Scott Brinker

Laura McLellan, a research VP at Gartner, caused quite a stir at the beginning of this year when she boldly predicted that by 2017, CMOs will spend more on IT than CIOs. Exclaims of, “Really?!?!,” echoed among marketing and IT professionals alike for months thereafter. But the evidence was compelling, and those of us working in the marketing technology space have been witnessing this trend first-hand. Now, Laura is back with even more research to …

Gartner: 72% have a “chief marketing technologist” today Continue Reading »

Nobody likes to see their idea lose. Everybody wants straight A’s. Look good for the boss. It’s the Lake Wobegon effect: all the children are above average. (If you don’t appreciate that joke, take this pop quiz.) So at some level it’s not surprising that survey data of Fortune 1,000 marketers from the CEB Marketing Leadership Council shows that only 50% of marketers agree or strongly agree with the statement: “My team accepts that some …

“We want to test bold, new ideas that always work.” Continue Reading »

Last week, I gently ribbed the Marketing Leadership Council of the CEB over their HBR post, Marketers Flunk the Big Data Test. I felt the statistics they were sharing about

Well, not hot like the Real Housewives of Madison Avenue. But in their article — The hot new CxO: Chief Marketing Technology Officer? — they acknowledge “a new role that’s a cross between the traditional chief marketing officer and chief technology officer.” And it’s become a hot topic. “CMTOs are using significant technology and analytical expertise to help companies make sense of and exploit vast amounts of customer and market data from sources as diverse …

VentureBeat says Chief Marketing Technology Officers are hot Continue Reading »

The Corporate Executive Board had an eye-catching post on the HBR blog recently, Marketers Flunk the Big Data Test. They begin: The big-data explosion is driving a shift away from gut-based decision making. Marketing in particular is feeling the pressure to embrace new data-driven customer intelligence capabilities. No wonder a strong appetite for data is one of the most sought-after qualities in new marketers. And yet, a recent CEB study of nearly 800 marketers at …

Marketers are less statistical than, um, statisticians Continue Reading »