chief marketing officer (CMO)

CMOs’ ability to impress and influence consumers becomes more difficult with each new technology and experience that enters the market. Despite a myriad of headlines about the awe-inspiring potential of AI or the wave of entrepreneurs dreaming up the next moonshot, consumers contend with more glitter than gold. The reality today is that: Businesses struggle […]

Today, Accenture Interactive announced its Droga5 acquisition. The New York- and London-based creative agency joins previous Accenture creative acquisitions Fjord, Karmarama, and The Monkeys to bolster the consultancy’s creative and brand communication capabilities. Combined with Accenture Interactive’s technology, data, experience design, commerce, and programmatic capabilities, the addition of Droga5 and others helps move them one […]

Apple and Goldman Sachs are partnering to deliver a new credit card. The industry seems to be quick to dismiss the partnership, especially the rewards program — but we think they’re missing the bigger picture. There’s an awful lot more at stake here than credit card rewards. The bigger concern for digital banks, traditional banks, […]

“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” While Ralph Waldo Emerson may not have said these exact words, the principles remain as true as ever today. Going Beyond Improving Today’s Customer Experience If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember a post from 2016, where I introduced […]

In this battle between direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups — cast as the proverbial David — and their large, established brand opponents, victory is not about size or stature; it’s about skillful weaponry. In fact, if one looks at DTC startups’ long-term growth numbers, a scorecard tally suggests that today’s Goliaths will continue to dominate consumer retail […]

Here at Forrester, we love all things music. Each office floor has a different musical theme, and all the rooms are named after popular musicians of the time. It’s not uncommon to have a team meeting in Guns N’ Roses or an afternoon phone call in Jackson Browne. So it seems natural to think of […]

Almost every technology consulting firm, and many others besides, claims to be able to help your business transform into a digital business. Digital transformation has been used to describe everything from moving applications from a data center to the cloud to updating the systems and processes in the finance department. Many examples of so-called transformation highlight […]

As we gear up for Forrester’s Consumer Marketing 2019 Forum, I’m chipping away at a rather large research undertaking that quantifies why direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups deliver value to consumers and how this threatens big brands. In addition to mining rich quant, qual, and behavioral data sets, our advanced analytics illuminates the key drivers that predict […]

Bankers around the world are rightly worried about the threats posed by digital disruptors getting in between them and their retail banking customers. But Forrester’s newest research reveals that executives should be just as worried — perhaps even more worried — about another market that is being upended: small business banking. Small- and medium-sized businesses […]

For the first time in 15 years, I will not attend Mobile World Congress (MWC). When I mentioned this to some clients, some of them told me, “Yes, you’re right: Mobile is dead. There is no innovation anymore. It is all about AI and blockchain these days.” (?!!) I could not disagree more. The reason […]

After New York City, San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore, and London, Forrester hosted its first event dedicated to customer experience (CX) in Paris. It was a great pleasure for me to host about 150 leaders in a unique venue: the Parc des Princes (PSG’s football stadium!!) for a networking event to discuss CX trends and best […]

The Journey From Energy To Experience In the summer of 2017, I, along with my Forrester colleagues, wrote up the results of our year-long endeavor to build an analytically sophisticated, data-driven framework for emotion-led branding. In my report entitled “Emotions Fuel Your Brand Energy,” I outlined three components of a brand’s “energy” and its ability […]

Only 16% of CMOs are responsible for leading the execution of their firm’s digital transformation. Now is the time to rethink your role. Too few CMOs actively lead or are deeply involved in digital transformation. CIOs, COOs, CXOs, and CDOs have filled the gap but don’t represent the voice of the customer or bring the […]

When digital channels such as websites arrived, they were designed in large part as “pieces of paper” delivered on a computer screen (thus, the still-widely-used term “web page”). But the human brain wasn’t wired to slog through big blocks of text, so millions of websites (and now mobile apps and other digital interfaces) are currently […]

When sociologist Jane Jacobs artfully depicts crowds on a city sidewalk, she may as well be describing consumers. In Jacobs’ words: “Under the seeming disorder . . . is a marvelous order. It is a complex order . . . This order is all composed of movement and change . . . ensembles all have […]

Quick video perspective on applying design thinking to business strategy.

CEOs want to understand how digital translates into revenue growth. They don’t just want to hear how similar companies have digitally transformed; they want to understand what the net result was on revenue and profitability. If you’re a technology sales professional working for one of the myriad companies delivering digital transformation, you’ve probably already honed […]

Each thing you see at CES may be wondrous, but after you’ve seen five variations of the same hundred things, the net effect is clutter and confusion. Let me help sort things out. I’ve had a week away from mood-lit Alexa-enabled toilets, from fierce ping-pong-playing robots, and from the jingle-jangle morning of walking through unending […]

After a tumultuous 2018, Facebook’s fate looks bleak. While the characteristic hope of the New Year lingers, you might look at the glimmers of positive news around Facebook with optimism: Advertisers are still using it; the company is investing in local news partnerships in a public display of its commitment to quality reporting; and consumers […]