Ted Rubin, CMO at elf Cosmetics, Perry Hewitt, CMO at Crimson Hexagon, and David Garrison, CMO at Indaba Music share insights on leveraging social marketing. All members of The CMO CLUB.
MP3 File
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Pete Krainik Shares Latest CMO CLUB Poll Results: Is Your Replacement working for You? CMOs say NO.
This past week's CMO poll question was simple. Do you have a direct report ready to be CMO? Over 91% of CMOs survey said NO. Thats’s right, over 91 % do not feel they have a current person working for them that could lead a marketing organization. Why is that? I asked that question to a number of CMOs at dinners this past week. A number of CMOs said they really do most/all of the strategic work in the company and their organization is really in place to execute the plans. Good execution skills, less strategic thought and leadership needed.
I had a theory that the larger the company, the higher the probability that a key report is being groomed or ready to lead the marketing organization. This is not the case. No difference in size of company and response to this question. Maybe given that many of us are brought in to lead significant change in the organization, the current staff is part of the current approach which needs to be changed? However, the question is someone ready, not is someone lined up to be CMO.
Do you think given many of us are brought in to fix major company wide problems in a short timeframe, grooming our replacement is a luxury we really can’t afford to focus on?
As leaders of our groups, we have the responsibility for development of talent and grooming the next generation of CMOs. As we talk about talent development and creating high performing marketing teams, the more reports we have that think, deliver and lead like CMOs, the better our organizations.
Sounds like time to rollout The Future CMO Club.
What % would CIOs or CFOs say have direct reports ready to be CIO or CFO?
I had a theory that the larger the company, the higher the probability that a key report is being groomed or ready to lead the marketing organization. This is not the case. No difference in size of company and response to this question. Maybe given that many of us are brought in to lead significant change in the organization, the current staff is part of the current approach which needs to be changed? However, the question is someone ready, not is someone lined up to be CMO.
Do you think given many of us are brought in to fix major company wide problems in a short timeframe, grooming our replacement is a luxury we really can’t afford to focus on?
As leaders of our groups, we have the responsibility for development of talent and grooming the next generation of CMOs. As we talk about talent development and creating high performing marketing teams, the more reports we have that think, deliver and lead like CMOs, the better our organizations.
Sounds like time to rollout The Future CMO Club.
What % would CIOs or CFOs say have direct reports ready to be CIO or CFO?
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Pete Krainik shares latest CMO CLUB Weekly Poll Result: Who do you go to for feedback prior to recommendations to your CEO?
This past week’s CMO poll question was not even close. Over 48% of the 50 CMOs polled stated they go to other C-Level Peers in their company for feedback prior to presenting to their CEO. On some levels this makes sense. Your group of peers knows the CEO, have best knowledge of all the other internal company factors, and you can pre-sell the idea by pulling them into the discussion.
Over 18% review with other CMOs prior to meeting with CEO. During a few recent CMO CLUB Dinners, a number of CMOs told me they first go to other CMOs for new ideas and to validate their thinking, then pull in C-Level Peers leveraging the fact they have reviewed with other CMOs to help gain alignment. In other words, other CMOs for ideation, internal C-Level peers for alignment and changes to ensure approval.
Both Agency’s and Direct Reports had 15.2% responses each. I think the changing landscape and focus on ROI, new approaches for engagement, and the importance of internal alignment ( for delivery, customer service improvements, and response to social media driven comments ) has shifted reliance on agencies for feedback prior to CEO presentations.
Over 18% review with other CMOs prior to meeting with CEO. During a few recent CMO CLUB Dinners, a number of CMOs told me they first go to other CMOs for new ideas and to validate their thinking, then pull in C-Level Peers leveraging the fact they have reviewed with other CMOs to help gain alignment. In other words, other CMOs for ideation, internal C-Level peers for alignment and changes to ensure approval.
Both Agency’s and Direct Reports had 15.2% responses each. I think the changing landscape and focus on ROI, new approaches for engagement, and the importance of internal alignment ( for delivery, customer service improvements, and response to social media driven comments ) has shifted reliance on agencies for feedback prior to CEO presentations.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Pete Krainik shares Latest CMO CLUB Poll: As a CMO which area of Personal Coaching would be of most value to you? It Always Comes Back to your CEO
This past week I asked CMOs in the club to respond to this question. Here are the results:
1) Over 32% responded with “Building Credibility with my CEO”.
2) Almost 29% said “Career Coaching”.In thinking about this response I suggest a large part of career coaching is linked to building credibility with your CEO. Patty Azzarello spoke at our Summit last November in SF and her session was one of the highest rating sessions by CMOs in attendance. I am also pleased to note that Patty will be working with The CMO CLUB, starting in early April, as one of the CMO coaches in our upcoming “Members Only” Coaches Coach’s Section on the site”. She will be hosting a forum, weekly blog posts and monthly CMO call for CMOs interested in this topic. More to follow.
3) 21.4% noted “ROI/Financial Management”
With the shift to measureable results oriented marketing this is not a surprise. We actually had a great discussion at one of our Boston dinners with the help of Marketing NPV and actually dissected ROI and budgeting techniques for prioritizing limited marketing dollars. I would also suggest that personal coaching on ROI and Financial Management will build credibility with your CEO.
4) 10.7% responded with “Talent Development” as most valuable to them.
I asked a few CMOs their view on this response and they had some interesting comments. One CMO noted, “It is clearly a top priority for me but right now my lifeline to success is my CEO so I need to stay on top of this and do everything I can to build credibility with him”. Another CMO noted that if the question was rephrased to “Most valuable over next 2-3 years”, she would have Talent Development as her answer.
5) 7.1% selected Contract Negotiation as most valuable to them.
During more aggressive growth times I think this area would be of higher value.
In summary we care about building credibility with our CEOs. How much time per week are you spending thinking about this and do you have an actual plan in place to achieve?
1) Over 32% responded with “Building Credibility with my CEO”.
2) Almost 29% said “Career Coaching”.In thinking about this response I suggest a large part of career coaching is linked to building credibility with your CEO. Patty Azzarello spoke at our Summit last November in SF and her session was one of the highest rating sessions by CMOs in attendance. I am also pleased to note that Patty will be working with The CMO CLUB, starting in early April, as one of the CMO coaches in our upcoming “Members Only” Coaches Coach’s Section on the site”. She will be hosting a forum, weekly blog posts and monthly CMO call for CMOs interested in this topic. More to follow.
3) 21.4% noted “ROI/Financial Management”
With the shift to measureable results oriented marketing this is not a surprise. We actually had a great discussion at one of our Boston dinners with the help of Marketing NPV and actually dissected ROI and budgeting techniques for prioritizing limited marketing dollars. I would also suggest that personal coaching on ROI and Financial Management will build credibility with your CEO.
4) 10.7% responded with “Talent Development” as most valuable to them.
I asked a few CMOs their view on this response and they had some interesting comments. One CMO noted, “It is clearly a top priority for me but right now my lifeline to success is my CEO so I need to stay on top of this and do everything I can to build credibility with him”. Another CMO noted that if the question was rephrased to “Most valuable over next 2-3 years”, she would have Talent Development as her answer.
5) 7.1% selected Contract Negotiation as most valuable to them.
During more aggressive growth times I think this area would be of higher value.
In summary we care about building credibility with our CEOs. How much time per week are you spending thinking about this and do you have an actual plan in place to achieve?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Pete Krainik Shares Latest CMO CLUB Poll Results: As CMO Where do you Spend the Most Time Engaging Your Customers
Last week I asked CMOs in the club this question with some interesting responses. Over 50 CMOs weighed in with the following results:
1) Almost 47% of CMOs responding said Company Driven Events was the one area they spend the most time engaging customers.
2) 25% said eMail with customers
3) 18.8% noted Social Networks (12.5% outside, 6.3% their own).
So even with the growth of social media and our addiction to email as our main course of communication, the “high touch”, face to face aspect of customer engagement is still where we prioritize our time. I am not surprised by this result as the basis for the club’s success to date has been the value from the dinners and face to face sharing of ideas and networking. The only caution I would raise is making sure you are engaging all your customer segments or at least your priority segments via your events. Do you most critical customers attend? How about big influencers? While at Avaya, I always tried to attend User Group events (Avaya hosted or not) to get a feel for their issues, challenges, what they like, etc. Finally, with the downturn and travel cutbacks we need to think about our company driven customer events in light of potential significant reductions in attendance.
It was interesting to see almost 19% of CMOs responding prioritize the largest amount of time engaging customers through social networks. Think about the implications. In just the past year almost 20% of the CMOs responding have gone from other vehicles to social network customer engagement as top time allocation. As an example I have been impressed with Barry Judge at Best Buy and his approach to sharing insights and his personality through twitter and LinkedIn. My last comment in this area, engaging with customer via social networks is not selling them via social networks. I have enjoyed the pushback on Twitter and Facebook when someone goes into sales mode vs. engagement mode. Self policing in action.
Finally, as CMO and responsible for the growth agenda for your company, think about your time engaging customers vs. priorities/approaches for your reports and your organization. Just like campaigns, pricing and new product introductions, customer segmentation is critical for success. Prioritizing your time with the “right” customers is also critical for your success.
1) Almost 47% of CMOs responding said Company Driven Events was the one area they spend the most time engaging customers.
2) 25% said eMail with customers
3) 18.8% noted Social Networks (12.5% outside, 6.3% their own).
So even with the growth of social media and our addiction to email as our main course of communication, the “high touch”, face to face aspect of customer engagement is still where we prioritize our time. I am not surprised by this result as the basis for the club’s success to date has been the value from the dinners and face to face sharing of ideas and networking. The only caution I would raise is making sure you are engaging all your customer segments or at least your priority segments via your events. Do you most critical customers attend? How about big influencers? While at Avaya, I always tried to attend User Group events (Avaya hosted or not) to get a feel for their issues, challenges, what they like, etc. Finally, with the downturn and travel cutbacks we need to think about our company driven customer events in light of potential significant reductions in attendance.
It was interesting to see almost 19% of CMOs responding prioritize the largest amount of time engaging customers through social networks. Think about the implications. In just the past year almost 20% of the CMOs responding have gone from other vehicles to social network customer engagement as top time allocation. As an example I have been impressed with Barry Judge at Best Buy and his approach to sharing insights and his personality through twitter and LinkedIn. My last comment in this area, engaging with customer via social networks is not selling them via social networks. I have enjoyed the pushback on Twitter and Facebook when someone goes into sales mode vs. engagement mode. Self policing in action.
Finally, as CMO and responsible for the growth agenda for your company, think about your time engaging customers vs. priorities/approaches for your reports and your organization. Just like campaigns, pricing and new product introductions, customer segmentation is critical for success. Prioritizing your time with the “right” customers is also critical for your success.
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