Chart of the Day: Innovation and market expansion take backseats to refining existing products and services
Research from The CMO Survey shows that American CMOs are heavily focussed on their own markets, rather than broadening into new ones.
Asking over 300 marketers about their spending strategies over the last 12 months, companies from all sectors put the majority of their spending on existing products/services in existing markets. Only roughly one-quarter of these marketers’ budgets were put towards new products, with even less going towards their efforts in new markets.
This near-tunnel vision is explained when looking at what the CMOs believe their customers see as top priorities for the coming year. ‘Superior product quality’ (33%) and ‘excellent service’ (23%) topped these replies, both seeing increases from 2017, with ‘superior innovation’ coming in at 15% (no increase from 2017).
The percentage spend of marketing budgets on…
Introduction
Technological changes are one of the leading advocators to shape customer value. They are characterized by a process of social technological variations, rooted in different disciplines e.g., economics, sociology, and psychology.
It implies that the competitive advantage is increasingly shaped by the management of the polysemic nature of the customer value. This crossroads of understanding drives how shoppers use various channels (offline, online, and mobile) across temporal stages (pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase.
In this holistic playfield, we are attempting to simplify this discipline by seizing a definite space of instruments of measurement.
As such, “digital factory” can be simplified by structuring meta-themes, articulating a “software of the mind” for digital practitioners. This is an expression coined by a Dutch Management Professor Geert Hofstedewish, designed in the context of culture, to provide a guide for humans on how to think and behave.
Metathemes are researched and practitioner theoretical factors assembled and organized vertically and horizontally…
Though business has changed drastically in the Internet Age, these age-old SOPs can still save your sanity
Contrary to the popular belief of some employees, a management style that relies on standard operating procedures (SOP) does not have a primary goal of driving everyone bat guano crazy with detail-oriented documentation. Actually, the entire point of SOPs, done correctly, is to make an organization more efficient by saving time and effort when faced with recurring situations. As the digital transformation of business quickens and the globe shrinks, never has it been more important to put processes in place that support the scaling of companies into a position to take advantage of the profit potential in international markets.
When the internet lurched into the mass consciousness back in the mid-1990s, it was impossible for most businesses to comprehend the ultimate effect it would have. Now, almost a few decades into the 21st century, we…
Flying Autonomous Vehicles, Biochips, and Blockchain for Data Security - how long do we have to wait until we start seeing these emerging technologies take shape?
Changes in technology are inevitable as we strive to create products and ways to improve our quality of life.
Gartner Hype Cycle 2018 - Emerging technologies
Newly released, the 2018 Hype Cycle is a perfect visual aid to understand the maturity and adoption of emerging technologies and their current state of development and expectations.
Phases in the hype cycle:
Innovation Trigger - This might signal a breakthrough in the technology development, an initial product launch or interest from the press. This technology is on the rise which sees early adopters investigate their potential benefits.
Peak of Inflated Expectations - After an influx of media and press attention this sparks a huge amount of interest and speculation. There is normally heightened expectations of what the technology will be able to…
Standing out from the crowd is a challenge and therefore conceiving, creating and maintaining a personal ‘brand’ gives us the opportunity to get noticed and remembered by our managers, peers and customers
For some people, the concept of ‘personal branding’ does not sit well. The idea that we are all walking, talking commodities to be packaged up and sold contradicts the notion of being independent, free and unique individuals. I believe the reality is somewhere in between.
Whilst we are absolutely independent, free and unique, within the working world we are operating in a very noisy, competitive environment. Standing out from the crowd is a challenge and therefore conceiving, creating and maintaining a personal ‘brand’ gives us the opportunity to get noticed and remembered by our managers, peers and customers.
[si_guide_block id="117459" title="Download our FREE Resource – Marketing careers and skills development workbook" description="Tools and techniques to give you clarity on your future…
Chart of the Day: Which are the most important skills for you to develop for your future career
In a previous article, I reviewed the most important marketing skills based on the recently published research from The IDM and Smart Insights. In this follow-up I'll drill down to look at specific skills gaps.
This first chart is helpful since it highlights the main categories of transferable generic skills which are most important to career progression. This is based on marketers who rated these as very or extremely important. You can see that these include many of the skills topics that we focus on at Smart Insights include strategy and planning, data and insight and, of course, digital marketing. As we say, we look to help our members 'Plan, Manage and Optimize' their digital marketing.
The second chart drills down to show more specific skills. You…
Chart of the Day: Having the right talent is the most important factor for organizational growth
As marketing technology evolves and more of its tasks are automated, it is only natural for people to fear that the tech they use could compromise their own value. After all, isn’t it better to place as many responsibilities in the hands of machines, which can work faster than humans, without the need to pause due to fatigue or sickness, and to a higher degree of detail?
The answer from US CMOs is ‘no’. A survey of over 300 US marketers who were asked what they believe is the most important factor for the future organic growth of their organization showed a great emphasis on the human element. Data capture and analysis is a growing factor for many companies, though it has some way to go…
AI, in a marketing context, is a form of optimization (designed to optimize marketing tasks, tools, and communications). It’s on the verge of transforming our roles and is spurring a revolution to our entire industry
Have you ever received a marketing communication from a brand that seemed as if it knew you almost too well — using your name, showing you enticing recommended items, or even reminder cart abandonment emails and unique codes and coupons? Sometimes they even turn up as though someone read your thought. Ever wondered how they do it, or how you can too?
The answer: Artificial intelligence marketing.
Indeed, Apple’s Siri product, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, or any of the dozens of other AI-driven digital assistants out there are already changing the role that machines play in making our…
Chart of the Day: What do Marketers want from AI?
AI and Machine Learning is not just for the biggest of companies with a large budget - yet many SMEs still think so. There are various ways of adding AI into your business' customer lifecycle, as demonstrated in our infographic below.
Machine learning can be applied to interact with first-time customers and those that show purchase intent, to repeat customers and re-engage lapsed customers. Yet the majority of B2B marketers asked, expect AI to help them with identifying prospective customers and improving marketing effectiveness in driving revenue.
"B2B marketers surveyed for this latest report were twice as likely to say they’re unclear as to the differences between AI, machine learning, and predictive (37%) as to say they have a strong understanding (19%) of how they differ."
Knowledge of AI is still limited, which means…
Chart of the day: New research highlights the top marketing skills for career progression
This research is from a report which is a collaboration between Smart Insights and The IDM. Its goal was to help marketers understand the skills needed to improve in their careers and to help employers understand the range of skills they need to develop. Respondents include Smart Insights members, thanks if you took part!
This first chart shows the importance based on time spent on current activities by marketers. It shows the wide range of skills needed and highlights the need for marketers looking for new jobs to demonstrate planning, data analysis and project management skills.
The second chart is more useful since it highlights the skills gap, comparing the skills that marketers have now against those they aspire to develop in the future.
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