There’s a renaissance in marketing, Kevin Dean said during a panel discussion at DMA’s &THEN 2016 conference. That renaissance, says Dean, president and GM of targeting for Experian Marketing Services, is the resurgence in marketers’ interest in third-party data.
@bethcomstock of GE says we’re behavioralists. #AndThen16 pic.twitter.com/Bj50PldiPT
— Nancy Harhut (@nharhut) October 16, 2016
“What an amazing time to be a marketer,” GE Vice Chairman Beth Comstock said during the opening keynote at DMA’s &THEN 2016 conference. “Data is our currency. Grab it and use it.”
Marketers, she asserted, should observe consumers, customers, and the market; question everything; gain an understanding of what’s important, expected, and possible; and seek and get customer feedback. “Marketers at our core are behaviorists,” Comstock said.
There’s nothing sweeter than linking marketing to revenue. Just ask Geoff Schiller, chief revenue officer of POPSUGAR. The lifestyle media company uses data to provide content that tantalizes readers and advertisers alike.
In advance of Schiller’s session on innovation and disruption in publishing at DMA’s &THEN 2016 conference, I had the opportunity to ask a few questions via email about POPSUGAR’s affinity for data and its knack for native advertising.
When it comes to marketing, creativity and data are inextricably linked.
Two areas under the spotlight in marketing today are creative and data. In the past they were often dealt with in silos: The stereotype was that the creative team worked on projects such as gut-based branding and ad campaigns, while the data analysts focused on tasks such as market mix modeling and segmentation—rarely collaborating on campaigns. Today creative and data are two sides of a coin that double its value.
One marketing leader who’s a proponent of the creative/data partnership is Jamie Gutfreund, global CMO of Wunderman. During her upcoming session at DMA’s &THEN 2016 conference in Los Angeles she’ll be pulling back the curtain on trends to watch in 2017 and beyond. I caught up with Gutfreund jetting between meetings and asked her for a preview.
Once B2B marketers know what’s standing in the way of a purchase, they can engage a prospective client’s “mobilizer” to help push through to a decision.
“The starting point for marketing and sales today is all about how customers buy,” says Brent Adamson. This is especially true in B2B, where the day of one decision maker is over, according to Adamson, coauthor of The Challenger Customer, along with Matthew Dixon, Pat Spenner, and Nick Toman. Adamson points out that in the B2B purchase process there are 5.4 people involved on average.
One of the many reasons I enjoy attending conferences is the people. The attendees give you insight into the issues, opportunities, and challenges they face. The speakers provide food for thought that helps to sate attendees’ appetite for the information they need to harness opportunities and overcome challenges.
As emcee of Yes Lifecycle Marketing’s inaugural customer summit, Yescalate 2016, I had the opportunity to speak with many of the attendees and, of course, listen intently to a bevy of insightful presenters. Below is a summary of my favorite advice and insights from the conference. Click the cover image to view the PDF.
Day one of Forrester’s CXNYC2016 conference was overflowing with thought-provoking insight. Here, a Storify with a few standout quips from the day.
There are as many ways to succeed in marketing as there are marketers. But there are also approaches and attributes that increase the likelihood of success. Significantly.
Genetic engineering isn’t just a biotech process. It’s happening in marketing. Some marketing agencies are morphing to also be data or technology providers, consulting firms are mutating to incorporate agency services, and tech vendors are transforming to enhance their services offerings.
When brands focus on the experience rather than on the product, customers respond—with their dollars and their loyalty.
“We’re no longer in the business of selling products; we’re in the business of selling experiences,” Brad Rencher boldly asserted during the 2016 Adobe Summit opening day keynote session. “Products are just along for the ride…. This is our new reality.”
