For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Marketing Leaders Take On Technology

So What Happens Now?

by Lisa Bradner, October 28, 2009

Marketing leaders understand that technology is critical to their success — 61% of marketers in our survey agree that "marketing technology is a key component in my marketing organization's success." To get the most from their technology investments, . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Adaptive Brand Marketing

Rethinking Your Approach To Brands In The Digital Age

by Lisa Bradner, October 9, 2009

Today's brand marketing organizations are ill equipped to handle the world of "always on" marketing in the digital age. To remain relevant, marketing leaders will embrace Adaptive Brand Marketing — an approach encouraging rapid response to align consumer . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Use Online Communities For Strategic Insight

Member Opinions Will Strengthen Your Marketing Strategies

by Lisa Bradner, August 12, 2009

Community input offers marketers an intimate — and continuous — understanding of brands, but only if you're willing to listen closely to what members have to say. If you're ready to improve your brand strategy using community insights, partner with market . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Five Ways CPG Marketers Are Fighting The Recession

And What All Marketing Leaders Can Learn From Them

by Lisa Bradner, July 16, 2009

The recession has battered the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry as it has almost every other sector. But while many large CPG companies are bruised, they are certainly not taking things lying down. Instead they're using their celebrated marketing . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Marketing Budgets Suffer Significant Cuts

But Marketing Leaders Project Optimism Even In A Downturn

by Lisa Bradner, July 2, 2009

Our Q1 2009 Global CMO Recession Online Survey reveals marketing leaders under pressure to deliver results while enduring budget cuts in excess of 20%. To keep their businesses moving forward, marketing leaders are cutting back on traditional tactics . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Defining A CPG Web Site Strategy

Marketing Leaders Must Define Web Sites' Role In Each Brand's Marketing Mix

by Lisa Bradner, May 19, 2009

CPG Web sites continue to be a mecca for consumers searching for coupons and deals — and in today's economy, those activities are likely to be more popular than ever. However, many CPG Web sites can — and should — do more than provide cents off. For marketing . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

How CMOs Lead Consumer-Driven Innovation In Tough Times

Improve The Effectiveness Of Innovation — Don't Eliminate It

by Lisa Bradner, May 5, 2009

In the face of budget cuts and reduced consumer spending, innovation may seem like an easy line item to slash. However, smart marketers realize that a strong innovation pipeline provides a strategy for emerging from this recession better positioned than . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Loyalty Program Rx

Three Quick Fixes Can Make Your Program A Recession-Buster

by Lisa Bradner, February 20, 2009

While marketers often look to loyalty programs for a business boost in troubled times, these initiatives are not without problems of their own. Most consumers join loyalty programs for the discounts, and too few of these efforts encourage them to do more. . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Choosing The Right Media Mix: North America

From Creating Awareness To The Act Of Purchase

by Lisa Bradner, Kim Le Quoc, January 16, 2009

Media planning is ever more complex and dynamic. Americans use many different media — from TV to blogs — and their usage changes every year. Some media help drive brand awareness, and some drive loyalty. Some media have a young, urban audience; some have . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Social Brand Strategy

The Right Channels And Approach Can Make Company-Sponsored Programs Shine

by Lisa Bradner, December 17, 2008

While social media for brands doesn't draw the same audience and attention as pure peer-to-peer media, it offers real value — and involvement — to many consumers. To create a successful brand-centric social media strategy, companies must understand who . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Brand Matters To Socially Connected Consumers

Brand Content Trumps Peers In Influence

by Lisa Bradner, October 15, 2008

Should brands develop social media content? And if so, when and for whom? Forrester's Consumer Technographics® research shows that loyal, socially connected consumers value content created by their favorite brands more than peer-generated content. . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Portrait Of A Loyalist

Brand Loyalists Are Savvy Shoppers Who Influence Their Peers

by Lisa Bradner, September 22, 2008

Loyal consumers are more likely to be female, family oriented, and older. Active purchasers, they shop around and speak with their friends and family about their preferences before pledging their loyalty. To capture these lucrative consumers, marketers . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

In-Store TV Goes Prime Time With Wal-Mart

Smart Network Will Bring Insights And Accountability

by Lisa Bradner, September 5, 2008

Wal-Mart announced the rollout of its Smart Network to 2,700 stores starting this month. Smart Network will bring together in-store television, creative execution, and in-store metrics. It will enhance marketers' insight into the effectiveness of in-store . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

How Industries Create Loyalty

Rates Of Loyalty Differ But Key Drivers Remain Constant

by Lisa Bradner, July 31, 2008

While industries enjoy differing rates of customer loyalty, many of the underlying qualities that drive loyalty remain consistent across industries. By understanding the key drivers of loyalty and how to interpret those drivers through an industry-focused . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Social Loyalty

How To Find, Create, And Nurture Brand Advocates

by Lisa Bradner, June 25, 2008

Marketers need engagement to create long-lasting brand relationships, but how should they try to create these — and with whom? Traditionally, loyalty programs have provided transactional interactions with customers. But marketers who embrace social loyalty . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Balancing The Funnel: Which Consumers Are Loyal?

CMOs Must Embrace Customer Retention As Well As Acquisition

by Lisa Bradner, June 17, 2008

Marketing leaders spend too much time on acquisition while their best customers already buy their products. To retain these best customers — even in an economic downturn — marketing leaders must focus on the key loyalty drivers: prior experience, trust, . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Case Study: Garden Fresh Restaurant Delivers Lasting Loyalty

by Lisa Bradner, May 12, 2008

Garden Fresh Restaurant (doing business as Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes), a 30-year veteran of the all-you-care-to-eat restaurant business, lacks the margin to develop expensive guest loyalty and employee retention programs. Instead, the company made . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Content Consumers Want

Content Strategies Will Differ By Target Audience

by Lisa Bradner, April 22, 2008

Brand marketers trying to engage consumers often turn to content as a way to increase brand relevancy and customer engagement — but what content should they use, and where should they place it? While all consumers value traditional content sources, generations . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Marketing Asset Management, Q1 2008

Open Text Leads, But No One Meets All Of Marketing's Needs

by Lisa Bradner, January 18, 2008

Forrester evaluated five of the leading marketing asset management (MAM) vendors across 72 criteria and found that Open Text's Artesia DAM established early MAM leadership thanks to its enterprise capabilities and marketing data management focus. ClearStory . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Demystifying The WOM Consumer

An In-Depth Look At Those Who Give And Receive Product Advice

by Lisa Bradner, October 30, 2007

Word-of-mouth (WOM) consumers represent a valuable audience for marketers. Although difficult to win over at first, two-thirds of WOM consumers display lasting brand loyalty. Marketers can win over these individuals by offering buzz-worthy products that . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Want To Build A Better Brand? Plan For MAM

by Lisa Bradner, September 12, 2007

As marketing channels proliferate, marketers face challenges creating and delivering their brand consistently regardless of medium. By creating a central repository for brand assets, managing how those assets are used, and delivering them to teams inside . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Case Study: P&G's BeingGirl.com Builds Lasting Brand Loyalty

by Lisa Bradner, August 20, 2007

Procter & Gamble (P&G) wanted to build an online destination for teen girls seeking information related to feminine care. The site it built, BeingGirl.com, provides health content, product information, and teen community in a safe, entertaining . . .

For Customer Intelligence Professionals

Forget About Loyalty, Focus On "Ophelimity"

Lester Wunderman Shares Words Of Wisdom On Relationship Marketing

by Lisa Bradner, June 4, 2007

At the recent Forrester's Marketing Forum 2007 in Miami, we were honored to have Lester Wunderman, the father of direct marketing, as a keynote speaker. Mr. Wunderman coined the phrases "direct marketing" and "relationship marketing" and applied the principles . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Building Lasting Customer Loyalty

Use Forrester's Loyalty Marketing Framework To Guide Your Strategy

by Lisa Bradner, April 26, 2007

Customer loyalty is hard to earn and harder to keep. Many loyalty initiatives fail to build real loyalty — or worse, they subsidize behavior that would have happened anyway. Forrester's strategic framework and loyalty self-test can help marketing leaders . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Realizing The Life-Cycle Marketing Vision

by Lisa Bradner, March 19, 2007

In simple terms, life-cycle marketing is about profiling a customer's relationships with a company or brand over time in order for marketers to reach them more effectively. In reality, life-cycle marketing can be hard to pin down and harder still to implement. . . .