Many marketing professionals have never experienced a merger or acquisition. All they’ve heard are the downsides from peers – job loss, heavier workloads, confusion. What are the basics of mergers? Let’s look at mergers and acquisitions 101: why companies do it, what you should know about your own career prospects, and how to prepare for…
Alex asks, “Can you automate culture? Corporate culture and automation are two of the most prolific terms in the business lexicon, but what is their relationship?” HJ Leavitt’s 1964 framework for people, process, and platform shows how these different areas interact. Culture is very much a people thing, while automation is a process and platform…
It’s the day after April Fool’s Day, but thanks to news readers, inboxes, and social networks, we’re not consuming information in chronological order. Be sure to mark as read every news and information gathering system you use to prevent you from mistakenly sharing April Fool’s pranks as real news. Can’t see anything? Watch it on…
One of management’s longest-standing tropes is the expression, “think outside the box”, a reference to the 9 dots problem. In this problem, a businessperson is given a sheet of paper with nine dots on it, and directed to connect all the dots by drawing four lines, without the pen ever leaving the paper. In order…
Jon asks, “What’s the most undervalued trend in business that marketers aren’t grasping?” There are two answers here in terms of business trends. One of them should have you a little worried. The other should either make you cheer or scare the crap out of you, depending on your business model. Find out what they…
Tammy asks, “Are you seeing the use of #socialmedia influencers for B2B on the rise? I think most of us primarily think of it in terms of B2C.” B2B #InfluencerMarketing is already huge, especially in tech #B2B. I work with IBM on this front as well as a few other companies. Many of our peers…
Sherry asks, “What sets apart a good data science course? What should I look for in the curriculum?” Great question, and an important one in today’s world when companies are offering “crash courses” and “become a data scientist in X weeks”. Would you feel comfortable going to someone who did the “crash course in surgery”…
Aaron asks, “How do you think culture fits into the people / process / technology framework?” People / process / platform, a derivative of HJ Leavitt’s 1964 Diamond of Change Management, is itself a subset of culture. In this video, learn Dr. Rick Robinson’s AEIOU framework of ethnographic measurement, and learn how corporate values layer…
Amber asks, “I’m applying to a MBA Specialized Master’s in Marketing and this question has been eating at me. I have a BS and MA in Communication with 3 years of teaching experience in higher education. Do you have any advice on using this experience in the application process?” Teaching is a combination of disciplines…
Matthias asks, “Soon we will be preparing marketing budgets for next year. What tips do you suggest?” Budgeting is forecasting, and forecasting means prediction. Identify highest ROI channels and strategies based on historical data Cost data is essential Identify goals and targets to hit Status quo Needed Stretch Identify cost to hit targets Forecast by…
