Executive Connections LLC

Connecting organizations with the future of marketing

Personal Branding

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: 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…

 

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

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 66

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  The Succession Planning Dilemma
  • Career Opportunities:
    • Head of Global Corporate Communications – NEW
    • Global Marketing Technology Strategist – NEW
    • Head of Marketing – Growth Markets – REVISED
    • CMO – Start-up Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce
    • Managing Director, Social Media
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog – “8 Pearls of Marketing” by Marty Homlish | ANA Spring 2013
  • Announcements:
    • Michelle Bottomley Joins Mercer as Chief Marketing Officer

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

The Succession Planning Dilemma As a boutique firm specialized in recruiting CEOs and Presidents of marketing and marketing services businesses, we have had many experiences assisting incumbent CEOs in succession planning and subsequent executive search assignments to recruit a new company leader. We have seen the good, bad, and ugly play out in these scenarios and here are three things to watch out for if your company is approaching the “Succession Planning Dilemma:”

  1. Choosing A Caretaker Instead Of A Hunter/Builder – particularly for smaller private companies, and middle market companies, sustained growth and innovation are essential to long-term survival and prosperity. In spite of this, we have seen several clients choose the CFO or a Chief Administrative Officer to take over running the business. As these executives are neither customer-facing or marketing oriented, they frequently lack the vision and bold marketing chops to position the business for aggressive growth. While they may tighten up costs and produce an initial bottom line growth which looks impressive, the company quickly begins to atrophy as the focus on innovation  dwindles. In our CEO succession assignments we always emphasize finding a “hunter” instead of a farmer as growing a profitable company is the best way to motivate and retain key employees.
  2. CEOs Can’t or Won’t Give Up Control – we have seen dozens of case histories, and been involved with several, where the outgoing CEO talks a good game about ceding control to the new President/CEO and then hangs around too long and sabotages the new leader by interfering in day-to-day management or insisting on remaining in a protracted transition period (18 months) when a much shorter transition period would yield a superior result. We have had to intermediate between incoming and outgoing CEOs to renegotiate and shorten the transition period as well as limiting the number of days/times the outgoing CEO can be on premises.
  3. Outgoing CEOs Too Protective Of Executive Team Members – it’s understandable when CEOs leave especially after a long period of incumbency, they leave behind a loyal C-level team. Many times these same CEOs will intervene on behalf of these senior staff members trying to force the new CEO to keep these team members in place. Our counsel is always simple…the new CEO’s most important job is to form their own senior leadership team and this needs to include complete freedom to assess the strengths/weaknesses of incumbent C-suite members and make changes they feel appropriate. This is why you so frequently see in large companies incoming CEOs broom the entire prior team and bring in their own people so they know where the loyalties will be when times get tough.

Particularly in today’s business environment where digital and mobile media and marketing innovations are developing rapidly, smaller and middle market companies are at a disadvantage compared to the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, SAP, Accenture and other larger innovation leaders and drivers. This even further accentuates the need to select a marketing-oriented, customer-facing executive as CEO…someone with a modern marketing vision who can create a drive a bold vision for sustained growth and profitability. As always, we welcome your comments, Lola and Jeff

Career Opportunities

Head of Global Corporate Communications – NEW
Global Marketing Technology Strategist – NEW
Head of Marketing – Growth Markets – REVISED
CMO – Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce Start-up
Managing Director, Social Media

Learn more.

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

BLOG:  “8 Pearls of Marketing” by Marty Homlish | ANA | Spring 2013 We are always looking to share Marketing “best practices” and highlight CMOs who are stars and game changers in the companies and industry sectors. Marty Homlish, CCO at HP and former global CMO at SAP, is a marketing star and we are pleased to include a link to his 2013 ANA article and highlight Marty’s “8 Pearls of Marketing.” Read more…

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Michelle Bottomley Joins Mercer as Chief Marketing Officer Executive Connections LLC is pleased to announce the recent placement of Michelle Bottomley as global CMO for Mercer. In her new roMBottomley photole, Michelle will oversee a number of corporate functions, including Marketing, Public Relations, Media, Digital Marketing, and Alternative Distribution. In this role, Michelle will focus on expanding the Mercer brand globally through innovative, direct, and digital marketing channels to support and drive the mission, operating imperatives, and values. Prior to accepting the role with Mercer, Michelle served as President of Zinio, LLC, the world’s largest digital magazine newsstand; CMO of Barclaycard, where she built a global marketing organization focused on results, innovation, and customer experience; President of Kite Flying, Inc., a boutique global marketing consulting practice; and Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of Ogilvy New York for Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, an advertising, marketing, and public relations agency.

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

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 63

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  Spending Political Capital
  • Career Opportunities:
    • Global CMO
    • CMO – Growth Markets
    • CMO – Start-up Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce
    • Managing Director, Social Media
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog – Short-Form Content Is A New Media and Entertainment Priority
    • Blog – Disruptive Marketing Technologies

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

Spending Political Capital

We were inspired by a recent article in the Sunday NY Times on spending political capital.

In our opinion, C-level executives need to be bold, courageous…and go for it…especially once they have earned the trust and respect of the Board and C-suite leaders. It is simply not enough to perform exceptionally well in the current role…it’s about risk-taking to identify and champion innovative business building ideas and programs.

“You need to spend political capital — be unafraid to introduce people, compliment somebody when it’s deserved and stand up for something you really believe in, rather than just go with the flow. I don’t mean being a perennial troublemaker, but it’s about having conviction and courage. Spend that political capital you earn by being intellectually credible, by being a fighter for the people on your team when appropriate, and by arguing for principles that matter. Those are qualities that give you credit. If you’re waiting for the perfect moment to spend that capital, you’re going to be sidelined your whole career waiting for the right time to enter the ring.”

The status-quo today is simply not enough…and playing it safe is a recipe for disaster as so many businesses and category sectors have leveled off, which is the beginning of atrophy.

In this fast-moving “customer” era, innovation and exceptional customer engagement and experience are the keys to success and growth. Leaders in this area include Amazon.com (continuing to grow/expand into new product categories), Coca-Cola (outperforming sector competitors), Prudential Corporation Asia (leveraging branded content and social media to grow at 20% CAGR), Samsung (gaining share on Apple with each quarter), Lenovo (taken over global PC leadership), Unilever (leveraging social purpose and brand/business building), and Walmart (leading retailer innovation in social/mobile).

Have you built political capital in your current business and functional role? What are the opportunities for you to spend that political capital currently to identify/drive important new initiatives within your company and further advance your personal brand/career?

As always, we welcome your input and comments.  Contact us.

Career Opportunities

Global CMO
CMO – Growth Markets
CMO – Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce Start-up
Managing Director, Social Media

Learn more.

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

BLOG:  Short-Form Content Is A New Media and Entertainment Priority

One of the most interesting conversations during Advertising Week 2013 was Michael Kassan, CEO of Media Link, interviewing Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Co-Founder & CEO of DreamWorks Animation regarding the future of media and entertainment in the face of the current technology changes.

Creating New Opportunities in the Content Creation Business
Rather than feeling media and entertainment companies are facing a diminishing and fractured market, Katzenberg indicated there has never been a better time to be in the content creation business.  …Read more

BLOG:  Disruptive Marketing Technologies

Leading edge marketers and agency leaders agree advances in new, disruptive marketing technologies have created new global media and marketing experiments as marketers race to infuse digital media and mobile commerce into their arsenal of marketing programs.

“Mobile is the first screen, the screen of today,” according to Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB Advanced Media. Mobile is Word of Mouth on steroids, and for MLB over 50% of their traffic is mobile and they expect 80-90% of traffic via mobile devices within 2 years.  …Read more

Filed Under: Board of Directors, Branding Yourself Online, Digital Proficiency, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Marketing Conferences & Events, New Executive Search, Personal Branding, Webinars

Short-Form Content Is A New Media and Entertainment Priority

One of the most interesting conversations during Advertising Week 2013 was Michael Kassan, CEO of Media Link, interviewing Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Co-Founder & CEO of DreamWorks Animation regarding the future of media and entertainment in the face of the current technology changes.

Creating New Opportunities in the Content Creation Business
Rather than feeling media and entertainment companies are facing a diminishing and fractured market, Katzenberg indicated there has never been a better time to be in the content creation business.

He indicated new, smaller mobile screens (smart phones and tablets) which are with people constantly…have created new opportunities for short-form content including both news and entertainment. Katzenberg talked about Brian Robbins, Founder & CEO of Awesomeness TV, an exceptional storyteller and producer of TV and motion pictures. Robbins has now shifted and is devoting 100% of his energy producing short-form content.

Katzenberg indicated new technology (and devices) have created an opportunity to fill the “waiting time” in people’s lives…short windows when people are waiting for a bus, waiting in line, etc., and are passing time accessing their mobile devices. Awesomeness TV is already one of the leading producers of content on YouTube and he expects this sector to represent a new opportunity for growth in entertainment and media content distribution. Forrester and other research firms have confirmed consumers are spending 2+ hours daily on mobile devices separate from the 4-1/2 hours of daily television time. So that’s the new “window of opportunity” in a nutshell.

Never Been a Better Time
This reminds me of past experiences when new channels opened up…and Katzenberg commented on this…when TV arrived back in the 1950s, there was speculation other channels (newspapers, radio) would diminish. In fact, this never happened, and Katzenberg indicated with so many consumers watching high-quality, premium content (movies and television) ON-DEMAND, the market (on demand) and consumer response (to great content) has never been stronger. Just check Homeland, Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad, and other outstanding entertainment content being produced by the networks, cable channels, and movie studios…with the addition of short-form content programming, the future looks very exciting and there has never been a better time to be in these businesses.

Filed Under: Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Personal Branding

AdWeek NYC 2013 – “Winning The Talent Wars”

Talent is the single most important factor in guaranteeing sustained business success. Marketing is changing rapidly and becoming more technology- and analytics-based, in addition to creativity.

This is such an important topic, AdWeek NYC 2013 devoted two entire panels to the topic of winning the talent wars starting with the CEO. Here are some thoughts offered by David Kenny (CEO, Weather Channel), Michael Leedy (CMO, American Eagle Outfitters), Andrew Bennett (Global President, Havas WW), James Citrin (Spencer Stuart), and Sheila Marcelo (CEO – Care.com):

  • Only 20% of CEOs are recruited from the outside…67% come from within the company;
  • Leadership is more important than strategy…great leaders can fundamentally “change the game” in their companies and industry sectors;
  • Leadership is about setting a vision, having a great product, and creating an environment that stretches and empowers people;
  • Encourages risk-taking and gives permission to make mistakes;
  • Winning the talent wars is about attracting vs. recruiting; great work and big ideas (and ideals) attracts great talent;
  • Employees are looking for a social mission in addition to the business mission;
  • Many businesses are pushing global expansion, but lack people with the skills in emerging economies;
  • Strong leaders allow “moonlighting” by employees to create new products and distribution channels;
  • New CEOs need to understand and respect the bedrock (rich history) of their companies;
  • One of the biggest factors in becoming a successful CEO is “learning agility;”
  • Also being socially and culturally aware; instill pride and expect emotional buy-in…you are part of it (culture)…its up to you to participate;
  • Cultural fit is ranked by 84% of C-suite leaders as the #1 criteria; people have to stand up for it become cultural advocates;
  • Many companies are using Social Hiring and Firing practices; usually if someone fails, they get fired from below; once leaders flatten out the hierarchy and eliminate walls and office barriers, it becomes clear who is not delivering;
  • People have to fight for it (culture); the challenge is finding smart people who are also kind;
  • Another factor is the leader seeking (surrounding) diversity; agencies struggle because there is not enough diversity;
  • Structures will continue to change; development is happening at a faster rate; leaders need the confidence to turn over leadership earlier and employees need to seek to accept it earlier;
  • Allow for failure; some of the best people/leaders have failed, gotten fired; they were humbled; look for fighters who pick themselves up and keep going.

How is your company doing at winning the talent wars? What changes are you pursuing as the leader to create sustainable business success?  Let us know.

Filed Under: Announcements, Connections E-Zine, Digital Proficiency, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, New Executive Search, Personal Branding

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 61

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  Who Is Leading the Recovery?
  • New Career Opportunities:
    • CMO – Growth Markets
    • CMO – Start-up Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog – Are You Ready for mCommerce and is mCommerce Ready for YOU?
    • Blog – DMEF Rebrands to Create a Marketing EDGE

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

Emerging Markets & Marketing Technology Leading the Recovery

We are definitely seeing the fragile economic recovery continuing to gradually expand. What began with tepid recoveries in the retail, automotive, and housing sectors is continuing with growth in the healthcare and technology sectors. While many sectors are still flat or declining, the sustained housing recovery (aided by low mortgage interest rates) continues to build momentum.

While many analysts complain this is still a jobless recovery (WSJ.com – Mort Zuckerman: A Jobless Recovery Is a Phony Recovery – 7/15/13), corporate profits and the stock markets are at record high levels, companies have lots of cash, and global companies are investing aggressively to position themselves for long-term sustained success.

So where is this investment going? We see two areas.

Multinational companies continue to invest aggressively in building their brands and businesses in Emerging & Growth Markets. 

One of our newest executive search assignments is for a CMO – Growth Markets. This new CMO role is focused on expanding our client’s business into markets including Brazil, Mexico, China, India, Turkey, and the Middle East region. These marketing assignments are among the most interesting ones for us, and they prove how small the global marketing community really is, as we connect with CMO candidates across the globe in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East regions.

Marketing technology investments are rapidly changing the marketing eco-system. 

CMOs are gaining huge technology budgets to build the new online platforms to implement digital, mobile, social media and m-commerce strategies and campaigns. In the future CMOs will have a larger technology budget than the CIO…and this is the new partnership (CMO & CIO) within top global advertisers. Marketing technology investments are “white hot” and we are seeing a significant number of acquisitions as all players in the marketing eco-system position themselves for sustained growth and market share. Just look at Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, (WSJ – Yahoo’s Mayer Hits One Year Mark – 7/15/13) who has purchased 17 technology start-ups (including Tumblr for $1.1 Billion) in her first year of turning around and repositioning Yahoo’s business. Check out the recent Forbes article by Bruce Rogers titled Strategic Consultancies Invade Marketing Agency Space. We have previously seen media/publishing companies including Hearst, Meredith, News Corp, and Time Inc. build integrated marketing agencies to compete directly with leading digital agencies including Digitas, Razorfish, and Sapient. Now the top strategic consultancies (led by Accenture Interactive) are moving into the marketing agency space through acquisitions since they see huge global opportunities to build the technology platforms (data analytics, geo-fencing/ targeting, content management, campaign management) required to deliver the next generation of digital and mobile advertising solutions.

New jobs are being created but require engineering and programming skills which are in short supply currently.

The marketing technology transformation is creating many new jobs, however, there are not enough skilled engineers and programmers to meet the rapidly growing needs of marketers, media companies, and technology providers. This “talent gap” and shortage of technically proficient marketers is getting larger based upon the rapid growth of mobile marketing and m-commerce and it represents a long-term education and training opportunity and priority. We are partnering with Marketing EDGE and the Mobile Marketing Association to launch a Mobile Marketing Talent Task Force and we invite interested companies to reach out directly to us to find out more regarding talent acquisition and development in this new digital marketing age.

IN SUMMARY

The “heat wave” we all experienced recently is not just in record hot temperatures this Summer, it is also in the pace of marketing change being driven by rapid consumer adoption of mobile and digital technologies in all forms and the resulting technology investments being made by media, marketing services and top global advertisers.

As always, we welcome your comments and input. Stay cool!

Career Opportunities

CMO – Growth Markets – NEW
CMO – Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce Start-up – NEW
Managing Director, Alliance Sales Lead
Managing Director, Social Media Offering Lead
Managing Director, Investment Banking

Learn more.

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

BLOG:  Are You Ready for mCommerce and is mCommerce Ready for YOU?

The economy is continuing to heat up.
It is so encouraging to be operating again in an ever-improving global economy. We are seeing things heating up globally and signs of growth and expansion are appearing virtually everywhere!  …Read more

BLOG:  DMEF Rebrands to Create a Marketing EDGE

Marketing EDGE is launched…to Educate, Develop, Grow & Employ the next generation of marketing leaders!

At the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) annual “Rising Stars” Awards Dinner Tuesday night in NYC, Terri Bartlett – DMEF President  – announced the rebranding of the organization introducing a new name – Marketing EDGE (www.MktgEDGE.org), aligned with the organization’s mission to Educate, Develop, Grow & Employ the next generation of marketing leaders.  …Read more

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Ask Our Coach, Branding Yourself Online, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, LinkedIn, New Executive Search, Personal Branding, Uncategorized, Webinars

DMEF Rebrands to Create a Marketing EDGE

Marketing EDGE is launched…to Educate, Develop, Grow & Employ the next generation of marketing leaders!

At the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation (DMEF) annual “Rising Stars” Awards Dinner Tuesday night in NYC, Terri Bartlett – DMEF President  – announced the rebranding of the organization introducing a new name – Marketing EDGE (www.MktgEDGE.org), aligned with the organization’s mission to Educate, Develop, Grow & Employ the next generation of marketing leaders. This rebranding clarifies the organization’s mission and vision to all constituencies including students, corporations/employers, academics/educators and individuals.

“Rising Stars” Recognized & Celebrated

The evening was a major fundraising success with record-breaking attendance… in excess of 400 people created a “sold-out” event at Three-Sixty in a trendy downtown NYC venue. The evening celebrated 6 of the marketing industry’s “Rising Stars” (40YO and under) including JP Lind – Co-Founder SpotRight, Matt McGowan – MD, Americas – Incisive Media, Kim Postulart – Marketing Director – Democratic National Committee, Brion Roberto – Global Head – Digital Marketing & Social Media – Diageo, Slavi Samardzija – EVP, Market Intelligence – Wunderman/KBM, and John Wernz – EVP & CMO – Wealth Enhancement Group.

These next generation marketing leaders are steeped in digital marketing, marketing technology, analytics, social media, and mobile marketing skills. This underscores the importance of current and future education, training/development, internships/placements, student and educator forums being led by Marketing EDGE.

Epsilon receives Corporate Commitment Award

The evening also celebrated Epsilon as the recipient of the 2013 Corporate Commitment Award. Epsilon has been a consistent and long-term sponsor and champion of the Marketing EDGE programs.

Now Is An Ideal Time To Join MarketingEDGE.

We encourage all companies to check out the programs offered by MarketingEDGE including The Next Generation Leaders Forum, I-MIX, I-MAX, Student Career Forums, Scholarships, and Journal of Interactive Marketing.

If your company or organization has a talent management strategy to identify and acquire the next generation marketing leaders, you need to consider joining Marketing EDGE (www.MktgEDGE.org) and speaking with Terri Bartlett about getting involved in one of the organizations programs as a volunteer, speaker, sponsor or Board Trustee.

As a Marketing Edge Executive Board member, please feel free to contact me  to discuss sponsorship opportunities or answer any questions you may have about the mission and scope of Marketing EDGE and how you and your company can get involved.

@JeffGundersen

Filed Under: Ask Our Coach, Connections E-Zine, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Marketing Conferences & Events, New Executive Search, Personal Branding

CONNECTIONS EZINE: Issue No. 60

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  Are You Addressing the Mobile Marketing Talent Gap?
  • Blog Roundup:
    •  Mobile Marketing 2013 Forum Recap – What You Need to Know!
  • Career Announcements: Digital Consulting, HR Consulting, Investment Banking & Financial Services

In Our Opinion

Are You Addressing the Mobile Marketing Talent Gap?
by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

OVERVIEW – Mobile Adoption is Scaling Rapidly
Organizations know 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 they face an uphill climb to evolve beyond basic mobile marketing strategies to building the dedicated mobile marketing organizations and recruiting/developing/training the talent required for sustained future mobile marketing growth and success.
Marketers need to assess the current and future mobile talent needs (and gaps) and develop “best practices” related to education, hiring, training, and development of the future mobile marketing talent needed for sustained success in this new connected mobile marketing age.

CENTRAL ISSUES – Mobile Talent Gap
Consumer mobile adoption is outpacing mobile marketing talent investment. The central issue facing marketers is the rapid pace of consumer mobile adoption 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 an October 2012 report from the Chief Marketing Officer Council and 46% of marketers surveyed in this study said they are evaluating the role of mobile in their organizations. One major factor slowing marketers response is proving the ROI case for increasing mobile marketing investments.

Consumer adoption of mobile technology is increasing extremely rapidly. Marketers understand that mobile has opened up a new touch point through which they can engage their customers, but while mobile budgets and programs are on the upswing, they don’t yet come close to matching consumer enthusiasm. By the end of 2012, more than one-half of US online adults owned smartphones — and 45% of US online adults fall into a category Forrester calls “SuperConnecteds”- people who use the mobile Internet at least weekly and who download and use applications and consume news and information on their smartphones.

Marketers are behind in developing mobile organizational strategies.  Most large marketers are spending $1 million to $5 million on mobile marketing today, and 60% of them expect their budgets to increase significantly in 2013. However, the CMO Council’s study findings point to marketers treating mobile as a standalone channel instead of being incorporated into an overall strategy. Additionally, 47% of CMOs said they are not satisfied because of a lack of talent or resources to roll out mobile engagements.

Additional Findings CMO Council Study
“Mobile spend should be an integral part and extension of all marketing and customer relationship investments including customer help, service and support, advertising and custom content delivery, website interactions, word of mouth and search optimization, loyalty and rewards program management, feedback and insight gathering, point-of-sale merchandising and shopper marketing as well as campaign performance measurement,” said Donovan Neale-May, Founder & Executive Director or The CMO Council.

Mobile strategies are still young. More than one-third of marketers say their company has had a mobile strategy for just two years, and another one-third have even less experience with the mobile channel. It’s still early days for most companies with this emerging channel. They’re still figuring out what mobile means to their businesses — which tactics to use, how to use them, and how to staff to support the programs.

Companies are using a variety of talent and staffing approaches to support mobile programs. This increased investment in mobile requires an increase in talent and staffing support — but there’s no one way that companies are staffing fast enough to meet the growing talent needs. Internally, only a small percentage of marketers have hired full-time mobile-dedicated employees, others are having full-time digital marketing teams supporting mobile part-time, and others use contract or freelance employees. One-third of marketers plan to hire more full-time mobile employees, and one-quarter plan to hire more contract mobile employees in the next six months…but marketers still rely primarily on agencies and part-timers.

Many firms are turning to their agencies to help them navigate this opportunity. Currently, marketers work with an average of three external agencies for mobile marketing. One-quarter of them use anywhere from four to 15 or more. And these agencies are only working on execution — the majority of companies are working with their traditional brand agency, or digital and mobile agencies, to help them incorporate mobile into their overall plans.

Some marketers are making acquisitions to quickly scale the mobile talent gaps.  One of the most important strategic staffing decisions CIOs and CMOs will make this year is deciding how to meet their mobile development needs. Most companies have leaned on specialist firms and don’t have first-rate mobile development skills in-house. Now they must decide if that approach will cut it as smartphone and tablet platforms become as indispensable as the Web in engaging customers. The Financial Times decided that relying on a contractor wasn’t good enough and they acquired Web app developer Assanka.Walmart also acquired the 13-person mobile development firm Smart Society in 2012, as well as other mobile and social acquisitions including Kosmix and Grabble. These strategic mobile acquisitions by large marketers underscores the challenge large companies face in scaling mobile talent acquisition once the ROI case for mobile has been proven.

Where Does Your Company Stand?
Where is your company in terms of developing a mobile marketing strategy, and hiring/developing the talent required for sustained success? While this may feel like the early days of online marketing, the difference is the rate of acceleration in mobile advertising and m-commerce will be faster than any previous new media channel we have experienced. If you are behind the curve, as many companies are, it’s time to act now.

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

BLOG:  Mobile Marketing 2013 Forum Recap – What You Need to Know!

The MMA-NY 2013 Forum filled the Marriott Marquis Hotel in NYC for 3 days, the eye-opening information, the program/content was excellent, and both the attendees and presenters confirmed MOBILE is rapidly becoming the next NEW media channel. These are exciting times for both the advertiser and consumer alike. …Read more

Career Announcements

Chief Marketing Officer
Managing Director, Alliance Sales Lead
Managing Director, Social Media Offering Lead
Managing Director, Investment Banking
Senior Executive – Financial Services

Learn more.