Category: Uncategorized

Chief Marketing Technology Officer – the CMTO

Fellow technologists who run marketing practices will probably all agree that we split our time between technology and marketing pretty evenly. As a manager of a large marketing practice for an online company, I turn to technology to help grow our opportunities and create scalability as we tackle new challenges.

I’ve often been asked which path in the organization I will take – will I continue with my database architecture and CRM roots? My analytics systems and business intelligence experience? Or demand generation and brand marketing?

Why not have it all?

Well, Laurie Sullivan wrote a fantastic article about CMTOs – the Chief Marketing Technology Officers. Those marketing heroes who build the systems that make marketing practices successful. I could not agree more with Laurie – that this vital role in the organization should have a seat at the c-table alongside the CIOs and CMOs of the world.

What do you think?
Spruce up the workplace walls with employee art

We moved into some new administrative offices here at American Public University System in Manassas, Virginia (Washington DC metro region). About 40 of us had been staring at blank (off-white) walls and then a few months ago we decided to invite employees to submit photos they had taken over the years. A small group of staff sorted through the submissions and picked two dozen photos to be enlarged, matted and framed. The end result is fantastic! While I might be biased (a few of my photos were chosen, and now employees are calling it the Dan Soschin art gallery), I will say it was an inexpensive and diversely captivating way of decorating our office. It also has a bit of an academic element, which is extremely appropriate given that we are a university.

During this project, which was incorporated into our other buildings as well, we happen to come across this article which is extremely relevant to the project.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/how-we-work/201112/the-power-workplace-do-it-yourself

Have you thought about updating the decor at your office? Maybe employee art is the way to go. You might be surprised at how talented some of your staff can be outside the office.
Click Fraud in Display Networks

Avoiding Advertising Fraud is Easy – Just Stay on the Big Exchanges

Pace Lattin produced a great article about advertising fraud over at ClickZ last week. It details how ad exchanges will go to any length to grow their inventory and undercut competitors.

To this I reply, why even bother advertise on any network outside of Google or Yahoo/Bing? Is your business so big that it has exhausted all its inventory possibilities on these networks? Hardly!

Okay, so you can still branch out a little bit… Hulu for instance, is fine… and I’m sure there are some media companies such as AOL and NBC that you can be okay with… but beyond these players, just stay away. The more us advertisers come together and stop buying on these crappy networks, the shorter the life span these networks will experience. So, in the end, just say NO!
The “_____” Moment of Truth

Ever since I attended a Google conference at their NYC offices this past spring where I heard a P&G executive talk about the “zero moment of truth”, I keep coming across versions of “the moment of truth”.

David Berkowitz does a great job breaking this concept down on the MediaPost blog in one of the better (and more concise) posts I’ve come across.

His analysis of the “infinite” moment of truth is profound. A customer willing to evangelize your product or service is the holy grail in marketing. You literally cannot buy that type of advertising.

If you run a marketing program, you should start out by thinking about how you can convert more customers into advocates. That should be your goal. If you achieve that goal, revenue will follow.
Inside Facebook’s Advertising Platform

Marty Weintraub at aimClear is getting ready to debut his new book on Facebook advertising optimization and gave folks a sneak peak at what to expect between the covers. Check out his sneak peak, it’s definitely not for the beginners out there, so you should have a little Facebook or paid search advertising experience before jumping in.
Is Walmart Innovative?

Most people would quickly answer no to the question of whether Walmart is an innovative company. But, I challenge you to keep your perspective open. The world’s largest retailer is quite adept at breaking into new technology channels, and tapping them customer service or sales opportunities.

To support its desire to innovate, Walmart runs WalmartLabs. Recently, WalmartLabs has acquired certain companies to help it continue innovating. It purchased online movie service Vudu, and a search and social media company, Kosmix, both located in Silicon Valley. Who knew Walmart would be a Silicon Valley player?

Read more about the lab and its acquisitions here:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=148908&nid=125903
Social Media Targeted by Malware Threats
From MediaPost:

In 2010 Symantec identified over 286 million varieties of malware, which carried out a total 3.1 billion attacks on computers around the world, with the number of attacks conducted over the Web increasing 93% from 2009. Facebook is obviously one of the main targets, and Symantec illustrated the chinks in Facebook’s security armor with an app (created using Facebook APIs) that lets hackers see personal information on profiles which are supposed to be closed to the general public.

The bottom line here is that as new technologies emerge, so too, will those who exploit them. You cannot rely solely on the security companies to protect you. We must educate users – starting at a very young age. Education must include topics such as:
- sharing information
- posting information
- phishing techniques
- trust
- common scams
- malware
- attachments
- device security
- password security
- and so much more…
As you can see, it’s not a “30 minute conversation”, or a piece of software you buy at OfficeMax for $29.99. Rather, its education, that will protect the end user. And, the bottom line is that schools are not teaching this properly, and it has to change, because the technology will continue to evolve, exposing users to new types of threats each day.