chief marketing officer (CMO)

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 […]

Brands are jumping into the messy arena of polarizing issues with greater fervor — and Gillette just raised the stakes. After 30 years of sitting on the sidelines, Gillette is passing its razor like a baton, with an overture that overtly calls masculinity into question. Within 72 hours of launch, Gillette’s “We Believe” TV spot skyrocketed […]

CMOs Should Rethink Their Efficiency Argument For An Effectiveness Strategy Headlines blustering about in-house agencies have marketers buzzing and agencies fretting. While the in-house trend has grown in popularity, it still lacks in maturity. Forrester partnered with leading industry association In-House Agency Forum to track the progress of in-house development. Here’s what we know. Popularity Soars […]

Singles’ Day, the world’s largest online shopping festival, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. There’s no doubt that we will see another record-smashing year, although gross merchandise volume (GMV) will no longer be the highlight. Singles’ Day has always been Alibaba’s testbed for new business models and technologies, and this year is no exception. AI and […]

I am excited to announce the publication of “The Forrester Wave™: Marketing Measurement And Optimization Solutions In Asia Pacific, Q4 2018.” In our first 36-criteria evaluation of marketing measurement and optimization solutions in Asia Pacific (AP), we identified the seven most significant vendors — Analytic Partners, Data2Decisions, Datalicious, Fractal Analytics, Impact, Neustar, and Nielsen — […]

Customer experience (CX) was at the forefront of CMOs’ minds in 2018. They shifted ad budgets (under siege thanks to trust and transparency issues) to even more technology and CX initiatives. Good news: The focus is creating more emotionally resonant and useful brand experiences such as Disney’s MagicBand. Bad news: The competitive advantage these experiences […]

Forrester’s customer experience Forums are in their 10th year — from our first one in 2009 in New York, they’ve grown and spread to San Francisco, London, Singapore, and other cities around the world and have become yearly destinations for CX pros far and wide. CX Europe 2018 is just 12 days from now — Tuesday and Wednesday, […]

To shift from brand monologues to two-way dialogues, many brands are embracing live chat and piloting marketing initiatives on new conversational interfaces such as chatbots and voice-based assistants. However, conversational marketing is not new: It is simply based on listening to your customers, incorporating feedback into your marketing strategy, and communicating back to them in […]

“Love and marriage, love and marriage They go together like a horse and carriage This I tell you, brother You can’t have one without the other” – Frank Sinatra The New Yorker once wrote of Sinatra that “he sounds the way you would sound if you could speak the things you feel.” In my line […]