The five best quotes from Forrester's Forum for Marketing Leaders 2014

Forrester’s Forum
for Marketing
Leaders 2014
Five quotes on a resonant theme
from this year’s event
© 2014 Tendo Communications | www.tendocom.com

Conferences are excellent venues to
immerse yourself, learn from experts
and peers, imagine possibilities, and
strategize for the future. And when your
mind is free (i.e. your phone’s turned
off), the speakers knowledgeable, and
the subject of interest, the ability to hear
a signal through the noise intensifies.
2
Noise>
Signal

With nearly 40 presentations and
break-out sessions by respected leaders
in the field, there was almost too much
information. Extensive research,
thought-provoking anecdotes, and
break-through lessons from hard-won
experience competing for attention. All
of it relevant—and valuable.
3© 2014 Tendo Communications | www.tendocom.com

After a few sessions, there was one
thread that emerged. With an
unmistakably heightened focus, from
marketers and analysts alike, its role as
both a reward—and proxy—for value,
was promoted and validated. The idea
that rose above the intelligent din?
?

Customer engagement

6
“In the near future,
authentic engagement
with the brand will be
table stakes.”
Drew Miller
Executive Director for Global
Marketing Analytics and Insights
Dell
Drew Miller used an example from the
Pandora CMO keynote session to highlight
his point about customer engagement.
When Pandora’s customers give thumbs
up or thumbs down feedback, they
immediately receive the benefit of the
information provided with a better
experience, deepening engagement with
the brand.
Yet, how often is it that brands collect
information from customers without
providing real benefit, and instead “return
the favor” with a net-neutral or negative
experience? Drew’s point is that brands
that don’t use data to delight and surprise
their customers will risk losing the ability to
engage them at all.

7
“You’ll be obsessive
about one key
metric…driving up
minutes of
engagement with
the customer.”
Carlton Doty
Vice President and Group Director
Forrester Research
As a coffee and auto fanatic, Carlton Doty
offered up his own brand experiences to
demonstrate a contextual, non-linear,
customer-lifecycle. He showed how
interactions that deliver utility and guide
him towards the next best interaction (a
cup of coffee!) are the new standard for
engagement. Building a contextual engine
is the new remit for marketing today.
With this mandate, Carlton offered a new
paradigm of measurement. From
transactions to value exchanges, from
media schedules to customer moments.
What’s the new key metric, the most
valuable thing customers can give you?
Their attention.

8
“The best predictor of
CLV for us is not
demographics. It’s
level of engagement
by just one of our
personas.”
Marge Breya,
Executive Vice President and CMO
Informatica
Marge Breya outlined the transformation that
the marketing function has undergone at
Informatica over the past 18 months. A key
takeaway was that the investment in
marketing technology infrastructure has
freed up a portion of the budget to increase
customer-centric communications.
Informatica’s ability to produce product-
agnostic, thought leadership content is
foundational to that effort because it drives
measurable engagement. And that’s exactly
what Informatica uses, minutes of
engagement per year, by persona, to
understand and better predict which
customers will provide the greatest value
over the course of the relationship.

9
“88% said thought
leadership is critical to
buying. And thought
leadership isn’t about
selling, its about
engaging.”
Jeannie Rossignol,
Vice President Marketing Services
Xerox
When Jeannie Rossignol says Xerox
wanted to better understand its customer,
and “what is it about this person that they
need to make a buying decision,” she isn’t
kidding. Marketing spoke with sales teams,
reviewed a lot of secondary research, and
surveyed “thousands and thousands” of
real customers.
The outcome? Detailed personas with
actionable revelations, a strengthened
partnership with sales that seeks out
marketing for client insights, and a big idea
that led to a bold new print and digital
publication, Chief Optimist. Each issue
focuses on a customer story, and includes
curated content and thought leadership
content from Xerox and its partners.

10
“Content is currency
for engagement.”
Lori Wizdo
Principal Analyst
Forrester Research
By debunking widely held myths in B2B
marketing, Lori Wizdo provided insight
about how marketers must change.
Embracing the customer journey, the
impact that sales has, and the role of
buying teams in the process are three
themes to focus on.
Underpinning these ideas is how to turn
strategy into action and get relevant
content to the right buyer at the right time.
Lori’s research shows that a company’s
website is likely the most important
channel throughout the journey. Designing
a site that speaks to buyers needs with
targeted, behaviorally-driven content could
be the most strategic initiative marketers
take this year.

These are just five quotes. There were
more, but the point is clear. Engaging
customers, the reward for delivering
value and the result of being customer-
obsessed, is a powerful, ascendant, and
multifaceted concept. An idea whose
time is now. The question is…
Are you?

The five best quotes from Forrester's Forum for Marketing Leaders 2014

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The five best quotes from Forrester's Forum for Marketing Leaders 2014