Ten years ago, the most pressing challenge facing CMOs was how to break through the clutter of mass advertising. So they partnered with agencies who developed a reputation for getting noticed in the noise. The Burger King work developed with Crispin Porter epitomized this world. Many found the plasticized King off-putting, but it definitely got noticed. In a world of advertising overload, that was no small feat.
The need to connect emotionally with people will always be fundamental to brand building, but clutter is no longer the CMO’s chief adversary. Today’s market is ruled more by complexity than clutter. Marketers face consumer expectations that are increasing exponentially. We now insist that companies respond instantly to us in the channels of our choosing. We don’t call or email their service department; we put a hashtag in front of their name and expect a prompt response. We want sales and service to move easily between offline and online worlds. At the same time, the means to meet these expectations are expanding. Established players like Twitter, Google and Facebook are introducing new features weekly, and players with new models arrive by the dozens every month. The infrastructure needed to support the effective use of these avenues That’s why Gartner predicted that CMOs would be spending more on IT than CIOs by 2017.
Yet amid this exponential expansion, marketing budgets only increase linearly, if they increase at all. It’s little wonder that many CMOs feel they’re losing ground. Accenture reported earlier this year that the overall feeling among CMOs is that they are less prepared to compete in today’s marketplace than they were a year ago . About 4 in 10 CMOS said they lack the tools, people, and resources to meet their objectives. You know it’s tough going when you feel you’re moving backwards.
As a result, CMOs are looking for a new set of partners to help them manage a fundamental difference with the Complexity Challenge. Overcoming clutter meant figuring out how to use the same tools everybody else was using more creatively. Overcoming complexity means figuring out which tools to use and how to use them. This requires not just creative insight, but business, technical and channel insight. Today’s CMO needs partners who can:
- Sort through the flood of new offerings to constantly update the right strategic portfolio of tools that will deliver the most impact
- Orchestrate the use of those tools so they inform and reinforce each other
- Harness the value of advanced analytics to generate the right feedback on where and how to win more hearts, minds, and business from the people who matter most to the business
As the world flocks to social media, it is important to remember that not every tool is right for every situation. On a tactical basis, Twitter is an excellent example of this. Just as nearly every marketer who wanted to look plugged-in 18 months ago was starting a blog, the same crew is now crushing on Twitter. Lost in this rush to appear like a modern marketer is even a cursory examination of what the tool is designed to do. As its heart, Twitter is an announcement vehicle disquised as a conversational vehicle. It is ideal for passing along news, gossip, and funny quips. It is a mediocre vehicle for dialogue. Yet, I have heard many a marketer justify their Twitter efforts as a way to have a deeper conversation with their customers.
The Ryan Report 