Marketing Thought - A Great Success

Just for those of you who missed it - what a terrific day of networking and learning! Some of our profession's best minds were on hand to share their talents and wisdom. The networking was enhanced by the number of marketing vendors who were on hand to show off their products and services. Andy Sernovitz and Guy Kawasaki stayed after the program to mingle and sign books.

A big thanks to the many people who made this possible and particularly Robert Jacobs who had the vision for this program and Angi Roberts who managed the details.

SVAMA's meetings have received very high "Stay Informed!" ratings all year long - Net Promoter Scores between the low 40s and high 50s. This meeting was over the top with respect to both information and connections.

The organization is about to begin a new year and we hope to involve you in our activities. I can't count how many times I have talked about helping marketers Stay Connected! and Stay Informed! over the past year or so, but it's true. Everyone at SVAMA is involved for the same reasons that you should be involved. We want to meet you and learn from you. If you haven't had a chance to check us out, meet us at our next meeting.

Marketing Operations in the Silicon Valley: Addressing CMO Challenges

By Adrian Carol Ott

CMOs of large Silicon Valley companies are confronted with significant challenges including:

• Globalization: Synchonizing messaging and market activity across continents.

• ROI: Faced with a maturing technology industry, CEO's are demanding greater ROI on their marketing invesments.

• New Marketing Technology: The advent of new technologies has enabled unprecedented interactive dialogs with customers. New technologies must be implemented.

• Stakeholder Agreement: Coordination with regional marketing groups, and stakeholders in product business units and sales constitutes a major task.

Marketing Operations Emerges

As a result of these demands and others, many Silicon Valley CMOs have commissioned a marketing operations organization to tackle these challenges. Originally designated to create metrics and dashboards for accountability, leading companies are increasingly treating marketing operations as a key foundation to the marketing function.

"Marketing operations ensures marketing is run as a business," states a VP of Marketing Operations at a major Silicon Valley firm, "We strive to enable the marketing organization to be streamlined in day-to-day processes so they have time to think, focus on the customer and to innovate."(1)

In many business-to-business focused firms in the Silicon Valley, marketing operations is combined with the sales operation function to promote integration of the two groups. Although organizationally integrated, the purpose of marketing operations as we will describe in this article remains the same.

Introducing the 5Ts of Marketing Operations™

Based on our work with clients, and in our research, we have found that marketing operations is an emerging dimension to the marketing mix. Enabled by new processes and technology, it goes beyond the 4Ps (i.e. Product, Price, Place, Promotion), and 3Cs (i.e. Customers, Competitors, Corporation (2)), to fully round out the marketing mix. The 5Ts of Marketing Operations™ are:

• Total Strategy
• Techniques & Processes
• Tracking & Predictive Modeling
• Technology
• Talent

By approaching marketing operations across these dimensions, CMOs have an integrated approach to enable marketing worldwide. Let’s describe the 5Ts in more detail:

Total Strategy: This area involves strategy development in the product portfolio. It is not uncommon for large high-tech companies to have seventy-five or more products in their portfolios, some have hundreds. Managing investments and priorities across the portfolio is paramount.

Techniques & Processes: How should information flow most effectively across the marketing organization worldwide? How do we make decisions? What are our governance processes? What is our roadmap for marketing processes next year? in 3 years?

Tracking and Predictive Modeling: How do we make marketing more accountable? How do we measure campaigns and ensure better predictability of outcomes?

Technology: How do we implement technology across the globe to enable effective customer dialog, demand generation and measurement? What are the business requirements for IT? How does technology support the marketing and sales process roadmap for the next 3 years?

Talent: How do we ensure our marketing personnel are trained and enabled to work with new marketing technologies and processes? How can we enable them to make the right decisions based on analytics and campaign scorecards?

The Future of Marketing and the 5Ts

The 5Ts have a deep and significant impact on customer relationships. For example, by implementing integrated technology for demand generation and customer database access, regional marketing personnel can now build innovative campaigns on top of a marketing operations infrastructure. By tracking the success of a campaign, companies will realize better customer targeting and ROI; they learn from prior successes and failures.

The 5Ts add a critical foundation to the marketing function enabling marketing operations to support Silicon Valley CMOs to tackling contemporary challenges and to integrate with sales operations. It is dramatically transforming the marketing function and is changing how marketing will be conducted in the future.

© 2007 Exponential Edge Inc., All Rights Reserved


The Author: Adrian Carol Ott is CEO of Exponential Edge Inc, http://www.exponentialedge.com/ a strategy consultancy that assists global corporations to grow and innovate through market assessment, go-to-market planning, and strategic partnering. She also serves as Chair of the Harvard Business School N. California Alumni Marketing and Sales Roundtable. The Roundtable is a forum that explores issues and trends faced by senior executives in the Silicon Valley and Bay Area Business Community.

(1) HBS N. CA Marketing & Sales Roundtable, "Marketing Operations: How It Will Transform Marketing Forever", Panel Discussion with VP's of Marketing Operations from Symantec, Cisco, BEA, and a consumer packaged goods expert, June 20, 2006
(2) It is recognized that the 3Cs have been used in other forms and described in different ways. For example, we have heard "Communication" used as a "C". Our description is what appears to be most consistent in literature based on the author's research. Other forms could be substituted for the 3C's and have the same effect. The goal is to avoid debate on this element in this article as it would take it away from the central topic.

Web 2.0 Makes You ReThink the Basics

As Marketers we are taught to use the standard model of "Acquisition, Retention and Growth" as a frame work. When working with Web 2.0 initiatives, I have found it necessary to re-think the basics to fully take advantage of the possibilities of both the technology and new marketing approaches. The new model I have been evolving and using "Attract, Engage and Extend" has proved to be very useful in the strategy and planning of multiple web-based programs and initiatives.

Attract - customers with compelling and relevant content, resources and tools. Loyalty is fleeting and we can no longer count on "acquiring" customers.

Engage - customers in an ongoing dialog with your company and when appropriate - with each other. Social media and community tools empower us to have that conversation with our customers - and as marketers we need to be prepared to fully engage.

Extend – content beyond the site through syndication/ RSS, viral or pass-along tactics, access or download content to multiple devices, integrate with offline marketing and activities.

For example - I have used this framework to plan the requirements of a website - grouping the desired features, functionality and content depending on rather they contribute to Attracting or Engaging customers or helping to Extend beyond the website. I have also used the same framework to plan web based campaigns and to prioritize marketing activities.

A very simple idea - but useful.

Karen O'Brien is a Principal, Interactive Services with Crimson Consulting

A Manifesto for Microsponsorships

There is a gap in online marketing today. Despite the rising budgets being allocated to online advertising, the distribution of this money is not equal. Even as thousands of new blogs and social networks are created, the vast majority of online as spending is still going to only the largest portal sites or search engines. Of course, there is a vast traffic difference between Yahoo and a small blog - however the theory of the Long Tail shows us that there are plenty of reasons to think outside the portal (or search engine) when buying advertising online. For example, it is generally accepted that word of mouth marketing can be successful even if a person tells just 3 people about a product or service because the interaction is personal, direct and comes from a trusted source. That interaction is worth far more to an advertiser than millions of empty impressions. Yet buying word of mouth rather than impressions on the Internet is an impossible task. Microsponsorship is about making this possible.

Before I get to explaining how microsponsorship would work, consider the following trends and facts about the state of marketing and the Internet today:

1. Everyone is becoming a content publisher as technology makes publishing content online easier and easier
2. The vast majority of the online advertising dollars today go to only the largest sites or networks
3. Most online advertisers have little incentive or no process for advertising directly on small sites
4. Brands struggle to find influential brand ambassadors and the right ways to "activate" them online
5. People have products and services they love and are usually eager to tell others about it

Social media amplifies individual voices and helps them be heard far beyond the close circles of friends and family. This is the truth that has led to the current popularity of consumer generated advertising. The problem is, you can't always identify brand affinity easily. For example, I write a marketing blog, but have never had cause to write about my Vornado desk fan (which I love). As a result, Vornado has no idea I am a brand enthusiast, yet how many of my readers are people who sit at desks and might take action on purchasing a desk fan of their own if given a strong, personal, authentic recommendation? More than a few, I imagine. This is the type of missed opportunity common in online marketing today. Instead, ads are placed based on industry category (ie - consumer tech ads on a gadget blog) or inconsistent keyword algorithms (ie - text ads for "Spicy Spam Kabobs" when you visit your spam mailbox folder on Gmail). What most marketers need is a way to get authentic word of mouth endorsements for products and services from influential sites and individuals. This brings me to microsponsorships.

Imagine if any blog or any social network, no matter how small, could sell a sponsorship of their site to the right brand - one they believe in? Site sponsorships are like sponsorships of an event, they signify support and are based on relevance. They are usually limited in number. Most importantly, they are persistent. You could argue that any site can sell a sponsorship - but the problem, as highlighted earlier, is that for most advertisers the challenge is finding the right sites to select to sponsor. Added to that is the mistaken idea that online "sponsorship" simply means putting your logo in the corner or sidebar of a site. Microsponsorships are based on endorsements and choice, and therefore would include an inherent recommendation and far more value for advertisers. You might have noticed that this idea is influenced by Muhammad Yunus' Nobel Prize winning theory of microcredit. His idea that there was a market need for small loans that was underserved by the existing financial institutions of the world led to the creation of microfinance. Similarly, online marketers need a way to more authentically engage influential brand ambassadors on a micro level. Microsponsorships can do that.

The real question is, how can the industry meet this need and allow brands to buy these microsponsorships, as well as make it easy for individual content creators to sell microsponsorships to the brands they believe in? One potential answer lies in the creation of www.microsponsorships.com. Microsponsorships.com could be a directory where:

1. Every blog or social network can register their site to sell microsponsorships
2. Sites select brands or products they believe in, and define the type of sponsorship
3. Automated algorithms would be used to generate "influence ratings" (using a similar model to Todd And's Power 150 List)
4. Online advertisers and media planners register on the site to get access to see brand affinities and select sites to sponsor.
5. Site owners would get a proposal from brands and decide to accept or decline.
6. Microsponsorships would be brokered across hundreds or even thousands of smaller sites, effectively augmenting any online advertising buy
7. Once accepted, sites would fulfill on the agreed components of the microsponsorship and provide reporting
8. Online advertisers could use metrics reported, or real metrics from the landing page URL provided in order to measure performance

This is only one model for bringing microsponsorships to life, and there are bound to be others. This is an idea that represents a shift in how we think about advertising online and how the importance of having smarter techniques to find and collaborate with brand evangelists online will be the key to getting a value out of online ad spending far beyond just impressions or clicks.

Notes: Rohit Bhargava is VP of Interactive Marketing at the 360 Digital Influence team in Ogilvy Public Relations and author of the popular marketing blog, Influential Interactive Marketing. He has also registered the Microsponsorships.com domain name mentioned in this manifesto, but the idea for the site is currently only a theory.

To read more comments and discussion on this idea, VISIT THE CROSS-POSTED VERSION OF THIS ENTRY ON INFLUENTIAL INTERACTIVE MARKETING >>

What is marketing anyway?

It isn’t rocket science. It’s marketing. What we do is pretty straightforward; we create and distribute messages to get people’s attention so we can convince them to buy more of our stuff. That's not to say the implementation of specific tactics, or the analytics behind a new campaign aren't complicated - they certainly are. But our general approach to "marketing" doesn't have to be.

In the real world, you can have a great strategy, a message that customers care about, fantastic creative ideas and a website that brings tears to your eyes…but if no one hears you then none of it matters. In other words, you need to be heard, otherwise what’s the point? This is especially true for emerging businesses. You know the kind, start-ups that are ready to take off, small businesses on the brink of making it big or divisions of large corporations with a point to prove.

In his book, The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker wrote that "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only two--basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as "an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders".

In today's overly messaged marketing landscape, a more pragmatic answer to the question seems like the right way to go. I define marketing as the way messages about your company, product or service are created and communicated with your customers in order to elicit a positive response. In other words, marketing is the way we create and distribute messages to get people’s attention so we can convince them to buy more of our stuff. (Yes, I did just repeat myself because I think this is really important).

The response can be a decision to purchase from your company, to refer a friend or colleague, or to learn more about your offerings. In any case, these positive responses engage the customer so that you can build a relationship that will ultimately lead to an increase in sales. After all, isn’t that the point?

How Do You Show Up As A Marketer?

Relax and breathe. No need to feel defensive. It isn’t a trick question.
But it can be a revealing one.

If you’re not sure, ask someone: a colleague, a partner, or a co-worker. Meanwhile, I’ll share my answer with you. Then please post your thoughts and stories here.
Our marketing moments of Zen.

I was actually asked this question recently in a Mastermind discussion. And honestly, I don’t know how I would have responded 15 years ago. But now with plenty of history and well, a few gray hairs, it took me only moments to explain.

In fact, the answer hit me point blank at the end of an AMA Professional Chapters Council (PCC) meeting a couple of years ago. During my 3-year PCC term, I got to know very well a great group of 9 volunteers, personally and professionally -- including Tracy Sullivan, past president of the Austin chapter. At the close of our last meeting the year Tracy served as PCC president, she ceremoniously gave each council member a distinctive gift with a special meaning. Some were serious, some were funny. But every token unquestionably captured the essence of each council member.

When my time came, Tracy handed me a beautifully wrapped package that I almost didn’t want to tear open. Inside was one of those great beefy-cotton T-shirts, in navy blue, with writing on the front in big white letters: “Why Are We Doing This?”

Around the table everyone nodded, some laughed, and several shouted in agreement. Then in all seriousness and much affection Tracy pronounced, “Cynthia, this is the one phrase I will always think of when I think of you. And I will always be grateful that you were here to keep us on track by continually reminding us to be conscious.”

Moments like these don’t just fly by without a pause to reflect. Later I thought about not only the past 3 years, but the years before and since. It became clear that one way I show up is “Always Searching.” It really bugs me in any situation to not see the big picture or if something just doesn’t make sense. After all, the big picture provides the context to determine the true value of our marketing efforts, yes?

I find that if we keep asking the question, “Why are we doing this?” -- openly and honestly -- the answers get better and better! Perhaps this could be a way to begin meeting the challenge that Linda Popky declared in her post, “Where is the Marketing Leadership?” As the answer to each question enlarges the context, our shared purpose can become more meaningful and our actions more precise.

The question continues to work for me. Now when I show up wearing my shirt, usually at the gym, it never fails to spark a conversation. And a conversation is a great way to start.

Where is the Marketing Leadership?

We sit here in Silicon Valley in the hotbed of innovation and technology. The same fertile environment that in previous years spawned Fairchild semiconductors, Sun workstations and the Netscape browser has in its most recent incarnation given us iPods, Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Second Life, among others.

New markets and technologies create new marketing possibilities: viral and word of mouth marketing, banner ads and adwords, online communities and mass collaboration.

In terms of new marketing vehicles and innovative ways to apply marketing, compared to many parts of the US and the world, we in Silicon Valley are in no small measure leaders. But when it comes to looking at marketing as a science, a discipline, and a profession, where are we? When it comes time to train and develop marketing professionals at all stages of their careers, where are we? When the questions of corporate and social responsibility or ethics arise, where are we?

Many of us as individuals or in specific organizations are addressing some of these points on a day-to-day basis. What is not yet happening is the consolidation of our individual efforts into a collective, unified force that can drive positive change in the marketing and business community on a macro level. We are still driven by technology and reactive rather than proactive. New technologies appear first, marketing comes along as an afterthought and adapts to the new world.

We are not yet driving the process of setting goals and standards for marketing as a profession. We are not yet demonstrating to the world what it takes to be marketing leaders in the 21^st century—the skills, the acumen, the responsibility.

I believe we have not only a vested interest in this effort, but a natural responsibility to be the drivers and the leaders. In Silicon Valley, we understand the power of the network, the promise of social networking, the potential of mass collaboration. We reinvent the world almost on a daily basis. We are at the bleeding edge of new marketing innovation. Now we need to take our rightful place as leaders of the marketing profession as well.