Martec’s Law: Technology changes exponentially, organizations change logarithmically

Martec's Law: Technology changes exponentially; organizations change logarithmically

I believe these two things are true: Technology is changing very rapidly, and those changes seem to be accelerating. Changing an organization — how it thinks and behaves — is still hard and slow. These two truths are at the core of this blog’s mission: helping marketers understand how marketing technology is changing and how [...]

All around the world, marketing = change

Scott Brinker at SAS Singapore Forum

Last month, I was invited on a fascinating marketing roadshow with SAS in southeast Asia, keynoting CMO events in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India. I’ve posted my slide deck and an essay version of my presentation on Combining Art & Science in Modern Marketing, if you’d like to read it. (Fair warning: it’s [...]

Art and science in marketing: meaning, truth, and money

Art and Science and Marketing

It’s been a few weeks since my last post — sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been on a whirlwind tour of southeast Asia with SAS, keynoting CMO events in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India. It was a fascinating and inspiring journey, but regrettably, I didn’t find much time to write while on [...]

Everyone in marketing should be a marketer scientist

8 characteristics of the marketer scientist

(This also appears as a guest post on SAS’s Left of the Date Line blog for the Asia Pacific region.) Later this month, I’ll have the privilege of meeting with groups of CMOs and other marketing leaders across southeast Asia as part of an event tour with SAS Institute. We’ll be visiting Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, [...]

The New Kingmakers are a rising force in marketing too

The CIO is the last to know

In a world powered by software, the developers who create that software — especially the really good ones — are increasingly the center of influence and power in business. That’s the core thesis of Stephen O’Grady’s brief-but-brilliant, 48-page book, The New Kingmakers: How Developers Conquered the World. This is highly relevant to marketers and marketing [...]

Marketing technologists and growth hackers, oh my

Roles on the Marketing Team

The terms “marketing technologist” and “growth hacker” seem to be gaining traction out there. Voice-based marketing automation provider ifbyphone recently released their annual State of Marketing Measurement Survey for 2013, which included the following results on the evolution of the marketing team: 31% have a marketing technologist 25% have a growth hacker Marketing automation is [...]

Pragmatic marketing vs. hype cycles and false dilemmas

Gartner Hype Cycle

Darling, I don’t know why I go to extremes Too high or too low there ain’t no in-betweens — Billy Joel There’s a common fallacy known as a false dilemma or false dichotomy. It’s where you’re artificially presented with a black-and-white, either-or choice: you’re forced to choose between all of one or all of the [...]

In the land of marketing, operations may become king

Marketing Operations: From Misfit Toys To Strategic Advisory

Last month, I attended the Marketing Operations Executive Summit — an intimate gathering of around 100 marketing operations executives — to give a talk on agile marketing. What I left with, however, was a profound appreciation for the ascendency of the marketing operations role. In the words of Craig Moore, a director at Sirius Decisions [...]

64% of B2B marketers feel underinvested in technology

Marketing Technology Critical to Success

Any doubt that marketing is becoming a technology-powered discipline? The ITSMA (Information Technology Services Marketing Association) shared results from their latest survey on marketing technology at a briefing outside of Boston earlier this week. The slide above shows the big picture result: today, 21% of B2B marketers believe that marketing technology is critical to deliver [...]

Marketers must be equal parts creative, tech, and finance

Nick Bell

Earlier this month, I read Oracle/Eloqua’s new report on Defining the Modern Marketer: From Ideal to Real. One of the more fascinating aspects of the report, based on a survey of 556 B2B marketers, was the shifting balance between the “art” of marketing and the “science” of marketing. Which lead me to write: what do [...]