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HELPING MARKETERS LEAD THE TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS BY PUTTING CUSTOMERS
FIRST.

 * Videos
 * Interviews
 * Ebooks
 * Mission Statement


THE UNIFIED EXPERIENCE

by Stephen Shaw - Read time is 21–25 minutes


If marketers hope to take complete charge of the customer experience, they must
start out with one goal in mind: make a meaningful difference in the lives of
customers. By knowing what truly matters to customers, they can lead the way in
designing a signature experience that will create true brand loyalists.

[ ...continue reading ]
Show All Articles Podcasts Frameworks


CUSTOMER PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS

Since customers are usually the primary source of recurring revenue for any
company, they should be viewed as assets whose value can be expected to increase
over time. A customer base is analogous to an investment portfolio with assets
that have different rates of return.

The purpose of a Customer Portfolio Analysis is to understand the distribution
of value across customers and how they differ in their investment potential. By
examining the behavioral patterns, characteristics and tendencies of customers,
a CPA Analysis will reveal strategically significant segments who warrant
differential investment. Once those segments have been identified, customer
management strategies can be developed to increase the lifetime value of those
customers and to maximize retention through relationship marketing programs. The
analytical insights can also be used to guide the profitable acquisition of new
customers; set benchmarks for critical key performance indicators; and fine-tune
demand forecasting based on expected revenue growth amongst existing customers.

[click image to enlarge]

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SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK

Satisfaction and loyalty are really two sides of the same coin. They are
interdependent. They form a chain of cause and effect, building on each other,
so that they cannot be treated separately. That’s why they must be measured and
managed holistically if you want to deliver a truly exceptional customer
experience. Earning high satisfaction scores just earns you the right to compete
for customers. But to retain those customers, you need to offer them greater
total value than they can find elsewhere. You need to exceed their expectations.
And you need to prove to them, over time, that you are deserving of their
affection and loyalty. By adopting a more integrated and systematic approach to
satisfaction and loyalty measurement, you will not only learn what’s important
to customers, you will know exactly what you need to do to earn greater
emotional commitment to you.

learn more


CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY

Customer experience has become a top investment priority for CEOs. They finally
realize that CX leaders generate faster and more sustainable growth by
delivering a superior experience that leads to stronger customer relationships.
Where most companies struggle, however, is turning their CX ambitions into a
coherent and effective strategy across the organization. It requires a planning
framework that connects segment-specific customer expectations and needs with
the design of a unique brand experience anchored in a differentiated value
proposition. The customer experience is managed over time through a set of
evergreen programs that are designed to create continuous value as the
relationship matures. [Click image to enlarge].

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SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FRAMEWORK

With people now spending a couple of hours per day on social media it is vital
for brands to have a visible presence on the various platforms where they can
engage in direct conversation with customers. Yet for many companies social
media remains a sideshow to their core marketing programs. They have not quite
figured out how to harness the conversational power of social media to manage
relationships with customers. Nor have they fully integrated the use of social
intelligence to drive marketing strategy. To get the most out of their
investment – which typically ranges from 10-20% of the marketing budget –
marketers need to develop a more systematic approach to social media strategy
and planning. [Click on image to enlarge]

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INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

A common challenge for all marketers is to prove the value of their contribution
to the business. The thin evidence they usually serve up in defense of their
spending is invariably greeted with skepticism by the CFO whose job it is to
make sure the money is being spent wisely. To secure greater buy-in, marketers
must prove they are making a real difference in achieving the business results
that senior management actually cares about. They need to be able to show clear
cause and effect in the form of an integrated performance measurement framework
that incorporates both attitudinal drivers (the emotional catalysts that explain
buyer behaviour) and the marketing performance metrics that directly ladder up
to corporate measures of success. (click image to enlarge)

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BRAND PLANNING

Building a distinctive brand today has become exceedingly complex. It is hard to
win the attention of the marketplace – hard to stand out in a sea of sameness –
hard to rise above the clutter – hard to win the loyalty of fickle buyers. And
the dizzying array of communication options makes media planning an exercise in
guesswork. To succeed brand managers must set out to capture the imagination of
potential buyers and follow a rigorous stepwise process to achieve their goals.

learn more


SEGMENT BASED STRATEGIC PLANNING

As the legendary marketing academic Theodore Levitt once said, “If you’re not
thinking segments, you’re not thinking”. Business success hinges on identifying
and responding to customer needs. So segment strategy needs to be the starting
point of the marketing planning process. The goal is to invest in the segments
that offer the greatest opportunity for profitable growth and long-term
relationship building.

learn more


THE MARKETING STACK

There has been in recent years a Cambrian explosion of technologies to automate
and enhance just about every facet of the marketing process. Today a typical
marketing stack is made up of many 3rd party SaaS apps and tools, often loosely
integrated. Because different functional areas of marketing have their own
preferred tools, a marketing automation system can start to look like a bloated
“frankenstack”. The many moving parts must be tightly welded together so that
they work in unison to deliver a better customer experience.

learn more


MARKETING PLANNING MODEL

In order to deliver a more unified customer experience, marketing must adopt a
new customer-first planning model which connects brand building strategy and
goals with the design and management of programs that govern the customer
relationship. Marketing investments should be based on increasing customer value
and retention, aligned with the corporate growth objectives and revenue goals of
the business.

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THE NEW MARKETING MODEL

Most marketing departments still function like a message assembly line,
manufacturing branded content and pushing it out through various distribution
channels in the hope of being noticed. That model is a vestige of another era
when all that mattered was winning audience attention. A new, more holistic
model is required, focused on improving the quality of the customer experience,
using data to drive strategy, experience design and interaction planning.

learn more


UNIFIED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

For most marketers the goal of delivering a unified customer experience remains
a utopian vision, stymied by internal siloes, fragmented systems and the sheer
complexity of orchestrating cross-channel interactions in real-time. For
marketers to turn that ambition into reality, they need to take the lead role in
designing a seamless end-to-end experience aligned with the customer lifecycle.
By drawing a precise picture of that ideal experience, and creating a
transformation roadmap to achieve it, marketers can finally close the gap
between what customers want and their actual experience.

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CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION

Designing more meaningful experiences for customers depends on segmenting them
into unique groups based on both their past behaviour and their prevailing
attitudes and beliefs. Defining those segments requires the integration of
behavioural profiling and attitudinal research, leading to the creation of more
vivid personas that can drive program design.

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BRAND IDENTITY MODEL

To connect with people today a brand must stand for something more than the
functional role it plays — it must reach them on an emotional level. A brand
identity model is required to come up with a single unifying idea that shows how
the brand can make a real difference in people’s lives.

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CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

Customer Lifecycle Management involves the structuring of marketing programs
around the different stages of the customer lifecycle, from the initial buying
journey to continuous engagement as the relationship matures over time. As
knowledge about customers increases through successive interactions, marketers
can improve the quality of their experience through individualized treatment of
their needs.

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UNIFIED PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT

Marketing’s contribution to the health of a business is hard to prove and
therefore constantly subject to challenge. Yet a strong foundation for
measurement is crucial if the right marketing investments are to be made. A
Unified Performance Measurement system is required which presents a more
holistic picture, showing how every key marketing measure ladders up to the
corporate definition of success.

learn more


THE ADTECH ECOSYSTEM

Digital advertising now accounts for over half of all advertising in Canada and
is growing at an annual rate of 25%. Over 80% of that expenditure is driven by
programmatic advertising – the automated buying and selling of online ads –
which requires a complex ecosystem (or “ad-tech stack”) of interconnected
platforms, tools and services. This AdTech Ecosystem matches available ad
inventory from publishers with bids from online media buyers, auctioning the ad
space in real-time, all in the blink of an eye.

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INTEGRATED CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT

To earn the right to be a trusted brand, marketers need to adopt a new
customer-first planning model, designed to support the needs of customers at
every stage of the relationship lifecycle. The goal: create a seamless, more
unified experience, which makes it easy for customers to interact with the
brand, anytime, anyplace.

learn more


CONTENT PUBLISHING CYCLE

A critical success factor in delivering a great customer experience is the
ability to offer quality content to customers. But producing relevant, timely
and useful content consistently over time is a challenge for most companies.
Marketers are simply not accustomed to thinking like publishers. A content
publishing model is required, linking the brand value proposition to the
creation, distribution and promotion of content.

learn more


CUSTOMER FIRST THINKING

Companies now realize that a great customer experience is the biggest driver of
competitive advantage. But delivering a winning experience across multiple
touchpoints is a complex undertaking. It demands new thinking, new systems, new
capabilities, new processes – most of all, the strategic embrace of Customer
First Thinking where serving the needs of customers is not just a corporate
sentiment, but a way of doing business. Because what matters to customers is not
the promises a brand makes – it is the promises a brand keeps.

learn more


THE UNIFIED EXPERIENCE

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 21–25 minutes

If marketers hope to take complete charge of the customer experience, they must
start out with one goal in mind: make a meaningful difference in the lives of
customers. By knowing what truly matters to customers, they can lead the way in
designing a signature experience that will create true brand loyalists.

learn more


THE SOCIAL BRAND

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 19–23 minutes

Social media is on the cusp of a new era as people retreat behind closed doors
to join private groups where they can safely interact with their trusted circle
of family and friends. Marketers will have to reset their social strategies and
intensify their efforts to form communities of interest amongst brand
enthusiasts.

learn more


WHO NEEDS MARKETING ANYMORE?

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 17–21 minutes

Marketing is in crisis. No longer respected by corporate chieftains as a
strategic function, it has been demoted to simply making ads. The only way for
marketing to stage a comeback is to become a difference maker once again.

learn more


THE ONLY NUMBER THAT MATTERS

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 15–18 minutes

Proving the value of marketing means showing that the investment is paying off
in faster business growth. But that is only possible if marketing adopts a more
unified approach to measurement.

learn more


ACTING ON PURPOSE

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 13–16 minutes

Coming out of this pandemic the time has come for every company to take stock of
the role it plays in the world and define its true social purpose. But that job
cannot be left to marketing alone – it demands a top down commitment to a
purpose-led vision and adoption of a new governance model that treats all
stakeholders fairly

learn more


NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME AGAIN

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 11–13 minutes

The pandemic has triggered many unexpected shifts in consumer behaviour that are
here to stay. Now is the time for marketers to look past this crisis and get
ahead of change instead of continuously chasing it.

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COMPETING ON INSIGHT

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 13–15 minutes

Marketers have more customer data to work with than ever before – so why are
they still struggling to convert numbers into meaningful insight? Getting
answers that lead to breakthrough strategy starts with knowing the right
questions to ask.

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WILL MARKETERS FINALLY GIVE UP ON PERSONALIZATION?

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 8 minutes

Mastering the practice of personalization can seem overwhelming for marketers,
leaving them to wonder whether the cost and effort is worth the trouble. But
giving up on the dream of one-to-one marketing would be a shame

learn more


TOO EASY TO IGNORE: WHY BRANDS ARE LOSING THE WAR FOR ATTENTION IN THE ERA OF
PEAK CONTENT

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 8 minutes

Content marketing may be nearing a saturation point. Most brand content is
invisible, lost in the clutter. To have any chance of being noticed, marketers
have to find a way to make the brand story impossible to ignore

learn more


THE RELATABLE BRAND COMES OF AGE

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 8 minutes

The rapid growth of direct-to-consumer brands may seem like a replay of the
dot-com bubble in the Web 1.0 era. But what makes this new generation of DTC
brands different is a genuine love for their customers.

learn more


WHAT COMES NEXT?

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 11–13 minutes

In an age of massive disruption, every business is under pressure to innovate.
Marketers are best positioned to lead the way – but how can they balance truly
breakthrough thinking with the need to deliver results today?

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THE EVOLUTION (AND FUTURE) OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 7 minutes

Relationship marketing has taken 30 years to mature into a mainstream
discipline. Today its principles and practices form the bedrock of a new
marketing model based on putting customer needs first.

learn more


THE BIG SHIFT

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 12–14 minutes

Marketing has reached a turning point: either it abandons the brand building
model first invented nearly a century ago, or almost certainly fall victim to
the forces of disruption. While no one knows what a next generation planning
model looks like, everyone agrees it will take a big shift in thinking to get
right.

learn more


THE TRUE VALUE OF CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 7 minutes

The growing number of channels and devices has made it hard for companies to
deliver a unified customer experience across touchpoints. Journey mapping gives
companies a fighting chance to tame the complexity and catch up to the rising
expectations of customers.

learn more


THE POWER OF PERSONAS

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 7 minutes

Marketing personas bring the defining characteristics of customers to life,
helping to build universal consensus around their needs. For brands seeking to
deliver a better customer experience, it is a powerful tool to foster greater
insight and empathy.

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HOW TO BUILD BRAND BELIEF IN AN AGE OF ZERO TRUST

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 6 minutes

Public trust in business as a force for good in society is at an all-time low.
To convince people otherwise, consumer brands must prove they are committed to
making the world a better place.

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TIME’S UP: CAN AD AGENCIES PUT THE PAST BEHIND THEM?

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 6 minutes

Now that customer experience trumps media advertising, brands need marketing
partners who will help them think differently. To stay in the game, ad agencies
will need to reinvent themselves.

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THE LOYALTY TRAP

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 12–14 minutes

Ever since reward programs first became popular over fifty years ago, marketers
have been trapped into thinking that customer loyalty can be bought. But
customers today are looking for more than just rewards – they want to be treated
honestly and fairly.

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WHERE IS LOCATION-BASED MARKETING TODAY?

by Christopher Arsenault — Read time is 3 minutes

For marketers to succeed at location-based marketing, they need to create
“ownable experiences” where a brand can uniquely help people in the context of
the moment. Anticipating what a customer intends to do will become just as
important as knowing what they have done in the past.

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WAVE GOODBYE TO THE ATTENTION ECONOMY

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 5 minutes

Now that no one is paying much attention to advertising anymore, marketers have
a reason to be concerned about their future. How can marketers adapt to a world
where people hardly pay attention to advertising?

learn more


LEADING WITH VALUES

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 4 minutes

For a company to deliver an outstanding customer experience, it must first
embrace the values of the people it serves.

learn more


THE CONNECTED EXPERIENCE

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 9 minutes

Marketers have been slow to adapt to a post-campaign world where the old
familiar rules of brand-building are obsolete. To connect with customers today
marketers must not only manage channel complexity, they must make the brand more
relevant and central to their lives.

learn more


THE VALUE MATRIX

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 8 minutes

There are many ways to segment customers based on value. But to know who is
truly valuable, data analysis must be combined with market segmentation and
loyalty research. This triangulated view will not only inspire creative thinking
– it can even be used to predict future behaviour.

learn more


PUTTING CUSTOMERS FIRST

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 9 minutes

Businesses everywhere are under pressure to give up the ‘make and sell’ model,
fearful of digital disruption. But while they concede the importance of
improving the customer experience, the path to transformation can seem like an
impossible journey: can businesses ever hope to keep pace with their customers?

learn more


THE MARKETING ECOSYSTEM

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 7 minutes

Half a century ago IBM revolutionized the computing business by separating
programs from hardware. Today a comparable revolution is underway: the shift to
browser-based applications in the cloud. But that poses a dilemma for marketers:
how do they combine multiple standalone applications to form a unified marketing
ecosystem?

learn more


JOINING THE CONVERSATION

by Stephen Shaw — Read time is 8 minutes

In this age of uninhibited self-expression, when almost everyone has something
to say or share, marketing must modernize its communication model to have any
chance of joining the conversation.

learn more


SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW JENKINS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER, VOLTERRA

learn more


BRAND HEALTH: AN INTERVIEW WITH JENNI ROMANIUK, RESEARCH PROFESSOR AND ASSOCIATE
DIRECTOR AT THE EHRENBERG-BASS INSTITUTE

Jenni Romaniuk is a lead researcher at the world-famous Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
and the author of “Better Brand Health” Why do people make the buying choices
they do? That simple question has preoccupied marketing researchers for more
than half a century now. They’ve sought to understand what goes on in people’s
minds as they make purchase […]

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CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY: AN INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT ROSE, FOUNDER, THE CONTENT
ADVISORY

Robert Rose is one of the early pioneers and evangelists of content marketing
and the author of “Content Marketing Strategy”. When you stop to consider the
numbers, it must be very hard these days for any content creator or producer not
to be completely cowed by the odds of building a meaningful audience. Estimates
vary […]

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MARKETING SCIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH KOEN PAUWELS, VICE DEAN OF RESEARCH,
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

 Koen Pauwels is one of the foremost marketing scientists in the world and the
author of “It’s Not the Size of the Data, It’s How you Use It”. If you can make
one broad generalization about marketers it is that they probably hated math and
science in high school. Even today, with the business […]

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MARKETING TRANSFORMATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRENT CHATERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR,
ACCENTURE

 Brent Chaters leads the Marketing Transformation practice at Accenture and is
a noted expert and popular speaker on search marketing”. Any way you look at it,
these are troubling times if you’re in marketing. You’ve got AI coming full
speed at you, maybe about to take away your job. No one understands what you […]

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VALUES-BASED SEGMENTATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID ALLISON, CEO, VALUEGRAPHICS

 David Allison is the founder of the marketing research agency Valuegraphics
and the author of “Death of Demographics”.. The legendary Harvard marketing
professor Ted Levitt once wrote that, “If you’re not thinking segments, you’re
not thinking”. He added, “To think segments means to think beyond what’s
obviously out there to see.” Levitt felt that […]

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BRAND EXPERIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH ALLEN ADAMSON, CO-FOUNDER OF METAFORCE

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DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH HOWARD TIERSKY, CEO OF FROM

Howard Tiersky is a leading authority on digital transformation and the author
of the best-selling book “Winning Digital Customers”. There are many legacy
companies today sleep walking toward their grave. They’re about to be engulfed
by a fast approaching wave of momentous change which they are totally unprepared
to face. It’s no longer a question […]

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CUSTOMER VALUATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH PETER FADER, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, THE
WHARTON SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Peter Fader is a leading authority on customer analytics and the author of the
best-selling book “Customer Centricity”. Just about every CMO will tell you
their top priority is growing topline revenue. Where they might differ is how
they go about achieving that growth. There are two prevailing schools of
thought. The first is that […]

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FUTURE-PROOFING MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH ALISON SIMPSON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER, CANADIAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Alison Simpson is the new leader of the Canadian Marketing Association and an
award-winning marketer with experience in all facets of the profession.
Marketers have plenty to worry about these days. Their budgets are under closer
scrutiny than ever. They are being asked to do more with less, just as the
discipline grows more complex […]

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DIGITAL BANKING: AN INTERVIEW WITH GREG BROWN, VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH AMERICAN
DIGITAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT, BMO FINANCIAL GROUP

 Greg Brown is responsible for digital sales experiences for BMO North America
supporting the Personal, Business Banking and Wealth businesses. These days few
people ever visit their local bank branch anymore. Certainly not to do their
everyday banking. They prefer to do it online from the comfort of their home, or
using their bank’s […]

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BRAND POSITIONING: AN INTERVIEW WITH ULLI APPLEBAUM, FOUNDER, FIRST THE TROUSERS
THEN THE SHOES

 Ulli Appelbaum is a world-renowned expert on brand positioning and the
author of “The Brand Positioning Workbook”. Whiter teeth – or fewer cavities?
Longer lasting – or more reliable? Everyday low prices – or quality and
selection? Tastes great – or healthier for you? Driving performance – or comfort
and luxury? All are examples […]

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BRAND COMMUNITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK SCHAEFER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SCHAEFER
MARKETING SOLUTIONS

 Mark Schaefer is a globally recognized author, speaker, futurist, and
marketing consultant whose latest book is “Belonging to the Brand”. “Markets are
conversations”. That was the opening line in the classic marketing book “The
Cluetrain Manifesto” published in the year 2000. The authors urged marketers to
give up mass messaging and speak with a […]

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LOYALTY 2.0: AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW SEAGRIM, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SCENE+

 Matthew Seagrim played the lead role in revamping the Scene loyalty program,
now called Scene+. For thirty years the AIR MILES Reward Program has ruled the
skies in Canada. Its familiar blue membership card can be found in the wallets
of roughly 10 million Canadians. But in recent years AIR MILES has lost
altitude. […]

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BRAND ACTIVISM: AN INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT GOODSON, FOUNDER AND CEO, STRAWBERRYFROG

 Scott Goodson is the Founder and CEO of Stawberry Frog and the co-author of
the book “Activating Brand Purpose”. Practically every corporate boss these days
has it on their to-do list – coming up with a business purpose beyond making
money. Most of the time they feel it’s a bit too touchy-feely an assignment […]

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LIFESTYLE SEGMENTATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH JAN KESTLE, FOUNDER AND CEO,
ENVIRONICS ANALYTICS

Jan Kestle heads up Canada’s largest marketing analytics company and is a
longtime leader in the field of geodemographic segmentation. As a nation, we
often describe ourselves in terms of what makes us different. English versus
French. East versus West. Affluent versus poor. Urban versus rural. Elites
versus working class. Progressives versus conservatives. But those […]

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THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE GAP: AN INTERVIEW WITH COLIN SHAW, CX PIONEER AND
FOUNDER/CEO, BEYOND PHILOSOPHY

Colin Shaw is one of the world’s foremost experts on customer experience and the
author of “The Intuitive Customer”. You hear it practically everywhere these
days – the mantra, We Put Customers First. A claim every business now believes
it needs to emphatically declare. It shows up in corporate mission statements.
On wall posters. In […]

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TRANSFORMATIVE MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR V. KUMAR, PH.D MARKETING
AT ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY (NYC), CEO OF IMC INSTITUTE

Professor Kumar is one of the world’s leading marketing scholars and the author
of “Intelligent Marketing”. In 1960 the American Marketing Association’s Journal
of Marketing published a landmark article by a Pillsbury executive named Robert
Keith titled “The Marketing Revolution”. In a succinct 4-pages Keith chronicled
the evolution of marketing at Pillsbury from the founding […]

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MARKETING ACCOUNTABILITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH NEIL BENDLE, CHAIR (ADVISORY
COUNCIL) OF THE MARKETING ACCOUNTABILITY STANDARDS BOARD

Neil Bendle heads up the Marketing Accountability Standards Board and is the
co-author of “Marketing Metrics”. They are two solitudes – operating in isolated
siloes, regularly clashing with one another, insistent on their point of view.
So why do finance and marketing act like they are on opposing teams? Why the
rancour? The lack of […]

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E-MAIL STILL RULES: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHAD WHITE, HEAD OF RESEARCH, ORACLE
MARKETING CONSULTING

Chad White is the Head of Research for Oracle Marketing Consulting and the
author of “Email Marketing Rules”. It remains the Rodney Dangerfield of
marketing channels. Taken for granted as a low-cost tool. Often underfunded.
Given minimal resources. And certainly, treated with little respect, especially
relative to other, more glamorous channels, like TV advertising, or […]

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A QUESTION OF LOYALTY: AN INTERVIEW WITH FRED REICHHELD, LOYALTY GURU AND
CREATOR OF THE NET PROMOTER SYSTEM

Fred Reichheld is a Bain & Company Senior Advisor and the Creator of the Net
Promoter System. It’s been touted as the “one number a business needs to grow”.
A number based on asking just one survey question – the so-called “Ultimate
Question”: “How likely are you to recommend our brand to a friend or […]

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THE CONNECTED OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN KIHN, SVP
STRATEGY, MARKETING CLOUD, SALESFORCE

Martin Kihn is Salesforce’s SVP Strategy for Marketing Cloud and the co-author
of “Customer Data Platforms”. There’s a tug of war going on in the marketing
world these days between two opposing schools of thought. On one side are the
creatively minded brand marketers who remain convinced that the only sure way to
achieve long-lasting […]

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THE GOLDEN RECORD: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID RAAB, FOUNDER OF THE CDP INSTITUTE

David Raab is the Founder of the CDP Institute, and a widely known expert and
consultant on marketing technology and analytics. A single source of the truth –
a 360-degree view of the customer – a “unified profile” – the “golden record”.
Call it what you will, it remains a utopian vision for most organizations, […]

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THE FUTURE OF RETAIL: AN INTERVIEW WITH DOUG STEPHENS, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT,
RETAIL PROPHET

Battered by the pandemic, and facing even more disruption ahead, the retail
industry is in crisis. With even more stores expected to close in the coming
years due to declining foot traffic and the flight to ecommerce, retailers will
need to offer shoppers a more distinctive experience if they hope to survive. A
new retail model is needed, argues retail futurist Doug Stephens, which will
pull shoppers away from their screens and entice them to shop in person.

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THE STATE OF MARTECH: AN INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT BRINKER, VP PLATFORM ECOSYSTEM AT
HUBSPOT AND EDITOR OF CHIEFMARTEC

Marketing technology is now essential to business success. Yet marketers
continue to struggle with the complexity of their bloated marketing automation
solutions, citing lack of application integration amongst their toughest
challenges. The answer, according to HubSpot’s marketing technology expert Scott
Brinker, is to develop more open and compatible platform ecosystems that make it
easy for marketers to add on any application they want.

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BRAND STEWARDSHIP: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID KINCAID, FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER
OF LEVEL5 STRATEGY

David Kincaid is the Founder and Managing Partner of Level5 Strategy, a brand
consultancy, and the author of “The Brand-Driven CEO”. As the world awakens from
this pandemic-induced slumber after what seems an eternity, brands will be
facing a very different looking marketplace. A fatigued consumer population,
whose buying habits have been warped by a […]

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RETAIL REIMAGINED: AN INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN STEWART, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
CUSTOMER AND TRIANGLE, CANADIAN TIRE CORPORATION

The year of the pandemic may have been the tipping point for the reimagining of
retail. Many retailers, slow to adapt to omnichannel commerce, were pushed to
the brink of insolvency. In Canada, one retailer has stood out above all others
in shifting to a customer-first model, the century-old Canadian Tire. A big part
of its recent success is due to its 10-million member Triangle Rewards program,
launched three years ago under the stewardship of Senior VP Shawn Stewart who
sees it as a vehicle for deepening the retailer’s relationship with customers.

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DIGITAL DARWINISM: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN SOLIS, GLOBAL INNOVATION EVANGELIST,
SALESFORCE

Under pressure to act fast during the pandemic, businesses sped up their digital
transformation plans, compressing their timetables from years into months. Now
they face the next phase of evolution, what digital prophet Brian Solis calls
the “novel economy”. For businesses to adapt and thrive, says Solis, they must
take a more profound and humanistic approach to transformation.

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AGENCY TRANSFORMATION: AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK PENN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MDC
PARTNERS

Slow to awaken to market disruption and too reliant on ad spending, the global
agency holding companies have seen their valuations plummet in recent years. To
reverse their fortunes, they need to transform their service model. MDC is
leading the way, aided by an infusion of capital from the new CEO Mark Penn, who
is set to turn his collection of “partner agencies” into a “modern marketing
company of choice”.

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CONTEXT MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH MATHEW SWEEZEY, DIRECTOR OF MARKET STRATEGY
AT SALESFORCE

Marketing has always been on the front lines of change. Each seismic shift has
brought a new set of challenges. But now, in this new world of “infinite media”,
marketing is facing its greatest challenge ever. The only response, Mathew
Sweezey believes, is for marketing to pivot from harnessing media to creating
experiences that help customers in the context of the moment.

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CONTENT THAT MATTERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANN HANDLEY, CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER,
MARKETINGPROFS

The world is awash in mediocre content, mainly because most brands struggle to
find something meaningful to say. Yet in times of crisis, when people are
feeling anxious and concerned, there is never a better time to speak up. The key
is the ability to show empathy, Ann Handley argues. She urges brands to “do
less” and “obsess” about producing higher quality content that matters.

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REIMAGINING LOYALTY PROGRAMS: AN INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN PEARSON, LOYALTY MARKETING
PIONEER

Most loyalty programs today do little to make people feel more loyal to the
brand. They are mainly promotional tools designed to drive repeat sales by
giving away margin in the form of redeemable currency or discounts. Which is why
it may be time to reimagine loyalty programs, according to Bryan Pearson,
transforming them into dynamic platforms that are a more integral part of the
customer experience.

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BRAND ADVOCACY: AN INTERVIEW WITH JAY BAER, PRESIDENT OF CONVINCE AND CONVERT

Marketing as a discipline is going through an identity crisis due to the radical
shift in the buying behaviour of people. The answer, for some companies, is to
ditch the classical marketing function in favour of a broader mandate that makes
the customer experience more of a corporate priority. But just fixing what’s
wrong is not enough, according to Jay Baer. Companies must also offer customers
an experience so memorable and unexpected, they’ll be keen to talk about it with
everyone they know.

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THE CONTENT EXPERIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH RANDY FRISCH, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER
OF UBERFLIP

Today the world is awash in content as brands engage in a dizzying dogfight for
attention. Marketers may have reached a saturation point, where no matter how
good the content may be, the chances of it being noticed are remote. Yet content
marketing budgets keep growing which means the content glut will only get worse.
The answer, according to Randy Frisch, is to map the content experience to each
stage of the customer lifecycle.

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DECODING THE FUTURE: AN INTERVIEW WITH MITCH JOEL, FOUNDER OF SIX PIXELS GROUP,
AND DIGITAL SEER

A new wave of disruptive technology is coming – yet most companies are still
getting used to the idea of a digital-first world. According to Mitch Joel,
decoding the future is crucial if companies hope to survive the coming storm.
There is only one sensible response: to “reboot” their businesses, as fast as
possible.

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TRANSFORMING MARKETING STRATEGY: AN INTERVIEW WITH NIRAJ DAWAR, PROFESSOR OF
MARKETING, IVEY BUSINESS SCHOOL

Marketing’s new mandate, according to Professor Niraj Dawar, should be to find
out why customers buy from their company, not the competition, and then double
down on that advantage. Marketing needs to do much more than find new buyers, he
argues – it has to take charge of the entire customer relationship.

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EXPERIENCE THINKING: AN INTERVIEW WITH TEDDE VAN GELDEREN, PRESIDENT AT AKENDI

Design thinking has taken on a central role in freeing the corporate
imagination. It leads to Big Ideas about innovative products, services and
business models. But what’s missing is a broader view of the end-to-end customer
experience. Which is why Experience Thinking, a new evolving field, fills a
critical gap in the innovation process. In this interview van Gelderen explains
his framework for reimagining the customer experience and his unique approach to
the research and design process.

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THE STATE OF DIGITAL ADVERTISING: AN INTERVIEW WITH SERAJ BHARWANI, CHIEF
STRATEGY OFFICER, ACUITY ADS

The ad-based web is at an inflection point, in urgent need of reform. As the
Chief Strategy Officer for Acuity Ads, one of the fastest growing adtech
companies in the business, Seraj Bharwani recognizes the challenges facing the
industry. In this wide-ranging conversation, he shares his perspective on the
past and future of digital advertising, as well as his ideas for industry
reform.

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THE STATE OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH JAGDISH SHETH, PROFESSOR
OF MARKETING AT EMORY UNIVERSITY, GOIZUETA BUSINESS SCHOOL

The concept of relationship marketing is facing an “identity crisis” according
to Jagdish Sheth, one of the world’s leading marketing academics. Scolding
marketers for treating customers like “ID numbers”, he proposes a new
“purpose-driven” form of relationship marketing where customers have a more
transcendent, values-based connection with brands. He calls it “share of heart”.
Professor Sheth explains his reasoning in this wide-ranging and
thought-provoking interview.

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1:1 MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH DON PEPPERS, MARKETING ORACLE AND CX EXPERT

In 1993, AT&T launched a marketing campaign called “You Will”. In a series of
memorable TV ads, it depicted future applications of technology that turned out
to be eerily accurate. Each commercial showcased a different product innovation
AT&T had been working on. “Have you ever had an assistant who lived in your
Computer?”, one commercial asks. Another begins by wondering, “Have you ever
gotten a phone call on your wrist?”. Each commercial ended with the signoff:
“You will”.

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DEEP LEARNING: AN INTERVIEW WITH GARY SAARENVIRTA, CEO, DAISY INTELLIGENCE
CORPORATION

Businesses are “drowning in data but starving for insight”, as the saying goes,
and that problem is about to get worse. As society becomes increasingly
connected, marketers are facing a rising tide of digital interactions. Somewhere
inside that massive pool of data are the answers to questions marketers haven’t
even thought to ask – yet are essential to creating a better customer
experience.

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JOURNEY ANALYTICS: AN INTERVIEW WITH LORI BIEDA, HEAD OF ANALYTICS CENTRE OF
EXCELLENCE, BANK OF MONTREAL

Customer analytics has come a long way since banks first started building
Customer Information Files in the 1990s. “CIFs”, as they were called, were the
primitive forerunner to what we now call “data lakes”. Just getting access to
data was the main barrier back then – closely rivalled by the suspect quality of
the contact data. Today the biggest analytical challenge for banks isn’t the
limitations of technology: it’s embedding data-driven decision-making into the
operational DNA of the bank.

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THE FUTURE OF MARKETING: AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP KOTLER, THE “FATHER OF MODERN
MARKETING”

He is universally acknowledged as the “Father of Modern Marketing”. His classic
textbook “Marketing Management” is now in its 15th edition. He has been called
the “most influential marketer” of all time. Wold-famous marketing academic
Philip Kotler shares his perspective on the future of marketing and “why it will
be markedly different”.

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SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

An Interview with Andrew Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer, Volterra

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