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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
TRUMAN COMPANY
INSIGHTS FROM CMOS MAY 2009
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
INSIGHTS FROM CMOS MAY 2009
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. KEY TAKEAWAYS
Introduction (p.1)
Top 5 Things (p.3)
Where CMOs Should Focus (p.5)
More or Less (p.7)
Insights and Ideas(p.9-13)
• How to Become Customer Centric (p.9)
• How to Motivate Your Marketing Team(p.11)
• Key Ways to Elevate the Profession(p.13)
2. PARTICIPANT HIGHLIGHTS & DETAILS
Participant Directory (p.15-19)
Discussion Highlights & Details (p. 21-55)
Participant Map (p.57)
3. COMPANY BACKGROUNDERS
4. ABOUT THE RESEARCH
i
(p.59-62)
(p.63)
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
INTRODUCTION
In January of 2009, Pete Krainik asked Truman Company, an executive marketing
consulting firm, to help The CMO Club develop a set of actionable stories — advice,
insights, and ideas from successful marketers — that would help members navigate
these trying times and build successful strategies for 2009 and beyond.
The result is this first edition of Insights from CMOs — the collective wisdom of nine
CMO Club members based on in-depth interviews with Truman Company conductedin early 2009.
Truman found that while the participating CMOs hail from a cross-section of
industries and have diverse experiences and backgrounds, they all share a common
optimism about their profession, even in today’s climate. Marketers are continuing to
solidify their position at the highest levels of business and wield ever more powerful
influence on their company’s corporate strategy and vision. Indeed, the future for
marketing is bright.
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
TOP 5 THINGS
Customer centricity is all important.
Marketers must focus first and foremost on driving the business through the voice
of the customer. Spend time talking directly to customers and telling their stories.
Understand your customers’ businesses and how to add value. Tell those stories
within your organization.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Demonstrate value and ROI to secure strategic role.
Marketers need to systematically link marketing investments to business valueoutcomes. Understand how your own business creates value. Take the perspective
of your key stakeholders in crafting effective measures of return and impact. It’s not
about budget - it’s about value to the business.
Marketing as key agent of change.
Marketers can and should lead their organizations to the promised land of customer
focus. Take the role of strategic change agent. Educate and demonstrate impact of
effective customer outreach by securing internal stakeholder involvement.
Internal stakeholders are just as important as customers.
Marketers should focus significant time on educating and managing internal
stakeholders. Show both value and passion: pitch your C-suite peers like you are
pitching to a venture capitalist when you share marketing investment ideas. Shift
the view from cost to opportunity.
Drive short-term revenue but ensure the longer term view.
Marketers need to respond to short-term demands to drive revenue in this
environment but they should be the voice of longer term reason. Keep the lens on
strategic customer segments and growth opportunities. Maintain the focus on the
brand promise to the customer and ongoing value. Invest in deepening customer
relationships.
From the CMO interviews, five key takeaways emerged as most important for
marketers to consider:
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
•Motivate teamthrough businessvalue
•Know yourcustomers
•Createcustomerstories &insight
•Rewardcustomerloyalty
•Drive marketing asbusiness growthopportunity
• Understand ROI
•Sell internally
•Sweat the details
• Visit customers
•Drive short-term revenue
WHERE CMOS SHOULD FOCUS
S T R A T E G I C
S T R A T E G I C
S T R A T E G I C
EXTERNALEXTERNALEXTERNAL
T A C T I C A L
T A C T I C A L
T A C T I C A L
INTERNALINTERNALINTERNAL
“The more customer insight you have, the more value you bring to the table.”
“Spend 50% of your time educating internal stakeholders about the business value of marketing.”
“Authentic conversations build trust.”
5
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MORE OR LESS
WHAT SHOULD CMOS TALK ABOUT?
More? Less?
BUSINESS
There is not enough talk about business value, balance sheets and gross margins. Togain the respect of the C-suite, colleagues, and customers, marketers should talk moreabout the language of business. “Get out of marketing speak and quick talk. This is justbusiness.”
STRATEGIC VISION
There is not enough talk about the potential for marketing to drive the business strategyand align the organization around a common vision. Marketers should talk more about“marketing as a growth driver and an agent of change for the total organization.”
THE MARKETING PROFESSION
There is not enough talk about the unique profession of marketing. Marketers shouldtalk more about the value that marketing brings to business. “The reality is thatmarketing’s unique value proposition is not universally understood.”
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
There is not enough talk about how to truly engage with customers. Marketers need to
spend more time digging into what customers think, need and want. “You have to knowyour business really well to connect with customers.”
BUDGETS
There is too much talk defending historical marketing budgets. To spur support for
strategies and plans, talk less about budgets and more about the business opportunities
marketing can help to create. “We’re too focused on marketing as a stand-alone
discipline that’s trying to protect its budget.”
QUALITATIVE WITHOUT QUANTITATIVE
There is too much talk about qualitative outcomes. To earn a seat at the table, marketers
should talk less about the “soft things” and more about how marketing investmentsdirectly impact the pipeline and the bottom line. “Data is the rock I stand on.”
SOCIAL NETWORKING
CMOs should continue to talk about social networking — how others are using it, whatworks and what does not. Everyone is using it, and more can still be learned and gainedfrom it.
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INSIGHTS AND IDEAS
HOW TO BECOME CUSTOMER CENTRIC
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Gain access to the customer through programs such as: case studies, advisory
boards, satisfaction checkups and net promoters score analysis.
Leverage customers to tell your story through a customer reference program,
customer stories and a customer showcase program.
Translate learnings and insights from customers back into the organization
through systematic tools and programs to enable deeper conversation.
Study and understand the customers’ business and develop the proof points
and the ROI case for customers.
Go on sales calls so you can hear first hand directly from the customer what’s
working and what is not.
Work to be loyal to your best customers, rather than asking them to be loyal to
you.
The collective wisdom provided by the CMO Club interviews offers some concrete
ideas and insights into tackling the top priorities identified by the participants. Ideas
for becoming more customer centric include:
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
INSIGHTS AND IDEAS
HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR MARKETING TEAM
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Actively give marketing team members cross-functional exposure to special
projects, other marketing roles and skills within the marketing function and
different geographies to help them develop their careers and their expertise.
Use the link to business value to translate for the marketing team how
marketing drives and helps the business to inspire their ideas.
Encourage your marketing team members to build relationships in other parts
of the business to provide direct insight into the business and expand their
own network.
Give your marketing team members the training and information to be able to
communicate as true subject matter experts for your business.
Give your team members at least one area that is a “fire free zone” where they
can have clear authority, some autonomy and be able to control the
completion of a project.
Encourage your team to go on sales calls.
The interview participants agreed that in these challenging times it takes
creativity and focus to continue to encourage and motivate the marketing team.
Ideas include:
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
INSIGHTS AND IDEAS
KEY WAYS TO ELEVATE THE PROFESSION
Position marketing as playing a necessary, integral role in business. CMOs
should ensure that marketing is not a stand-alone discipline. Demonstrate how
marketing plays a role in business growth, in revenue acquisition, and in
product development.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Demonstrate a deep understanding of your company’s core business.
CMOs must be able to speak knowledgeably about their company’s products:
how they work, how they’re developed, and how they fit in the customers’
organizations. This knowledge not only helps create better marketing, it helps
garner respect for the entire profession.
Develop a penchant for the quantitative. Marketing data is much more than a
tool for developing budgets and tracking campaigns. Data provides the
leadership team with the confidence to invest in marketing and to see its
limitless possibilities.
Be your company’s expert on the customer base. CMOs need to get to the
heart of what motivates and drives their customers by finding opportunities to
engage with them in conversations that lead to open and honest relationships.
Invest in the strategic growth of the company. CMOs must focus less on
defending program budgets and more on uncovering ways to use marketing
dollars to invest in programs to drive business growth.
What can marketers do to help the business community understand and truly
value our profession? Here are key ideas offered by the collective wisdom of the
CMOs interviewed:
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
PARTICIPANT DIRECTORY
MITCH BISHOP
Chief Marketing Officer
iRise, San Francisco, California
In charge of overall marketing strategy and execution at iRise for the last 5
years, Mitch Bishop has built strong ties to CIOs and IT leaders at both large
and small companies. With his leadership, iRise has grown its customer base
tenfold and become the market leader in a new industry category: application
visualization. Mitch has many years of marketing and sales experience
building successful enterprise software businesses at Scopus, Sybase, Wind
River Systems and Ingres. He also held senior engineering positions at Altos
Computer Systems, Zilog and Amdahl. Mitch holds a B.S. in Computer
Science from the University of Connecticut. He also has a history in motor
sports and sits on the governing council of the non-profit International MotorRacing Research Center (IMRRC) based in Watkins Glen, NY.
PHIL CLEMENT
Global Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Aon Corporation, Chicago, Illinois
Philip B. Clement is the Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
for Aon Corporation. He has responsibility for all Aon’s marketing, including
branding; market analysis, external and public; and demand creation.
Previously, Clement was a managing partner of The Clement Group, a
management consulting firm that he founded in Chicago. In that role, Clement
served a wide variety of clients as an expert in revenue-oriented growth
strategies. Clement is an advocate of “value marketing” and has an
impressive track record in leading rapid-growth initiatives at professional
services firms. Clement received his Master of Business Administration from
the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and a Master of
Public Policy Analysis from the University of Chicago. His undergraduate
studies were at the University of Southern California.
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The CMO Club Truman Company Executive Insights
JEAN FOSTER
Former Vice President of Marketing
BT Americas, Washington, DC
Jean Foster is a dynamic, results driven Chief Marketing Officer with a
successful track in turning around marketing organizations. With 20 years of
international experience in the telecommunications and IT industries, she has
provided leadership in marketing, business development, product
management and product development. Most recently as Vice President of
Marketing for BT Americas, Jean was a key player in growing the business to
over $2Bn.
PARTICIPANT DIRECTORY
MIKE HOGAN
Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
GameStop, Dallas, Texas
Mike Hogan is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for
GameStop, Inc. Mike joined GameStop in February 2008. Mike brings 20+
years of corporate sales and marketing experience gained from key leadership
roles in the US and worldwide. Mike has built and led numerous brands and
marketing & sales organizations, and has directed brand management,
strategic planning, product development, advertising, merchandising, as well
as managing several national sales organizations. Prior to joining GameStop,
Mike served as a Principal with Strategic Frameworking, Inc., a marketing and
strategy group based in Seattle, WA. His consulting experience includes
engagements in packaged goods, restaurants, technology, manufacturing, and
healthcare. Mike received a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from
Northern Illinois University and an MBA in finance and marketing fromNorthwestern University.
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PARTICIPANT DIRECTORY
HEIDI MELIN
Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
Polycom, Pleasanton, California
Heidi Melin joined Polycom in September 2007 as Senior Vice President and
Chief Marketing Officer. She is responsible for Polycom's high-touch
marketing strategy which includes global branding and corporate identity, field
and channel marketing, corporate communications, analyst relations,
enterprise solutions, demand generation, and events. A marketing veteran
with over eighteen years of corporate and agency experience, Heidi brings a
proven track record of successful, award-winning marketing programs that
deliver bottom line results. Prior to joining Polycom, Heidi served as chief
marketing officer at Hyperion Solutions, the leader in business performance
management and business intelligence, and as group vice president of
Marketing for PeopleSoft. Heidi holds a BA in Political Science from
Willamette University.
CHUCK MARTZ
Global Marketing Director
Dow Water Solutions, Edina, Minnesota
Chuck Martz is the Global Marketing Director for Dow Water Solutions. He is
responsible for directing and implementing the global marketing programs
related to Dow’s water strategy. Chuck oversees a marketing team across
North America, Europe and Asia. The marketing organization of Dow Water
Solutions, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, works to provide
value from innovative, technology-based solutions to a broad spectrum of
water needs—from making seawater fit for human consumption and industrial
use, to purifying industrial and residential water, and reducing and reclaiming
water for reuse and efficiency. Martz joined Dow in 1982 and has held
positions in Research and Development, Supply Chain, Marketing and
Specialty Chemical sales. Martz holds a bachelor of science degree in ceramic
engineering from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in
marketing from Drexel University.
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PARTICIPANT DIRECTORY
RAM MENON
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Marketing
TIBCO, Palo Alto, California
Ram Menon is responsible for Product Strategy, Product Management,
Product Marketing, Field Marketing, Corporate Communications, Branding and
Customer Programs at TIBCO worldwide. Prior to this role, Ram served as the
Chief Strategist of the company, responsible for defining and executing
corporate strategic initiatives, including new product strategy, M&A direction,
and emerging vertical markets. Prior to joining TIBCO, Ram was with
Accenture, a global consulting firm, where he specialized in supply chain and
e-commerce strategy, consulting with Global 1000 companies. Ram holds an
undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and pursued graduate work in
Industrial & Management Engineering.
MARGARET MOLLOY
Vice President of Marketing
Gerson Lehrman Group, New York, New York
Margaret Molloy is Vice President of Marketing at Gerson Lehrman Group
(GLG), a position that she has held for almost three years. GLG’s clients—
more than 850 of the world’s leading investment firms, corporations, and
professional service firms—use the service to find and consult with subject–
matter experts across a broad range of industries and disciplines. Prior to
joining GLG, Margaret spent six years in marketing leadership positions at
Siebel Systems. Margaret also served four years as the VP of Marketing at
Telecom Ireland US (eircom). In 2008 Margaret was named by Business &
Finance magazine as one of the "Most Influential US-Irish American
Leaders.” Earlier this year she was recognized as one of the “Top 40 under
40” by the Irish Echo newspaper. Margaret holds a BA in European Business
from the University of Ulster (Ireland) and the Universidad de Valladolid(Spain). She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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PARTICIPANT DIRECTORY
JOHN MOSER
Chief Marketing & Brand Officer
Denihan Hospitality Group, New York, New York
John Moser is Chief Marketing and Brand Officer of Denihan Hospitality Group
(DHG), responsible for the company’s marketing, advertising, public relations,
brand standards and growing internet presence and strategy. John works
directly with DHG Co-CEOs and the development team to help expand the
Affinia, The Benjamin and James brands nationwide. John was awarded the
2008 Marketing Executive of the Year award by HSMAI’s Big Apple Chapter
and was named one of the “Top 25 Minds in Sales and Marketing” by HSMAI.
In his two-decade career with DHG, John has held a variety of leadership roles.
Prior to his appointment as CMO, John served as general manager for The
Benjamin, DHG’s luxury brand, where he oversaw the hotel’s opening in 1999
and spearheaded the launch of its world renowned sleep program. He was
also general manager at several of the independent properties managed by
DHG.
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Go out and get sales experience.
“Get out of the office and go on sales calls. The best CMOs out there have had to carry a bag,
and until you have had to carry a bag and feed yourself that way, you don’t get it. In my view,
the CMOs of the future are going to be former VPs of sales.”
Get to know and understand your customers.
“I have a great relationship with tons of our customers. They don’t view me as the CMO
trying to get something from them; they view me as a partner sharing best practices and
stories from our other customers. This trust has to be built up over time, and you have to
know your business really well to connect with customers.”
Motivate the marketing team by building excitement around sales.
“The trick is to get my marketing team connected to why we’re here… and that is to sell
software. I want them to feel that same thrill of the hunt that the sales people feel, especially
if it’s a lead or an opportunity that was generated from one of their programs.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
MITCH BISHOP
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
IRISE
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The CMO Role
SUPPORTING ENTERPRISE SALES WHILE BUILDING A VOLUME BUSINESS
Mitch is responsible for iRise’s marketing, helping this business-to-business enterprise software
company grow. He also has responsibility for inside sales to small and medium-sized
businesses. He works closely with his peer, the VP of sales, who leads the outside sales force by
focusing on enterprise sales to large companies, to grow the iRise business. “I have a very
delicate balancing act as the CMO, between supporting an enterprise sales organization, wherethe bulk of our revenue comes from, and also trying to build a volume business. We are an
enterprise software company first and foremost… but it made sense for us to create a volume
business. We think we could dominate both ends of the market.”
GROWING MARKETING TO SUPPORT SIGNIFICANT GROWTH
When Mitch joined iRise, a B2B enterprise software company, five years ago, there was no
marketing department and only a scant 30 customers. Today iRise has grown to approximately
300 customers, but to Mitch the challenge still lies ahead. “My job right now can be defined in
one word, which is scale. How do we scale this thing and blow the covers off? About 10% of my
job is product marketing-oriented issues like pricing and packaging and release planning. Thevast majority of what I do is outbound focused, driving sales.”
CONNECTING THE MARKETING TEAM TO THE END GOAL OF SOFTWARE SALES
Mitch motivates his team by connecting them to their critical role in helping drive company
growth. “Marketing teams are most effective when they are the most connected to the business.
I encourage my team to go on sales calls, to have customer interaction. I share forecasts and
sales information with them, and when we have a win everybody is excited about it. I make sure
my team is driven on a day-to-day basis by the idea that if you’re not doing something to sell
software, then you’re probably working on the wrong thing.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
MITCH BISHOP
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
IRISE
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The Marketing Function
A DIRECT LINE OF SIGHT FROM INQUIRY TO SALE
Mitch works together with his boss, the President and COO, to ensure that marketing is closely
and visibly linked to sales. “We have a meeting of the minds about a data-driven model for
marketing. We measure everything… from unique website visitors, to time spent on the site, to
what pages they are going to. All of the campaigns are measured by how many inquiries they
generated, how many turned into leads, how many turned into opportunities, and how manyclosed. So we have a direct line of sight back to the origin, and we can slice and dice the data a
million different ways.”
DATA AS THE BEDROCK OF MARKETING ROI
Marketing data, according to Mitch, is not only useful for program planning but is essential for
defending budgets and proving success. “We’re kind of statistics freaks here. We use data to
help guide us, but it has also turned out to be the rock that I stand on with regard to my
relationship with sales. Other software companies’ marketing can probably prove that they drive
maybe 15 to 20% of sales. At iRise, about 50 to 70% of our sales every year are directly
attributable to specific marketing campaigns. This is a compelling argument about the value ofmarketing.”
The Economic Environment
SHIFTING TO A REGIONAL FOCUS IN A DOWN ECONOMY
While they have had to shift the mix of marketing activities in the downturn, Mitch has found that
elements like the event business are still highly valuable, but with a shift in focus. “One shift
we’ve made is away from national conferences and our own national events, to regional events.
Our event business is actually going gangbusters right now, but it’s shifted its focus from
national to regional, and that’s a good clue for other CMOs to think about in this environment.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
MITCH BISHOP
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
IRISE
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The CMO Role
IT’S ALL ABOUT GROWTH
Phil is responsible for all marketing including branding; market analysis, external and public; and
demand creation – for this $10 billion global provider of risk management services, insurance
and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital consulting. His biggest challenge is to help the
company find growth opportunities, in this down market, that pay off now. “It is hard to play in
this marketplace right now. The amount of discretionary spending available for good ideas isvery low, so you literally have to have the best idea. It also has to have very short-term returns.
So a good idea that has long-term returns—which would work in a normal market— doesn’t work
right now.”
GOOD MARKETING ENABLES THE GROWTH AGENDA
Phil recognizes the importance of industry leadership in marketing, both to help advance the
marketing agenda, and to reinforce the importance of marketing for the company’s leadership
team. “Leaders can recruit people more easily, vendors want to work for you, and they charge
you less because they’re willing to provide a discount for your account. It is not that the goal in
my firm is only the desire to be the world’s best marketer, but if the marketing enables thegrowth agenda and the sales agenda, it’s what you prioritize. My leadership team recognizes
that good marketing enables the corporate growth agenda.”
The Marketing Function
PART OF THE WHOLE BUSINESS, NOT A STAND ALONE FUNCTION
Phil integrates marketing into the business by viewing marketing investment in the context of the
whole process of acquiring revenue for the firm. “I’m hired to make sure that marketing supports
the growth of the firm in the best way possible and to make the right decisions of a dollar
invested in marketing versus a dollar invested in HR, or in a new sales rep, or a financial vehicleor other investment for the firm. I’m part of that dialogue at the top level of the firm. I think the
degree to which marketers can understand that a dollar invested in their area is a dollar not
invested somewhere else – and further, understand why the firm might not invest in marketing as
much as you would like because of those trade-offs, they end up being an important part of the
corporate leadership team and helping to grow revenue for the company.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
PHIL CLEMENT
GLOBAL CHIEF MARKETING &
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER AON CORPORATION
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The Marketing Function
ALIGNING TO THE BUSINESS IS ABOUT SHOWING THE RESULTS
Measuring the impact of marketing, according to Phil, is the most critical component to aligning
marketing to core growth of the business and to communicating value in terms the C-suite
understands. “If you can’t measure it, then don’t do it. We track the impact of marketing three
ways that the CEO and others like to hear. Either we put more into the front end of the sales
funnel, meaning more opportunity; or we increase the probability of advancing in the sales cycle,moving from one stage to the next, or thirdly we reduce pressure on price. This generally
resonates with executives.”
The Economic Environment
CREDIBILITY ENSURES YOU HOLD YOUR GROUND WITH CLIENTS
Phil finds that credibility is one of the most important elements in successfully negotiating the
current environment. “Credibility is key when communicating with clients in a downturn.
Provide the best information possible, as quickly as possible. Because we had demonstrated
credibility in the past, we have had clients coming to us regularly for information. This in turnput us in the right flow for monetizing when it’s appropriate. This environment is one in which a
marketer might spend a lot of money advertising, trying to get people’s attention. But if you’re
credible on an issue that already has their attention, it puts you in a better position to capture the
business.”
AGILITY ENSURES RESPONSIVENESS AND RESULTS
The second component to succeeding in a down economy is agility and response time, and
having a well developed process to bring new products to market to respond to rapidly evolving
needs. “What we had to do was create a very formal product development process, and a way of
packaging and bringing products to market, and because we’re in a highly regulated industry we
need regulatory review. Because of this process we already have in place, we were able to
respond very quickly to the needs of our client base. For example, we came out with 14 new
products in the marketplace to respond to the AIG situation in record time. And, these new
products helped to make the quarter in sales.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
PHIL CLEMENT
GLOBAL CHIEF MARKETING &
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER AON CORPORATION
27
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Demonstrate ROI to build credibility.
“To be taken seriously, marketers need to build credibility for marketing with their C-suite
colleagues by providing a clear line of sight for every marketing dollar spent through to the
results.”
Get to know how your business works.
“Marketers must be able to read a balance sheet and understand how the company works to
be able to translate how marketing impacts your business.”
Position marketing to define the value for your clients.
“Marketers need to take the lead to define for clients how your company can bring them value
and impact their top or bottom line.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
JEAN FOSTER
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
BT AMERICAS
29
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The CMO Role
SHIFTING THE BUYER TO THE C-SUITE
When Jean Foster took the reigns at BT Americas, the organization was looking for significant
growth and expansion as a key provider into the global corporate marketplace. BT’s North
America business was now competing with Verizon and AT&T for global Fortune 500 companies,
targeting a new, C-level buyer. “Our biggest challenge was driving consideration of BT as a
partner, building our presence at that very high end of the market and then going high and widewithin the customer.”
ELEVATING TO THE EXECUTIVE SELL
Jean found that this shift in the marketplace required teaching the sales people the new skills
needed to sell strategically to executive level buyers and simplifying the BT story to provide the
C-level business case. “We had sales people comfortable selling at the lower end of the market
but not necessarily calling on the ‘C level’. We had to simplify our message so it would resonate
with a CFO or CIO and give the sales people the tools to deliver a message beyond the cost and
speed of our network.”
MOTIVATING THE MARKETING TEAM BY LINKING MARKETING TO THE BUSINESS
The acquisitions that were driving BT’s growth were also causing upheaval and uncertainty
within the marketing team. “I had to merge four separate teams… and we had to conduct some
downsizing because of it. I kept the team focused, fully integrating the teams, taking best
practices from the acquisitions and continually reinforcing where we are contributing to the
business.”
The Marketing Function
POSITIONING MARKETING TO DRIVE THE STRATEGIC SHIFT IN THE BUSINESS
Jean brought marketing along with the strategic shift in the business by showing how marketing
can support strategic growth through return on investment. “Too often I hear other marketers
say, ‘my CEO doesn’t get me’. I believe that when marketing can sit down and show the dollars
in the marketing budget, and the leads in the pipeline due to that investment, it gets the CEO’s
attention. A critical metric for me was pipeline. I walked my CEO through the numbers and it
shifted his thinking.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
JEAN FOSTER
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
BT AMERICAS
30
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ALIGNING THE DATA TO ALIGN THE ORGANIZATION
Jean knew that to convince the organization of the value of marketing, she had to show
consistent data and integrate into the same system the sales team was using. “We allowed the
CEO and others in the C-suite to see these numbers at any time. I was able to build the tools and
then the discipline to make sure that the team was tracking what they were doing. It gave us not
just the ability to look at things like pipeline, but clearly show how my team was driving business.
We could track what was working and what wasn’t.”
MARKETING BECOMES A SOURCE FOR STRATEGYAs a result of these efforts, the BT leadership team increasingly brought marketing in to give
strategic advice. One example was in developing the company’s channel strategy. “Marketing
initiated an analysis of the cost of serving various customer types and determined that some
segments had a very high cost of sale. Together with the CFO, we looked for ways to change the
channel strategy and save money. We developed a program that tiered customers into those to
service directly and those to service through partners, saving money and, more appropriately,
allocating resources.” Jean notes, “This is where marketing was really influencing the business
and the operational strategy of the company.”
The Economic Environment
DEMONSTRATING CLIENT ROI: A KEY ROLE FOR MARKETING
The economy did begin to affect BT’s business significantly, which Jean realized increased the
importance of being able to show customers the positive impact on their bottom line. “I shifted
my marketing budget to develop the proof points and support ROI studies for customers. The
only questions customers were asking were, ‘is it going to save me money?’ We were able to
give the sales team the answer to that question.”
CUT MARKETING COSTS WITH NEW TOOLS
Jean emphasized the importance of responding to the economic environment by demonstratingthat marketing was cutting the budget, and doing more with less. “I found it increasingly
important to bring in tools that were cheaper and quicker to implement, and allowed new ways
of communicating with our customers, such as social networking. I launched a social media
project using Twitter and blogging to generate customer dialogue. While the organization was
skeptical at first, the efforts showed results. We were able to actually demonstrate some very
good results in generating dialogue with the customer, very quickly and at low cost.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
JEAN FOSTER
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
BT AMERICAS
31
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Rethink the nature of marketing.
“I think we’re too focused on marketing as a stand-alone discipline that’s trying to protect its
budget and not enough on marketing as a growth driver and an agent of change for the total
organization.”
Place total focus on the customer.
“I put a relentless focus on my core customer and on making sure I am being loyal to them
and delivering real value to them. Because, if I do, they will reward me for that.”
Position marketing as an investment opportunity for the business.
“Every time I sit down in front of the CEO or the CFO, I should act like I’m pitching an idea to
venture capitalists. They have a right to ask for a return on the investment.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
MIKE HOGAN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
GAMESTOP
33
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The CMO Role
FROM TRADITIONAL RETAILER TO CONSUMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION
GameStop - the world’s largest video game retailer - has grown, organically and through
acquisition, from $1 billion to $10 billion in revenue over the last 3 ½ years. Since Mike joined
the company less than a year ago, he has been working on helping the organization evolve from
a product focus to a relationship focus. “My role is to drive change in the organization, to help
shift the focus from selling products in a store to developing relationships with consumers and
driving a customer relationship that keeps people coming back.”
THE CHALLENGE: SELLING THE ENTIRE COMPANY ON THE VISION
Mike said that while the leadership at GameStop is supportive of the consumer-centric vision, the
key challenge is to bring the organization along too. “I think the greatest challenge for me is
creating broad alignment within the organization to drive real change. Less than 50% of my time
is spent on marketing and more than 50% of my time is spent on essentially selling internally on
the new direction that we’re going in.”
INSPIRING THE MARKETING TEAM WITH VISION AND OPPORTUNITY
Mike inspires and motivates his team by talking with them about vision and follows up by
offering the chance to develop broader skills. “What I tell people is, ‘Look, do you want to …
work on a next promotion? Or make some advertising? Or do you want to be a part of
transforming a company in an exciting industry? Giving the team a lot of exposure cross-
functionally helps them understand how the vision for marketing translates into helping different
parts of the business.”
The Marketing Function
MARKETING AS THE “AGENT OF CHANGE” IN THE ORGANIZATION
Marketing, according to Mike, plays a key role in driving the company’s mission to evolve theorganization. “I think we’ve been playing too much defense and we have been too focused on
marketing as a stand-alone discipline. We are beginning to focus on marketing as a growth
driver and agent of change for the total organization. My team is leading all of the change task
forces: there’s a task force on loyalty, on the ‘store of the future’, and on international
expansion.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
MIKE HOGAN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT &
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER GAMESTOP
34
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CHOREOGRAPHING THE CONSUMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION
Mike has worked to position marketing at the center of GameStop’s consumer-centric strategy.
“Moving to a more consumer-centric model, we want to figure out how to create a compelling
consumer experience – who is our consumer and how do we create a compelling experience for
our target segments? Then, the product we order… the way in which we customize it and
promote it… and so on… all has to be choreographed together. It’s marketing’s job to make sure
that the consumers are in the center of that process.”
FROM MARKETING AS A BUDGET ITEM TO AN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BUSINESS
Mike believes that most marketers are too defensive when presenting their budgets to their
leadership team. “I see too many marketers trying to defend the historical advertising or
marketing budget. What we really represent are great investment opportunities for the
organization. Every time I sit down in front of the CEO or CFO, I should act like I’m pitching an
idea to venture capitalists. They have a right to ask for a return on the investment, but I’m
excited about what the investment can do as opposed to getting nervous that somebody is
poking their nose into my advertising budget.”
The Economic Environment LOOKING FOR SHIFTS IN THE MARKETS AND PLAYING TO THEM
Although GameStop is thriving in the current economy, Mike has adjusted some of his strategies
to maximize opportunities. “We’re trying to take advantage of the external opportunity to
dramatically enhance our space, our footprint, you know… size, visibility, those kinds of things.
We are also seeing the mix shift in our store customer segments and we’re increasingly making
sure that we appeal to that much broader group of consumers in the store. We are also
appealing to value seekers by increasing the potential for customers to trade games in, for
example.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
MIKE HOGAN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT &
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER GAMESTOP
35
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Think of yourself as a business person first.
“As CMOs, we’re business people first, and the role we play in the business is as a marketer.
It’s important to have that delineation, because if you view it the other way around, you’re
ultimately going to get out of alignment with everybody else in the business, and that will bea problem.”
Demonstrate that marketing is an investment.
“Your toughest sell is internal rather than external. To convince the people internally that
marketing is not an expense, but is, in fact, an investment, is perhaps the biggest challenge
and key to success.”
Have confidence in your ability to create value.
“We just have to have confidence in ourselves. If we don’t have confidence that we in fact
can create value, then our General Manager surely isn’t going to!”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
CHUCK MARTZ
GLOBAL MARKETING DIRECTOR
DOW WATER SOLUTIONS
37
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The CMO Role
ALIGNING THE COMPANY AROUND THE BRAND PROMISE
Chuck Martz leads marketing efforts for Dow Water Solutions, a business focused on developing
and marketing functional components for water purification. Engendering trust that the Dow
Water Solutions brand lives up to its promise to customers is central to Chuck’s role as CMO.
“We have to convince customers that we are really living up to that brand promise, and we’re
worth the value that we’re requesting. We also have to go internally to make sure that our
people really understand what we are promising to the customer. The brand promise has to
infiltrate all functions for it to be effective, because the brand is what you are to the customer and
encompasses everything that you do.”
TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD MOMENTUM FOR MARKETING
Chuck emphasizes that building credibility for marketing investment in an organization takes
time. “You’ve got to start building the credibility, make some expenditures in a measured way,
and then you have to bring back a result. You have to be able to get enough confidence going
forward with the CEO that you get the chance to change stuff and demonstrate impact. That
takes some time, and if you decide you’re going to rush it, there’s a big chance you will end up
flaming out, in my experience.”
CROSS POLLINATE THE MARKETING TEAM
Chuck explained that while a deep understanding of water purification is critical to marketing
Dow’s products, he needs more than subject matter experts on his team to make sure his team
can think more broadly about the market. “In a company like Dow, there is this general feeling
that we can train a chemical engineer to do anything, but that is not necessarily the case. So, as I
look at my team makeup, I want to get more people with a marketing background on the team.
Their neurons work differently, and when you blend them with the technical people, you get a
stronger team, and more effective discussion of different ideas and solutions.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
CHUCK MARTZ
GLOBAL MARKETING DIRECTOR
DOW WATER SOLUTIONS
38
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The Marketing Function
MARKETING AS A MEANS TO CAPTURE VALUE FOR THE COMPANY
Chuck views marketing as central to the entire organization’s ability to succeed as a business.
“Marketing has a role to go capture value. We have a tremendous number of smart R&D guys. If
they come up with a better product, and we are not able to capture more value out of that
because we can’t explain that value, or we can’t link that value to the end user better, then shame
on us. And if we can’t articulate back to R&D the market needs for new products, we have failed.We must articulate that marketing is about business. It’s not about ads or anything like that,
which marketing sometimes gets hung up on.”
GIVING LEADERSHIP THE CONFIDENCE TO INVEST IN MARKETING
According to Chuck, the ability to gain leadership’s confidence is linked directly to the ability to
deliver positive quantitative results. “We are too qualitative. When somebody won’t make an
investment that would clearly make them more money, there’s got to be a confidence factor. As
marketers, I don’t think we are providing the appropriate level of confidence to business
management to make them willing to invest in marketing. You drive confidence when you say,
‘I’m going to deliver this number,’ and the number shows up. You do that three times in a rowand the next time you come in and say, ‘I’m going to deliver the number,’ you get the
investment. That’s just how it works.”
MARKETING MEASURES ARE BUSINESS MEASURES
Chuck focuses on tying his marketing metrics to the overall performance of the business.
“Revenue growth, market share, EBIT margin, or gross margin — are those business measures,
or are they marketing measures? I would argue that they’re both. If my metrics are the same
ones that my business managers are looking at, and I make those go up, I don’t have a problem
with alignment.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
CHUCK MARTZ
GLOBAL MARKETING DIRECTOR
DOW WATER SOLUTIONS
39
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The Economic Environment
IN TOUGH TIMES, THINK SHORT TERM, BUT KEEP THE LONG VIEW
While Chuck sees the importance of making tactical changes during a downturn, he feels that it is
equally important to keep the fundamental strategy in place. “The economy has made people
slow down implementation of that grander plan, shift their focus from near-term to ‘let’s go get
orders’, and ‘make sure that our cash flow is looking good.’ However, our overall strategy for
where we’re going has not changed. That is still in place and it’s still the plan.”
DIFFERENTIATE YOUR VALUE TO THE CUSTOMER
Chuck feels that in this economic climate, it is critical to demonstrate the value the company
offers to their customer. “Particularly in this current environment where everybody’s trying to
pinch their last penny and price is extremely high on people’s list, it’s critical to be able to show
differentiation at the customer level.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
CHUCK MARTZ
GLOBAL MARKETING DIRECTOR
DOW WATER SOLUTIONS
40
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Communicate ROI to position marketing strategically.
“To be viewed as strategic rather than as an expense, be able to show ROI, and what comes
out the other side of the investment.”
Evolve from “brand-keeper” to customer-focused leader.
“The CMO role is evolving from ‘keeper of the brands’ to having overall impact on the
business. Helping the company shift from internally-centric to an externally-facing market or
customer-focused company is strategic and is a place where CMOs can take a leadership
role.”
Pay attention to existing customers.
“2009 is about focusing on existing customers, continuing to support our customers, to
leverage and listen to our customers. This is the most important way to ensure the
organization emerges stronger in the long term.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
HEIDI MELIN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
POLYCOM
41
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The CMO Role
SHIFTING TO CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY
Polycom, a rapidly growing $1 billion telepresence, video, and voice solutions company, is
looking to sustain that trajectory by shifting from a technology-focused company to one driven
by the customer. “The company has seen the need to shift to be more customer-centered as
opposed to technology-centric. And while marketing has not historically been strategic at
Polycom, going forward the company has recognized the need to make the role more strategic tosupport this important shift in the business.”
DEMONSTRATE STRATEGIC VALUE THROUGH ROI
To drive marketing to become a strategic function, Heidi points to the critical role of calculating
return. “It’s about shifting marketing from an expense model to marketing as an investment
model. We demonstrate this through ROI -- for every dollar we put in we need to be able to
measure what revenue comes from that. This requires looking at marketing in a very pragmatic
fashion rather than only through the high-level, more qualitative measures that many CMOs use,
such as awareness benchmarks.”
MOTIVATING THE TEAM BY BUILDING CAREERS
Heidi looks to create an environment of excellence and learning to encourage her marketing
team. “The goal is to benchmark ourselves on best practices for the marketing team to be
experts in their areas. So whether it be direct marketing, marketing automation, operations, or
PR, I look to evaluate our progress on best practices, where we can improve, and how to ensure
that the team can all step up and be leaders within their own specialty area.”
The Marketing Function
GETTING THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER THROUGH SYSTEMATIC CHANNELS
Marketing has the responsibility for the voice of the customer. “We have a customer marketing
team responsible for two things. One is to listen to our customers through a series of user
groups and advisory groups and, more importantly, to funnel that information back into the
company. Two is to leverage customers to tell the Polycom story, including a customer reference
program, and a customer showcase program.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
HEIDI MELIN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT &
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER POLYCOM
42
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LINKING THE DATA TO ALIGN MARKETING AND SALES
According to Heidi, marketing and sales are not two separate processes but one single process.
“We are putting an increased focus on making sure that our investments in marketing are
aligned with what we need to achieve from a sales perspective. We are implementing the ability
to measure the entire marketing and sales process, from response all the way to closed business
through a new marketing automation system. It will provide the opportunity for sales and
marketing to create accountability across the process and communicate about activities and
results with a shared global taxonomy or language.”
The Economic Environment
CHANGING THE MARKETING MIX TO NAVIGATE THE TIMES
The economic environment has impacted the way Heidi allocates her marketing investment.
“We made some pretty significant changes to the mix. As a result of the economic downturn, we
are focusing more dollars today on demand-generation activities than we are on awareness-
building activities. I am focusing dollars to be as close to the field sales organization as possible
because we have a very positive opportunity to drive revenue right now because of the economic
environment.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
HEIDI MELIN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT &
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER POLYCOM
43
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Focus half your time articulating the value of marketing internally. “Spend 50% of your time educating your internal stakeholders on the value of marketing, and
speak in their language.”
Be more customer centric. “Be able to tell a real customer story. Go beyond the surface and talk knowledgeably and
deeply about how your product helped the customer. Position marketing to define the value
for your clients.”
Visit customers regularly.
“All CMOs should go along on sales visits to the customer. Hear firsthand that they don’t like
your product… or hear great things about the team—and get a real feeling for the brand not
from data, but directly from the customer.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
RAM MENON
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT WORLDWIDE MARKETING
TIBCO
45
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The CMO Role
BROAD RESPONSIBILITIES POSITION MARKETING FOR INFLUENCE
As EVP of TIBCO, a $650 million business integration and process management software
company, Ram Menon’s challenge is to bring a wide range of activities under the marketing
umbrella. “I have a very broad-based role, including product strategy, new lead generation, how
to tell the TIBCO story, and good corporate citizen activities. This breadth gives me a soup-to-
nuts opportunity to participate in and influence the go-to-market strategy of the company.”
GETTING BUY-IN BY ENGAGING STAKEHOLDERS ON THEIR TERMS
Ram points to the importance of speaking your stakeholders’ language to communicate about
the role and value of marketing. “To be successful, marketing should spend 50% of their time
educating their stakeholders on the business value of what they are doing and 50% of the time
marketing externally. And with that 50% of time educating stakeholders, explain it to them in the
language they understand, tailored for that audience. The CMO is articulating the company story
to its prospective customers in the language they understand. Why don’t we use that simple
principle when we articulate our story to our own stakeholders?”
FINDING A MARKETING TEAM WITH THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE
The biggest challenge to motivating the marketing team, as Ram describes, is “finding people
with the right marketing mindset to begin with, who understand intuitively how to make the
connection with marketing and driving the business. I have an approach to motivating the team
that is a bit different and driven by our Silicon valley roots – it is much more entrepreneurial and
free-wheeling and requires them to make the connection and prove their value to the bottom line
themselves.”
The Marketing Function
ALIGNING MARKETING’S MEASURE OF IMPACT TO THE AUDIENCE
Ram tailors his calculations of the impact of marketing to his audience. “For example, when I talk
to sales, I only talk about sourced revenue. When I talk to a CFO, I talk about specifics like
headcount reduction without loss of market coverage and delivery of revenue per dollar of
marketing investment. It helps to be able to tell engineering how you are taking their product out
and driving a lot of revenue through the sales enablement function.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
RAM MENON
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
WORLDWIDE MARKETING
TIBCO
46
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USING YOUR INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS TO ENHANCE CUSTOMER OUTREACH
Not only does internal stakeholder outreach increase buy-in, but Ram also finds it to be a very
effective tool in developing more effective customer outreach programs. “Before turning to our
customers, I focused my enterprise social networking strategy first on my stakeholders. I focused
on how to use social networking to improve collaboration among my stakeholders, the whole
company and people saw the value from it. From those lessons learned, I launched my
community to the customer. The advantage of that was that my internal stakeholders were
raring to join the external community and participate, which helped make the launch moresuccessful.”
The Economic Environment
AN OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE MARKETING’S FOCUS
The current economic environment has pushed Ram and his team to refocus their efforts to do
more with less, and to get more results. “This is a great opportunity to focus better, to make
more with less but do things well. Secondly, it is time to target our customer better and develop
a razor sharp focus on the most important subset of the market. And third, re-orient our
marketing budgets to driving lead generation because that’s what is most important to thecompany right now.”
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS
Uncertainty puts increasing pressure on doing things well, Ram points out. “Doing a lot of things
is easy. Doing a few impactful activities is hard. In this market, you need to pick your activities
carefully and sweat the details. At this point in time, it’s all about sweating the details. I find this
focus helps align the team during uncertainty.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
RAM MENON
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
WORLDWIDE MARKETING
TIBCO
47
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Know your customer.
“Customer relationships and the ability to demonstrate deep understanding of the customer
gives the CMO a seat at the table.”
Customer stories are key to reaching your executive colleague.
“A repertoire of powerful narratives brings your knowledge of the customer to life and makes
that knowledge memorable for your peers.”
Conversation enablement is the new frontier.
“Customers do not want to be marketed to, they want to be involved in an authentic
dialogue.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
MARGARET MOLLOY
VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
GERSON LEHRMAN GROUP
49
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The CMO Role
BALANCING SHORT-TERM PERFORMANCE WITH LONG-TERM STRATEGIC VISION
GLG is a dynamic company with a range of target markets, which has given Margaret the
challenge – and the opportunity – to evolve the marketing function to support growth.
“Marketing is a critical component to the growth of the business as we seek to expand existing
offerings, enter new markets, and drive new industry demand. The rapid growth of the company
presents additional challenges in focusing marketing on the key strategic needs of theorganization. The number one challenge as a marketing leader is striking the right balance
between the longer-term strategic focus and shorter-term initiatives.”
BUILDING TRUST THROUGH AUTHENTIC CONVERSATIONS
Margaret emphasizes the power of customer conversation. “Authentic conversations build trust.
And trust is the most fundamental element in any commercial relationship. Success is not about
pitching products or even solutions—rather, it is about actively listening to and understanding
customers’ business drivers; posing relevant, provocative questions that help customers see
their issues from another angle; and co-creating the answer that fits. This approach builds
confidence and enduring relationships.”
MOTIVATING BY KEEPING A FRESH PERSPECTIVE
Keeping things fresh and inspiring is one of Margaret’s key strategies for team motivation. “We
want our team members to remember how it felt on their first day – everyday. Your first day is
full of healthy curiosity, positive energy, and unbridled ideas. We aim to maintain that feeling by
rotating team members across different areas of focus. This practice helps us become versed in
many aspects of the business and makes us better marketers overall.”
The Marketing Function
EARNING MARKETING’S SEAT AT THE STRATEGY TABLE
Margaret believes that marketers can play a unique role in strategy. “A seat at the strategy table
has to be earned. As marketers, we risk assuming that our professional credentials entitle us to
influence direction. The reality is that marketing’s unique value proposition is not universally
understood. Rather than bemoaning this branding and awareness challenge, we need to
acknowledge it and demonstrate the unique dimension that marketing brings to all business
issues, through rigorous, strategic, creative work. It is a constant work in progress.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
MARGARET MOLLOY
VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
GERSON LEHRMAN GROUP
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HOLDING THE SEAT WITH THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER
Margaret emphasizes the importance of the customer relationship. “Throughout my career, I’ve
maintained that the number one way to earn and retain a seat at the table is to have a
comprehensive understanding of the customer base. The more insight that you have on the
customer in aggregate and through specific anecdotes ─ the more value you bring to the table.
Marketing gains access to the customer through programs including case studies, advisory
boards, satisfaction checkups and net promoters score analysis, and uses its skills in research,
analysis, and documentation to build fact-based institutional memory.”
The Economic Environment
FROM SALES ENABLEMENT TO CONVERSATION ENABLEMENT
While the notion of sales enablement is well established, Margaret asserts that enabling
engaging conversations between a firm and its customers is a necessary evolution, especially in
a challenging economic environment. “We are increasingly focused on developing tools,
programs, and training to enable deeper dialogue between customers, sales, and the
organization as a whole. I call it conversation enablement . We do this by conducting research to
help sales develop account plans that refine the value proposition for specific customers; bypublishing high-impact usage scenarios by segments; by delivering a menu of concrete points of
differentiation; and by documenting best practices.”
MAKING YOUR CUSTOMERS YOUR BEST MARKETERS
Margaret highlights the benefit of helping customers articulate the value they are getting from
your firm. “Happy customers want to be advocates of your offering, but left to their own devices,
they rarely take the time to reflect on their end-to-end experience working with your firm. A
thoughtful case study interview captures a client’s challenges, solutions, benefits and ROI in a
structured way, and provides customers a compelling narrative to tell their success story. In the
final analysis, helping customers be your best spokespeople is the ultimate conversation
enablement.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
MARGARET MOLLOY
VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
GERSON LEHRMAN GROUP
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Use the voice of the customer to demonstrate credibility.
“Go beyond tracking the link to new customers to demonstrate the impact of engaged
customers on the brand and the business.”
Align marketing with operations to engage customers.
“Operations and marketing together own the customer relationship. Drive the research to
ensure the front line aligns around delivering the brand and integrating the input from
customers.”
Keep one eye on the future.
“Keep a close eye on where you want to be at the end of this downturn so that you are not
selling your soul for short-term gains.”
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS
JOHN MOSER
CHIEF MARKETING & BRAND OFFICER
DENIHAN HOSPITALITY GROUP
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The CMO Role
BALANCING BRAND ENHANCEMENT WITH REVENUE NOW
Denihan Hospitality Group, with their three boutique brands (Affinia Hotels, The Benjamin and
The James), and a goal to grow, targets the high-end independent traveler looking for new
experiences. As the Chief Marketing and Brand Officer, John has the challenge of not only
driving room occupancy, but to ensure that hotel operations lives the brand. “I need to make
sure there are ‘heads in beds’ right now, which is critical to the short-term bottom line. I alsohave to keep sight on the brand and keep customers engaged with our brand promise for the
longer term growth.”
ENGAGING CUSTOMERS TO MAKE THE CASE FOR MARKETING SPEND
John finds that demonstrating ROI on a consistent basis helps to convince the C-suite of the need
for continued marketing spend. “While brand awareness is part of how you grow a hotel
business, my CEO and CFO want to know how to drive more customers now. I spend a lot of
time trying to explain customer engagement and how that links to loyalty and growth. I do focus
on tracking how our initiatives lead to new customers, since that is the most important outcome
at the moment, but I worry about the longer term brand building.”
MOTIVATING THE MARKETING TEAM WITH TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
John motivates his young but talented team by grooming them and giving them skills and
experience. “I have found some really talented people. We do a lot to develop them, exposing
them to new technologies, new ideas, a broader set of responsibilities and teamwork. When they
come here, we make them a superstar, ready to take on new challenges. I also make sure they
see the total positive impact of the team on the organization.”
The Marketing Function
BRINGING THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER TO THE TABLE
John brings his operations background to his perspective on strengthening marketing’s seat on
the executive committee. “My role is to bring the voice of the customer to the table. I came from
operations so I see how important the connection to the customer is. I also say to the team –
‘did we ask the customers?’ – and make sure we do the research.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
JOHN MOSER
CHIEF MARKETING &
BRAND OFFICER
DENIHAN HOSPITALITY GROUP
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USING MULTIPLE CHANNELS TO GET THE CRUCIAL CUSTOMER INSIGHT
John looks to online and offline options in the quest for real insight to gather customer feedback.
“Online customer surveys are a good tool to measure existing customer feedback. To learn
more about our target audience, we survey the high potential and high value population that
comprises this pool. Thirdly, we hold in person discussions at regular weekly managers’
receptions that provide exceptional feedback. Fourth, we are the first hotel brand to add Trip
Advisor comments and RSS feeds right to our website, without any edits or censorship. This not
only demonstrates to our customers how open we are to their input, but the visibility pushes thehotel to read the feedback and act on it.”
The Economic Environment
INJECTING THE LUXURY BRAND WITH VALUE
The current economic environment has pushed John and his team to introduce value into their
brand image. “We have to be more cautious about how we are marketing in this environment.
People don’t want to say they are staying somewhere over-the-top. We are toning it down and
trying to talk about the value, weaving it into our brand… and we have had success with this. “
KEEPING THE LONG VIEW WHILE WAITING OUT THE STORM
John cautions about the importance of continuing to engage with high-end customers and
listening to the future opportunities these customers reveal, despite the pressures of driving
short-term revenue. “Marketing is about finding the engaged customers and getting their input
so you can offer them something the competition isn’t and help you sell your brand. The voice of
the customer is more important than ever to ensure that we do not do things that will hurt us in
the long run. In this market, I think we have the opportunity to pick up market share where we
didn’t before, as long as we maintain the long view.”
DISCUSSION DETAILS
JOHN MOSER
CHIEF MARKETING &
BRAND OFFICER
DENIHAN HOSPITALITY GROUP
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PARTICIPANT MAP
TOP 5 THINGS
•
Customer centricity is all important.• Demonstrate value and ROI to secure strategic role.
• Marketing as key agent of change.
• Internal stakeholders are just as important as customers.
• Drive short-term revenue but ensure the long term view.
1.
2. 3.
1. MITCH BISHOPiRise
California
2. PHIL CLEMENTAon Corporation
Illinois
3. JEAN FOSTERBT North America
Washington DC
4. MIKE HOGANGameStop
Texas
4.
5. CHUCK MARTZDow Water Solutions
Minnesota
8. MARGARET MOLLOYGerson Lerhman Group
New York
7. RAM MENONTIBCO
California
6. HEIDI MELINPolycom
California
9. JOHN MOSERDenihan Hospitality
Group
New York
5.
6.7.
8.9.
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COMPANY BACKGROUNDERS
Aon Corporation
Chicago, Illinois
Vertical: Financial ServicesHeadquartered in Chicago, Aon Corporation is the leading global provider of risk
management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human capital
consulting. Through its 36,000 professionals worldwide, Aon readily delivers distinctive
client value via innovative and effective risk management and workforce productivity
solutions. Aon’s industry-leading global resources, technical expertise and industry
knowledge are delivered locally through more than 500 offices in more than 120
countries. Aon was ranked by A.M. Best as the No. 1 global insurance brokerage in
2007, based on brokerage revenues, and voted best insurance intermediary, best
reinsurance intermediary and best employee benefits consulting firm in 2007 by the
readers of Business Insurance .
Denihan Hospitality Group
New York, New York
Vertical: Hospitality
New York based Denihan Hospitality Group is a full service hotel management and
development company built upon a successful foundation in real estate, guest service
and profitable asset management. With more than 40 years of hospitality management
expertise, the privately owned DHG operates three brands: Affinia Hotels, The
Benjamin and The James. Affinia’s distinctive hotels offer an array of options to suit
particular lifestyle and travel preferences in prime locations in Manhattan, Chicago
and Washington, D.C. The Benjamin, in the heart of Manhattan, provides an
experience of true luxury with the highest level of service in an intimate, boutique-style
setting. The James Chicago effortlessly blends a sense of modern, residential comfortwith state-of-the-art technology and classic hospitality. DHG also manages several
independent hotels in Manhattan. DHG was recognized as one of the Top 100
Management Companies on April 2009 by Hotel Business Magazine.
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COMPANY BACKGROUNDERS
Dow Water Solutions
Edina, Minnesota
Vertical: Chemical ManufacturingDow Water & Process Solutions has a 50 year legacy of providing innovative water
and process solutions to both communities and industries alike. A differentiated
business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Water & Process Solutions offers a
broad portfolio of ion exchange resins, reverse osmosis membranes, ultrafiltration
membranes and electrodeionization products, with strong positions in a number of
major application areas, including industrial and municipal water, industrial processes,
pharmaceuticals, power, residential water and waste and water reuse. With annual
sales of $58 billion and 46,000 employees worldwide, Dow is a diversified chemical
company that combines the power of science and technology with the “Human
Element” to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. The Company
delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160 countries,
connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help
provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging
and personal care products.
GameStop
Grapevine, Texas
Vertical: Media & Entertainment
Headquartered in Grapevine, TX, GameStop Corp., a Fortune 500 and S&P 500
company, is the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer. The
company operates more than 6,200 retail stores worldwide, as well as GameStop.com
and EBgames.com. Game Informer magazine, a leading multi-platform video game
publication, is also an important part of the GameStop family. GameStop offers
customers the most popular new software, hardware and game accessories for next
generation video game systems and the PC. In addition, their used game trade
program creates value for customers while recycling products no longer being played.
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COMPANY BACKGROUNDERS
Gerson Lehrman Group
New York, New York
Vertical: Information ServicesGerson Lehrman Group (GLG) provides technology and services to support a
marketplace for expertise. Since 1998, its platform for consultation and collaboration
has helped the world's leading financial services firms, consultancies, corporations,
and nonprofits find, engage, and manage experts in a broad range of industries and
disciplines. Gerson Lehrman Group's unparalleled network of the world's leading
expert consultants, known as the Gerson Lehrman Group Councils, includes more than
200,000 subject-matter experts who educate and provide insight to decision makers
through a wide range of consulting methods, including telephone consultations, expert
surveys, and seminars. Gerson Lehrman Group has invested in one of the world's most
sophisticated infrastructures for expert recruiting and compliance. Learn more at
www.glgroup.com.
iRise
El Segundo, California
Vertical: Technology
iRise is the world’s leading provider of visualization software for business applications.
Visualization is quickly becoming a critical competitive advantage for businesses to
more effectively communicate their needs to technology teams and give everyone
involved the ability to fully experience applications before they are built. Companies of
all sizes like General Motors, UPS, Wachovia, Manpower, M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center , and many others use iRise to “test drive” their applications before building,
which accelerates time to revenue, improves customer experience, and drives costs
down. At iRise, our vision is that by 2020, all business software will be visualized
before being built, the same way that every car, airplane, and building is visualized
today. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., iRise is backed by Morgan Stanley and
Deutsche Bank and has sales offices across North America.
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COMPANY BACKGROUNDERS
Polycom
Pleasanton, California
Vertical: CommunicationsPolycom, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM) is the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice
solutions and a visionary in communications that empower people to connect and
collaborate everywhere. Companies choose Polycom for solutions that enable their
geographically dispersed workforces to communicate and collaborate more effectively
and productively over distances. Using Polycom telepresence, video, and voice
solutions and services, people connect and collaborate from their desktops, meeting
rooms, class rooms, and mobile settings. Organizations from a wide variety of
industries and the private sector work with Polycom standards-based solutions to gain
a fast return on their investment as their teams easily collaborate "face to face"
wherever they are, cut the time, cost, and carbon emissions associated with gathering
the right people in one place to solve problems, and apply saved resources, time, and
energy to primary business and organizational challenges.
TIBCO
Palo Alto, California
Vertical: Technology
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX) provides
enterprise software that helps companies achieve service-oriented architecture (SOA)
and business process management (BPM) success. With over 3,000 customers and
offices in 40 countries, TIBCO has given leading organizations around the world better
awareness and agility–what TIBCO calls The Power of Now®. TIBCO is focused on
leveraging and extending the capabilities of its software to help companies move
toward predictive business: an exciting new way of doing business that lets companies
anticipate customer needs, create opportunities and avoid potential problems. As the
basis of the real-time movement of data across the enterprise, TIBCO's software is
uniquely capable of correlating information about a company's operations and
performance with information about expected behavior and business rules so they can
anticipate and respond to threats and opportunities before they occur.
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ABOUT THE RESEARCH
About the Research
In February of 2009, The CMO Club launched a unique effort to help members navigate these trying
times, and to leverage our collective knowledge – the Insights from CMOs program.
The research involved an initial set of 9 in-depth interviews with CMO Club members to help all of us
better understand how the economic environment is impacting our membership, and what you and
your colleagues are thinking about now as you respond and look for opportunities.
The goal was to develop a set of actionable stories – advice, insights and ideas from successful peers
– that will help members build successful strategies for 2009 and beyond. We are looking to
understand what marketing executives are talking about – not only with each other, but with their
teams, their vendors, their CEO, their line-of-business heads, and their customers – all of their keystakeholders.
Insight into Action
We have collected the insight garnered from the interviews into a compendium of stories,
recommendations, and best practices for CMO Club members to leverage in their own settings. We
thank those participants willing to spend their time to share their thinking and their ideas with The
CMO Club.
For those of you who did not have a chance to participate in this round of research, we encourage
you to reach out to Pete Krainik ([email protected]) for inclusion in the next round of
interviews.
About Truman Company
The CMO Club engaged Truman Company to help us uncover, evaluate and synthesize your insights
for this project. Truman Company is an executive marketing firm based in Burlington,
Massachusetts, dedicated to helping companies engage, sustain, and capitalize on executive
relationships. Their approach is driven by gathering and leveraging executive insights and helping
their clients effectively deploy content for conversation in their sales, marketing and relationship-
building programs. Learn more about them at www.trumancompany.com.
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