Thursday, November 30, 2006
MPlanet Keynote Dennis L. Dunlap, CEO of AMA
Dennis L. Dunlap focused on the major shifts in marketing (who knew) from consumers having more control over brands to the commoditization of media. Some factors influencing how consumers make their purchasing decisions are bloggers, social networking sites (MySpace), mobile media, search, consumers being in more control and having shorter attention span as demonstrated by them being less loyal to brands (not sure I can agree with that one).Understanding the customers and how best to respond to them are critical to a company's success... It's no longer a "nice to have, it's not an imperative".
Clients want marketers to become their business partners and to help shape the future of the company, including the sales force.
AMA Endorsed Winning Strategies for Marketing Success
1.) Start a fire and then carry the torch.
a.) Profitable revenue growth is the biggest challenge for mgmt.
Must grow top line in order to grow the bottom line.
Acquisitions alone will not float growth.
b.) Innovation drives organic growth.
Mentioned Proctor & Gamble as an example of innovation driving growth.
Opens new markets & new businesses instead of relying on existing markets & product lines.
c.) Take the lead, don't follow.
CMO should also be the Chief Innovation Officer
Pepsi, Intel, IBM, Samsung have roled these two functions into a single role.
d.) Be a builder
Understand the CEO's growth strategy and growth targets then build bridges (relationships) with partners that will help accomplish his goals.
2.) Wear the customer's showes, create a path for them
a.) It's how you gain credibility and enhance value
b.) It's how you drive success
c.) Creating a customer path
You must focus on the relationship the customer wants, how they want it, when they want it and where they want it.
Marketers must understand and focus on all of the customer touch points.
AMA will be releasing consumer reports on CGM, Online Shopping Trends and one other report during MPlanet.
d.) Be obsessive about understanding the customers.
CEOs expect it
Performance measurement that is.
CEO's want proof of marketing's impact on the organization's goals and revenues.
3.) Measure with precision wand provide your mettle.
a.) Marketers must create a comprehensive performance measurement process.
Identify meaningful performance measurements and align them with the orgs goals and financial results.
Secure buy in from mgmt.
Then implement it and show results in terms of the goals mgmt. has.
Create a dashboard based on financial outcomes. Great idea for a new Web 2.0 application for a savvy developer.
b.) It's hard to do but it's achievable.
Kraft, Yahoo were cited as examples of companies that have done this through their Chief Marketing Officers
4.) Run a sprint and a marathon.
a.) Corporations are focused on the short term revenue goals but it's marketings job to help change this focus
b.) Master the dual agenda
Create a dashboard that combines short term and long term measurements.
Create budgets based on projects rather than line items.
Optimize spending based upon customer impact and customer effectiveness to hit the short term and free up funds on long term priorities.
5.) Know who you are, create who you want to be.
a.) Customers, media, channels, expectations are changing externally but internal factors (corp) are not changing
The marketing machine of Fortune 500 companies is broken due to the following...
- Marketers have lost site of critical success factors
- Lost touch with IT and HR
- Can't influence cross-channel customer experience
Organizations Must Be Customer Centric
He wrapped up his talk saying that marketers should build around the customer because it makes it easier to maximize delivery across multiple channels and easier to leverage resources by customer segments. He also mentioned that establishing a strong relationship with internal departments (especially IT) is critical to the success of marketing and of the company in general.
Having the right marketing technology in place is critical to getting the right message across to the different customer segments effectively an in a way each segment needs those messages in.
Posted By Jason Dowdell at 09:34 AM
Permanent Link: MPlanet Keynote Dennis L. Dunlap, CEO of AMA
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