7 in 10 CMOs Feel Unprepared for Data

October 12, 2011

ibm-marketing-challenges-reported-by-cmos-oct11.gifSeven in 10 (71%) global chief marketing officers (CMOs) feel unprepared for the explosion of data that is occurring in the marketplace, according to a study released by IBM in October 2011. Data in “From Stretched to Strengthened” indicates that a similar percentage (68%) feel unprepared for social media.

Other developing business and trends a large portion of CMOs feel unprepared for include growth of channel and device choices (65%), shifting consumer demographics (63%) and financial constraints (59%). Out of 13 trends covered by the study, only corporate transparency (47%) makes less than half of CMOs feel unprepared.

Outperformers Also Unprepared

ibm-marketing-unpreparedness-out-and-uder-performers-oct11.gifEven when CMOs are divided by outperforming and underperforming organizations, large percentages of outperformers still feel unprepared for many developing trends. For example, 65% of outperformers feel unprepared for the data explosion and 66% feel unprepared for social media. And 57% feel unprepared for shifting consumer demographics, while 56% feel unprepared for the growth of channel and device choices.

The largest difference between outperformer and underperformer unpreparedness is in channel and device choice growth, where the share of underperformers who feel unprepared is 30% higher (73%).

Market Research Most Popular Strategy Influencer

ibm-cmo-strategy-influencers-oct-2011.JPGLooking at how many CMOs use different strategy influencers, the study shows that good old fashioned market research still reigns supreme, with 82% of respondents using it. Two other traditional influencers, corporate strategy (81%) and competitive benchmarking (80%) follow.
In fact, every influencer used by 50% or more of respondents is a traditional method, although many can be aided by new technology.

However, specific new technology influencers, such as online communications (40%) and blogs (26%) are less popular.

8 in 10 CMOs Plan Increased Social Media

ibm-cmo-increase-tech-oct-2011.JPGNew technology stands to become much more commonly used by CMOs, according to study results. Social media leads the way, with 82% of respondents planning to increase its use. Other new technologies with high rates of planned increased usage include customer analytics and CRM (81% each), mobile applications (80%), content management (73%) and tablet applications (72%).

The only new technology with less than 50% of CMOs planning increased usage is email, but this may reflect its heavy existing penetration and/or rise of other communication technologies.

Business Case Issues Top Tech Barriers

ibm-cmo-tech-barriers-oct-2011.JPGWhen asked to name barriers to using technology, the top two barriers were both business case issues: cost (71%) and lack of ROI certainty (62%). The third most popular barrier, tool implementation issues (47%), is IT-related, followed by the marketing-related issue of lack of skills (46%) and two IT/marketing-related issues: lack of marketing and IT alignment (45%) and lack of IT integration (43%).

Only one usability, ease of use (37%) makes the list, which is populated on its lower portion by a mix of marketing- and IT-related barriers.

Forbes: Top Performers Track Online Campaigns

Top US and UK online marketing performers, those executives who say their company’s investment in online marketing technology is “world class,” are much more likely to proactively track and adjust their online marketing campaigns, according to a survey from Forbes Insights and Coremetrics. Results of “Bringing 20/20 Foresight to Marketing” indicate 27% of top performers, but only 9% of all respondents, review online marketing performance in real time.

About the Data: This study is based on face-to-face conversations with more than 1,700 CMOs worldwide.

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