Archive for February, 2009

CMOs Distracted by Internal Obstacles

According to a new study from the CMO Council, top marketers are hindered by a variety of internal obstacles. Those most commonly cited include:
- corporate politics
- siloed data
- poor adoption of customer relationship management systems
- lack of top management support
- not having ownership of profit and loss responsibilities

When asked, “To what degree are competitive best practices being analyzed, tracked or adopted by your marketing team?” 43 percent said “somewhat” and 15 percent replied “not at all.” Another 32 percent said they did so “moderately” and only 9 percent said “extensively.”

“Companies don’t track and analyze what their competitors are doing,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. “What we’re not seeing is the mind-set to do this.”

Who participated in the survey?
- 406 marketing executives
- 25% from tech firms, 21% from professional services firms and the rest from manufacturing, telecommunications, consumer products, financial services, travel, healthcare and retail.
- included marketers from Microsoft, Accenture, Nortel, Wal-Mart, Levi Strauss, VeriSign, Kodak, Scottrade, Sony, ConAgra Foods, General Electric, Western Union, CA, Motorola, Kimberly-Clark, Cisco, AMD, LG, Victoria’s Secret, Deloitte, Hershey, AT&T and Symantec.

Marketers–let us help you! Boardroom Insiders can provide you great insight into not only what the competition is doing–but what your top customer execs care about. And as for data silos, you can pull our data right into your CRM and we’ll make sure it stays updated.

Posted February 24th, 2009 in

CFOs Getting More Involved in IT Purchasing

For those of you who regularly sell to CIOs, I read an article in The McKinsey Quarterly today that predicts a growing convergence of IT and corporate finance–which means that if you sell to CIOs, you might have to add the CFO to your list of executives you need to reach.

Or, at the very least, you need to arm your CIO with information they can provide to their CFO that outlines the value equation of the IT investment you want them to make.

Here is an excerpt:

“The year 2009 will be a tipping point for the CFO’s involvement with IT. Large businesses have hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars locked up in their IT organizations—including data center facilities, systems assets, and organizational capabilities built over time. In a world where capital is at a premium, CFOs will seek to use IT assets as a lever to generate cash…Successful CIOs will give the senior-management team practical ideas on how to optimize cash…In retailing, for example, a CFO knows with some precision what an additional location will cost and how much revenue it is likely to generate. In contrast, an IT project’s total cost could be off by an entire order of magnitude and its value either minimal or game changing. Senior executives at some organizations that have used IT less successfully in the past will probably throw up their hands and shut off all discretionary IT projects for the duration of the downturn. Naturally, this situation will challenge CIOs. The most effective course will be to explain what it would take to improve the value equation for IT investments.”

Posted February 19th, 2009 in

Recording for 2/5 Webinar Now Available!

Now you can access a recording of our recent webinar, “Winning Executive Buy In Within Your Organization: The Art of the Internal Pitch.”

Posted February 10th, 2009 in

Last Chance to Register for 2/5 Webinar!

Last chance to register for our next Boardroom Insiders 30-minute webinar!

This topic is “Winning Executive Buy In Within Your Organization: The Art of the Internal Pitch”

In just 30 minutes, we will cover how to:

- zero in on senior execs’ business and personal careabouts
- work with internal gatekeepers to gain access
- speak their language
- craft a compelling story and a winning presentation
- keep the momentum going

Everyone who attends will receive one free custom executive profile and a two-week trial subscription to www.boardroominsiders.com!

Posted February 4th, 2009 in

Why CMOs Clash With CEOs

Check out this recent article by Al Ries that appeared on the AdAge website. Ries calls the clash between left-brain management and right-brain marketing ” the biggest problem in business today.”

Other gems of insight include:

“Most entrepreneurs — think Howard Schultz, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell — are right brainers. When entrepreneurs grow up, however, they often fall into management mode and let their left-brain subordinates take over.
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
“Before Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull, introduced his unique beverage, he tested the concept. ‘People didn’t believe the taste, the logo, the brand name … a disaster,” he was quoted as saying at the time. But he introduced Red Bull anyway, something a right-brain entrepreneur would do but not something the logical thinkers at most big companies would do.”
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
“…a marketing person has to sell a marketing idea to management in management terms — not in marketing terms. Forget the dog and pony shows. Use analytical tools to sell holistic concepts. Use facts, figures, market shares and other data to sell intuitive ideas to a logical thinker.

And don’t just sell a concept; sell an analogy. “We should do what Grey Goose did — launch a high-end brand.” Or “We should do what Apple did — launch a second brand like the iPod.”

Right-brain marketing people should think conceptually but present those conceptual ideas to left-brain management with analogies buttressed by logical, analytical explanations.”