Archive for August, 2013
An IT Flaw Has Let Unauthorized Users Exploit Army PCs for Years
Source: http://gizmodo.com/an-it-flaw-has-let-unauthorized-users-exploit-army-pcs-1229061143
Earlier this week, Buzzfeed reported that a computer security flaw in has left Army computers vulnerable for at least two years; today, the Army confirmed to Buzzfeed that this was, in fact the case. And that they have no plans to do anything to fix it.
CMOs Using Marketing Analytics Sparingly; Most Forgo Formal Evaluation of Quality
Worsening trends for marketing analytics in the US, according to the latest CMO Survey [pdf] from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. The percentage of projects estimated by CMOs to be using marketing analytics has dropped to 29% from 35% at this time last year, while two-thirds of CMOs now say their company doesn’t formally evaluate the quality of marketing analytics, up from 53.2% last year.
Another measure of marketing analytics’ influence is the degree to which its use contributes to company performance. And CMOs’ responses in this latest installment of the survey again show a declining trend: On a 7-point scale (with 7 being “very highly” and 1 “not at all”), CMOs gave analytics’ contribution a mean rating of 3.5, down from 3.7 in the February 2013 survey and 3.9 in the August 2012 survey.
Currently, analytics are most commonly being used to drive decision-making in the areas of customer acquisition (31.7%), digital marketing (28.5%) and customer retention (27.6%), per the study.
CMOs indicated that they infrequently leverage marketing analytics to answer their most challenging marketing questions. More than 1 in 8 said they weren’t leveraging analytics any of the time to answer such questions, compared to just 4.3% saying they do so all the time. (The mean rating was 3.7 on the 7-point scale, with 7 referring to use “all of the time.”)
Numerous studies (such as this one) have highlighted the difficulties marketers are facing when looking for the right talent for data analysis, and CMOs’ responses support those findings. On a 7-point scale (7=has the right talent), almost 4 in 10 respondents rated their company’s analytics talent as a 1 (12.9%) or 2 (25.4%).
2 in 3 CMOs Feeling Pressure From the Board to Prove Marketing’s Value
This may be “the year of the marketer,” but with added responsibilities come added pressures. The latest biannual CMO Survey [pdf] from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business finds that CMOs are not immune: according to the study, 66.4% said they feel pressure from their CEO or Board to prove the value of marketing. What’s more, 6 in 10 of those said that their leaders are turning up the heat, with just 2% reporting decreasing demands to prove their worth.
CMOs are being asked to prove their value at a time when the intensity of competition is ratcheting up a notch. Respondents indicated that the rivalry for customers is likely to become more intense in the next 12 months (5.5 on a 7-point scale, where 7 represents very likely), with competitor price-cutting also increasing (scoring 5 on the scale). Moreover, compared to surveys from prior years, CMOs are more likely to be anticipating the emergence of new domestic and global competitors.
CMOs are also feeling increasing pressure while seeing budgets dip: they expect marketing spending to grow by 4.3% over the next 12 months, a fairly marked step down from the February survey’s 6.1% growth forecast. Currently, marketing budgets are reported to account for an average of 9.4% of firm budgets, down from 10.6% in February.
Retailers Struggling to Keep Pace With Consumers’ New Uses of Technology
Asked to identify their top 3 marketing business challenges, almost half of retailers indicated that they can’t keep up with the new ways consumers are using technologies, according to [download page] new survey results from RSR Research. While that wasn’t the top response overall (61% complained that customer retention has become more difficult and building customer loyalty is challenging), it was the top concern for so-called “winners,” who boast comparable store/channel sales growth of more than 5%.
61% of winners cited consumer use of technology as a top-3 marketing business challenge, with customer retention and loyalty concerns trailing (50%).
By contrast, “laggards” (with comparable store/channel sales growth of less than 5%) are very concerned with customer retention (89% citing as top-3), with few (31%) worried about the new ways consumers are putting their technologies to use. In fact, laggards appear to be more anxious about differentiating their brand from the competition (44%), a concern that that isn’t shared by those in the winners category.
6 in 10 Agencies Generating New Biz Leads From Social; LinkedIn Most Important
9 in 10 agencies currently use social media as part of their new business program, and about 6 in 10 claim to have had success using social to generate new business leads, per results [download page] from a new survey conducted by RSW/US. From a list of 5 social media platforms, a plurality 46.2% of respondents chose LinkedIn as their most important for new business, with blogs (24.1%) next.
Facebook (13.8%) and Twitter (13.8%) got fewer votes, with Google+ (2.1%) just a minor player.
In an earlier survey, RSW/US also found agency respondents tabbing LinkedIn as their most effective social platform for new business, pointing to Facebook and Twitter as overrated.
While most agencies are using social media to generate new business leads, only 1 in 5 currently publish content on Slideshare. Open-ended responses given by those not using it included lack of time and concerns about leaking company strategies.
Agency respondents indicated that they’re far more likely to post multi-media content such as videos and presentations to the newly expanded LinkedIn profile pages, with a slight majority saying their employees do so.
drag2share: How 4 Major Companies Revitalized Their Brands By Being Great To Their Customers On Social Media
Most brands offer dreadful customer service on social media. A study from Socialbakers, a social media analytics company, found that response times have actually worsened recently, instead of improving, as the chart shows. But a few companies are doing great things with social media, and helping to recast their companies as customer-centric organizations.
In several cases, companies facing crises or PR disasters actually came out looking better after using social media to tackle problems head-on.
In a new report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s paid research service, we explore how companies are interacting more effectively and serving customers better with a focus on social media, and recreating themselves in the process.
Gain instant access to this report by signing up for a free trial of BI Intelligence >
Here are a few examples of great social media customer focus that has created value for companies across industries:
- Dell: The computer technology corporation was an early adopter of social customer relationship management and in 2010, Dell opened up its soci! al media command center to all employees, regardless of their function. By 2011, Dell had trained over 25,000 employees of its employees in “social listening.” These employees now monitor over 25,000 social mentions of the company daily in 11 different languages. This means insights gleaned from social media are spread throughout the organization rather than being “hoarded,” or remaining undigested in one department.
- Domino’s: A disastrous YouTube video posted in 2009 showed two Domino’s employees mishandling a pizza. After the video went viral, the company launched a massive campaign to analyze public opinion across all social media. After receiving negative feedback, Domino’s made company-wide changes including altering their pizza recipe, aggressively reaching out to customers on social media, and launching a marketing campaign acknowledging mistakes and promising a better product. Domino’s saw a 14% increase in sales the quarter immediately following the campaign. The stock price took off, and Domino’s has never looked back.
- Best Buy: The electronics retailer unrolled a Twitter-focused marketing and customer service strategy built around “Twelpforce,” a system the company created to allow thousands of employees across departments to receive and respond to customer queries via Twitter. While Twelpforce has been a hit with customers, it also gave employees a channel and an incentive to collaborate internally and operate outside of silos (in order to handle customer requests it was often necessary to gather information from other employees.)
- American Airlines: Socialbakers recently began ranking industries and brands according to “social devotion,” or how attentive they are to customers on Twitter. Surprisingly, troubled America! n Airlin es ranks ninth among all U.S. brands (American has a response rate of 94%). Jan Reza, CEO of Socialbakers, believes this has to do with a lesson learned from Superstorm Sandy. Finding they had to deal with a system-wide near shutdown, American Airlines turned to social media to manage the crisis. They’ve remained faithful to social media channels ever since.
drag2share: Jay Z Releases ‘Holy Grail’ Music Video On Facebook To Reach Larger Audience
source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/_NcbRppDWjA/jay-z-releases-holy-grail-music-video-2013-8
Jay Z just dropped the Justin Timberlake-assisted music video for “Holy Grail,” becoming the first major artist to release a music video exclusively on Facebook.
In the video, Jay Z paces in an abandoned mansion while watching footage of a Mike Tyson match, being displayed on televisions stacked on televisions. Then he hangs out in an emptied swimming pool and on a four-post bed.
In JT’s verse, the former ‘NSYNC singer weaves between women wearing white sheets writing in chairs.
The video was uploaded to the Hov’s Facebook page at noon, and within two hours, garnered 23,000 likes and 18,000 shares.
Jay Z has 17 million fans on Facebook, and choosing that social platform to host the video — for the first 24 hours of its availability — allows him to engage them and potentially their networks.
“What we’re doing ! with Jay Z today is really exciting and we think emblematic of the evolution of music and how musicians can connect with their fans,” Nick Grudin, head of content partnerships for Facebook, told Billboard. “And we think that is particularly evident in Jay Z’s approach here, which will really allow him to go direct to a massive and instant global audience.”
2 in 3 CMOs Feeling Pressure From the Board to Prove Marketing’s Value
This may be “the year of the marketer,” but with added responsibilities come added pressures. The latest biannual CMO Survey [pdf] from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business finds that CMOs are not immune: according to the study, 66.4% said they feel pressure from their CEO or Board to prove the value of marketing. What’s more, 6 in 10 of those said that their leaders are turning up the heat, with just 2% reporting decreasing demands to prove their worth.
CMOs are being asked to prove their value at a time when the intensity of competition is ratcheting up a notch. Respondents indicated that the rivalry for customers is likely to become more intense in the next 12 months (5.5 on a 7-point scale, where 7 represents very likely), with competitor price-cutting also increasing (scoring 5 on the scale). Moreover, compared to surveys from prior years, CMOs are more likely to be anticipating the emergence of new domestic and global competitors.
CMOs are also feeling increasing pressure while seeing budgets dip: they expect marketing spending to grow by 4.3% over the next 12 months, a fairly marked step down from the February survey’s 6.1% growth forecast. Currently, marketing budgets are reported to account for an average of 9.4% of firm budgets, down from 10.6% in February.
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