http://www.forrester.com/ Forrester is an independent technology research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice about technology's impact on business. en-us 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 120 http://www.forrester.com/imagesV2/affiliates/logos/forrester.gif http://www.forrester.com/ http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47053&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed In the next five years, eCommerce sales will increase at a higher compounded average growth rate (CAGR) than in-store sales — recession or no recession. However, the Internet affects more than just Web sales. One consumer out of two mixes online and offline channels to research their purchases. To make the most of the Internet and offline retail worlds, marketing leaders need to encourage their teams to provide cross-channel researchers and shoppers with a continuous purchasing journey across the marketing funnel. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising eBusiness/eCommerce Retail Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Kim Le Quoc, Jaap Favier" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47053&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47535&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed The oral care industry features some of the most recognized brand names in the US, like Aquafresh, Colgate, Crest, and Oral-B. But how good is the brand experience offered by major oral care brands' Web sites? To find out, we graded the sites of four top brands on how well they communicate their Brand Image and deliver value to consumers (Brand Action). Both Aquafresh and Crest passed our Brand Image tests, but only Colgate passed our Brand Action tests. Some of the common problems we ran into were illegible fonts, confusing category names, and interactive elements that weren't easily recognizable. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturing Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Ron Rogowski" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47535&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46786&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Australian consumers are blocking marketing messages and turning to each other for advice. Three-quarters of Australian online adults now use social technologies, and one-quarter create their own content. With such a fundamental shift in how Australians use media, marketers must rethink their strategies. For example, to engage online women in Australia, interactive marketers should focus on content and connections. As a small, developed market that makes heavy use of social technologies, Australia is the perfect launchpad for global brands adopting social marketing tactics. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Consumer Technology Adoption Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Steven Noble" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46786&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47107&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed As companies strive to reach their growth targets and consumers desire a greater voice in new product development, chief marketing officers need to play a central role in innovation efforts. A CMO plays three primary roles: 1) a user of new technologies and channels to communicate with and engage consumers; 2) a bridge to the consumer; and 3) a leader in identifying and driving new growth opportunities for the business. Regardless of the role, marketers need to focus on the organization's culture, the people and team involved in innovation, process development, and the gathering of customer insights. Marketing & Advertising Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Cindy Commander" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47107&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47524&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed The soft drink industry features some of the most recognized brand names in the world, like Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper, Fanta, and Pepsi. But how good is the brand experience offered by major soft drink brands' Web sites? To find out, we graded the sites of four top brands on how well they communicate their Brand Image and deliver value to consumers (Brand Action). Both Coca-Cola's My Coke Rewards site and Fanta passed our Brand Image tests, but only PepsiCo's Pepsi Stuff passed our Brand Action tests. To improve the overall brand experience, customer experience professionals should be explicit about providing details of their loyalty programs and protect their brands when they partner with other companies. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturing Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Ron Rogowski" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47524&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47531&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed The insurance industry features some of the most recognized brand names in the US, like Allstate, Liberty Mutual, MetLife, and State Farm. But how good is the brand experience offered by major insurance Web sites? To find out, we graded the sites of four top brands on how well they communicate their Brand Image and deliver value to consumers (Brand Action). Only one site — Liberty Mutual — passed our Brand Image tests, and no site passed our Brand Action tests. To improve the brand experience, insurers need to provide clear policy information and pricing tools and invest in the quality and consistency of their visual designs. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Financial Services Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Ron Rogowski" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47531&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47295&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Gen Y is a unique breed. Firms can't interact with these young consumers in the same way they do with older consumers. That's why Forrester identified four design approaches for reaching Gen Y online: immediacy, Gen Y literacy, individualism, and social interactivity. To examine best practices in one of these approaches, immediacy, we examined the online experiences of 20 large companies. Some good immediacy design practices we found: Old Navy features sneak peeks at new styles, T-Mobile presents an interactive plan selector on its home page, and Zappos adds a sense of urgency with inventory alerts. Customer experience professionals can start infusing immediacy by identifying the specific paths that Gen Yers take through their sites. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Telecommunications Services Automotive Consumer Industries Consumer Technology Adoption eBusiness/eCommerce Financial Services Retail Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Bruce D. Temkin" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47295&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47506&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed As budgets tighten in tough economic climates, marketing is often the first place the CEO and CFO look. Why? Because marketers have traditionally been slow to prove the value of their marketing investments and provide data and measurement to support their budgets. To avoid that going forward, marketers need to refocus on marketing measurement and start planning a dashboard that will help them show the value of marketing and use their budgets more efficiently. To get started with their dashboards, marketing leaders need to get past the excuses of the wrong skill set, poor data, or lack of IT support by focusing on putting in place the necessary people, processes, and technologies for effective measurement. Economy Marketing & Advertising Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Cindy Commander" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47506&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=45887&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Amid the increasing consumer disdain for advertising, there is one glimmer of light: 6% of US adults — a group Forrester calls Ad Affirmers — like advertising and are valuable marketer targets. Not only do these consumers trust ads, but they also give and receive product recommendations, pay for convenience, and buy products based on ad content. Smart marketers will: 1) leverage Ad Affirmers to help spread the word about their products, and 2) at last embrace a conversational approach to marketing that involves listening, supporting, and embracing consumers. Marketing & Advertising Media & Entertainment Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Shar VanBoskirk" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=45887&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47021&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Many global and local brands have aggressive online marketing plans for China because its economy is booming and Internet use is surging. However, China poses unique challenges, including very high labor turnover in most interactive marketing agencies. To succeed in this environment, senior interactive marketers with responsibility for China should focus on developing their local teams. They should base their own success on the success of their local staff. Marketing & Advertising Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Steven Noble" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47021&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47550&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Retailers must face facts: In this time of economic downturn, cash-strapped consumers across Europe and North America will increasingly shop around for bargains. Online grocery shoppers are high spenders who will choose low prices over brands and who expect to find value products and promotions online. Retail grocery eBusiness executives need to focus on retaining their existing online customers but must also increase incremental online sales by attracting new shoppers and increasing their product assortments and categories. Grocers should reposition themselves as discounters on the Net — as Tesco has done — to directly compete with discounters that do not sell online. Economy Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Consumer Packaged Goods Consumer Technology Adoption eBusiness/eCommerce Retail Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Victoria Bracewell Lewis, Lauriane Camus" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47550&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47473&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed US leisure travelers cut both their non-travel and travel spending during the summer of 2008. Forrester's Consumer Technographics&reg; data currently shows that there are more US leisure travelers who plan to spend more on their leisure travel in the next 12 months than plan to spend less. Analysis of the data shows that many of those who plan to spend more are older travelers who may be more affected by recent stock market gyrations — meaning stated intentions are subject to change. What is certain is that travelers will search for value in 2009 with the same intensity as a pig searching for truffles. To help them succeed, travel eBusiness professionals need to take three simple — and relatively inexpensive — steps to improve their Web sites' future appeal and utility. Customer Experience Economy Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries eBusiness/eCommerce Travel Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Henry H. Harteveldt" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47473&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47277&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed It's time to advertise in online video. Today's online video viewers are active broadband consumers who make valuable advertising targets. But not all online video viewers are created equal: Varied types of content have distinctly different audiences. To market via online video, advertisers should create ad campaigns that match online video-viewing audiences, map online video-viewing behaviors to business goals, use both paid search and ads to help leverage video content, and be willing to experiment with portable video. Marketing & Advertising Consumer Technology Adoption Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Shar VanBoskirk" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47277&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47556&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Successful customer contact strategies involve five major components: culture, technology, analytics, business process, and measurement. To gauge how well firms are positioned to establish an enterprisewide customer contact strategy, we created a self-test based on key factors in each area. To get the most out of these diagnostic tools, firms should take the tests, share the results, discuss the implementations, and create road maps to enhance their customer communications approach over time. Marketing & Advertising Packaged Applications Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Dave Frankland" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47556&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47240&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed Classifieds have already been through a radical transformation from print to digital, and now the industry is experiencing further disruption from social applications like ratings and reviews, wikis, and social networks. The online recruitment sector of the classifieds industry especially is undergoing rapid change, as social media transforms the way people find jobs online, which is in turn changing the economics of classifieds eBusiness. Existing players in the online classifieds market, like newspapers and portals, can use social media to their advantage by being partners to advertisers and by using social applications to reach and engage their audience, on and off their Web sites. Customer Experience IT Management Marketing & Advertising Packaged Applications Consumer Industries eBusiness/eCommerce Media & Entertainment Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT "Sarah Rotman Epps" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47240&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47441&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed In this graphical analysis of Forrester's North American Technographics&reg; Benchmark Survey, 2008, consumer product strategy professionals can see which devices Canadian consumers own, which activities they engage in across technology platforms, and how they spend their time and money — all through a generational lens. Consumer product strategy professionals can also mine our historical and forecast data to inform their product marketing plans as they relate to the Canadian market. Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Consumer Technology Adoption eBusiness/eCommerce Financial Services Healthcare & Life Sciences Media & Entertainment Retail Travel Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT "Michelle de Lussanet" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47441&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47080&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed This is a graphical analysis of the Canadian consumer market using Forrester's North American Technographics&reg; Benchmark Survey, 2008. It forecasts device and service adoption, and it provides an overview of Canadian consumers' demographics, behaviors, and technology attitudes based on a mail survey of 6,325 Canadian respondents. Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Consumer Technology Adoption eBusiness/eCommerce Financial Services Healthcare & Life Sciences Media & Entertainment Retail Travel Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT "Charles S. Golvin" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47080&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47495&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed This Technographics Insight takes a look at Hispanic PC activities by language dominance in 2008. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Consumer Technology Adoption eBusiness/eCommerce Media & Entertainment Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT "Tamara Barber" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47495&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47189&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed How firms present their text-based content to consumers on Web sites makes a statement about brand. To successfully build brand, Web site typography needs to be legible and to consistently reinforce key brand attributes in a manner consistent with other channels. Forrester uncovered several brand building sites that use core typographic design principles such as type style, size, leading, optimal line lengths, typographic hierarchy, and the choice of positive versus reverse type to maximize readability while reinforcing key brand attributes through visual design and layout of text. To create brand building Web site typography, customer experience professionals must use large, well-contrasted typefaces that are easy to read and scan, choose styles that match key brand attributes, and use consistent typography across channels. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Manufacturing Media & Entertainment Retail Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT "Ron Rogowski" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47189&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=45265&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed A Forrester study together with the In-House Agency Forum shows that firms that have an internal agency are more than satisfied with the quality, low cost, and stability that this department provides. Marketing leaders should take note — the needs for in-house coordination and innovation will only increase as budget pressures require accountability, digital media grow, and Personal TV brings new targeting opportunities. Marketing & Advertising Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT "Jaap Favier" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=45265&src=RSS_TopicGroupFeed