For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Favorite Online Brands Succeed On Traditional Brand Values

How Marketers Can Position Their Brands With Online-Friendly Attributes

by David Card, November 16, 2009

Google remains consumers' favorite online brand, with Yahoo! and Amazon not far behind. In the minds of their fans, the top online brands exhibit very traditional attributes such as trustworthiness, helpfulness, and relevance, all at the expense of more-predictable . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Adaptive Brand Marketing: An eBusiness Perspective

by Sucharita Mulpuru, November 13, 2009

Adaptive Brand Marketing is a flexible approach in which marketers respond quickly to their environment to align consumer and brand goals and maximize return on brand equity. We expect marketing professionals to embrace this new approach in order to keep . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Is The Time Right To Build A Mobile App?

Balance The Buzz With Real Customer Value And Revenue Opportunities

by Brian K. Walker, October 29, 2009

The rapid growth of the iPhone and iPod touch application market has fueled a race to develop these applications on the part of eBusiness and channel strategy professionals. Recently, Forrester published a useful outline to help determine if a mobile . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Emotional Experience Design

Creating Online Experiences That Deeply Engage Customers

by Ron Rogowski, October 26, 2009

As consumers increasingly look to connect with companies online, lackluster Web experiences will damage many brands. But better functional design won't solve the problem. Instead, Forrester recommends that companies master the three principles of a new . . .

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 Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Financial Services Brand Building Web Sites, 2009: Credit Card Providers

by Ron Rogowski, August 17, 2009

How good are the brand experiences offered by major credit card Web sites? To find out, we graded the sites of four top brands — American Express, Capital One, Citigroup, and Discover — on how well they communicate their Brand Image and deliver value . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Financial Services Brand Building Web Sites, 2009: Banks

by Ron Rogowski, August 14, 2009

The banking industry features some of the most recognizable brand names in the US, like Bank of America, SunTrust Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. But how good are the brand experiences offered by major banks' Web sites? To find out, we graded the sites . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Financial Services Brand Building Web Sites, 2009: Investment Firms

by Ron Rogowski, August 7, 2009

How good is the brand experience offered by major investment Web sites? To find out, we graded the sites of four top brands — Charles Schwab, Edward Jones, Fidelity Investments, and Vanguard — on how well they communicate their Brand Image and deliver . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Financial Services Brand Building Web Sites, 2009: Insurers

by Ron Rogowski, August 6, 2009

The fiercely competitive insurance industry features some of the most esteemed brand names in the US, like Allstate Insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, and USAA. But how good are the brand experiences offered . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Committing To Meaningful Digital Metrics

by Emily Riley, July 15, 2009

Online marketers are much more comfortable measuring their direct response campaigns than either brand or social marketing ones in part because they lack useful key performance indicators (KPIs) for brand and social media efforts. In order to measure . . .

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 Interactive Marketing Professionals

Go Big Or Go Home Advertising

How To Make A Big Impression And Cut Through The Clutter With Display Marketing

by Emily Riley, June 19, 2009

Online users see more than 1,800 online ads per day, which is an increase of more than 250% since 2004. How can online brand marketers make a big impact when they are competing with so many other advertising messages? The key is to develop a Go Big or . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Interactive Marketing Channels To Watch In 2009

The Recession Inhibits Firms From Trialing Emerging Channels

by Shar VanBoskirk, June 4, 2009

Because of the recession, this year marketers decline their use of brand-oriented display media and are particularly shy to adopt emerging channels like online video and mobile marketing. Instead, they cling to direct response specialists email and search . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Case Study: How Todobebé's Community Transformed Into A Valuable Research Resource

Research Panel Built From Community Provides Insights On Hispanic Moms

by Tamara Barber, May 22, 2009

Todobebé's network of Spanish-speaking mothers of young children exemplifies how Web 2.0 is expanding the possibilities for engaging and researching hard-to-reach audiences. After 10 years of building relationships within this unique consumer group, the . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

How To Set Goals For Paid Search Success

by Nate Elliott, May 13, 2009

Search engine marketing dominates the online advertising landscape: Nearly half of US online ad spending is dedicated to paid listings. However, too few search marketers understand how to measure the business value of paid search campaigns. As keyword . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Is An iPhone App Right For You?

How To Decide If A Mobile Application Should Be Part Of Your Brand's Road Map

by Neil Strother, May 11, 2009

The size of the smartphone market — and the buzz surrounding Apple's iPhone App Store — has many interactive marketers considering whether they should deploy mobile applications. Early success by some brands might lead marketers to mistakenly conclude . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Does Mobile Marketing Matter Yet?

by Christine Spivey Overby, May 4, 2009

Mobile promises new ways for marketers to connect with their customers — like branded applications, video, and even on-the-go transactions — eventually. But in the short term, the recession will limit marketers' mobile ambitions. We recommend that most . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

The State Of Customer Experience, 2009

Customer Experience Management Enters Into Adolescence

by Bruce D. Temkin, April 24, 2009

Executives have been saying for awhile that customer experience is important. Only recently, however, have many of them begun to understand its direct link with loyalty. As a result, companies are starting to develop more disciplined approaches to customer . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Social Tools Consumers Want From Their Favorite Brands

by Josh Bernoff, April 16, 2009

More than half of online tweens and teens and 42% of online adults want to see a social application from their favorite brands. For example, one in four US online adults want to see discussion forums from brands they like, while more than one-third of . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Japanese Consumers Use The Mobile Internet

by Jonathan Browne, March 10, 2009

The mobile phone market in Japan is saturated: 96% of online consumers already own mobile phones, many of which offer Internet access and advanced capabilities. Although both men and women are avid mobile Internet users, there are significant differences . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Redefining Attribution In The Social Computing Era

Comparing Channels Using The Block-And-Tackle Methodology

by Emily Riley, March 3, 2009

A big theme for today's interactive marketer is attributing credit for a click, engagement, or sale to the right advertisement. Until now, attribution as a technique has been linked mainly to display and search marketing and is where most of the service . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Lessons Learned From 157 Web Site Brand Reviews

Forrester Examines Results From Version 1.0 Of Our Web Site Brand Review Methodology

by Ron Rogowski, February 27, 2009

Forrester recently updated its Web Site Brand Review Methodology to version 2.0. Before moving on, we analyzed the results of 157 Web Site Brand Reviews completed with version 1.0 between June 2005 and October 2008. This data shows that while sites fared . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Using Webisodes Effectively: Maximizing The Potential Of The New Online Video Format

by Nick Thomas, February 27, 2009

Adoption of unproven formats seems risky in an economic downturn. But Webisodes are emerging as an effective way of engaging online audiences, especially with overall audiences for online video continuing to grow. Although users expect to get the content . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The New Competitive Priorities For B2B Web Sites

Finding The Value In A Differentiated Online User Experience

by Alan E. Webber, February 6, 2009

As business-to-business (B2B) customers migrate online, companies have to rethink their differentiation strategy. An area that is ripe for improvement? The online experience that they provide to potential and current customers. To really differentiate . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Brand Building Web Sites, 2008: Mobile Carriers

Forrester Applies Its Web Site Brand Review Methodology To The Sites Of Four Top Mobile Carrier Brands

by Ron Rogowski, January 12, 2009

The mobile carrier industry features some of the most recognized brand names in the US, like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. But how good is the online brand experience offered by these companies? To find out, we graded the sites of four top . . .