I spent the last couple of days at the Forbes CMO Summit in (mostly) sunny Southern Cal. It was a great chance to hear from a wide array of market leaders facing diverse but ultimately related challenges. I also had the chance to lead off a discussion group about the […]
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Brand Purpose Is Great But It’s Not Enough: Just Ask The NFL
As NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell has been on the hot seat for a broad range of high-emotion issues, ranging from penalties for Deflategate to policies around player behavior off the field. But lately, Goodell and the NFL have faced a whole new form of reputational firestorm: how to navigate their brand through the outspoken […]
Read moreHow Influential CMOs Turn Their Personal Brands Into Big Ideas
“Influence” has become the marketing focus du jour, right up there with attribution, ROMI and digital transformation. In fact, influence has been touted as ‘a key success metric for a new era of CMOs’ and the “new KPI” . And perhaps rightly so. For years, Forbes has put out an annual report in […]
Read moreShould Companies Lean Into The Big Social Issues? Luminaries At Advertising Week Say Yes
It has become a near-daily event to see brands large and small caught up in political and social controversy. The pace and viral power of these crises has become so great that those responsible for stewarding brands and reputation—and that means you, CMOs, CEOs and board members—can no longer passively […]
Read moreThe CMO Problem No One Wants To Talk About — And 5 Things To Do About It
A former boss of mine used to talk about the “loneliness of leadership” — that feeling you get after the warm glow when you finally reach the top of your field. The weight of the world rests on your shoulders and yours alone, with no one around who can truly […]
Read moreWhat the DMV Taught Me About Brand Trust in the Age of Algorithms
After I shifted my residency from Pennsylvania to Virginia, I put off for way too long the job of going to the DMV to change my driver’s license. When I finally went recently, it was just as awful an experience as I expected. While I did lose years off my […]
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