IBM tasks CMOs on technology advancement

    Written by Adeyemi Adepetun

 TECHNOLOGY giant, IBM wants Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to inculcate technology into their operations.

   However, an IBM study showed high-performing CMOs are already integrating internal and external data to garner deep insights that, in turn, provide them with a much deeper understanding of their customers.

   The study revealed that 94 per cent of CMOs believe advanced analytics will play a significant role in helping them reach their goals. However, it explained that an increased number of CMOs said their organizations are underprepared to capitalize on the data explosion – 82 per cent compared to 71 per cent three years before.

     Indeed, at the 2014 IBM CMO Roundtable in Lagos, it was revealed that nearly three quarters of CMOs plan to leverage partners more in the future in order to achieve their goals; less than half do so today

    Besides, 63 per cent of CEOs are said to lean on CMOs to help formulate their business strategy, second only to the CFO (72 percent).

   The study underscores the need for CMOs to collaborate more closely with the rest of the C-suite in making strategic decisions that are supported by big data and analytics.

   Much like they feel underprepared to capitalize on data, 66 per cent of CMOs feel underprepared for the growth of social media, which is evolving at a pace faster than many can cope with. In addition, 94 per cent of marketing leaders believe that mobile applications will play a significant role in helping them reach their goals over the next three to five years, which is up from 80 percent three years before.

    According to IBM, the key differentiating factor, is that the CIO and CMO’s ability to leverage an infrastructure that can produce actionable customer insights for their organisation.

  “IBM is helping clients understand their customers as individuals through the use of big data and analytics.  With the emerging front-office transformation underway (mobile commerce, call center operations, among others), big data and analytics is being used to deepen customer engagement and find entirely new sources of revenue by combining data from both inside and outside the enterprise.”

    IBM Senior Consultant, Global Business Services, Mrs. Raliat Sunmonu,“through our various cross-industry studies and surveys, and obviously through CMO roundtable like this, IBM is taking the conversation beyond the CEO or CIO space into the Marketing space where technology has an increasingly growing role.”

    Presenting the Keynote, Marketing and Management Expert, Chief Lugard Aimiuwu said   technology is now constantly disruptive in a very dynamic way, adding that it is constantly revising all the key elements and aspects of the marketing function.

  “Organizational flexibility will therefore be the key to business sustainability. So it’s all about adaptability – this will be the core strength of any organization that will exist into the future.

  “Thanks to technology we don’t even know what will happen in the next five minutes in any industry. Companies like IBM are deploying new tools and technologies that are truly transformative. I hope Nigerian companies take advantage of the presence of IBM in this market”, he stated.

    IBM said by collaborating with customers, as distinct from marketing to them, CMOs are enabling customers to share their experiences and via a two-way dialog, CMOs are better positioned to design more personalised campaigns.

    Some of these interaction opportunities come when a customer contacts customer service.  Empowering these customer service representatives with the knowledge, driven by analytics and bolstered by the information captured throughout the conversation, can determine the correct strategy and action

     As such, according to President of ADVAN and Chief Marketing Officer, MTN Nigeria, Kola Oyeyemi, technology is revising age old marketing conventions, adding that the era of competitive advantage is gone. “I would say that today, we should be talking about temporary competitive advantage.

Culled from http://www.ngrguardiannews.com