It’s all about the marketing tech….

A recent CMO survey shows technology at the top of improvement wish list for chief marketers. Well, duh.

The problem, as I see it, is that a lot of guys my age can’t tweet their way out of a wet paper bag. CMO average tenure is still at 23 months, where it’s been stuck since about the time CEOs starting demanding the same accountability from marketing as every other function in the company.

Will the problem resolve itself with the next generation of CMOs? The tech problem, yes, but there’s a whole new set of issues waiting in the wings.

A notable lack of strategy, intuition and people skills has been showing up for quite some time in Gen Y and later generations. Companies may be forced to make some tough CMO decisions in the not too distant future.

Related articles

• CMO’s Say Tech-Savviness Is Greatest Area of Opportunity (marketingpilgrim.com)
• CEOs need CMOs to stay ahead of the curve (greatfinds.icrossing.com)
• 6 Rules To Help CIOs, CMOs Be Smart Partners (informationweek.com)

CEOs see improvement in 2012

Vistage International survey of small and medium sized business CEOs shows confidence in economic growth improving. Not a full-on gung ho but decent stats. Worth reading.

CLICK HERE for CEO survey article.

Related articles

• Vistage CEO Confidence Index Takes Biggest Leap Since 2009 (vistage.com)
• More Hiring, More Investing, Better Economy: Vistage CEO Confidence Index (vistage.com)

Seth’s latest – A hundred little things

“This turns out to be the secret of just about every really successful enterprise.”

CLICK HERE

Related articles

• 3 Marketing Lessons from Seth Godin’s New Book “Poke the Box” (hubspot.com)
• Seth Godin Wants to Know: Are You Competent And/Or Other? (thebaochi.wordpress.com)

Management of change for 2012

Is your business stuck? Stalled? Mature? Declining?

You know you have to change things in 2012 but what is the management of change?

If the buck stops with you here’s a 4-step change model, created by McKinsey‘s Colin Price and Emily Lawson, that can help you lead change:

1. Create a compelling change story. Hint: “We’re losing ground” isn’t one of them.
2. Be the role model for the story. Do your employees see you ‘walking the walk’ or do you believe ‘talking the talk’ is your only responsibility for change?
3. Reinforce the story. Systems, processes and incentives are powerful change reinforcement mechanisms.
4. Build story capabilities. If your change involves creating new products you’d better have truly experienced experts on hand.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the story.

Related articles

• Change Management Principles, Process, Tips and Change Theory and Models (bjconquest.com)