Archive for the ‘Rants & Raves’ Category
Is too much reliance on Marketing Automation a danger?
I recently read this article by Omar Akhtar on “The case against too much marketing automation” and it got me thinking. Although I am a firm believer in marketing automation, here are several points here where I agree. I am inundated daily from vendors trying to sell me the next best thing in identifying web visitors, automated what content people see based on digital footprint, augmenting my database; the list goes on and on. And some of these do intrigue me. But I do question their actual effectiveness.
I’ve been using marketing automation for over a decade now and I’m a believer. My very small team executes more programs and campaigns than I could ever dream of twenty years ago when I first started in marketing. But nothing replaces actually spending time with your prospects and customers. You need to know what drives them. What are their challenges, fears, hopes and dreams. And then how can you fit into their reality. You will never get this from any type of marketing automation.
You need to spend time with your customers. You need to talk to them. Do this whenever you can – at tradeshows and conferences, customer visits, industry events. Whenever you get a chance. How else will you learn about them – what truly drives them? And how else will you see if your value props and messaging resonates?
So I’m a firm believer in marketing automation but I also don’t see it as a panacea that solves all your marketing needs. And thank God for that or I’d be out of a job! You need to get face-to-face and talk. There is no automation or replacement for that.
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Shareholder Value
As someone who went to business school in the height of the “shareholder value” craze, I do find some validity to this article. Especially after years of dealing with CEOs. I had one CEO I had an argument with about this very topic. My side (the correct one) was that you end up “choosing” your investors by the messages you send. If you tell them you are focused on a 5 year horizon with a set goal, and then you tell them that you won’t be focusing on the 90-day cycle – you will get to your destination but not in 90-day sprints – then you will get long-term investors. And this will result in less stock price volatility if you hit some intermediate goals.
But he was stuck in the 90-day cycle. And that hurts a lot of companies. You can’t invest for the future in that environment.
Anyway, here is the article that was excerpted in The Week, where I read it:
BEST COLUMNS
It’s foolish to focus on stock prices
The relentless pursuit of higher share prices has done investors no favors.
POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2012, AT 2:25 PM
Lynn Stout
Los Angeles Times
The relentless pursuit of higher share prices has done investors no favors, said Lynn Stout. Maximizing “shareholder value” has been corporate America’s religion for over three decades now. To crank up share prices, companies sell key assets, outsource jobs, shower CEOs with stock options, and drain cash reserves by paying out dividends. These tactics often produce short-term market bumps, but they also hurt a company’s “long-term ability to grow and prosper.” Investors have borne the brunt of this trade-off, suffering “more than a decade of the worst investor returns since the Great Depression.” So why does the charade continue? Because investors continue to believe that companies are legally required to maximize returns in the short term, even though that’s a “pure myth.” In reality, corporate directors have no such obligation. Only with the rise of the “Chicago School” of free-market economics in the 1980s did share price become the default gauge of corporate performance. It’s time to step back from misguided short-term thinking so that companies can finally “do a better job for shareholders—and the rest of us too.”
Divided America
Full disclosure – I work for a firm that largely is a third-tier defense contractor. And none of my opinions here reflect at all with my employer’s thoughts. In fact, I know my CEO and I don’t agree on most of this. But then again, he’s rich and British. To me, he’s doing what many in this article are doing – looking out for his own interests (keep my capital gains taxes down) and those of our company (spend more on those programs we supply), but not those of America.
Here’s the article that sparked this: CEOs in Crossfire at Sequestration Hearing
I’m not rich but I am an American. And I think we all need to give some to get us back on our feet. Just like our grandparents did during WWII. Nowadays, there is no sense of community and shared sacrifice. In fact, through manipulation and Gerrymandering, we now have a country that is way more divided in elected officials than it is in reality. Electoral districts are re-drawn to favor one party over the other. The result is extremist on both sides getting elected. And they all just cater to their constituency, not the interests of America.
A very sad state of affairs.
Berkshires
Gorgeous day here in the Northeast. Drove from southern NH to western MA and had to stop several times. Winter has shed her cloak and spring has infiltrated. I completely enjoyed the ride. It is amazing to see the green filling in. I live in a part of the world that is truly lovely.
How Dumb are Americans?
My first post from an airplane! Southwest now has WiFi and I’m on my way to San Jose. But not quite the mile high club I was hoping for…
Anyway, I was reading the latest issue of Newsweek and was intrigued and saddened by their article on the lack of knowledge Americans have for their own country. You can read the story and take part of the quiz here:
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/03/20/how-dumb-are-we.html
It is a sad reflection on our priorities – or lack thereof. I felt good after the quiz – got one wrong and I knew the answer if I had thought about it a bit more. Anyway, try for yourself. Some of these really tax the brain that’s left from high school.
4G Broadband – a hoax
OK – I am a marketing person. But I really have a problem with this. It’s just a marketing gimmick. There are NO cell phone carriers in the US who have 4G technology implemented. Yet every major cell carrier will claim so. Just watch any ad. But here are a couple of articles to de-bunk that claim:
http://bit.ly/ghJBvN – Government Computer News article
http://bit.ly/fQ43Qr – ARS Technica article
And a press release from Mercury Computer on real 4G in Korea:
I’m just not sure why the truth hurts cell phone providers so much. Ah well, back to shoveling out after the latest snowfall…
CFO flouts own rules
Writing under the pseudonym John McGreavy, a CIO at a billion dollar plus manufacturing firm publishes articles in InformationWeek. His latest struck a nerve. We’ve all worked in organizations where someone who can set rules chooses not to follow them him/herself. “John’s” article talks about one he is facing. And he’s looking for thoughts. Please read the article and send him your help! You can find the article here:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=227300399