Restraint Is the Key to Relevance: Why What You Don’t Say Matters

Note: a version of this article previously appeared in MarTech Series. Ask any CMO about the formula for winning with digital advertising, and the answer will inevitably center around “relevance” — the ability to leverage data to achieve that state of marketer nirvana bringing together the right person, right message, right time and right context. …

Suppression Explained: Snail-Paced Data Onboarding Dooms Marketing

Sometimes, the ads your brand doesn’t send are just as important as the ads it does. Think about how consumers shop. A young woman may spend days, even weeks, hunting for the perfect bicycle. She scours the web at night, prowls local stores during her lunch hour and pores over mobile shopping apps on her …

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

You think omnichannel marketing is challenging now? You haven’t seen anything yet. According to Cisco’s annual Visual Networking Index, the average American is on pace to own about 13 connected or networked devices by 2022 as wearables, AI-powered speakers, interactive televisions and smart home products will become fixtures of everyday life. And consumers are going …

Why Gaming Brands Are the Proving Ground for Tomorrow’s CMOs

Note: a version of this article previously appeared in Adweek. At first blush, the National Football League’s recent hire of Activision Blizzard’s Tim Ellis as CMO looks like a beleaguered brand’s attempt at leveraging fresh marketing insight to recapture a young male demographic abandoning traditional sports for esports. But at a deeper level, the move says a lot …

How the GDPR Will Revolutionize Retail Marketing

Note: a version of this article originally appeared in Internet Retailer. We’re now several months removed from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) dropping across the European Union — and the Y2K-esque panic accompanying its debut turned out to be more bark than bite. Sure, the first few weeks saw an initial burst of consumer …

Without Identity, Retailer Ad Retargeting Misses the Mark

Note: a version of this post originally appeared in Marketing Land. “Are we there yet?” As any parent who has endured a summer road trip with young, easily bored children can attest, there is no question more annoying. Especially after hearing it repeated ten times… within the first half hour. Sound familiar? If you’re a …

It’s Identity’s Big Moment, But Most Martech Still Comes Up Small

Note: A version of this post originally appeared in MarTech Today. Have you noticed anything different about the LUMAscape lately? Recently, the imposing cluster of logos representing the marketing technology landscape grew a little denser. Nestled under the data management platform (DMP) category, and to the right of the increasingly hyped customer data platform (CDP) grouping, …

Smart marketing still hinges on humanity, not technology

Note: A version of this post originally appeared in MartechToday. Remember what life was like before we had smartphones? We scrolled through inches of white pages without a thought, carried impossible-to-fold maps wherever we traveled and never left home without pocket change. Now it seems as if we think everything would work better if it were …

Why Customer Data Is Trade Marketing’s New Currency

Note: A version of this post originally appeared in Forbes. Endcap displays, temporary price reductions, circular ads… Trade promotions aren’t sexy, but they still get the lion’s share of marketing dollars, accounting for nearly 44% of packaged goods companies’ 2017 marketing budgets. Initially popularized by CPGs as a means to drive short-term sales and market share in …

The Most Under-Tapped Marketing Opportunity: Existing Customers

Note: A version of this post originally appeared in Forbes. Call it “The Retail Apocalypse.” Call it “The Amazon Effect.” Call it what you will, but the facts are plain: the retail industry is in crisis.  Bankruptcies are skyrocketing, and Amazon is gobbling up market share and expanding capabilities at a nigh-unbelievable rate. Some consider the current shakeout …