IBM published a new instalment of their C-Suite series: the IBM Global CMO Study. IBM conducted face-to-face interviews with over 1700 CMOs from around the globe working in all sorts of industries, at large and small companies. The report gives an insightful analysis of their current experiences, expectations and challenges in a rapidly changing marketing environment. Have a look at the highlights from the report:
Today’s customers can shop around the globe, find out more than ever before about the organizations they’re dealing with, and share their views with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of fellow customers. The expectations of consumers, citizens and business customers are soaring. And they can make or break brands overnight.
After face-to-face interviews with 1,734 CMOs, spanning 19 industries and 64 countries, we know CMOs are feeling stretched, but we also heard great excitement about the future of marketing. These conversations and our in-depth analysis of study findings underscore the need to respond to three new realities:
- The empowered customer is now in control of the business relationship
- Delivering customer value is paramount — and an organization’s behavior is as important as the products and services it provides
- The pressure to be accountable to the business is not just a symptom of hard times, but a permanent shift that requires new approaches, tools and skills.
From the executive summary:
One of the most surprising findings to emerge from our study is the degree of consensus among the respondents. No matter where they work, their industry, or how large or successful their organizations are, CMOs are facing many of the same challenges and most feel underprepared to manage them.
Our interviews reveal that CMOs see four of these challenges as pervasive, universal game-changers: the data explosion, social media, proliferation of channels and devices, and shifting consumer demographics. Additionally, most CMOs are struggling in one vital respect — providing the numbers that demonstrate a return on investment (ROI) for marketing. The most proactive CMOs are responding to these challenges by trying to understand individuals as well as markets.
Questions to consider: - How are you gearing your marketing people, programs and processes to understand individuals and not just markets? - Which tools and processes are you investing in to better understand and respond to what individual customers are saying and doing? - How are you collaborating with your C-level peers to activate your “corporate character” across all touch points and experiences?
The full report is available here for free (registration required).
