数字时代首席营销官的生存之道

如何面对海量信息？

    自从MySpace和Facebook首次信息爆炸出现以来，营销官们一直在紧紧追赶社交媒体的步伐。一些首席营销官在接受《财富》杂志（Fortune）采访时表示，最初的时候他们完全能跟得上。但是，许多接受IBM调查的营销官们认为，鉴于通过社交媒体可获得如此多的新数据，他们面临的主要问题是，如何利用这些信息流。

    对公司来说，可获得数据量的增加——无论是广告效果统计还是来自社交媒体的消费者反馈——都带来了机遇和挑战。科特勒表示，很多首席营销官尝试一次管理多个项目，结果导致力不从心。他说，一个替代方法是：“选择会给CEO产生明显影响的两三个项目（来做）。”

    经验丰富的首席营销官认为，营销官们必须管理高管层的预期，一次只确定几个主要项目。可口可乐公司（Coca-Cola）前任首席营销官彼得·希利强调，必须与首席执行官的目标保持紧密一致。他说：“这是首席营销官可以获得的最稳妥的保障”。希利称，他在担任首席营销官期间只选择了两个关键的项目。希利的目标是：当消费者想购买软饮时，首先想到的是可口可乐；当消费者想选择最喜爱的软饮产品时，想到的还是可口可乐。

    首席营销官平均任期较短——目前是一年半到两年之间，这使他们实现宏图大志的机会少之又少。虽然首席营销官的平均任期在稳步延长，但是在高管职位中，它仍是一个困难重重的职位。甘尼特报业集团（Gannett）首席营销官麦尔彦·巴尼卡瑞姆警告说：“很多事情都超出营销官控制的范围。而且，很多时候首席营销官离职是因为他们的实际工作内容和签约时确定的工作内容不相符。”

    获得首席执行官支持的一个方法，是尽量获得消费者更多的信任。点评网站Bazaarvoice现任首席营销官【曾担任戴尔公司（Dell）首席营销官】埃林·纳尔逊称，她供职戴尔公司时，戴尔正面临着消费者的信任危机。她的首要任务是为公司的工程师和技术员工提供培训，告诉他们消费者不满的原因。工程师们茅塞顿开，开始着手不断对产品进行完善。

Plenty of information, but what do you do with it?

    Marketers have been playing catch-up on social media since the first explosions of MySpace and Facebook, and several CMOs told Fortune they believe the initial catch-up is complete. But with so much new data available through such platforms, many of the CMOs surveyed by IBM said they struggle with how to use the information flowing in.

    The growth in data available to companies -- whether it's advertising results or consumer feedback from social media channels -- has created both opportunities and headaches. Kotler says that too many CMOs wind up over-extending themselves by trying to shepherd an array of projects all at once. "Choose two or three things that will have a highly visible impact on the CEO," he says, as an alternative approach.

    Experienced CMOs agree that marketers must manage the C-suite's expectations and opt to put their stamp on a few key projects at a time. Peter Sealey, former CMO of Coca-Cola (KO), stresses that the CMO must stay in lockstep with the chief executive's vision. "It's the best job security a CMO can have." Sealey says he picked just two critical battles during his tenure as CMO. When a consumer considered soft drinks, Sealey wanted that person to think of Coke first. Then when choosing a favorite, Sealey wanted the consumer to again turn to Coke.

    The short average tenure of the CMO position – until recently ranging from 18 months to two years – has offered a narrow window for these executives to produce big-picture results. While chief marketers agree that the average tenure of the position is steadily on the rise, it's still a difficult seat to keep at the executives' table. "There are a lot of things out of your control," Maryam Banikarim, CMO of Gannett (GCI), warns. "And, a lot of times, people leave because it wasn't the job they signed up for."

    One way to keep the support of the chief executive is to earn more trust from consumers. Erin Nelson, CMO of Bazaarvoice and former CMO of Dell (DELL), says that when she took the job at Dell, the company's relationship with its customers was in crisis. Her immediate task was to educate the engineers and the technical side of the company on why consumers were upset. The engineers were galvanized by the information and went to work on improving their products.