Marketing Trends

Having the right elements and the right design is critically important to reaching the right people the right way. Detria Williamson , the CMO of IDEO , has years of experience working with clients to create meaningful impact through design, and throughout that time she has seen the world of design shift and the buyers’ needs change. To meet those needs, Detria says it’s all about listening carefu...

Online shopping has exploded in the last year and with so much to choose from at the click of a button, many online merchants are finding the need to help consumers narrow down the options and find what they really want. Saksham Sharda Creative Director and CIO of Outgrow is here to help consumers with decision fatigue, while at the same time helping vendors get to know who is looking at their web...

On the show we hear over and over again that marketing and sales need to find alignment and that data needs to be a big part of that. Kevin Tate is the CMO of Clearbit , a company that is taking an entirely different approach when it comes to data quality and coverage.  Clearbit is a tool for marketers to use to better understand customers, identify future prospects, and personalize marketing and...

Here’s an age-old marketing truth: sex sells. But marketing sex, or sexual wellness for that matter, can be a tough subject to bear. Within today’s oversaturated marketplace, marketers are fighting not just for attention on shelves and landing pages, but also for customers’ eyeballs. But when you’re marketing a taboo product, such as a sexual wellness cream, those challenges are magnified and buil...

Double-tap — or in some cases just tap — to like. Those little filled-in hearts and thumbs-up used to be the currency of marketing campaigns. How many did you get? Then bots disrupted, and the market for selling likes got out of control. Brands started wising up to the super high customer acquisition costs they were seeing in their marketing reports and they wanted to trim the fat, to know more ab...

There are few things in life that are not volatile. The stock market rises and falls, much like a pendulum swinging from left to right. Crypto is viewed as a rocket ship, but it’s returns remain mostly inconsistent, and the housing market has seen its fair share of crashes over the years. But if you’re looking for one asset class that bucks the trend when it comes to volatility, fine art might jus...

Swipe right on... Twirla? Creating ads for a contraceptive patch on dating apps is emblematic of the innovative approach that Amy Welsh , the Vice President of Marketing takes at Agile Therapeutics . Welsh has no shame in working with marketing agencies to utilize the advantages that they offer, while also maintaining close control of her brand’s integrity.  It’s safe to say, Welsh has no shame in...

Bobby Jania , VP of Product Marketing at Salesforce understands how to look at a potential problem, reframe it, and utilize it as an asset. His ability to understand technical nuance, thanks to a degree in computer engineering, qualifies him as a leader in this space. Understanding the basics of how things are made, and then taking a step back to look at the way those little details are fitting to...

There’s a growing concern bubbling beneath the surface of marketers feet. Third party cookies are going by the wayside. This has been a really effective tool that marketers have utilized for years to target specific populations they deem are more likely to be interested in and purchase the products they’re selling. Moving forward, marketing in the digital space is going to look a bit different. So...

Athletes are constantly striving to find their unfair advantage, and most businesses are no different. It’s one tangible thing that sets us apart from our peers that makes us stand out. In late 80’s Nike searched for their unfair advantage and found it in Michael Jordan and the Jumpman brand. Apple was floundering in a market dominated by its competitor until they brought Steve Jobs back into the...

Let’s be honest, content is king. And the challenge today is finding ways to make that content not just resonate with people, but also more helpful by giving users a community that not only creates a lasting impression, but one they can benefit from. Wes Kao knows content, and as the creator and co-founder of Maven , what she sees as the answer to improving the online course education experience f...

While cable services may be on life support, the simple truth is that live TV captivates audiences in ways on-demand content can’t. Maybe it was the anticipation that came with watching Roy Halladay fan 11 Marlins hitters in a perfect game for the Phillies back in 2010, or the anxiousness that occurs watching state-by-state election results roll in on a Tuesday night in November. The bigger point...

At Chainlink Labs , CMO Adelyn Zhou embraces the complicated nature of marketing in the quickly evolving field of blockchain technology. She also leans into the idea that technology like blockchain can have a major impact on often-forgotten parts of the world. “I think one thing being in a developed world [is that] you don't realize is that we take a lot of our, our legal system and our contracts...

Coming into a new marketing role during a critical re-branding phase of a company’s life is no small task to take on. There are challenges with developing new working relationships, and most importantly, trust, in order to create a smooth and successful evolution for the business.  “I'm naturally curious. I like to seek to understand; I'm naturally very curious. Want to delve into the details on s...

There’s a notion among marketers that the way to provide the best customer experience is to have the richest data. After all, to CMOs and most modern marketers, data is basically the key to unlocking customer success. But to provide those marquee customer experiences, there’s a myth swirling around that the only way to have success is if all your data sets live in one place. You need the mythical...

What are your three words? It’s a question Amber Armstrong , CMO of LivePerson , loves to ask her team members. Those three words can be anything — they can be a personal mantra, a list of questions, or even a grocery list. But regardless what your three words are, the key is to make them count, make them relatable, but, most importantly, to let those three words be the driving force of your end g...

At first blush, getting insurance seems relatively straightforward. You research providers, you request a quote, and you go with the option that best suits your needs. Simple, right? Boring even. And sure, marketers have tried for years to add spice to a relatively bland industry… Geico continues to celebrate the Gecko, Progressive has long-running ads with the lovable Flow, and State Farm has enc...

The Tonight Show debuted in 1954 with comedian Steve Allen welcoming a local television audience to his version of what he thought The Tonight Show should be. Since then, six different hosts have manned the desk for the late-night comedy show. Jay Leno was known for his charm and hair, Johnny Carson established the standard format for television chat shows – including the famous guest couch — and...

CMO’s tend to have a mantra when they take over a new job: reorg, rebrand, and restructure. But while the mantra is simple, the process is not. Any time things change, feathers get ruffled, even for the most well-intentioned CMOs. “Being performance driven, it's not always the most popular thing to do when you come into a new company. I pulled back spend in Q2 quite significantly from where we wer...

There is one thing that every marketer would say they need: content. But what makes for good content and what makes for the best content? Is it storytelling? Is it authenticity? What content drives engagement, versus what content is merely passable? Kristin Frank is a well-respected and highly-seasoned media expert, and after a 20-year run at MTV, it’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about co...

Here’s a contrarian thought: buying ads doesn’t win you customers. What does win is when previous customers are happy and willing to tell everybody else just how great you are. Now think about this, before you buy a product, what’s the first thing you do? You read the reviews. From influencers, to friends, to referral codes and trade magazines, the way consumers decide what product or service is p...

Text message marketing is a powerful tool — after all no other channel provides marketers with the same level of one-to-one communication that you get by sending a simple text. But just because you have the ability to press send, doesn’t mean you always should. “You need to think to yourself before you send any text message, ‘Is this message providing value? Is the person on the other end of this...

B2B marketing gets a bad reputation. Some will say it’s boring and you can’t be creative in the B2B space. But who wrote the rulebook that said B2B couldn’t be fun or inspiring? Meredith Stowe Christie , the VP of Marketing at HVR , says that regardless of who your client is, B2B doesn’t have to be boring. “It's B2B, but you're still marketing to a human. Chances are, given the amount of people th...

Streaming services and connected television sets now dominate living rooms, but what influence has OTT programming had on brands when it comes to content development, strategy, and advertising?  “If you can create content that appeals to the kid, but also the overall family and the parents, that's a win-win. You're going to get no pushback from the parents when everyone sits down and says, ‘Let's...

Every corner of the world is different, and that means the way consumers buy and absorb media  is different as well. In the U.S., email is a massive channel for brands to reach customers. But what about on continents such as Africa? With a population of more than 1.2 billion individuals, what drives the African consumer? What channels are businesses using to reach them, and where are some of the b...