Yvette Lui is Director, Global Data & Audience Partnerships at Facebook; prior to her current role, Yvette led N.A. mid-market Sales at Facebook, and earlier she spent six years at Google leading agency development and strategic partnerships for social media advertising sales. Yvette continues to mentor students at U. California Berkley where she earned her undergraduate degree.
  • Dimitri Maex is President, OgilvyOne – New York; a forward-thinking innovator, he joined Ogilvy leading the global data & analytics practice. With data being so important, it’s not surprising to see a former head of analytics rise to President – NY; Dimitri’s recent book, Sexy Little Numbers, has received widespread coverage in business and trade publications. Dimitri has a global, Eastern European cultural background, which is important given the growing emphasis of global clients on Growth Markets. Dimitri also leads several of Ogilvy’s mentoring and leadership development programs.
  • Guillermo Novillo is Head of Global Acquisition Marketing for Bing Ads at Microsoft; he has launched successful acquisition programs in over 30 global markets. Previously, Guillermo worked in marketing at Apple and earlier he founded a direct marketing agency and grew it to over 250 people. Guillermo has been a part-time marketing lecturer and teaching assistant at Espiritu Santo U. in Ecuador and U. Washington where he earned his MBA degree.
  • Carrie Parker is VP, Content Innovation at American Express Open Forum, an award-winning social business website dedicated to small business success. Carrie has excelled in several digital marketing roles and was a finalist for Amex’s Chairman’s Award. Previously, Carrie led consulting engagements for Yankelovich (Futures Company) on consumer trends and database insights; there she led “YourBuzz” a social media mentoring tool. Carrie is a frequent guest speaker at Columbia Business School, her alma mater.
  • Emily Riley is COO at Ghostery, driving the company’s marketing and database operations. Previously, she was VP, Product Marketing at Audience Science an industry-leading data management and media buying platform; earlier Emily was the most acclaimed Digital Analyst and VP, Research Director at Forrester. Emily earned her undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins and she has been active in Marketing EDGE since her days at Forrester.
  • Alex Wasserman of CEO & Co-founder of TapFwd, where he is leading the development of the next generation of mobile ad technology. Alex is bringing big data to small phones enabling next generation targeting and real-time campaign optimization for mobile marketers. Previously, Alex was VP, Product & Marketing at Rapleaf (acquired by TowerData). Alex volunteers his time at several non-profits aimed at fostering entrepreneurship. Alex has also been an active mentor at Emory U. and Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern.

This is an exceptionally talented group of “Rising Stars” and you can see the impacts of Facebook and Google, leading data analytics and digital consultancies, technology, and emerging mobile marketing companies as key aspects of the professional backgrounds of next generation leaders.

We offer each of them our congratulations on their well-earned recognition as Rising Stars and can’t wait to see where their next career choices lead them.

Ask yourself, what parts of these profiles have I incorporated into my personal brand and which aspects are learning agendas for me?

 

Filed Under: Ask Our Coach, Connections E-Zine, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, New Executive Search, Recommended Articles

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 69

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  The Age of the Customer – Where Are Digital and Data Heading?
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog:  Who’s Hot In Digital?
  • Career Opportunities:
    • President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands
    •  Head of Global Corporate Communications
    • Global Marketing Technology Strategist
    • Global Head of Digital Marketing
    • Global Head of Branding & Communications
  • Event Highlight:
    • 2014 Rising Star Awards Dinner
  • Article:
    • “AARP’s Life Reimagined and Kaplan Launch LearningAdvisor to Help Millions of Americans Explore Learning Opportunities to Launch Encore Careers”

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

The Age of the Customer – Where Are Digital and Data Heading?

Where are Digital And Data Heading?
On the heels of the MMA conference last week in NYC, and Integrated Marketing Week coming up next week, we felt we should weigh in on this timely topic.

Since these are broad topics…this month we will focus on “Where is Digital Heading?” and next month we will devote a column to “Where is (Big) Data Heading?”

Digital advertising and media (including mobile) is the fastest growing segment and will surpass broadcast spending by 2018, according to a recent Price Waterhouse Coopers study. It’s clear Digital is heading to the top of the class…and the top of the advertising food chain; and accordingly, 25% of the top 100 global advertisers will have a Chief Digital Officer by 2014, as indicated by Forrester.

Who is hiring CDOs?
According to Forrester, “we have entered the ‘age of the customer’ in which the most successful enterprises will reinvent themselves to systematically understand and serve increasingly powerful customers.” This impacts B2B as well as B2C businesses.  The top three categories hiring CDOs are advertising agencies, publishers, and broadcasters, with the biggest growth seen in non-profits and state/local governments, according to the Chief Digital Officers Club.

Where should CDOs report?
Many of our clients are asking us where CDOs should report? The answer is…it depends. If their company is growing and expanding the brand which is transforming because of digital into new areas…then the CDO typically reports to the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer). This is the case in 60% of CDO hires, and is trending this way as digital marketing spending is forecasted to exceed 50% by 2016. If you play this out even further over the long run, the CMO and CDO positions in these firms will be consolidated. In a second scenario, if companies are seeing technology changing their operational structure, then the CDO typically reports to the CIO, COO or another C-level executive. From our experience to-date, healthcare, insurance and CPG tend to have CDOs reporting into the CMO (examples Abbott, Wellpoint, AIG, Travelers, Nestle, Mercer/MMC). In retail, telco, banking, travel/hospitality, CDOs report to a very senior C-level exec…CIO/COO (examples AT&T, Citibank, Ralph Lauren, Time Inc.).

Where to find the Best CDOs?
We also constantly get the question “where are the best CDOs found?” Top CDOs are coming from consulting firms, digital agencies, broadcast, and digital start-ups. For example: JPM Chase (Accenture), Time Inc. (IAB), Starbucks (Corbis/Play Network), Ralph Lauren (Ticketmaster/IAC) and Weather Channel (Search3.com).

The CDO profile is a strategic, big picture thinker; committed, results-driven; entrepreneurial, innovative; and relationship builder (inside & out). Critical skills include the ability to drive culture change across the enterprise; evangelizing, helping people see the big opportunity; effective change leader who is disruptive without destroying the base values.

We recently completed a Global Head of Social Media search for one of our clients and we are about to close a search by placing a CDO at another global client.  Please connect with us if you want to become part of the growing list of top advertisers who are gearing up to modernize marketing where CDOs are a vital component.

We want to know
As always, we value and appreciate you input.  Connect with us — we want to hear your experiences and opinions.

Lola and Jeff

BLOG Roundup: Did you catch our recent posts on our blog?

Who’s Hot In Digital?

One of the hottest, fastest-growing areas of Digital Marketing is Social Media…and the top 10 global advertisers are all investing in SM brand-building and business-building initiatives. There is a growing demand for leaders in Social Media which is morphing into a bigger platform…Social Business. Finding stellar talent in this area is challenging since Social Media is only 5-6 years old and there are not many senior-level marketers with experience driving significant change in this new field.

Robert HarlesOne of the hottest, most successful Social Media/Social Business leaders is Robert (“Rob”) Harles, the new Global Head of Social Media at AccentureDigital. Prior to joining Accenture, Rob was Global Head of Social Media at Bloomberg LP, where he influenced Bloomberg’s global viewpoint and strategy related to this new emerging marketing and media channel. For a company as conservative and private as Bloomberg to embrace Social Media/Social Business, and open up to its use and possibilities, speaks volumes for Rob’s vision and leadership abilities.        Read more…

Career Opportunities

President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands
Head of Global Corporate Communications
Global Marketing Technology Strategist
Global Head of Digital Marketing
Global Head of Branding & Communications

Learn more…

Event Highlight

Bring a Mentee…They Could be the Next Generation of Rising Stars

Please join us at this year’s 2014 Rising Stars Awards Dinner sponsored by MarketingEDGE to be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 583 Park Avenue, New York City.  As a Board Trustee member of MarketingEDGE, Jeff Gundersen will be attending this event.

Article

Emilio Pardo, Chief Branding Officer, has helped AARP reimagine its brand, so its fitting he was selected as President, Life Reimagined to empower AARP’s members in their career transitions at 50+. Rock on, Emilio!”

 “AARP’s Life Reimagined and Kaplan Launch LearningAdvisor to Help Millions of Americans Explore Learning Opportunities to Launch Encore Careers”

Kaplan named founding learning partner of AARP’s Life Reimagined

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AARP’s Life Reimagined has teamed up with Kaplan to create an important new online resource to help Americans find learning opportunities to enhance their current skills, realize their career aspirations, support life changes such as encore or second careers and build a better, more meaningful life.

Today, as part of the partnership, the two organizations unveiled LearningAdvisor, a suite of online resources and learning opportunities designed to help users address continuous learning issues that many Americans are facing as they explore and discover encore careers. The announcement was made at AARP’s Life@50+ National Event & Expo in Boston.

“Americans are living longer and juggling more competing responsibilities than ever before. That reality is especially true for trailing-edge Baby Boomers and members of Generation X approaching 50 who are often caring for their own parents as well as their own children while trying to manage, plan for and enjoy their careers and lives on their own terms,” said Emilio Pardo, AARP Executive Vice President and President of Life Reimagined. “At the same time, they’re also excited by ‘what’s next’ and see lifelong learning and ongoing education as being incredibly important and powerful as they reimagine their lives.”

Read more…

Filed Under: Connections E-Zine, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Marketing Conferences & Events, New Executive Search, Personal Branding

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 68

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  CMOs Shifting to Revenue Centers and Sales Generators
  • NEW Executive Search:
    • President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands
  • Event Highlight:  2014 Rising Star Awards Dinner
  • Career Opportunities:
    • President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands – NEW
    •  Head of Global Corporate Communications – NEW
    • Global Marketing Technology Strategist
    • Global Head of Digital Marketing
    • Global Head of Branding & Communications

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

CMOs Shifting to Revenue Centers and Sales Generators

Fueled by the rapid shift to all things digital, the role of CMOs is rapidly shifting from a cost center mentality (i.e., spending corporate marketing budgets to build the corporate brand image through brand advertising and sponsorships) to a revenue center mindset focused on lead generation and closing sales in each of the company’s lines of business and distribution channels (online and offline).

lynnvojvodichheadshotcropIn a recent study produced by Salesforce Exact Target Marketing Cloud and Deloitte Research, Lynn Vojvodich (Salesforce CMO) reported half of CMOs today feel responsible for revenue growth. “When a customer comes through a device or store, they want one consistent brand experience with you. As marketers, we need to be the stewards of customer journey and the new CMO is about owning customer experience,” commented Vojvodich.

Ms. Vojvodich spoke at the recent AdAge Digital conference and noted that 25% of CMOs surveyed had an increasing role in customer service within their organizations. This report also noted the top 3 internal marketing priorities of CMOs included data acquisition, testing and optimization, and flexible and agile marketing processes. Overall, the top 5 expanding expectations of CMOs include top line growth, owning customer experience, data analytics/insights, operating in real-time, and metrics to prove marketing ROI.

This Deloitte-Salesforce study clearly underscores the modern age CMO needs to be well-grounded in multi-channel customer acquisition, customer engagement and experience, retention/loyalty, and other aspects of CRM. With the majority of marketing and commerce moving toward mobile and digital channels, the modern age CMO must be digitally savvy, have strong direct marketing skills, and be comfortable leading technology and data analytics teams, in addition to traditional branding and communications functions.

MBottomley photoMichelle Bottomley, Sr. Partner & Global Chief Marketing & Sales Officer at Mercer, is the embodiment of this new trend toward revenue building CMOs. Historically, B2B “sales cultures” in professional services firms like Mercer used Marketing only for tactical sales support. Michelle is transforming Marketing at Mercer and within the first 30 days onboard she was given the additional responsibility for Sales. Clearly, Mercer’s CEO Julio Portalatin sees her as a revenue driver.

The end-to-end responsibility for customer experience is indeed broadening the role and span of influence of CMOs. Are you prepared to handle this broader scope including being a revenue generator in your role as CMO? You need to become this if you are not there today…this is the way of the future of modern age marketing.

As always, we invite your views and comments.

Lola and Jeff

New Executive Search

President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands

Executive Connections, LLC is happy to announce we have been awarded the exclusive assignment to recruit a President for a new start-up in Sarasota, Florida.

The new Retail – Outdoor Lifestyle Brands company is the brain child of a well-established and highly successful private (family-owned) company who is the nationwide leader and supplier of sod and turf grass products (including partnerships with Home Depot and Lowe’s).

We would appreciate if you could refer potential candidates or sources for this exciting start-up career opportunity. Here is the link for the President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands  job specification.

This ideal leader will be an entrepreneurial President or General Manager who has successfully built an Outdoor Lifestyle business supplying major retailers (i.e., similar to Home Depot and Lowe’s) and expanded the business by adding new product lines and brand extensions.

Please e-mail Jeff Gundersen with your availability for a call in the next week to discuss this exciting career opportunity and provide us your input.

Event Highlight

Please join us at this year’s 2014 Rising Stars Awards Dinner sponsored by MarketingEDGE to be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 583 Park Avenue, New York City.  As a Board Trustee member of MarketingEDGE, Jeff Gundersen will be attending this event.

Career Opportunities

President, Retail-Outdoor Lifestyle Brands – NEW
Head of Global Corporate Communications – NEW
Global Marketing Technology Strategist
Global Head of Digital Marketing
Global Head of Branding & Communications

Learn more.

Filed Under: Connections E-Zine, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Marketing Conferences & Events, New Executive Search, Personal Branding

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 67

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  MMA Needs to Create a Mobile Talent Task Force
  • Career Opportunities:
    • Head of Marketing – AMEA
    • Global Marketing Technology Strategist
    • Global Head of Digital Marketing
    • Global Head of Branding & Communications
    • Managing Director, Social Media
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog – Mobile Marketing Talent Gap is Growing

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

MMA Needs to Create a Mobile Talent Task Force

Introduction
Executive Connections LLC became a member of The Mobile Marketing Association (“MMA) in 2013 since we are concerned about a widening “talent gap” in marketers hiring and developing the full-time marketing and m-commerce resources to keep up with consumers rapid adoption of mobile technologies.  We are utilizing this month’s column to publish our views on the need for MMA to launch a Mobile Talent Task Force. As interested members of MMA, EC has offered to play a leadership role in organizing and developing this important MMA task force.

Background
Marketers know that consumers’ attention is increasingly being drawn to their mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.), but most marketers are still in the early stages of mobile marketing strategy development — and as a result, they are falling behind in evolving beyond basic mobile marketing campaigns to building the dedicated mobile marketing organizations and recruiting/developing the mobile talent required for sustained future mobile marketing and m-commerce growth and success.

The Mobile Marketing Association (“MMA”) needs to create a Mobile Talent Task Force to further the conversation (including all constituencies – marketers, media companies, agencies, mobile technology providers, non-profits, educators) regarding the current and future mobile talent needs (and gaps) and to develop future industry standards and “best practices” related to education, hiring, training and development, and recognition of the mobile marketing and m-commerce talent needed for enterprises to sustain success in this new, connected mobile marketing age.

Current Industry Landscape – Mobile Talent Needs Gap Is Widening

  • Consumer mobile adoption is outpacing mobile marketing talent investments.
  • Consumers are rapidly flocking to sophisticated mobile devices and behaviors.
  • Marketers are slowly evolving to support wider mobile programs, however, the vast majority (80%+) do not yet have a mobile marketing strategy so efforts are predominantly standalone.
  • Companies are using a variety of talent resourcing approaches (contractors, freelance, agencies) as most are in the first 1-2 years of developing mobile marketing strategies and programs.
  • Demonstrating the ROI of mobile marketing is the biggest challenge facing companies who want to hire, acquire, and build full-time in-house mobile resources.
  • The majority of companies are working with their traditional brand and digital agencies to help them integrate mobile into their overall marketing campaigns/plans.
  • There are no clear organizational models or set of responsibilities yet established for mobile marketing employees further compounding the mobile talent acquisition and development processes.

Proposed Mission Statement – MMA Talent Task Force
The MMA North America Mobile Talent Task Force mission will be to support all MMA constituencies in proving the ROI of mobile marketing to enable acceleration of the hiring/building of permanent mobile marketing and m-commerce infrastructures and the talent pipeline needed to assure sustained member growth and success. MMA will also share mobile talent acquisition, development, compensation, and organizational “best practices,” across all industry sectors and categories of constituents, enabling mobile marketers, agencies, media partners, and technology providers to identify, hire or acquire, and develop the talent pipeline needed to support both immediate and long-term mobile marketing needs.

MMA Talent Task Force – Goals and Objectives

  • Assist in surveying and defining current and future mobile marketing and m-commerce organizational models, position/role descriptions, educational/training requirements, undergraduate/graduate curriculums, and other mobile talent-related requirements, and share these findings in MMA publications, white papers, and conferences.
  • Assist all MMA constituencies in building the ROI case for creating a mobile marketing strategy and hiring the full-time in-house mobile resources (in both the Marketing and IT areas) required to support the immediate and long-term mobile marketing and m-commerce needs.
  • Promote mobile marketing hiring and training/development “best practices” among marketers, media companies, agencies, technology enablers, and other MMA constituencies. Develop job board and resource center on MMA website for temporary and permanent mobile marketing positions.
  • Assess mobile marketing education, training and certification standards and guidelines.
  • Collaborate with universities, other educational providers, and non-profit organizations (i.e., Marketing EDGE), to develop, distribute, and promote the mobile marketing educational curriculum and certifications required to educate the next generation of mobile marketing talent needed for sustained growth.
  • Promote mobile talent acquisition, and education/training as a powerful new mobile marketing resource strategy across all constituencies.
  • Assist in surveying and reporting “best practices” in compensation and benefits policies and practices across various constituencies.
  • Promote and recognize “Rising Stars” in the mobile marketing and m-commerce sector in conjunction with MMA awards, conferences, and events.

Participants
MMA Talent Task Force to recruit leading companies in every sector including:

  • Marketers:
  • Media Companies:
  • Agencies:
  • Technology Enablers:
  • Executive Search/Talent Acquisition: Executive Connections LLC
  • Colleges, Universities, Non-profits, Education Providers: Marketing EDGE

Next Steps

  • EC has a call scheduled with Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA to discuss the need for this task force
  • Recruit Initial Task Force Participants – March – June 2014
  • Hold MMA Talent Task Force session at upcoming MMA conference – May 2014

As always, we invite your views and comments. Please let us know how your company is doing in scaling mobile resources and your view/interest in joining this proposed MMA Mobile Talent Task Force.

Lola and Jeff

Event Highlight

Please join us at this year’s 2014 Rising Stars Awards Dinner sponsored by MarketingEDGE to be held on Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 583 Park Avenue, New York City.  As a Board Trustee member of MarketingEDGE, Jeff Gundersen will be attending this event.

Career Opportunities

Head of Marketing – AMEA
Global Marketing Technology Strategist
Global Head of Digital Marketing
Global Head of Branding & Communications
Managing Director, Social Media

Learn more.

Blog Roundup: Did you catch our recent posts on our blog?

BLOG: Mobile Marketing Talent Gap is Growing

Overview
Organizations (marketers, media companies, agencies, and marketing technology providers) know that consumers’ attention is increasingly being drawn to their mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.), but most companies are still in the early stages of mobile marketing strategy development — and they face an uphill climb to evolve beyond basic mobile marketing campaigns to building the dedicated mobile marketing organizations and recruiting/developing the talent required for sustained future mobile marketing growth and success.

Central Issues – Mobile Adoption Outpacing Talent Acquisition

Consumer mobile adoption is outpacing mobile marketing talent investment. The central issue facing marketers is the rapid pace of consumer mobile adoption which is outpacing mobile marketing talent investment, as marketers are still at an early stage in proving ROI of mobile marketing investments. Only 16% of marketers out of 250 global marketers surveyed have developed a mobile strategy, according to a 2013 report from the CMO Council.  46% of marketers surveyed in the CMO Council study said they are either evaluating or reviewing the role of mobile in their organizations.

Read more…