Month: April 2013

When It Comes To Big Data Is Less More?

My oxymoronish title aside, two esteemed professors at an Ivy League school say that while those in the marketing world continue to struggle with how to handle all the data they are accumulating, they may in fact be wasting their time and more than likely need to go on what they refer to as a “data diet.”

The amount of data brands collect today from all the various channels: social media, email, mobile, and on and on is enormous.

Over the past year or so I’ve written three different articles about Big Data including one in January 2012 entitled Why CMOs Need To Get Real About The Policy Implications Of Big Data.

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Building Customer Relationships with Branded Story-Telling

Brand-story-300x169There are some new buzzwords in marketing going around, everything from “Collaborative Marketing” to “Relationship Marketing,” and even “Branded Content.” But what do those phrases really mean and how can today’s businesses take advantage of them?

Well, we all know that consumers are becoming more and more contemptuous of push advertising, which has traditional marketers scrambling to find a magic bullet to replace it. But with what? When social came along and marketers mistakenly tried to force push advertising messages there, the failures were huge.

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The Dim Light at the End of the Funnel


Over the years, businesses have developed sales, marketing and service strategies around the funnel. Awareness, interest, desire, action, to this day, describes the likely steps a customer may take in making a decision. Over the years, it was assumed that the liner path would also continue through a transaction to a state of loyalty and ultimately advocacy. The process of customer engagement to this day is designed to shepherd people along this delicate path. For at any moment, consumer attention, interest, and resulting action could fall astray without superintendence.

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Epicurious Uses The Boston Marathon Tragedy To Cross That Line

Two days ago. Just two days ago right here in these hallowed halls, as it were, I scribed a column entitled For Brands There’s A Fine Line Between Capitalism And Capitalization – At Least There Should Be. 

The article essentially spoke to the fact that some brands will do whatever it takes, regardless of such minor details as ethics and morals, to move their product, whatever said product may be. And that they will go right on doing what they’ve always done which is to essentially use any medium necessary – email, print, direct marketing, TV, radio, mobile and on and on to drive their message home to as many consumers they possibly can.

Seems I forgot to mention one medium: social media.

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For Brands There’s A Fine Line Between Capitalism And Capitalization – At Least There Should Be

I realized in penning this particular article that there are some brands who simply will not care. They will not care about crossing any lines – fine or otherwise. They will do whatever it takes, regardless of such minor details as ethics and morals, to move their product, whatever said product may be.

They will go right on doing what they’ve always done which is to essentially use any medium necessary – email, print, direct marketing, TV, radio, mobile and on and on to drive their message home to as many consumers they possibly can.

For these brands there is no line between capitalism and capitalization.

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Moneyball For Sales And Marketing (Infographic)

I know what you’re thinking, Steve’s writing about Moneyball only because of the incredible physical similarities between himself and Brad Pitt – who starred in the movie of the same name.

Well, Mr. Pitt’s and my striking resemblances aside, the reason for my article is to share with you something I discovered that ties in the concept of Moneyball with sales and marketing. Now for those of you who are not familiar with the term “Moneyball” please allow me to explain.

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Q&A: Why the Future of Business is Shared Experiences

Jeff Ashcroft (@JeffAshcroft) along with @TheSocialCMO host the popular #MMchat (Marketer Monday) every week at 8 p.m. eastern on Twitter. It’s a rapid fire exchange not only between the organizer and the guest but also everyone following along #MMchat. It certainly makes for exciting dialog in real-time and also later when the full transcript is published. I recently joined them to discuss the future of business and why now is the time to become the hero in your hero’s journey. I’ve recreated our exchange (each in 140 characters or less) for you here…

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Only You Can Make Zero Unemployment Real

A dozen generations ago, there was no unemployment, largely because there were no real jobs to speak of. Before the industrial revolution, the thought that you’d leave your home and go to an office or a factory was, of course, bizarre.

What happens now that the industrial age is ending? As the final days of the industrial age roll around, we are seeing the core assets of the economy replaced by something new. Actually, it’s something old, something handmade, but this time, on a huge scale.

The industrial age was about scarcity. Everything that built our culture, improved our productivity, and defined our lives involved the chasing of scarce items.

On the other hand, the connection economy, our economy, the economy of the foreseeable future, embraces abundance. No, we don’t have an endless supply of the resources we used to trade and covet. No, we certainly don’t have a surplus of time, either. But we do have an abundance of choice, an abundance of connection, and an abundance of access to knowledge.

We know more people, have access to more resources, and can leverage our skills more quickly and at a higher level than ever before.

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Who Benefits from Entertaining, Non-Brand Centric, Commercials?

relevanceWhat did this last round of Super Bowl ads do for the brands who created them? In my opinion, not much—when you consider the colossal price tag of the ads compared to brand perception. This past year a 30-second spot cost $4M to air, not counting the costs for an agency to produce it.

According to MediaLife, $1.85 billion was spent on these ads over the past 10 years, and all the while TV viewership has flattened. So who really benefits?

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B2B And B2C Marketers Agree – Relationship Marketing Is Where It’s At

Part of me is truly amazed that has taken this long to realize something that should have been obvious to all of us from the beginning of time. Well, the beginning of advertising and marketing time, that is.

Regardless of the medium or platform or whatever word you prefer to describe all the ways we communicate with consumers, shouldn’t we all collectively been trying to establish a relationship and engage with our customers from the proverbial get-go?

Shouldn’t adopting this type of approach bring with it the subsequent increased revenue we all seek but done in so in a more, of I don’t know, natural way?

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