The good news is that, at last, everyone agrees: Marketing technology is now a major dimension of marketing. The marketing department and the IT department must collaborate. The challenge, however, is that beyond those two principles, there is a stunning diversity of opinions for how marketing technology should be managed and exactly what the new collaboration between marketing and IT should look like. I’ve heard from many different companies that are addressing this in very …

14 marketing technology organizational models Continue Reading »

We were in New York this weekend, and we walked by the Apple Store on 5th Avenue. A large crowd of people had gathered around an impromptu memorial to Steve Jobs — made of post-it notes, messages on MacBook and iPad boxes, printouts of “Think Different” ads, flowers, apples. I found it touching and inspiring: A series of post-it notes spelled out this famous Apple advertisement: Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, …

Photo: make a difference by thinking differently Continue Reading »

Yesterday, I attended Forrester’s inaugural CIO-CMO Forum. Sharyn Leaver, one of the hosts from Forrester, kicked off the event by saying, “This is the first time we’ve brought CIOs and CMOs together in the same room — hope everyone comes out alive.” Nervous laughter. And so began a fascinating day of joint CIO-CMO sessions, with more than its fair share of jokes about IT and marketing stereotypes: marketing is nothing but spin and fluff, and …

Top 10 Memorable Quotes from the CIO-CMO Forum Continue Reading »

This may be inside baseball, but I am mesmerized by the drama playing out at TechCrunch right now — and I can’t help but see a metaphor for the shift of marketing within it. The short version: TechCrunch is world’s most popular tech blog, acquired last year by AOL/Huffington Post, but largely permitted to retain its editorial independence. Founder Michael Arrington, a larger-than-life character on the tech scene, stayed on. However, Mike recently announced he …

Marketing lessons from the CrunchFund controversy Continue Reading »

Not every marketer needs to be a technologist. But given how deeply technology is now entwined in modern marketing, every marketer should be familiar with the essential laws of technology that effect your strategies and operations. Here are seven laws of technology that every marketer should know — along with a few nuggets of techno-culture that make for great beer conversation with the IT department: 1. Moore’s Law The most famous technology law of all …

7 Laws of Technology for Marketers Continue Reading »