Thinking

Organizations are spending millions of dollars to “digitalize” themselves, as a way to become more agile and responsive to customer needs. As Gartner says, “Companies should be able to ‘react at Internet speed’ with real-time analytics to better understand individual buyers, and how to serve their unique needs.” The payoff of these efforts is a more competitive and innovative organization that provides a consistent and engaging customer experience. As the organization become flatter and more transparent, it also brings a...

B2B often gets a bad rap in advertising. Many companies quickly default to creating communications that appeal purely to the head, emphasizing features, functions and facts to make a case. There is far less appeal to the heart and the funny bone. The net effect is what can seem like a sea of sameness. At the Advertising Research (ARF) RE!THINK Conference last week, I ran into an old friend from business school who I haven’t seen in years. When I...

Having a hard time convincing “the powers that be” to invest in the brand? Ever wonder why it’s so hard, why all they want from marketing is leads? Let me explain. In organically grown companies, an organization develops a product or service and goes to market through a sale channel, either owned or via a partner. At this point, the organization is focused on acquiring customers and generating revenue. With low market awareness the organization typically has more sales capacity...

Go ahead and get mad at me. Feel free to fill up the comment section below. I'm going to share our closely held secrets with salespeople, skeptics and other critics of marketing. I know you would rather I not, but it is best for all of us. Trust me.

For many B2B leaders, innovation is great in theory but difficult in practice. Immense digital disruption has forced B2B companies to explore how technology platforms continue to radically impact the buyers’ purchase path. Most C-Suite executives have stated that cloud computing, mobile solutions and the Internet of Things are likely to revolutionise their businesses, according to the recent IBM Institute for Business for Business Value study: Redefining Boundaries: Insights from the Global C-suite Study. In fact, a quarter of respondents...

As a B2B agency that creates humanly relevant ideas for future-forward companies, I know decision makers today put a high value on trust, reputation and experience, and believe in their mission to help their businesses accelerate the shift to a flourishing future. Enter ethics, purpose, morality and sustainability. Post COP21, there is hope that even the most reluctant of businesses who continue to see sustainability as a dirty word, or use it as a box-ticking exercise, would see 2016 as...

As a lifelong fan of cars and technology, I’d been looking forward to following the North American International Auto Show, which kicked off on January 11. It promised to be about a revitalised automation industry looking towards the future. But what really stuck out this year was the showcase of apology from Volkswagen (VW). While the rest of the industry was busy showing off their toys, VW was on stage saying “sorry,” trying to make amends for its infamous emissions-cheating...

Globalization and advancements in technology are transforming supply chain management. Because of this, it now has the potential to make a big impact on the corporate responsibility strategies of today’s organizations. While supply chains in some industries – such as food and retail – have come under scrutiny for unnecessary complexity or lack of transparency, digitisation now allows for the entire supply chain to be monitored, measured and optimised. This provides both the pressure and opportunity companies need to run...

There’s no escaping it. Unlike earlier generations that grew into their roles in purchasing, today’s millennials are buying beyond their years. So how can companies accustomed to seasoned buyers make the cultural shift and reach out to this up-and-coming generation? Here are three musts: 1. Reaching Millennials Starts with Being Responsive Work and play. Desktop and mobile. For millennials in the manufacturing space, they’re all one and the same. Today, one in 10 millennial engineers are using a mobile device...