Marketing Management Has Become Like An Elephant Riding A Bicycle – or – What Big Data Taught Me

Here is the presentation that Professor Don Sexton and I made to the BRITE conference a couple of weeks ago.  Don made sense of the data in the first half of the presentation and I followed on with the larger implications for marketing.

Yes, the Elephant on a Bicycle is how I summarize the state of marketing management today.  The framework for marketing is like a rickety bicycle, one that was built over 30 years ago.  When you pile social media, digital OOH, mobile, the convergence of online and offline the whole contraption becomes unwieldy.  The traditional marketing approach just wasn’t built for today’s world.

It’s time to stop trying to patch up the old model.  Let the past be the past.  And move on to adopt marketing techniques that are designed specifically for today’s world.

It was truly brave of the marketers at some companies like Coca Cola, McDonald’s, VISA, etc., to admit the traditional marketing model doesn’t get you very far anymore.  Coca Cola developed their strategic storytelling model, “Liquid and Linked”.  McDonald’s under CMO Larry Light broke new ground with Brand Journalism.

This presentation is merely the tip of the iceberg of insights to be discovered in the research.   You can download the first real report of the study that was co-authored by Don and David Rogers of the Center for Global Brand Leadership at briteconference.com or from the NYAMA’s website nyama.org

Sexton and Ringer Presentation of NYAMA BRITE Study

CMO ROI Social Media Metrics – or – Did I Say the Magic Word Yet?

We are now out of the field with the joint BRITE/NYAMA study of CMOs.  Over 200 corporate marketing decision makers have shared their views and perspectives on how they are managing and measuring digital and social media.   This study goes deep into the methods, metrics, ROI — even to the level of  how they are organized to take full advantage of social media.

As the old saying goes, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage to it.

World premiere is on March 5th at the BRITE conference here in NYC.

NYAMA members get a $100 discount on the conference.  You can get the discount code by emailing Tracy Crinion, tcrinion@nyama.org.

In April, date TBD, NYAMA will hold a follow-up event to go through the findings in more depth and allow more time for members to discuss the issues.  Stay tuned to nyama.org.

“New Survey Results: Marketing Measurement in a Time of Transition”
Prof. Don Sexton; Columbia Business School
Randall Ringer; President, NY American Marketing Association, and CEO Verse Group

Measuring the effect of marketing activities is, arguably, more important than ever. The Center on Global Brand Leadership and the NY-AMA are conducting a survey of over 200 senior marketers from leading companies in order to uncover current practices and attitudes concerning the development and use of effective marketing metrics. Results of this research will be released for the first time at BRITE ’12, providing key insights for attendees considering their own marketing metrics and best practices.