The 10 most influential CMOs to watch, 2018

www.insightssuccess.com July 2018

The

Most 10 Influential CMOs To Watch 2018

CMO of the Month

Reforming Benchmarks The Significance of an Effective Marketing Strategy

Peter Neve, CMO ACG Group

Digital Engagement Components of Digital Marketing

Cinn Tan CMO Pan Pacific Hotels Group

Cinn Tan:

Crafting Prolific Marketing Strategies

Editor’s Note

www.insightssuccess.com July 2018

Marketing: A Universally Essential Success Strategy

The

Most 10 Influential CMOs To Watch 2018

CMO of the Month

Reforming Benchmarks The Significance of an Effective Marketing Strategy

Peter Neve, CMO ACG Group

Digital Engagement Components of Digital Marketing

Cinn Tan CMO Pan Pacific Hotels Group

Cinn Tan:

Crafting Prolific Marketing Strategies

T

he discipline of marketing, in its essence has been a reformatory practice since its advent. The conception of an organization’s outreach in the global market is largely aided by an immaculate marketing approach. Whether it is oriented towards product, pricing, place or promotion, marketing evidently exists in every aspect of a business. Being au fait with the contemporary trends of marketing, and devising all-encompassing marketing strategies with a prolific approach, aids in sculpting oneself into an ideal Marketeer.

With the introduction of social media platforms, the marketing discipline has been disrupted into a whole different form. Marketing personnel have an additional benefit of exhibiting their products and services on various platforms to instill an influence among people. A competent marketeer is what an organization requires to cater to the widening use of modern marketing techniques. An erudite practitioner of modern marketing methodologies recognizes, visualizes and executes actions that throttle the analysis and derivation of a profound marketing strategy.

An effective marketing strategy outlines an organization’s approach towards its business. The organization’s outreach to the intended audience is strongly reliant on the ability of the marketeer’s vision and determination. Maintaining adequacy and efficiency in devising a marketing strategy must be a Chief Marketing Officer’s forte.

Thus to emphasize upon such proficient CMOs, Insights Success has curated a list of “The 10 Most Influential CMOs to watch, 2018,” who are excelling in the provision of best-in-class marketing strategies and solutions which incessantly advocate ingenuity and unparalleled expertise.

Our Cover Story Features Cinn Tan, the CMO of Pan Pacific Hotels Group. Cinn oversees and drives the marketing and sales strategy of Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which operates 40 Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL hotels, resorts and serviced suites in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. She has more than 20 years of sales and marketing management experience from international hotels in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. She has spearheaded the Group’s brand refresh along with several strategic marketing initiatives. These include a revamped brand website and ‘Pan Pacific Connections,’ the group’s new corporate loyalty program.

The issue also features Peter Neve, the CMO of ACG World. A combination of personal conviction, curiosity, and innovation has enabled Peter to consistently deliver stellar marketing results across vastly different industries. We have also enlisted CMOs who are providing insightful and innovative marketing solutions to enhance the applications of the Marketing discipline.

April Critchfield, of Zurixx LLC, which develops financial education programs by crafting messaging and developing materials, and launching sales programs for students interested in growing their real estate investment businesses; Joelle Kaufman, of Dynamic Signal which is a leading Employee Communication and Engagement Platform connecting companies to their most valued asset- their employees; Barry Rabkin of Identified Technologies, which provides managed drone mapping solutions, a new level of transparency and insights for earthmoving and construction contractors; Sidra Berman of Tangoe, which is a leading global provider of IT and Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software and services to a wide range of global enterprises and service providers; and Sharon Cook of Mountain America Credit Union, which assists its members on the right path to help them identify and achieve their financial dreams.

Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CXO standpoints of some of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.

Let’s start reading!

Abhishaj Sajeev

Cover Story

Cinn Tan: Crafting Prolific Marketing Strategies

08 22

34

46

Leader’s Preaching

Tech Evolution

Purpose Driven

Impact of Women in Tech

Emerging Technologies: A Revolution with Challenges

The Importance of Purpose

Articles Digital Engagement

Reforming Benchmarks

28

The Significance of an Effective Marketing Strategy

40

Components of Digital Marketing

CONTENTS

CMO of the Month

16 Peter Neve:

Breaking the Marketer Mold

20

26

April CritchďŹ eld:

Barry Rabkin:

Voyaging towards Marketing Zeniths

32 Joelle K Kaufman: R Reforming the Art of Marketing

A Passion for Problem Solving Products

38 Sharon on Cook: An All-Rounder ounder in ting Modern Marketing

44 Sidra Berman: Sidr Advocating Self-Development and A Cr Creative Marketing Techniques

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller Executive Editor Abhishaj Sajeev Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes Kedar Kulkarni Contributing Editors Hitesh Dhamani Shubham Khampariya Visualiser David King Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Arun Bulbule Co-designer Karan Gaikwad Art & Picture Editors Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Passi D. Business Development Manager Peter Collins Marketing Manager John Matthew Business Development Executives Steve, Joe, Alan, Md. Nadeem Sales Executives David, Kevin, Mark, Anup Technical Head Jacob Smile Technical Specialists Amar, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Online Marketing Strategists Alina Sege, Shubham, Vaibhav K SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chevale, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Irfan Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Circulation Managers Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes sales@insightssuccess.com

July, 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

Follow ollow us on :

Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off. No. 513 & 510, 5th Flr., Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in

www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/ www

www.twitter.com/insightssuccess

We are also available on : Copyright © 2018 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success.

Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.

Cover Story The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

Cinn Tan: Crafting Prolific Marketing Strategies

“

Lead, Inspire and Influence, don’t simply be a follower.

“

Cover Story

I

n an era marked by innovations and reformative individuals, sculpting an identity for oneself with chisels of creativity, determination and leadership, has been deemed essential. One such outstanding individual who has marked her evident presence and identity in the hospitality sector is Cinn Tan, the CMO of Pan Pacific Hotels Group.

Cinn oversees and drives the marketing and sales strategy of Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which operates 40 Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL hotels, resorts and serviced suites in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. She has more than 20 years of sales and marketing management experience from international hotels in China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Cinn was previously Senior Vice-President of Sales & Marketing for Jin Jiang International Hotels, and Vice-President of Sales & Distribution and Brand Marketing for the Ascott Group.

Cinn joined the hotel group in August 2017. Since then, she has spearheaded the Group’s brand refresh along with several strategic marketing initiatives. These include a revamped brand website and ‘Pan Pacific Connections,’ the group’s new corporate loyalty program. As a critical component of its China strategy, Pan Pacific Hotels Group became the first Asia-based hotel brand to launch a WeChat

“

Marketing has become so multi-faceted that it's no longer a pure marketing function.

mini-program, which provides authentic travel guides and e-concierge services to its hotels globally to all WeChat users.

Ascension from Challenges through Faith Cinn has been exposed to different cultures since her youth as she has had the opportunity to travel extensively with her parents. This in turn, nurtured a keen sensitivity in her and the ability to relate to people from different backgrounds.

This attribute would eventually help her succeed in her budding sales career as she was able to exercise her people skills and to build a strong network of supportive clients very quickly.

Fresh out of school and determined that she wanted a career in sales and marketing in the hospitality sector, Cinn met her first roadblock when she was told by the HR Manager during an interview, for a sales job in a hotel, that she was not suitable for the sales profession and ‘should not waste her time searching for a job in sales & marketing.’ That did not deter her from applying to another hotel when a Sales Executive opportunity opened up.

This time however, Cinn had to face the disapproval of her traditional family, whose members saw her as a woman working till late hours in a hotel. This was more than 25 years ago, where not many people, especially in Asia, were familiar with the nature of work in the hospitality sector.

Despite the objections, Cinn stayed with the job and worked doubly hard and in less than two years, she was promoted twice and rose from Sales Executive to Sales Manager.

These experiences, early on in Cinn’s career shaped her outlook on life and strengthened her belief that one should not let others dictate one’s capabilities and potential.

Cinn is anchored by her faith and its teachings, which has shaped her leadership style. She believes in ‘serving leadership’, where in order to lead, one has to serve first.

Guided by honesty, integrity, and a genuine care for others regardless of personal or professional interactions, she believes that her faith is a source of strength which has given her purpose in life and sustained her in challenging times.

A Volatile Discipline “Marketing has become so multi-faceted that it’s no longer a pure marketing function,” states Cinn.

“

Cover Story preferences and be highly-attuned to changes to the marketplace.

The Essentials of an Efficient Marketeer Emphasizing upon the characteristics of an ideal CMO, Cinn states, “to lead effectively, a CMO needs to be able to inspire others; he or she must be a change agent, one who has original ideas and is not confined to the status quo. Through leading by example, a CMO encourages others to be a leader in their sphere of influence and not simply be a follower.”

“Besides having technical skills including market awareness and field expertise, a CMO needs to be dynamic, open-minded, sensitive and aware of the constant flux in the bigger operating environments,” she adds.

Concluding her definition of an ideal CMO, Cinn expresses, “I believe that the fundamental function of the leader is to create more leaders not followers, being a senior leader means having the patience and willingness to identify and groom talent and nurturing the next generation of leaders for the company and the industry-at-large.

The sense of pride which one gets from helping others grow comes from the sincere humility to learn from others, regardless of age, experience, or seniority.”

“

Sincerity is the hallmark of Pan Pacific Hotels Group and we will continue to invest in relationships with people who make us the preferred hotel company. They depend on us to deliver positive outcomes, high standards and returns, and that drives everything we do.

“

Marketing is no longer about having big flashy advertising campaign across broadcast and print. There’s so much about personalization, targeting and retargeting with the advent of Big Data, which allows for unprecedented customer segmentation. Lead times have also become much shorter and faster so marketing has to be preemptive and proactive.

A Conglomerate Redefining Hospitality

more resorts in Malacca and Langkawi in the country.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group is the only regional hotel chain to offer three products – hotels, resorts and serviced suites, which cater to short and longstay needs across corporate and leisure segments. With 25 hotels, resorts and serviced suites across Asia, Oceania and North America, the group’s hotels are located in key cities around the world, and appeal to globetrotters and individuals who seek excellence in life – whether at work or at play.

The group’s serviced suites are designed to meet the needs of guests, such as expatriates, who require accommodation for weeks or months at a time. Under both its Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands, it offers one and two-bedroom options to cater to individuals as well as those travelling with family. In addition to round-theclock, personalized service, the group has a distinct advantage of being able to offer an extensive range of culinary concepts and wellness facilities within its hotels, which are located in the vicinity.

PARKROYAL Hotels on the other hand is passionate about creating real connections and joyous moments, which can be felt across all 15 properties across Asia and Australia.

Following the success of its flagship, PARKROYAL Penang Resort in Malaysia, the group is building two

Continuing Sincere Endeavors Pan Pacific Hotels Group has established itself as a trusted hotel management company with aspirations

awareness of the Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands to the industry as well as the end customer in key markets such as China, Australia, and Southeast Asia,” states Cinn with reference to the current marketing strategy she’s involved in.

With a strong tradition and presence in Asia-Pacific, PPHG appreciates and understands the culture and mindset in the markets it operates in.

“We have combined this comprehension with a number of marketing initiatives targeted at increasing awareness of our brands in our key markets, leveraged our core competencies and brand strengths to the fullest, and are well-positioned to grow further in the region,” Cinn adds.

Advising the Aspirants

to be the best in Asia Pacific.

“Sincerity is the hallmark of Pan Pacific Hotels Group and we will continue to invest in relationships with people who make us the preferred hotel company. They depend on us to deliver positive outcomes, high standards and returns, and that drives everything we do,” Cinn asserts.

Recently, the group has launched its corporate bookers’ loyalty program named Pan Pacific Connections, to better engage and grow the corporate segment. It continues to expand its network of global sales offices to provide close and dedicated support to its clients. Having opened a new office in Hong Kong this year, the group will be opening its London office next year to support the opening of Pan Pacific London, its flagship in the UK, in 2020.

The forthcoming years hold the opening of Pan Pacific Hotels Group’s first serviced suites property in Jakarta in Indonesia, located at the Thamrin area in the city center, as well as PPHG’s flagship property, Pan Pacific London. These will offer 237 hotel and 160 luxury residence keys in a 43storey building in the financial district, next to Liverpool station.

In Southeast Asia, there are planned resorts in the pipeline in Malaysia and Vietnam while in Singapore, Pan Pacific Orchard will be redeveloped into an Orchard Road icon when it is completed in 2021. Designed by award-winning WOHA Architects, the hotel will offer 340 rooms with ecofriendly features, surrounded by three levels of experiential sky gardens.

“We are confident that the brand refresh will bring greater visibility and

Cinn’s advice for the upcoming generation of marketing enthusiasts is, “Stay positive, motivated, and put passion into your job. Have fun and enjoy what you do. Having a natural interest and curiosity and being sensitive towards human needs and emotions will help a marketer establish a real connection with the customer.

Dare to do what you think is right, be bold, and do not limit your ideas.”

She adds, “It’s critical to build knowledge by keeping up with trends, talking to people, and researching and learning all the time to enhance your knowledge of the customer and the business. Be humble, never stop learning, and most importantly, do not give up in face of challenges. Keep pursuing your passion.”

SUBSCRIBE

READ IT FIRST

TODAY Never Miss an

Issue

Yes, I would like to subscribe to Insights Success Magazine.

Global Subscription 1 Year ......... (12 Issues) .... $250.00

6 Months ..... (06 Issues) ..... $130.00

3 Months ... (03 Issues) ....

1 Month ...... (01 Issue) .....

$70.00

$25.00

Date :

Name : Address :

Telephone : Email :

City :

State :

Zip :

Country :

Check should be drawn in favor of: INSIGHTS SUCCESS MEDIA TECH LLC

CORPORATE OFFICE Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone: (614)-602-1754,(302)-319-9947 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

Company Name

CMO

Brief

ACG World acg-world.com

Peter Neve

The ACG group is the only global supplier of integrated manufacturing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

Dynamic Signal dynamicsignal.com

Joelle Kaufman

Dynamic Signal is the leading Employee Communication and Engagement Platform connecting companies to their most valued asset- their employees.

Identified Technologies identifiedtech.com

Barry Rabkin

Identified Technologies’ managed drone mapping solutions provide a new level of transparency and insights for earthmoving and construction contractors.

Jetstar Airways jetstar.com

Phil Wade

Jetstar branded carriers operate up to 5,000 flights a week to more than 80 destinations. The Jetstar Group carried more than 34 million passengers in financial year 2016.

Mountain America Credit Union macu.com

Sharon Cook

Mountain America Credit Union assists its members on the right path to help them identify and achieve their financial dreams.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group pphg.com

Cinn Tan

Pan Pacific Hotels Group is a regional hotel chain with a global footprint stretching across 40 hotels, resorts and serviced suites in Asia, Oceania and North America.

Siegel+Gale siegelgale.com

Margaret Molloy

Siegel+Gale is a global brand strategy, design and experience firm.

Tangoe tangoe.com

Sidra Berman

Tangoe is a leading global provider of IT and Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software and services to a wide range of global enterprises and service providers.

Wildix wildix.com

Emiliano Tomasoni

Wildix seamlessly unifies internal and external communications to better facilitate businesses across all platforms while continuing to embrace new technology.

April Critchfield

Zurixx develops financial education programs by crafting messaging and developing materials, and launching sales programs for students interested in growing their real estate investment businesses.

Zurixx zurixx.com

CMO of the Month

Peter Neve: Breaking the Marketer Mold O

pportunities are as much a part of life as challenges; knowing how to recognize the first and hurdle the other lay the groundwork for

success.

Peter Neve, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at ACG attributes his success and career growth over the past three decades to mastering this approach.

ACG is the world’s only supplier of end-to-end manufacturing solutions for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturers of tablet and capsule based products. Its range of solutions cover everything from Empty Hard Capsules, packaging film, and foil to tablet and capsule production machines, inspection systems, and Track & Trace systems.

A combination of personal conviction, curiosity, and innovation has enabled Peter to consistently deliver stellar marketing results across vastly different industries.

Industries, a U.K. enterprise he had founded and was managing.

As is almost invariably the case with startups, Peter had no choice but to wear several hats, including that of marketer. Image Industries had to contend with selling a new technology as an unknown entity with no customer base and a fledgling business team.

Effective marketing was crucial to jumpstart revenue generation and the task fell to Peter. He decided to employ high-impact, cost-effective marketing. It worked.

Image Industries achieved enough success to catch the eye of U.S.-based MV company, Cognex Corporation.

They acquired the startup and, despite Peter’s lack of formal marketing training, gave him a marketing position overseeing Europe based on his track record of execution.

Self-Taught Expertise

With his knack for success in the arena, he quickly rose through the ranks and was appointed Global VP of Marketing.

Peter found himself in the startup game long before it became a buzzword in the business world. It was the 1980s and he was also straddling another nascent sector – Machine Vision (MV) and Industrial ID – with Image

When asked what he believes are the key characteristics a CMO ought to possess, Peter says that the same skill is critical to any role in the marketing field – an ability to truly put yourself in the customer’s position.

16

| July 2018 |

” I keep an outside-in view of the business and measure the ROI of every activity.

”

Peter Neve CMO

ACG Group

“By honestly answering the strategic questions of “Is it clear?”, “Is it understandable?”, “Does it generate interest?”, “Does it make me respond?”, and “Do I want to buy?”, any marketer can get incredible insight into what might work and what will not long before a plan is implemented.”

implement your vision, it is impossible to deliver on any marketing goals.”

business and regional brands into a single ACG identity that would be promoted globally.

He works hard to prevent tunnel vision from setting in. “I keep an outside-in view of the business and measure the ROI of every activity,” he reveals.

He values gut feelings highly, too, explaining, “If you ignore them, they will inevitably come back to haunt you.”

Open-Minded Collaboration

Reputed brand consulting firm, Landor Associates was chosen to help with the process. They came up with the strap line ‘Absolutely Committed’, which Peter doubts that his internal team would have been able to create on their own.

Peter also touches on the challenges he has faced despite embodying his effective marketing philosophy.

“Building the right team is absolutely essential,” he stresses, “and this was my first priority when I joined ACG. Without the right people to complement your strategy and

| July 2018 |

Peter’s decentralized approach is not limited to just marketing products; he also uses it to broaden horizons and bring new thinking to his team. It is the prime reason that he is so enthusiastic about involving external vendors whenever he can.

This approach was on full display in the recent rebranding of ACG that Peter and his team implemented. The aim was to coalesce multiple

He believes that it aligns perfectly with ACG’s reputation for customer service and ethics, and with the company’s three beliefs ‘Collaborative’, ‘Consistent’ and ‘Unrelenting’.

Under Peter, ACG’s commitment to collaboration extends beyond the marketing narrative. He oversaw the recent launch of a mobile app for

17

internal communications, which was designed to foster better and more meaningful interaction between the company’s staff.

many times as possible. Peter acknowledges that the feedback can sometimes be hard to take, but reiterates that every comment helps refine the final execution.

Using daily posts, videos, and assorted content, the initiative has been highly successful in keeping the entire organization abreast of the updated branding and new identity. It incorporates the new strap line and beliefs into many of the company’s internal events and processes.

Fomenting Progress

Peter emphasizes that it was critical to complete this internal communication activity before they started their external campaigns that incorporate the new branding. It helps to ensure that everyone in the company reinforces the brand’s values during every interaction with every customer.

Before joining ACG he kept his marketing mind whetted on constant interaction with new technology start-ups in the U.K. It complements perfectly what he learned in the U.S. about growing fast and reacting to change quickly.

This diverse range of experiences has helped him develop more formalized processes and work faster to deliver solutions.

Speaking of his plans to keep ACG relevant, engaged, and effective, Peter says that he intends to exploit the B2C marketing techniques that have worked so well for him in the past to B2B marketing programs today.

Sharing the Secrets Peter is a good leader and an even better mentor, having dedicated a lot of his career not just to marketing but also to creating cohesive marketing teams who value their differences as they execute a common vision. He is eager to share what he has learnt, while continuing on his own journey of personal growth.

Peter is proof of the fact that a marketing MBA does not make you a naturally effective marketer. “Practical experience, experimentation - without fear of failure and working within a complex organization structure are even more important than a theoretical background,” he explains.

“Making marketing effective is hard work but a lot of fun at the same time. You have to quickly acknowledge that things are not working, however great you thought the idea was,” he adds. “Learn to ramp up successful programs quickly and keep ahead of the curve in terms of the marketing mix being used.”

“I love it when I see competitors playing catch up with new activities and programs we have introduced,” he smiles.

“Together, this varied practical knowledge, and interactions with people from a spectrum of industries in some of the most progressive international markets gives me great confidence about doing the right thing at ACG,” adds Peter.

“I really enjoy working here. The fact that ACG was growing and successful - despite many underexploited opportunities that existed for us - intrigued me,” he says.

“Helping address these opportunities and making ACG even more successful is what really drives me every day.”

Over the first 18 months at ACG, he has created many of the key infrastructure building blocks needed to make their marketing even more effective. Now, he is looking forward to having more fun exploiting the promotional and revenue generation opportunities this will support.

Peter relishes the unmitigated support his team and he have enjoyed from the whole organization for the strategies they have implemented. “It is very satisfying to see the team moving so quickly to achieve our targets for making ACG a recognized leader in our field.”

Another key piece of Peter’s advice is to share every idea and concept with as many people as possible, as

18

| July 2018 |

The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

April Critchfield: Voyaging towards Marketing Zeniths

A

n efficient marketeer is what an organization needs to cater to the evidently widening outreach of contemporary marketing. A well-learned practitioner of modern marketing methodologies knows, sees and performs actions that throttle the analysis and derivation of a profound marketing strategy.

One such marketing specialist working in Zurixx, LLC is its CMO, April Critchfield. Holding a BS in Communication, Organization & Speech and initially an accounting background, April possesses the curiosity and ambition towards marketing. “I have 10+ years of experience in accounting, I love numbers. I love reports: Creating them, analyzing them, presenting them and everything about the numbers. With Accounting, I did it all: payroll, A/R, A/P, Recon, you name it,” states April while narrating her story of how she entered the marketing discipline.

Another instance that instigated April’s passion for marketing is her history of stage performances. She asserts, “I did a lot of big band shows in college and earned vocal scholarships to help pay for tuition. Watching a big event from back-stage and also all the parts that make it a ‘well-oiled machine’, made me want to know more about the event, from start to finish.”

20

An Innovative and Compassionate Organization Zurixx, LLC is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Dorado, Puerto Rico.

Founded in 2012 by James Carlson, the company develops financial education programs and has received several accolades and awards from Inc Magazine, Fortune, Salt Lake Tribune, and many more. By crafting messaging and developing materials, and launching sales programs, Zurixx’s team members are thoroughly involved in constantly improving educational programs to fit their clients’ needs.

Zurixx is also a big contributor to community efforts and organizations. It is extensively involved in fund-raising, food banks, sports events, health awareness, etc. In 2017, Zurixx stepped in as the presenting sponsor to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and helped raise thousands of dollars for the event. April was honored to kick off the race as the spokesperson from Zurixx for the event.

The Commencement of Success April has always wanted to own a business and to get involved in a company that was just starting up.

“When I had the opportunity to interview at Zurixx, I actually interviewed for the Accounting Assistant Position. My Boss, the CEO,

and I had a really good conversation about my passions which included people and numbers, so he offered me the marketing assistant’s position, right there, on the spot. My accounting experience, combined with a dormant desire for marketing created a new opportunity for me, so I jumped – all in, entire body, mind & soul – into the deep end,” states April about her moment of realization and her subsequent step towards a promising career.

Defining Roles According to April, setting an example in the little things like being on time, sticking up for others, accepting blame, praising team members, encouraging ideas, and promoting employees to be self-sufficient and to see their value to the overall company should be influenced by every CMO. She also explains the insistent issues that CMOs face on a regular basis.

“CMOs rely on numbers and statistics to make decisions, so when stats change, and we have to re-think the way we’re doing things, sometimes it makes ‘making the change’very hard to implement.”

“Campaigns or ideas that may or may not work are a challenge, but just because something doesn’t work or doesn’t translate like we thought it

| July 2018 |

would, doesn’t make it a failure. Being able to see the parts of it that worked, makes every test a success,” April expresses.

Overcoming Imminent Challenges April discovered the abilities of determination and discipline, which is not possessed by many people. She has been honing these skills for a long time and now, applies them to a lot of situations in life, and in and out of her workplace.

“I like to really be prepared when I go to meetings or with presentations. I love displaying the element of surprise when my CEO asks me for a report that I’ve anticipated and I can actually show it to him on the spot,” April asserts.

Speaking up about situations she feels strongly about, and having her issues addressed, she emphasizes, “A lot of times, I would think that my idea has been brought up before, or it’s been suggested by someone else, but I’ve come to find out that 9 times out of 10, it hasn’t been suggested. So it has encouraged me to speak up and know that I’m heard.”

April Critchfield CMO Zurixx, LLC.

”

Keep testing, keep learning, allow mistakes, learn from them, and keep coming back for more.

| July 2018 |

”

Expressing about her ambitions, April says, “I see myself continuing to grow, and encouraging others to grow, not only in Zurixx, but in life. Understanding communication, networking, and relationship marketing has been a huge opportunity for me. Learning what I have at Zurixx, combined with all of my odd-jobs before I became a CMO has shaped me into who I am in this Industry.”

Advising the Aspiring Generation “I would definitely say that if you think someone has “been there” or “done that” you’re wrong. The marketing world is getting so creative and just because someone might have done something before you, doesn’t mean you can’t tweak it and make it better. Be prepared for multiple outcomes and be ready to roll with the punches,” is April’s advice to the young marketing aspirants.

She also elucidates, “Sometimes you just have to understand what you want to create. Do it yourself if you can, and if you can’t, allow other people to help you. Keep testing, keep learning, allow mistakes, learn from them, and keep coming back for more. Don’t be afraid to collaborate and ask for support. You never know what could come out of a new partnership.”

21

Leader’s Preaching

W About the Author

Alyce Tran Co-founder The Daily Edited

22

Alyce Tran, from Adelaide, said the inspiration behind Cofounding her brand The Daily Edited stemmed from a gift she received from her uncle at the age of 16. Working in the corporate world, Ms Tran began juggling her job - as well as running her brand via social media on the side with her fellow lawyer Tania Liu. The business partners initially started off with a clothing line in 2011 - but after the business failed, they looked into blogging. The Daily Edited boasts eight stores around the world, concessions in countless department stores and a website.

| July 2018 |

Impact of

Women in Tech

G

iven half of us are women it is astonishing how under represented we are in the tech.

No matter what the service or product a company is in the business of providing in most cases the end user of that product will be a woman. How it then that is there are so few women at the top or heading up businesses that center around technology. In my business I feel like as a woman selling to predominantly female customers it would be crazy if my job was held by someone else. Women bring a point of view necessary to deliver products successfully to other women. For example, with The Daily Edited ease of use on a mobile, amazing packaging and our tailored product range appeals to women, I’m a woman selling to other women. We haven’t been lucky to have an all-female web development team and we’ve got some lovely guys in the mix, the issue is though getting them up to speed with what women want when shopping or even getting them to understand our product. I look

| July 2018 |

forward to having more females in my team who understand the designs of our products and why we sell certain items (yes, a cosmetic case is an essential)

In operating my business I am definitely compassionate and understanding of issues that women may face, whether that be maternity leave, flexible working arrangements while working with children, the need to bring your children to work on days where it all goes wrong or the need to have a day off because it’s that time of the month! This all leads to a more harmonious community based feeling at work where every team member is valued and their needs are met. I have a very low attrition rate at TDE as a result.

The interesting thing I have found with female founders is that there is a meeting of creativity and commerce in women that is somewhat unique.

Where women can run businesses and

also be the creative force behind them those two factors combined are a recipe for success as they are able to create products or services that are commercial and can therefore resonate in their markets. I feel I am in a much stronger position to create products that women want that make sense to our bottom line and that generate sales that continue to grow the TDE brand and business. The fact that I can road test our products myself, make changes and improvements I think has been pivotal to the success of the business.

I haven’t always been in e-commerce, I actually started my career out as a lawyer and did not have a background in tech nor did I excel at STEM subjects, I have learnt my skills on the job and hope that ordinary women like myself hopefully demonstrate to other women that anyone can have a career in tech and provide the next generation with confidence to excel and contribute to the field.

23

The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

Barry Rabkin: A Passion for Problem Solving Products

I

n an interview with Insights Success, the CMO of Identified Technologies, Barry Rabkin shares the key insights powering his transformative results as the Chief Marketing Officer. Learn the innovative marketing strategies that this recognized industry leader has used to create coast-to-coast demand for his company’s offerings.

branding of the entire portfolio and the most successful new product launch in a decade.

with everything that has come before for a nearly infinite range of world changing possibilities.

Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Barry and Insights Success:

When I first met Dick Zhang, the Founder of Identified Technologies, I knew nothing about drones, enterprise SaaS, or the commercial construction industry, but I was blown away by the innovative autonomous technology the team had developed, and they appreciated my product and marketing experience, and ravenous hunger to learn more.

What are the most daunting challenges for CMOs today?

Modern marketers are blessed and cursed with a churning ocean of new marketing tactics, strategies, and tools available to us daily. With so many opportunities for distraction, it has never been more essential to focus on timeless principles, and avoid getting sucked into the churning undercurrent of short-term trends.

Can you brief us on your background?

I have always loved technology, creativity, people, and the fusion of the three. I am a computer programmer, turned psychology major, turned breakdancing entrepreneur, turned product and marketing strategist. I’ve always followed my passions, and however random my path may seem, every step has helped prepare me for the challenges that followed.

What are the most critical characteristics that every CMO should possess?

To be a successful marketer you need the 3 Cs. You have to be curious, collaborative, and creative. Curious, because in a fast-evolving industry, yesterday’s fact is tomorrow’s fiction.

You have to accurately predict what will be true in the months and years ahead and position your products and company accordingly.

I started CypherStyles out of my college dorm room and grew it to be the world’s largest online street dance store. We reached 17 million YouTube views, nearly 2 million in sales, and offered over 1,000 different products, 60 of which I developed, before bringing the company to acquisition.

Collaborative, because anything worth doing is worth doing well and anything worth doing well is worth doing big and scaling up with a team, and also because complex problems require complex solutions. By communicating our centralized vision and goals, our shared perspectives create a better outcome than any one person could create individually.

After discovering my love of product management and marketing, I took night classes to earn my MBA from the Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business. After graduating from CMU, I managed new product development for Heinz’s largest brand, Ore-Ida. There, I led my crossfunctional innovation team in creating and implementing the strategic re-

26

Creative, because we live in an age of modern miracles and the interplay between new technology, new competition, and new customer trends mean that amazing new breakthroughs are happening daily. If we have the creativity to ask ‘What if?’ every new invention is an opportunity to combine

Instead of analyzing rapidly changing new solutions, what can you learn about the timeless problem to be solved? Instead of writing about the fast forgotten news of the day, what ‘evergreen’ content can you create that will still be relevant in a year, or better yet, in a decade?

How did you arrive at your unique approach to marketing leadership?

Playing drums in bands throughout my teens was the perfect training to become a CMO. What happens if the marketer’s customer insights are off or the drummer goes off beat? They drive the whole group in the wrong direction. What happens if the marketer stops generating interest from new prospects or the drummer stops playing? Either the entire group stops, or each member goes off in their own separate direction without a single driving force keeping them together.

Drummers and marketers aren’t usually in the spotlight doing solos, but if you take them out of the mix, no one else in the group can do their job. I’m amazed every day by my co-workers’ skills, and it gives me immense | July 2018 |

satisfaction to provide a foundation for their work and bring in new prospects for us to serve.

What advice would you give to aspiring marketers?

Strategy is defined by hard choices, prioritization, and laser focus. If you are responsible for scaling a company, ask yourself what few things have the potential to rapidly 10x the business? Decide what is likely to have a transformative impact on your business, and go after it single-mindedly.

This approach means that some lower impact work won’t get done. Some blog posts and social media updates won’t get written. That’s okay. There are only so many hours in the day, and the best way you can serve your stakeholders is by focusing all your resources on the top priority opportunities that can help fuel the company’s exponential growth.

Where do you see yourself in coming years, and how do you see yourself catalyzing that progress?

I proudly specialize in being a generalist. As Leonardo da Vinci said, “Everything connects to everything else.” I love studying fields that may at first seem unrelated. I know that every new insight that I gain can be combined with my other experiences to create something unique.

Barry Rabkin CMO

Identified Technologies

I live at the intersection of people, technology, and creativity. Whether I’m leading product management at Fortune 500 companies or marketing at VC backed startups, you will find me doing what I love to do, solving problems by bringing great people and great products together.

About the CMO Barry Rabkin has over a decade of strategic and operational success ranging from Fortune 500 B2C companies to venture-backed B2B startups. He is passionate about identifying, communicating and solving problems, using new technologies such as big data analytics, cloud computing, machine learning, IoT, and robotics.

”

Making the world a better place, one product at a time.

| July 2018 |

”

CareerMetis, CMU Today, Going Deep, and the Pittsburgh City Paper have featured Barry’s work leading development on over 100 successful physical and digital products that have sold millions of units .

About the Company Industrial leaders use Identified Technologies’ managed drone mapping solutions to improve project tracking and team productivity. Founded in 2013, based out of Pittsburgh, PA, the company’s integrated hardware, software, and services take care of everything from FAA compliance and flight planning to advanced analytics.

Identified provides clear insights to make fast, accurate project management decisions at the push of a button.

27

Reforming Benchmarks

The

Significance

of

an

Effective Marketing

Strategy

M

arketing has been the real essence in the uplifting of any Organization in the long run.

While there are a number of other parameters that foster a business, marketing certifies to be the base of it, upholding the awareness and reach it requires, printing its mark worldwide.

For all firms, whether any poor start-up or an MNC giant, an effective marketing strategy can serve as a pivotal roadmap for the entire business. By developing a coherent and well considered marketing strategy, organizations can promote their business, target the right types of client and allocate their resources correctly, all while safeguarding the reputation of the firm.

Because one parameter of a marketing plan affects all of the others, synchronizing activities is critical to eliminate obstacles and maximize profits. A marketing strategy looks at all the areas of the sales activities and helps each one support the next.

One of the most important aspects of any marketing strategy relates to recognizing growth opportunities. This can be efficiently done by using the SWOT analysis. Once an organization identifies its strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of any marketing scheme, it becomes easier to en-cash those opportunities and reconsider what course or action should be taken to eliminate prevalent threats.

28

The underlying focus of the organization’s marketing strategy should be based on the concept of developing and increasing awareness of the company’s brand, and also on developing trust assurance in that brand. A company’s credibility or service is its most important asset. Hence, attempts should be made to enhance and protect it during the course of the marketing process .

Understanding how to create an integrated marketing strategy is the key help to make better individual decisions with respect to specific marketing tactics. In order to achieve this, organizations must implement robust and efficient marketing strategies as quickly as possible. All the key components of a marketing strategy, if catered and applied in the best manner, helps to design and manufacture successful business.

Here are some of the crucial parameters that play a pivotal role in successfully implementing and nourishing effective marketing strategies.

Goals and Objectives As with all the plans, goals and objectives are the origin of any target-oriented organization. Without a proper mix of these objectives according to the prevalent resources, a company proves to be inefficient in the long run.

It can begin by thinking through goal-specific accomplishments, identifying basic marketing objectives,

| July 2018 |

which may include some of the following aspects: Ÿ Increased brand recognition Ÿ Growth in the market share Ÿ Market to New Customer Segments Ÿ Digitization

Ÿ

Investment, Budget and Revenue

As far as revenue is considered, a marketing strategy is used to determine the revenue that the campaign will deliver. All of the parts that go into determining revenue, including the budget allotted to the campaign, product cost, selling price and the life span of the product, should all be considered while developing the marketing strategy. The estimated End-Revenue can be measured against the actual revenue, and that information can be used to create future marketing strategies that are more successful.

Once the objectives for the business are fully determined, the concept of On-margin investments, Budget and End revenue come into play. However, there is never enough budget to cover all the marketing ‘wish-lists’ adequately.

The process of Investment is iterative and operates continually. It may be a function of: Coming up with budget to shelter all the marketing needs Ÿ Identifying the objectives that are more critical and inclined towards the success factor and reallocating budget meet top-priority objectives on a ‘first-serve’ preference. Ÿ Searching for innovating ways to stretch the marketing budget. For example, content development, low-cost crowd outsourcing etc.

Constructing a big picture view and reviewing the key marketing thrust areas. Others parameters such as spend comparison, consumption of utilization channels, website optimization etc. should be fetched under consideration.

Ÿ

| July 2018 |

Target Audience and Buyer Journey Tracking and analyzing the dynamic and changing needs of the audience under radar is pivotal in effective marketing.

Identifying the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the target audience aids to re localize the radius under consideration. Based on the available data,

29

segmentation should be done to provide qualified and needbased resources.

A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer based on statistical market research and the prevalent data about your existing customers. After developing buyer personas, developing the Buyer Journey for each single persona and its interaction with the brand is considered to be the key to implement trust and satisfaction among the target audiences.

Media and Messaging Messaging is a process which signifies the firm’s intentions, and informs the actual purpose of your business to the external world.

Based on a detailed evaluation of how target is reacting with the various components of the brand, establish an apt messaging media, tone, selling propositions and key terms that are likely to resonate the most.

Determining the Channel Mix Ÿ

Analyze and decide where the business would get the most Return on Investment (ROI). This can be done by echoing the channels around three road categories:

30

Traditional marketing channels (TV, Radio, Newspaper, Direct Mail etc.) Ÿ Digital Marketing Channels (Website, Mobile applications, Social platforms, online advertisements etc.) Ÿ Content Marketing (Blogs, Newsletters, e-books, Infographics etc.) Ÿ

Competition Though the role of competition in devising an optimal marketing strategy is limited, it helps to draw comparisons among identical products and groups, providing scope for ‘brand-improvements’. In order to symbolize a powerful campaign, marketing strategy needs to offer a detailed description of the competition, according to the small business experts at the Center for Business planning.

The objective of the marketing strategy is to provide historical information on how the competition has advertised products in the past, the target market the competition goes after and the product features that the competition offers. Some other factors include competition pricing, the competition’s distribution network and the sales strategies, which are also a part of the comprehensive marketing strategy.

| July 2018 |

The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

Joelle Kaufman: Reforming the Art of Marketing

A

prolific marketing strategy defines an organization’s approach towards its adopted business. The organization’s outreach to the intended audience is profoundly reliant on the proficiency of the marketeer’s vision and determination.

Maintaining adequacy and efficiency in devising such a strategy must be a Chief Marketing Officer’s forte.

Joelle Gropper Kaufman is the recursive ingenuity of Dynamic Signal’s marketing strategies and processes conceived from her role as the CMO of the company. She began working in the Internet in 1996 when it was just beginning and dial up was still the dominant mode of consumer connection. Her days in Product Management at Firefly Networks, time in Brazil advising multiple US companies and working in product, business development and sales management at start-ups and large companies all combined to give her a broad experience and perspective to lead marketing.

She has led marketing and sales development for Reactivity, Adify, BloomReach, Westfield and now Dynamic Signal, the leader in the Employee Communication and Engagement category. Joelle’s primary goal is to create and operate the engine of growth for her companies using the most effective sales and marketing tactics for each market and product.

32

An Empowering Workplace Dynamic Signal is the leading Employee Communication and Engagement Platform trusted by over 20% of the Fortune 100 and more than 350 enterprises worldwide. The company solves the challenge of connecting with any organization’s most valuable asset, its people, though modern, streamlined and measurable communication. This platform can deliver targeted broadcasts and content to each employee on any channel or device they prefer.

Dynamic Signal closes the loop with robust analytics that illuminate engagement with content and the impact it’s having.

Perceiving Success In her second year of business school at Harvard, while taking an Entrepreneurial Marketing class, she was asked to write a business plan for a new business. Joelle recognized an opportunity to leverage technology to increase the volume of books sold by harnessing preferences to make personalized recommendations.

This insight to revitalize a slow growth business introduced her to the world of start-ups, enterprise sales and marketing and SaaS product strategy.

In 1996, she sourced, closed and implemented a license of Firefly’s

technology with Barnes&Noble for their launch to include personalized recommendations. From that point forward, Joelle focused on the transformational and disruptive power of technology on business.

Reconceiving Ideologies While sharing her insights on what qualities should be possessed by an ideal CMO, Joelle states, “Every CMO needs to be focused on growth opportunities and risks that are 6-12 months away, at least, while supporting the activities to drive near term sales and delight existing customers.”

“The most pressing challenge that CMOs face is continued creativity.

There is no strategy or tactic that works every time or is impossible to be copied. The speed of duplication has accelerated along with Moore’s Law and CMOs must stay on the edge of experimentation while remaining budget conscious,” Joelle adds.

Exemplifying Determination “I value clarity, prioritization and authentic interactions,” Joelle expresses. Her ability to identify root causes, organize and align people across the organization behind a strategy and then execute it is prominent among the people who have worked with and around her. In her | July 2018 |

first leadership role in Marketing at Reactivity, she was one month into her tenure when multiple bake-off reviews were published in her category. Her appliance won rave reviews for its interface and usability, but lost dramatically on throughput.

Joelle created both, a rapid response and a long term strategy to focus discussion and buying criteria on usability and integration working with sales, marketing, customers, press and analysts at Gartner and Forrester. This was carried out in order to educate the market, empathize with the application and security architects and ensure that Reactivity was seriously considered for their current XML needs – and that Reactivity’s architecture would allow them to accelerate to meet future envisioned targets. Reactivity survived and three years later was acquired by Cisco at over 20x revenues.

Bequeathing the Keys of Excellence “Don’t fall in love with your technology. Fall in love with solving a big problem,” is Joelle’s advice for the aspiring marketeers.

Joelle Kaufman CMO Dynamic Signal

”

Live Big. Play all-in, be extremely clear about goals and roles and then unleash people with autonomy to solve problems and get stuff done. | July 2018 |

”

She adds, “Ideally, your problem should either impact one large industry significantly or many verticals in a meaningful way. Don’t try to create a problem to fit your technology – instead, find the problems and build scalable solutions to address.”

“Stay as focused on making your customers successful as you do on acquiring new ones. As a marketer, learn how to tell stories that resonate and build bridges between many audiences. Enterprise B2B technology is not bought by one person, it’s bought by a committee and you have to help each person on that committee in navigating the process,” Joelle expresses while reminiscing about her past experiences and lessons.

Foreseeing a Triumphant Tomorrow Joelle envisions ascending growth at Dynamic Signal globally, over the next few years and continuing the journey of building great companies and creating a community of inspired, creative marketers who deliver.

33

Tech Evolution

Emerging Technologies: A Revolution with Challenges

By Kizzy M. Dominguez, President of K. Parks Consulting, Inc. (KPC)

E

merging technologies continue to lead a revolution in the ways organizational training, education, and assessments are more effectively and efficiently conducted which has yielded fantastic results. These technologies have radically altered the landscape in achieving higher rates of learning and growth not only for organizations and their members, but also within entire industries. While the future of such technologies as Virtual

Kizzy M. Dominguez President & Founder K. Parks Consulting, Inc.

34

Reality (VR), 360-degree videos, and other learning management systems remains bright, there are challenges in some uses of these technologies that continue to help focus the efforts of those professionals that specialize in their use in their effort to solve the practical problems some organizations may encounter as they adapt to these technologies.

For example, technology which allows users to become fully immersed in an interactive, computer-generated threedimensional environment has greatly advanced in recent years. VR seemed like a technology destined to forever live in the future: tantalizingly close, yet just out of reach for practical use by organizations. Recent advancements in computer processing, video graphics, and hardware, however, finally closed the gap between today and tomorrow, allowing consumers and organizations to readily obtain inexpensive, high-quality VR experiences (Axworthy, 2016). What used to require a room of computers and thousands of dollars in equipment can now be had by anyone with a smartphone and a $12 pair of VR goggles. The sudden ubiquity of VR is reflected in the projections for its growth over the next several years. The total revenue related to VR usage across all industries is expected to increase from $7 billion in 2017 to over $74 billion in 2021 (Greenlight Insights, 2017). Although consumer VR applications represent the largest market sector now, the adoption of VR technology by organizations will eventually surpass use by consumers (Beccue & Wheelock, 2017). Organizations are already exploring how VR can be best used in their operations, and they are extremely interested in applying it to talent management. A recent survey found 48% of organizations are considering adopting VR for simulation exercises, testing, onboarding, and training (Tandulwadikar, 2016), while some companies have begun experimenting with VR as part of their people processes (McLaren, 2017). Walmart, for example, planned to include VR in all its training academies by the end of 2017 (Feloni, 2017), while German transportation company Deutsche Bahn uses VR Realistic Job Previews (RJPs) at career fairs to show applicants what it is like to work in jobs that are hard to fill at the company (Dixon, 2017) and Lloyds Bank has developed a VR assessment to determine | July 2018 |

job candidates’ personality characteristics (Roberts, 2016).

As the cost of VR technology continues to decrease and its quality increases, it will significantly influence how organizations recruit, hire, and train their workforces (Salas, Kozlowski, & Chen, 2017).

The challenge with employing these emerging technologies is that there are very few empirical or practical resources available to guide these organizations’ efforts to best use these technologies. While there was some discussion several years ago about the potential for VR in talent management and selection (e.g., Aguinis, Henle, & Beaty, 2001; Pierce & Aguinis, 1997), the technology then was too expensive for widespread adoption by organizations. As a result, it was not possible to conduct empirical studies and begin developing a robust evidence base. Similarly, practical guidance about implementing VR in this field can be challenging as some organizations have only recently started using VR for talent management, and any issues related to the development and deployment of VR technology in other fields have not been reported outside of their respective specialty areas (e.g., clinical psychology, computer science, medical). This is also true for government agencies, as there remains a dearth of information they can use to assess the critical role VR can play in the development, implementation, and evaluation of their talent management initiatives.

Therefore, organizations continue to need information about the practical use of emerging technologies such as VR and 360-degree videos for not only their training and education efforts but also for their talent recruitment and retention efforts. Recent advances in this technology have now made it possible for organizations to incorporate it more seamlessly into their employee recruiting and hiring processes. However, more information is needed to properly develop, implement, and evaluate these types of initiatives to achieve true talent management. The continued collaboration of the diverse group of researchers and talent management consultants using emerging technologies, including sharing examples of current applications, potential implementation challenges, addressing important research gaps, and defining the future of emerging technologies as versatile tools should be a major factor in addressing this challenge.

From the perspective of this Entrepreneur and Industrial/Organizational scientist-practitioner with firsthand experience working with this technology in research and client engagements, how these technologies are perceived and currently used by some organizations in talent management remains a challenge to those organizations achieving their fullest potentials. While the widespread use of emerging technologies in training and | July 2018 |

About the Author Dr. Kizzy Dominguez is the Founder and President of K. Parks Consulting, Inc. (KPC), which is one of the 2017 Inc. 5000 “Fastest Growing Private Companies.” KPC creates difference makers through instructor-led, web-based, and blended learning, as well as through executive coaching and emerging technology services, such as VR and 360-degree implementation. Over the last three years, KPC has trained and coached over 10,000 students and collaborated with several public-sector agencies to implement emerging technologies and their use.

With over 50 team members located worldwide, KPC Difference Makers have been helping clients shape their futures since 2008 by partnering with Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and universities, with such clients as FHI, Medtronic, Seminole State College, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division.

Dr. Dominguez was recently recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal as a “Woman Worth Watching.” She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology. Her published work includes several book chapters, a case study in “Understanding and Management Diversity,” and an edited book, “Managing Diversity in the Military: The Value of Inclusion in a Culture of Uniformity.”

education has been decidedly successful, the successful methods and techniques of those organizations associated with implementing these technologies must continue to be shared with those that would benefit from using these technologies in their own talent management initiatives.

Through expert mentoring, educating, and supporting of those organizations grappling with talent management challenges through uniquely tailored initiatives that leverage the already-proven success of these emerging technologies, those organizations should be fully able to realize all of the benefits these technologies have to offer and thereby achieve their fullest potentials.

35

The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

Sharon Cook: An All-Rounder in Modern Marketing

W

ith the advent of social media, the marketing industry has taken a whole different shape altogether. Marketing personnel have an additional benefit of showcasing their products and services on different platforms to create awareness among people. One leader in the marketing industry who completely comprehends the importance of it and takes it to the next level is Sharon Cook, the Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer for Mountain America Credit Union.

a fascination for new technologies and has implemented a full-stack at Mountain America while building new cornerstones and digital platforms.

After acquiring a degree from Westminster College, and receiving a certificate in Leadership and Negotiation from Harvard Law School, she held a number of positions as Director of Brand Strategy and Director of Marketing in the finance industry before becoming the Chief Marketing and Public Relations Officer for Mountain America Credit Union in 2009. Apart from this, she Co-Chairs the annual fundraising event sponsored

by Mountain America which raises money for Primary Children’s Hospital.

She advises the executive team as well as the Board of Directors on how her multiple teams and the associated technologies support and drive growth in every facet of the organization. The results of which are evident in the unprecedented growth of the organization as it is recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the financial industry for the last 8 years.

Infusing Creativity and Innovation Sharon blends a successful mix of digital, social, and traditional marketing tactics with innovative ideas and multiple technologies. She advocates technology, data, AI, and strategic communications. Sharon has

38

Sharon leads numerous departments including Public Relations, Social Media, Creative Services, Content, Analytics, Web & Online, Channel Management, Sponsorships, and Financial Literacy. Adding to this, she also contributes to the strategic planning of the overall credit union as a dedicated member of the senior executive management team.

Supporting the Communities they Serve Mountain America Credit Union was founded in 1936 in the midst of Great Depression with a commitment to guide their members to achieve their financial dreams. Mountain America Credit Union provides consumers and businesses with a variety of convenient, flexible products and services, as well as sound, timely advice. This includes checking,

savings, mortgages, home equity lines of credit, business accounts, commercial loans, personal loans, auto loans, visa cards, Express Debit cards, student loans, small business loans, and wealth management.

Members also enjoy access to secure, cutting-edge mobile banking technology, over 90 branches in five states, thousands of shared-branching locations nationwide and more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs. Today, Mountain America’s essence —‘guidance’— remains the focal point of the company’s identity. It’s a purpose-driven identity to ensure that everything else Mountain America Credit Union does, moves its members safely along their journey. With more than 760,000 members and $7.5 billion in assets, Mountain America Credit Union assists its members on the right path to aid in identifying and achieving their financial dreams.

Voyage of a Market Leader Sharon’s love for writing landed her an early career, working in strategic communications where she learned to deliver messages that built a brand and delivered exponential growth across several industries. The ability to understand audiences led her into marketing and her ability to tell compelling stories, led to big brand development. She realized what

| July 2018 |

technology and data could do when combined with strategic marketing knowledge and connected all the dots.

In order to imprint this vision on the organization, Sharon methodically introduced changes and technologies that produced results, one step at a time. She achieved this by implementing sophisticated layers of processes into projects while simultaneously growing the expertise on the team, creating a unique combination of talent and technology over time. Sharon’s commitment to help those in need has led her to work with numerous non-profit organizations in both fundraising and serving in numerous board positions within the community.

A Potential to Achieve Milestones

Sharon Cook

”

Chief Marketing & Public Relations Officer

Mountain America Credit Union

Great leaders ask hard questions.

Hard questions drive great results.

| July 2018 |

”

Sharon always had a fascination for innovation. She is a recognized industry leader and early adopter in the marketing technology, analytics, and social media space. As an early communications professional, she quickly saw the potential of social media. Sharon was a pioneer in the credit union world in understanding the importance this channel has for developing member engagement and loyalty.

Mountain America Credit Union’s social media campaigns have achieved national recognition from several sources, including thefinancialbrand.com as an example of outstanding Facebook campaigns. Sharon has also been able to monetize this channel through new accounts and loan growth. Her ability to implement a communication strategy, member targeting and compelling offers has delivered world-class results in short time frames.

Because of Sharon’s contribution, Mountain America Credit Union currently ranks number 3 globally for Credit Unions using social media and has held this spot for the last several years. It also ranks number 2 globally for Credit Unions using Facebook.

Golden Words for Emerging Trailblazers Sharon believes, in order to be a successful leader, one must be intellectually curious and should understand what makes you successful and keep replicating it. Being aware of your competition and not copying others’ tactics will always help maintain originality and thus, achieve success. She states, “follow your own strategies because you know what works for your business.”

39

Digital Engagement

Components

Digital Marketing of

D

igital Marketing is marketing done on digital platforms such as search engines, websites, emails and mobile apps. It is an efficiently targeted, conversion oriented and interactive marketing of products and services by optimally utilizing digital platforms to acquire customers. The scope of digital marketing is not limited to advertising. It also includes Acquiring new customers and sustaining the current customers. The reason why digital marketing is a topic of discussion is the statistics behind the same: Ÿ

81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases. (Retailing Today, 2014)

Ÿ

65% of smartphone users agree that when conducting a search on their smartphones, they look for the most relevant information regardless of the company providing the information. (Google, 2015)

Ÿ

51% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product when conducting a search on their smartphone. (Google, 2015)

Ÿ

61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. (HubSpot, 2017)

40

Components of Digital marketing Digital Marketing is known to be an umbrella under which all the aspects of online marketing activities are covered. Following are the most common types of marketing activities under digital marketing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Search engine optimization is a process of utilizing all the available resources in order to optimize the overall performance of a website. Through SEO, a company can improve the quality of the content on its website, increase the reachability, attain higher user engagement, etc. For example, Amazon generating content to be on top of the search engines is a type of SEO. According to statistics, 67% of the clicks come from the first five listings of a search page. This clearly states how important it is for companies to use SEO. Pay Per Click (PPC) Pay per Click is when a company bids for a certain keywords and optimizes its website accordingly to be on the top of the search results page. The companies pay the search engines every time someone clicks on the

| July 2018 |

websites link. In the process, the search engines look at three aspects before putting them on the top of the list in their search results page: Ÿ

The amount of money the company is bidding

Ÿ

How relevant the keyword is with the website and its products

Ÿ

How optimized is the landing page of the website

new customers. The content must be valuable to the customers and consistent in quality. It is a key tool for SEO and helps the website to get noticed on social platforms. Good Content should not be promotional but educational and inspirational so that the user can see the website as a source of information.

Mobile Marketing

Content Marketing Content Marketing is a process of creating relevant content to acquire

| July 2018 |

Mobile marketing refers to advertising/selling the products and services to potential or existing customers through text messages on their mobile phones. This is one of the most direct ways of marketing as

the response time from customers via smartphone is highest.

97% of all the text messages are read within 4 minutes of being sent. The companies acquire new customers every day by offering them discounts on its products through text messages.

Social Media Marketing Social media marketing refers to the process of interacting with customers

41

through social media platforms. Companies advertise, sell, and assist customers on social media for numerous reasons: Ÿ

Creating brand awareness for free

Ÿ

To get feedback directly from customers

Ÿ

Get more traffic on website and improve SEO rating

Ÿ

Acquire new customer and expand sales

Ÿ

Marginally low marketing cost

Ÿ

47% of all internet users are on Facebook

Ÿ

88% of product purchases are Pinterest pinned

Email Marketing Email marketing is a form of marketing that enables companies to communicate potential/current customers through electronic mails. The process includes: Sending emails to current customers to enhance relationship with them for brand loyalty Ÿ To acquire new customers or to convince the current one to purchase Ÿ Advertising through mail

Ÿ

The key benefits of email marketing include cost effectiveness, flexibility and better rate of success. The content must be relevant and useful to the user, should look authentic and strategic and well-coordinated.

Marketing Automation Marketing Automation is a tool that keeps all your digital marketing activities together and synchronizes them for efficient and effective business. It also measures the performance and ROI for faster growth. Automation gives direction to the company by providing it data that shows the area of improvement and ways to improve it.

42

In other words it enables the company to know what it is doing and whether is it feasible or not.

Digital marketing has become a milestone in this ever changing digital world and has replaced traditional ways of marketing to some extent by offering a variety of marketing tools that are very cost efficient compared to the old marketing techniques. It enables better interactions with customers, resilient marketing and better customer relation, rapid growth in sales and overall effective development of business. Needless to say, Digital Marketing may just be named as Marketing.

| July 2018 |

The

most

influential

10CMO To Watch 2018

s

Sidra Berman: Advocating Self-Development and Creative Marketing Techniques

I

n an interview with Insights Success, the CMO of Tangoe, Sidra Berman shares her insights behind her triumphant ingenuity as a Chief Marketing Officer. The zealous and admired leader has driven the ascension of the Technology Expense Management and Enterprise Mobility Services Company with her contemporary and innovative management and marketing expertise.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Sidra and Insights Success: Explain your background in detail and tell us your prime goals?

When I graduated from college, I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Fortunately, the company that I had been interning with hired me full time. Basically, I “fell” into the beginning of my career. Within a few years, I ended up at GE. GE had a great training program—the company really invested in people, their careers, and growing their skill sets. That is where I met the first mentor in my career, Reid Walker, who was a fantastic boss.

I would ask him regularly during our 1:1 catch-up meetings, “What can I do better?”, and he would always give me feedback. Even though it can be hard

44

to get constructive criticism, when it is well delivered and meant to grow the person, you can’t be brittle about it. As I’ve moved up in my career, I try to do the same for the people who work for me. I want all of them to be successful, and try to help them with both the hard and soft skills necessary to get to where they ultimately want to be in their careers.

Tell us about the company you work for, and the services it provides.

Tangoe is the global technology expense management and enterprise mobility services standard for the world’s greatest brands. Our clients rely on Tangoe to increase productivity, reduce costs, and drive predictable results. Our customers believe – like us – that people work smarter when technology works for them.

How did you decide to pursue the career you are working on today?

What was the pivotal moment or inspiration?

I started my career working on political campaigns and for non-profits. As I matured and decided jumping from campaign to campaign was getting old, I realized that what I was actually doing was marketing. While I wasn’t marketing a product, I had been marketing and raising money for

candidates and specific issues, and was able to carry over those skillsets.

What is the most important characteristic that every CMO should possess?

There are two important characteristics that every CMO should possess. First, listening to the market and customers; this includes both external customers, as well as internal feedback from your sales team. Always remember that customers pay your paycheck, so you need to listen to pay attention to what they want. Second, do your homework and understand the dynamics of the market. How big is it? Who signs the checks that buy your products? Who influences and researches that purchase? Knowing the market both quantitatively and qualitatively is essential.

What are the most pressing challenges that CMOs are facing today to be innovative and Why? One key challenge for CMOs is that there is so much noise in the market – it’s hard to be heard by the people you’re trying to reach.

Since social media has given everyone a platform, it is difficult to get attention as people are being inundated. This makes it more important than ever to go back to the basics: who are you targeting and what is their pain?

| July 2018 |

W

here do they go to research a purchase? You need to focus your message through the right channel in order to get the attention of the people you’re trying to reach.

What are the key values, which helped you to overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career as a CMO? Tell us something about a memorable incident under your leadership.

The key value I try to live by is treating people as what they actually are — people with their own hopes, goals, dreams, lives, and families. When you treat someone like a human—just as you would want to be treated—it changes the way you give feedback, lead the department, manage tasks.

A key memorable incident was when I first became a Director and had my own team to lead for the first time ever. My manager at the time (as well as mentor & friend), Jim Rogers, said to me “I know you’re ambitious and running a team is a step to where you want to go. Always remember, the way you treat people who work for you influences how they feel about themselves, how their interact with their spouse or significant other, treat their child and even how they sleep. Being a manager is a massive, sacred responsibility.”

Sidra Berman CMO

Tangoe

What would you advise to the budding entrepreneurs and marketing individuals entering into the market?

”

Lead by example.

Don't ask others to do what you won't do yourself.

| July 2018 |

”

Early in your career, try as many different roles as you can within the marketing or business function you’re in. I worked in communications, web marketing, event planning, field marketing, and product marketing throughout my career before becoming a CMO. Each role taught me a new aspect of marketing and helped me figure out where I wanted to focus on with my career.

Where do you see yourself in coming years, and how do you see yourself catalyzing that change?

I love what I do, and want to empower and mentor others to reach the highest pinnacle they can in their careers. It would be an honor if in 5, 10, or even 15 years, there were lots of CMOs who used to work on my team.

45

Purpose Driven

The Importance of

Purpose n addition to running Kenja as CEO, I have the fortune of teaching MBA students part time on Leadership, Marketing, and Strategy. For my classes and as a CEO, I think the most important place to start is with the “Why” — what is your Purpose as an Leader and as a Company.

I

that Purpose is something that can be discovered in a day - often it will take time to think about this and reflect on it. The point of the exercise is simply to begin the very important self-dialogue to get to your Life Purpose. It does not matter how fast you go if you have not figured out what direction you want to run first.

Purpose as a Leader As a leader, the first place to start is with yourself. If you cannot lead yourself then how can you lead others? The first thing to know about a leader is their Passion and the Values that led them to put importance on those passions.

With an understanding of Passion, people can develop their Life’s Purpose. Purpose is your North Star, it is your unwavering unchanging goal which your daily actions will lead you to. Upon setting your own Purpose, you will need a Plan to take concrete steps towards the Purpose, Partners to benefit and to help you achieve your Purpose, and finally Persistence to help you with the very difficult task of staying focused on your Purpose.

In Kenja, every person in our company knows that although I had C level experience in companies like Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, and Fidelity Investments, I have always had a dream to found a different kind of company - one that valued Innovation and Ideas over Politics and the primary focus on Quarterly Profits. My passion is for solving problems in innovative ways and for implementing very difficult projects.

Passion, Purpose, Plan, Partners, and Persistence are the “5Ps of Life” - a workshop that I do with students to help them figure out their Life’s Purpose. 95% of people do not have a concrete Purpose in life - they let events and daily to-dos determine their activities. I do not think

46

I was fortunate that I started with good co-founders, people that shared my vision and could contribute complementary skills. The plan is usually a natural outcome of a strong purpose and Persistence is usually achieved by knowing what works for you on a daily basis. For me Persistence is reinforced by refusing to consider a return to large company executive jobs and by daily use of the “Pomodoro” technique. (using 30 minutes interval of focused effort followed by a short break)

| July 2018 |

Ted Katagi CEO Kenja

Purpose as a Company Just as with Individual Leaders, a company will need to develop its own clear Purpose. A Clear Purpose gives motivation to people, clarity to strategy, and a clear branding for Marketing.

If we are honest with most companies, the Purpose easily devolves into meeting the Monthly or Yearly Targets.

The Purpose is not merely the result of your actions — the Purpose describes WHY you are pursuing your goals.

The Clear Purpose is lived by company members so it becomes a reflection of why people join and stay with your company.

Company Strategy is strongly guided by Purpose.

Things that lead you off the Strategic Path are rejected and you can find further value and differentiation in the area of your chosen competition. Small changes in your Purpose drives big results in the marketplace. Although Facebook and MySpace are both Social Networks, Facebook’s focus on connecting your friends resulted in many small innovations that MySpace with their focus on creating cool personal spaces did not.

felt by your customers. It is far more enduring than any single campaign message or even a business plan for a year.

Kenja’s purpose is to Revolutionize the way that mid to large companies collaborate to get work done through software. In the beginning it was difficult since larger companies tend to buy from other larger companies but we have now achieved something not easily copied.

After 7 years in Business, we now have larger organizations like Mitsui and Company, Randstad, and JICA (the Japanese Peace Corp) and many mid sized companies using us. If we had started with consumers and small companies only, then the functionality, security, and ease to use (for older employees as well) would be far different.

Starting with Purpose is not always the easy or obvious choice. There are many obstacles in the way and it is too easy just to focus on Profit or KPIs of the company.

However, a focus on Purpose will automatically keep Employee Engagement, Strategy, and your Branding on track.

If you are clear on your Purpose, then the Brand is not a just a slogan on a TV Commercial. It is lived by employees, reflected in your products and services, and | July 2018 |

47