Four major opportunities await CMOs, according to Tim Suther, CMO and SVP of Acxiom, who took the stage at this week’s IQPC CMO Exchange, in Miami, to tell the assembled chief marketers about them.
To get the audience’s attention, Suther noted that “$112 billion in advertising dollars is wasted every year, and it’s only getting worse.” Why? Explained Suther: “Brands are using broadcasting when narrowcasting is needed, channels and products are still being prioritized over customers, and data has not been integral to marketing decisions.” Data, he said, is now on par with labor and capital as the raw material of creative value.
So what are the big opportunities available that can help CMOs not waste more advertising dollars? One, CMOs must extend the reach of their insights; two, differentiate customer value; three, make sense of the breadth of data; and, four, use data and the brand experience to change lives.
Suther said opportunities exist in the intersection of insights—this is the basis for hyper-relevant experiences. “Marketers can drive better ROI by capturing what they and their partners know about customers—then connect it all.”
No. 2, he said, is something that seems obvious but is rarely appreciated: Different customers have different value. “Pursuing a customer-centric strategy,” he explained, “allows you to look at what kind of value each individual relationship has and then act on it. So think differently about what constitutes success.”
Making sense of the breadth of data—No. 3—implies that there is no one signal that reliably predicts or describes consumer behavior. “Data should be multidimensional,” Suther said, “and it’s imperative to unlock the data from the media and channel silos.”
Finally, the one opportunity he considers a “home run” is using data to make lives better and change the brand experience. He admitted he’s not exactly sure how this concept can fit into every individual brand, “but the power of branding allows CMOs to do something good for their customers, and that’s a very good thing for everybody.”
Read previous article from CMO Exchange, "MMA Chief: The Time For Mobile Is Now."
