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In Advertising, Efficiency and Effectiveness Aren't the Same

In the beginning, there was creative. Then came reach and frequency. Much later, programmatic buying.

I've been having fascinating state-of-the-industry lunches over the past few months with Rodney Mayers, the CRO of Proximic. We've been trying to figure out how to tell the ad industry that although programmatic buying does bring efficiency to the process, it doesn't necessarily bring effectiveness. Efficiency is a work flow problem that can be solved by programmatic buying. But solving it will not necessarily move product unless it is combined with effectiveness -- what makes people act.

Effectiveness, the be-all and end-all of advertising, is a totally different story.

In the race to prove themselves up to the task of working with the CIO, CMOs have forgotten what Steve Jobs knew well: we are human and therefore emotional. We make decisions mostly on emotions. Where are our customers and what makes them buy? How do we query data to arrive at effective media buys? Effective advertising provokes decisions, but efficient advertising simply reaches people.

You have to ask the right questions of the data produced by programmatic platforms in order to combine your increased efficiency with effectiveness. CMOs need to go...

5 Suprising Facts about Brand Advocates

Posted by Rob Fuggetta in Opinions on May 24th, 2013 at 9:09 am

Marketers’ interest in Brand Advocates is hot, hot, hot. Driving advocacy and loyalty is the #1 digital priority for CMOs across the world, according to a recent IBM study. (“From Stretched to Strengthened.”)

Here are five surprising facts about Brand Advocates, those consumers who pro-actively recommend brands and products:

1.       Brand Advocates are a large segment. About one in four US online adults frequently recommend brands and products, according to a study published in eMarketer. That means there are about 60 million Brand Advocates in the US alone, enough Advocates to fill 1,200 baseball stadiums.

2.       Brand Advocates recommend often. On average, US consumers talk about brands 56 times per week and 62 percent of these conversations include positive references, according to Word of Mouth researchers Keller Fay.

3.       Brand Advocates aren’t limited to sexy consumer products. Box, a file transfer service used by consumers and businesses, has created an army of over 90,000 enthusiastic Advocates. Box Advocates are touting the service via thousands of positive reviews, stories, tweets, posts, and more.

4.       Brand Advocates are your most valuable customers. Brand Advocates are your true VIPs. They go out of their way to recommend your brand and products, serving as a volunteer marketing force. Our studies...

Who is Your Writing Hero?

Posted by Julie Roehm in Opinions on May 24th, 2013 at 8:00 am

This was a tweet that I saw today from one of my favorite writers, Guy Kawasaki. It led to a link to his Facebook page where people were writing who were theirs. It made me think about whether or not I had a "favorite". Someone once told me that they hated the idea  of "favorites" because they had one for different circumstances. I kind of agree with that which is why answering the question about my favorite writer was tough. Still, the tweet itself struck me because just last week, I ran into another person that would likely make my list; Seth Godin.

I am the "Chief Storyteller" at SAP and was backstage working with our executives and customers at our annual SAPPHIRE NOW event in Orlando last week. Seth was a keynote speaker during one of our sessions and I took a moment to tell him that he in fact was one of my favorite writers in large part because his messages were so simple, yet really insightful. I mean, how many of us could write books entitled, "We Are All Weird", "Watcha Gonna Do With that Duck?", "Purple Cow", "Poke the Box", or my favorite, "All...

5 Buyer Behaviors Reshaping B2B Marketing

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One thing we can count on is by the time you have finished reading this buying behavior may have been altered one again.  Changes in buyer behaviors continue unabated.  This is making it difficult for marketing and sales leaders to plan the right mix of strategies and tactics resulting in a winning formula.

5 Buyer Behaviors B2B Marketing Must Keep An Eye On

New buying behaviors means B2B marketers have to become more responsive today.  Creating nimble organizations and improving knowledge in buyer understanding.  Here are ways buyer behavior will continue to reshape marketing:

Buyers Embrace Collaboration

Social and digital technologies has allowed for progress in the area of collaboration.  Meaning the sphere of influence and interaction not only has widened but increased.  Old ideas about roles on buying teams are being shattered as we speak.  The era of collaborative buyer networks has arrived.  We now have to consider internal as well as external members of collaborative networks impacting decision-making.

Buyers Want Co-Creation

Collaborative networks are fostering a new environment for co-creating products, services, and for solving problems.  This new development will put pressure on...

1st Pinterest Partner Event Recap

Posted by Tom Edwards in Social Media on May 23rd, 2013 at 12:55 pm

I recently attended the first ever Pinterest Partner Marketing Summit in NYC. This invite only event unveiled their emphasis on developing a strong partner program and also served as an opportunity to introduce new staff to the Pinterest partner team, new resources for brands and agencies and best practices to maximize the platform.

Pinterest Event

There were five primary areas of focus for the event.

1) Why Pinterest
2) Pinterest Interest Graph
3) New product enhancements (Rich Pin & Mobile Pin It)
4) Analytics & Partner Tools
5) Partner case studies & Best Practices

WHY PINTEREST

Ben Silbermann, Pinterest Co-Founder & CEO started the day by telling the story of Pinterest. He discussed his love of collections when he was young… stamps, butterflies, baseball cards, etc… he saw an opportunity as there was not an elegant solution to organize collections online.

He had roots with Google and was enamored by how the search giant was able to so seamlessly focus on enabling search & retrieval across the web. If you know what you are looking for Google provides an ideal platform for search & retrieval.

He actually related Pinterest more to Google & search than to other social channels such as...