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Filed Under: Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Uncategorized

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.

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 2013, more than two-thirds 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 daily and who download and use applications and consume news and information on their smartphones. Publicis’ 2013 “Tablets Rising” global study indicated tablets are the fastest scaling technology innovation ever…surpassing the rate consumer adoption of TVs, PCs, mobile phones, etc. The majority of CMOs and agencies now consider mobile devices the “first screen” for development of branding campaigns.

Marketers are behind in developing mobile organizational strategies. Most large marketers are spending less than $5 million on mobile marketing today, and 60% of them expect their budgets to increase significantly in 2014. However, the CMO Council’s study findings point to marketers treating mobile as a standalone channel instead of being incorporated into an overall digital marketing and branding strategy. Additionally, 47% of CMOs said they are not satisfied because of a lack of talent, ad formats, or resources to roll out mobile campaigns. The findings also point to mobile being used for more one-off campaigns versus being integrated into a brand’s overall marketing mix.

“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, Web site 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 of The CMO Council. Unfortunately, this strategic approach is lacking for a majority of marketers.

Mobile strategies are still young. More than one-third of marketers say their company has had a mobile strategy for less than 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 digital/mobile 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 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 CMOs and CTOs 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. In its report on the acquisition, FT CEO John Ridding said:

“This is a unique opportunity to bring talented and very creative software engineers with proven skills in emerging web technologies into our team. It will further boost our momentum in digital journalism, help us improve our development processes and allow us to maintain our edge in this strategically important area.”

Walmart also acquired the 13-person mobile development firm Smart Society, 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.

Summary
Mobile advertising is driving the growth of digital media spending at such a rapid rate that digital media (including mobile) is forecasted to exceed broadcast spending before 2018 (within the next 5 years). In order to support this, marketers and agencies need to hire, train/develop, and retain the mobile marketing talent required at both the strategic and tactical/technical development levels in order to maximize the effectiveness of increased mobile marketing investments. The winners and losers in closing this “talent gap” will define the next generation of “best in class” marketers.

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: Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Spotlight On

“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.”

Complete Article:  Marty-Homlish-ANA

  1. Communicate with your team. Never assume everybody understands what you’re trying to do and how you intend to get there. Always make yourself available for questions and feedback.
  2. Reach out to your peers. Successful marketing is a team effort across many disciplines — creative, IT, web development, just to name a few. Make sure you understand their requirements, limitations, and priorities — and establish a foundation of trust and good working relationships.
  3. Agility matters. Plans and circumstances can change in no time. When that happens, embrace the change and get the job done.
  4. Be authentic. Nobody knows your brand better than your fans. Don’t disappoint them by trying to be something you’re not.
  5. Approach the bandwagon with caution. The “next big thing” may or may not be just that. Do your homework before jumping aboard.
  6. Focus on what’s essential. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard said that investing in new product development and expanding the product catalog are the most difficult things to do in hard times, and also among the most important. But don’t let the quest to be innovative cause you to forget your business’s core competency.
  7. Have a story to tell. And make sure the story illustrates how you add value to your customers’ lives.
  8. Content matters. Create compelling content. Then package, distribute, and syndicate it.

Filed Under: 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. 65

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  How Can 2014 Top Last Year?
  • Career Opportunities:
    • CMO – Growth Markets
    • CMO – Start-up Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce
    • Managing Director, Social Media
  • Articles:
    • Mobile Goes Mainstream: Consumers Lead the Way– Gridley & Company LLC

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

How Can 2014 Top Last Year?

I attended the 13th annual Gridley & Company conference in NYC last week to hear 60-75 CEOs across the Media, Ad Tech, Payments & Financial Technologies, and Marketing Services sectors talk about their company’s 2013 performance and future expectations in 2014 and beyond.

Incredible Performance of Equity Markets in 2013
Linda Gridley opened the conference by highlighting the incredible performance of equity markets in 2013…”the S&P 500 rose 29.6%, the largest annual jump in 16 years…and the Dow rose 26.5%, its largest gain in 18 years…despite macroeconomic and geopolitical headwinds.”  As stocks rose steadily higher, P/E ratios grew from 14x to17x, fueled by $349B which poured into stock-based mutual funds and exchange funds, the highest annual inflow ever recorded. It’s clear investors have moved off the sidelines and back into equity investments. Not surprisingly, Gridley indicated “internet giants eBay, Amazon, Google and Facebook were up an average of 57.6% in 2013, outperforming the equity market as a whole.”

We see CEOs doing the same thing…moving off the sidelines into action to grow their businesses by investing in marketing, new product development, and opening new markets. I had lunch with Claude Gallello, a senior global business development leader at Willis (global insurance brokerage firm) and he indicated Willis has recently completed an expansion from 115 to 130 countries globally. We are seeing other companies including Abbott, AIG, Accenture, Apple, Lenovo, Mercer, MetLife, and Prudential plc investing in acquisitions and strategic hires in Growth Markets (Brazil, China, India, Middle East) to expand their businesses in these countries and other emerging economies.

2014 Expected To Be Even Bigger in Terms of Digital and Mobile Media
Many of the keynote panelists at the Gridley conference confirmed they expect 2014 to be even bigger and more transformative in terms of digital and mobile media, marketing, and e-commerce. Tony Uzan (Advisory Director at PwC) indicated “digital advertising (including mobile) is on pace to surpass broadcast advertising by 2018” (www.pwc.com/outlook). Martin Nisenholtz (Senior Advisor – NY times) predicted Google will become the #1 market capitalization company and voice recognition technology will enable us to “liberate ourselves from the screens.” Jim Moran (General Partner at North Bridge) predicted “2014 will be the year mobile commerce hits main street…and mobile payment companies will be big winners in the equity markets in 2015-16.” Moran also indicated he “sees a day when Google will be serving us ads in our dreams.”

While the overall outlook is positive, there are some storm clouds on the horizon. Many VC experts including Alan Patricof (Managing Director, Greycroft Partners) indicated there are too many start-up companies without profitable business plans and many will not be funded in 2014 and will perish. Brian O’Kelley (CEO, AppNexus) and a leader in the AdTech space predicted 2014 would see a lot of action in the AdTech space. “Companies need to exit, be bought, or raise capital…and it will be a busy year for the investment bankers.” O’Kelley also indicated he “sees a bubble and a lot of AdTech companies will hit a wall in ’14…especially those without revenue and/or profitability.”

Also, while digital advertising in all forms is expected to grow dramatically faster than all other media, most CEOs expect to see Google and Facebook (which transitioned itself quickly to a mobile company) dominating 80+% of this media category leaving all other competitors fighting over the scraps.

New Digital Economy vs. Old Line Media and Marketing Services
While attending 10-15 of the individual CEO/company presentations at Gridley, I was struck by the contrast between new digital economy CEOs/companies and old line media and marketing services CEOs/companies. Change is happening so quickly, and the pace of change is accelerating through mobile advertising and commerce, you can almost see the writing on the wall for many old world companies and industries that are vulnerable to game-changing innovations by an Amazon, Google or Facebook.

While the equity markets are unlikely to achieve last year’s growth rates in 2014, many companies (especially leaders like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook) are expected to ride the wave of mobile/digital explosion to continue aggressive growth. In light of these prognostications, it should be an interesting year and we expect continued action in all areas related to digital and mobile marketing, media and commerce.

As always, we welcome your comments and input, so please write in and let us know your viewpoints.

Happy New Year!
Jeff and Lola

Career Opportunities

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

Learn more.

ARTICLES:

Mobile Goes Mainstream: Consumers Lead the Way — January 2014 – Gridley & Company LLC
Comprehensive Industry Overview – – – Key Trends and Investment Opportunities
Mobile Industry Overview_1.10.14

 

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

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 64

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  The Age of Smart Everything is Here
  • Career Opportunities:
    • CMO – Growth Markets
    • CMO – Start-up Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce
    • Managing Director, Social Media
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog – Social Media Has Gone Mainstream
  • Articles:
    • The Dangerous Tension Between CMOs and CIOs – Harvard Business Review
    • How the “internet of things” Will Replace the Web – by Christopher Mims

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

The Age of Smart Everything is Here

As we arrive at year end 2013, the horizon ahead is full of promise as both Wall Street and Main Street continue to exceed expectations.  Consumers and businesses are spending and investing, CEO confidence is rising, and these factors have led to companies hiring, acquiring, and expanding into new products, markets and services.  Advertising & Media projections call for growth in excess of 5 % in 2014, a growth level in spending that marketing services and media companies have not seen since 2007.  This is accompanied by a greater level of CMO hiring than we have seen since the financial crash in ’08-’09…and this is being driven by overall economic growth and the arrival of innovative new digital marketing technologies. The rapid growth of digital, mobile and “the rise of tablets” are clearly contributing strongly to overall growth in consumer spending.  Just check the recent results of Cyber Monday…the single largest internet shopping day of all-time.  Cyber sales increased +19% vs. prior year and 35% of all internet commerce came from mobile devices.

We are reprinting an article from Quartz, written by Christopher Mims (@MIMS), titled “How the ‘internet of things’ Will Replace the Web.”  Consumers are now  connected 24×7 (not only via mobile smartphones and tables, but also various mobile apps and performance systems – i.e., Nike Fuel).  We are entering a new era of technology-driven marketing, social business and technology-enhanced home appliances which are enabling enhanced customer engagement and experience at unprecedented high levels.  People have been saying “this is the year for mobile” for a decade and history will prove 2013 was indeed mobile’s “coming out party.”

As we approach the holiday season, we send our best holiday greetings to all our clients and friends.  We wish each of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2014!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Lola and Jeff

THE WORLD IS YOUR BROWSER

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

Career Opportunities

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:  Social Media Has Gone Mainstream

I can remember attending a B2B magazine CMO Awards luncheon late in 2012 when the moderator asked the panel of 15 CMOs for their 2013 business outlook and top marketing priorities. Almost every CMO said their top 2013 marketing priority was investing in Social Media, however, none of them knew what this would look like for their companies. So in effect, this was a “leap of faith” CMOs knew they had to take to catch up with consumers who were connecting through social media channels including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube to share their brand likes, dislikes, and reviews.

Fast forward to year-end 2013 and Chief Marketer magazine (www.ChiefMarketer.com) announces “Social Marketing has gone mainstream.” According to Chief Marketer’s 2013 Annual Social Media Survey, 77% of marketers are integrating Social Media into their annual marketing strategies, plans and campaigns. In addition to coupons and discounts, marketers are offering unique content as a reward for engaging with the brand socially, and over half of marketers are including Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest links in all marketing messages.

Read more…

ARTICLES:

The Dangerous Tension Between CMOs and CIOs – Harvard Business Review

Business is largely about competition and, even within organizations, a healthy dose of rivalry between colleagues can be a good thing. However, a survey just conducted by Accenture Interactive (see The CMO-CIO Disconnect) points to a downright unhealthy relationship in many C-Suites which can do nothing but damage to firms.

At a time when many executives say that improving digital reach will be a significant differentiator for their companies, our research shows that two of the most important digital leaders — the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) — do not trust each other, understand each other, or collaborate with each other. Thus, even though both marketing and IT professionals say they want to be more collaborative, meaningful collaboration is unlikely to occur.

Read more…

How the “internet of things” Will Replace the Web by Christopher Mims

We’ve already written about why 2014 is really, finally the year that the “internet of things”—that effort to remotely control every object on earth—becomes visible in our everyday lives.

But most of us don’t recognize just how far the internet of things will go, from souped-up gadgets that track our every move to a world that predicts our actions and emotions. In this way, the internet of things will become more central to society than the internet as we know it today. The web will survive, just as email survived the arrival of the web. But its role will be reduced to that of a language for displaying content on screens, which are likely to be more ubiquitous but less necessary. Here’s a closer look at the internet of things that’s already here, and where it’s headed.

Read more…

Filed Under: Digital Proficiency, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing, Recommended Articles

Social Media Has Gone Mainstream

I can remember attending a B2B magazine CMO Awards luncheon late in 2012 when the moderator asked the panel of 15 CMOs for their 2013 business outlook and top marketing priorities. Almost every CMO listed their top 2013 marketing priority as investing in Social Media, however, none of them knew what this would look like for their companies. So in effect, this was a “leap of faith” CMOs knew they had to take to catch up with consumers who were connecting through social media channels including Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube to share their brand likes, dislikes, and reviews.

Fast forward to yearend 2013 and Chief Marketer magazine (www.ChiefMarketer.com) announces “Social Marketing has gone mainstream.” According to Chief Marketer’s 2013 Annual Social Media Survey, 77% of marketers are integrating Social Media into their annual marketing strategies, plans and campaigns. In addition to coupons and discounts, marketers are offering unique content as a reward for engaging with the brand socially, and over half of marketers are including Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest links in all marketing messages.

B2B marketers are embracing Social Media to enhance brand awareness and grow their businesses. Robert (“Rob”) Harles, Global Head of Social Media at Bloomberg LP, is one of our picks at “best in class” Social Media/Social Business leaders. Rob has totally transformed Bloomberg’s Social Media policies and practices over the past 3-4 years, and now their partnership with LinkedIn is being used by Bloomberg’s sales force as a top lead generation tool. Check out the recent article on Harles and Bloomberg…the transformation success has been phenomenal – Social Media Today.

On the B2C side, Brion Roberto – Global Head Digital Marketing & Social Media at Diageo is a marketer we nominated in 2013 for Marketing EDGE’s “Rising Star” award recognition. Brion is one of the best and brightest marketers under 40YO and Diageo has utilized Social Media and other digital marketing strategies to engage consumers in building brand awareness, purchase/preference, and loyalty.

Another marketer we would like to recognize is John Bell who recently joined Travelers as VP, Enterprise Digital Marketing. John is former Managing Director – Social@Ogilvy which he built into the largest Social Business/Social Media practice in the agency sector with annual revenue exceeding $100M+. John was a former Creative Director at Ogilvy Public Relations and he was one of the early pioneers in Social Media well ahead of the rest of the marketing sector.

While 75%+ of marketers are moving aggressively into Social Media/Social Business, less than 25% have a Social Media specialist on staff. This means marketers are relying on agencies (like Social@Ogilvy) and consulting firms (like Accenture Interactive) to develop and manage Social Media technology software and campaign management platforms. Clearly, increased hiring and technology investments to support Social Media growth are priority areas for marketers in 2014.

By Jeff Gundersen

Twitter (@Jeff Gundersen)

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: Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Getting Hired in Digital Marketing

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. We have one chance to WOW people says Bowman…which has led MLB to focus heavily on “fan engagement” using sophisticated analytic tools and mobile apps to enable fans to transact, as well as share their experiences real-time.

Russell Wallach, President Live Nation Media & Sponsorship, indicated Live Nation is using their scale (22,000 live events) to “rewrite the rules” in entertainment marketing and media by increasing their brand advertiser’s ties with audiences. “Eighty percent (80%) of our customers use phones to engage with social media via Twitter, take/share pictures during events, as well as buy tickets. We are focused on creating “active social audiences” vs. “passive enjoyers.”

Some brands, including Bud Lite, have the scale to enable them to create/own their properties/events. Paul Chibe, VP Marketing at Anheuser-Busch described Bud Lite’s “Made in America Festival” where the brand sponsored 50 shows in 50 states in one day…integrating television commercials and social media led by their endorsement spokesperson, Jay-Z. This is the type of social currency and buzz factor BudLite needs to turnaround their market share slide.

CMOs today have to be nimble, digitally-savvy, and take risks…including a lot of new media and social/mobile testing…since marketing budgets are moving quickly in the direction of these disruptive marketing technologies and new media possibilities. While this is “advertising re-imagined,” according to Linda Sawyer (CEO at Deutsch) and Susan Credle (CCO at Leo Burnett), some things have not changed. “There is still a great need for storytelling and consumers love to be entertained,” Sawyer indicates, and as marketing gets more automated, we free up more time and $$$ to focus on creative. Credle, who is new in her role leading Creative at Burnett, indicates, “I am here to run a creative agency. We have to put creativity first…that’s my remit…because ‘purposeful brands’ can change the world on their best days.”

Perhaps the best example of a ‘purposeful brand’ is Dove and their global beauty campaign. Those of you who have not yet seen the “Sketches” campaign on YouTube should check it out (over 200 million+ views). Dove conducted global research which showed over 95% of women do not consider themselves to be beautiful. Think about this from a self-esteem impact…and the internal attitude shift required for C-level women to make their way into the Board room. Babs Rangaiah, VP Global Media Innovation & Ventures at Unilever, indicated Unilever and Dove have defined a dual mission for brands to (1) do good and (2) produce business results.

How is your company/brand utilizing new disruptive marketing technologies to drive innovation and growth? What are you doing to build purposeful and socially responsible brands and businesses regionally and globally?

As always, we welcome you comments and input.

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: Announcements, Connections E-Zine, Digital Proficiency, Executive Coaching, Executive Talent, Marketing Conferences & Events, New Executive Search

CONNECTIONS Ezine: Issue No. 62

In this issue:

  • In Our Opinion:  Women Leading Marketing Innovation
  • New Career Opportunities:
    • Global CMO
    • CMO – Growth Markets
    • CMO – Start-up Mobile Advertising/M-Commerce
    • Managing Director, Social Media
  • Blog Roundup:
    • Blog – AdWeek NYC 2013 — “Winning The Talent Wars”
  • Articles:
    • “PPC Campaign Ratings and ROI – How Best to Incorporate Them Into Your Models” by Scott Ellis, VP Client Solutions, Adworthy
    • “Women in Innovation:  The Labor Day Triumph of Diana Nyad” — Sept. 7, 2013 — by David Dallaire, Founder/Principal – Fennec Consulting

In Our Opinion by Jeff Gundersen & Lola White

Women Leading Marketing Innovation

Having spent this entire past week at Advertising Week 2013 in NYC, meeting with various terrific women CMOs and women CEOs of agencies and media companies, we thought it timely to dedicate this month’s ezine intro to “Women Leading Innovation.”  In addition, we were inspired by the recent article written by David Dallaire (long time client and friend) on the same topic, which we have included for your reading pleasure, as well .

We continue to view the dramatic and rapid shift of Marketing, Advertising & Media to a mobile and digital world, with many opportunities for new content and on demand consumption, representing an exciting new landscape being led by many women innovators.

The New CMO Profile

The mega-trends we are seeing include continued strategic hiring, and targeted acquisitions, in the areas of Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing. CMO hiring has also picked up with almost one-third of the top 20 CMOs moving to new career opportunities. Interestingly, the target profile for new age CMOs has shifted from a previous concentration on Branding & Communications to the current focus on Analytics, Digital/Mobile, Technology, and Global marketing experience.

As an example, look at Liza Landsman, recently hired as the new CMO at E*Trade. Liza was Managing Director, Global Digital at Black Rock and previously EVP, Consumer Internet and Mobile at Citibank where she led online banking, e-commerce, and digital marketing. Liza was recruited by Citibank out of IBM, so she has a solid technology core prior to entering the financial services sector. Liza was not a CMO previous to being hired by E*Trade and she replaced a traditional brand/CPG marketer in Nick Utton who left E*Trade after a 9 year run.

The Next Generation of Marketing Innovators

Women CMOs (such as Liza) are leading the next generation of marketing innovation…and we can point to several other women CMOs (Helena Foulkes – CVS, Frances Allen – Denny’s, Trish Mueller – Home Depot, Beth Hirschhorn – MetLife, Martine Reardon – Macy’s, Michelle Crecca – Webster Financial) who are transforming their company’s marketing operations and shifting priorities to lead with various forms of online branding, customer engagement, social media (listening), e-commerce, and geo-targeted mobile marketing campaigns. The new definition of marketing is one-to-one personalized communications with relevant (permission-based) offers and information when customers and prospects are shopping or in geographic proximity to the brand’s retail location. Convenience and immediacy are also key drivers…as consumers are also balancing busy work and family lives…and the younger millennial generation wants everything now…without delays or an inordinate wait time.

With Advertising Week 2013 just completed (Sept. 23-27), Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) once again held several meetings and events to support their “women mentoring women” initiatives. Women seeking to get ahead and learn how to proactively manage their personal careers formed a line which went outside the building and half-way up 41st Street outside the Times Center on Tuesday waiting to get into  Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” session moderated by Joanna Coles, Editor-In-Chief at Cosmopolitan. Women were anxious to join the discussion on how women can overcome gender biases and can work together to create a more equal playing field at the C-suite level. Whether you agree or not with Sandberg’s message, here are a few highlights from which to ponder:

  • Excuses and justifications won’t get women anywhere;
  • Believe in yourself, give it your all, and don’t doubt you can have it all (career and family);
  • Be more ambitious, what would you do if you weren’t afraid (to fail)?
  • Only one criteria mattered in picking a job…fast growth;
  • Ask yourself constantly, how could I do better? – what don’t I know? – what don’t I see?;
  • Done is better than perfect.

We connected Sandberg’s session with another insightful Case Study on women’s self-esteem – Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches Campaign which has received 163 million views on YouTube (#1 Cannes YouTube campaign). Watch the YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r79Q6gAQhao) and it will confirm 95% of women globally do not feel they are beautiful and “Sketches” show the differences and how much real beauty others see in women (that they don’t see in themselves). So this is an opportunity area for women to develop as they continue to gain ground at C-levels and in the Boardroom.

Who are the women innovators you most admire for leading the current marketing and technology transformation and what is it about them that makes them so admirable to you?

As always, your thoughts and input are greatly appreciated!  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:  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):    …Read more

Articles

PPC Campaign Ratings and ROI – How Best to Incorporate Them Into Your Models
by Scott Ellis, VP Client Solutions – Adworthy

When lookinScott - Head Shouldersg to answer the question of how much, where and when do we spend online, it makes sense to start with channels with readily available metrics you can measure for primary attribution.  Whether you are trying to establish an efficiency rating for your campaigns or calculating contribution margin from an online channel,  search, because it is the most purpose-driven audience is often the bellwether for most of online spend.  So which is more important in determining the budget allocation to paid search, a third party review and rating or internal ROI budgetary success?                            …Read complete article

Women in Innovation:  The Labor Day Triumph of Diana Nyad — Sept. 7, 2013
by David Dallaire, Founder/Principal – Fennec Consulting

Taking Inspiration From Those Who Already Made It Happen
The amazing achievement of Diana Nyad this week is a great reminder during our Labor Day holiday last week that inspiration comes from many places. Completing the 110 mile swim (110 miles!?!) on her fifth and final try, she is both an inspiration and model for persistence for men and women alike (see the full story of her finish here).  …Read complete article.