I’m incredibly excited about this blog post!

First, this is my inaugural post since rejoining Forrester Research in May. I’m a boomerang in Forrester parlance — a former employee returning to the company — and it’s been wonderful to immerse myself in the marketing world and reconnect with so many clients, vendors, and colleagues. In the time since my first tour at Forrester, I’ve held several executive roles, spanning global marketing technology, adtech, and SaaS technology. One of the interesting aspects of being a boomerang is bringing my range of experiences back to Forrester, which I believe will make me a better analyst and resource for clients. I am partnering with my colleague Rusty Warner to cover enterprise marketing technology. It’s a big topic! By teaming up, Rusty and I are in a great position to maintain the Enterprise Marketing Technology playbook, extend coverage of marketing technology into new and expanded topics, and work closely with Forrester clients on a global basis. In particular, I’ll be focusing on the future state of marketing and advertising technologies.

Second, I’m pleased to announce the publication of my first major research report: The Next Generation Of Enterprise Marketing Technology. This report is the new Continuous Improvement chapter of the Enterprise Marketing Technology playbook. Technology is a ubiquitous presence in marketing today, so much that it’s impossible to think that a marketing organization could credibly operate without their tech stack. But many challenges in marketing technology remain stubbornly unsolved, a fact that is often overshadowed by the momentum and noise in the marketing technology ecosystem. 

This report is important to B2C marketers because it sets the groundwork for elevating the application of marketing technology from a tactical tool to a strategic weapon. To do this, marketers need to rethink the role that marketing technology plays. Instead of buying features and functionality to execute in channels, it’s time to consider how the marketing tech stack creates business value. To regain control over marketing technology and satisfy consumers in the age of the customer, Forrester recommends a set of core capabilities that build critical customer knowledge and support cross-channel customer journeys.

This is a great time to be a marketer. There is so much potential and opportunity for brands to serve customers and build sustainable competitive advantages. If you have thoughts to share on this topic or want to reconnect, please contact me at jstanhope@forrester.com or @joestanhope on Twitter.