CMO Council: Under-Delivering Martech Platforms Threaten CMO Job Security

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The joint necessity and difficulty in relating customer experience initiatives to the company bottom line is causing many chief marketing officers to worry about their job security according to a new report by the CMO Council.

“The State of Engagement: Bridging the Customer Journey Across Every Last Mile,” released on April 30, done in partnership with RedPoint Global, found that while 76 percent of marketers view revenue growth as the primary measure of success for their customer experience strategy, 80 percent are either unable or only sometimes able to connect their strategy to its impact on their business.

This isn’t just an academic issue, either. According to the CMO Council’s findings, 52 percent of marketing executives say that they may lose their jobs if their customer experience strategies fail, and 48 percent say the same if their technology investments don’t deliver.

“CMOs have picked up the mantle of owning the development and execution of the customer experience strategy and are fully aware that their jobs depend on the success of these initiatives,” stated Liz Miller, Senior Vice president of marketing for the CMO Council, in a press release. “But many are rightfully questioning the patchwork assembly of point solutions that have been amassed in the marketing technology stack.”

Of the marketers the CMO Council surveyed, 65 percent agreed that their organizations need a single data record per customer in order to best engage their audience, but 26 percent doubt that such a “golden record” is even possible.

“While marketers have sought a “golden record” for years, there has been little movement toward data and intelligence unification,” the report states. “In reality, the path to resolution has typically been paved with technology implementations that have added complexity, cost and fortified silo walls separating pools of data.”

This data siloing has very real consequences for marketers: only 5 percent of the marketers surveyed believe that their organizations are doing an “exceptional” job at providing a quality customer experience, while 47 percent rated their companies at “not very good.”

“The failing grade that marketers are giving to the current state of engagement is, in some part, based on their struggles to connect individually developed and deployed campaigns into a connected and cohesive customer journey,” the report reads. “This is further exacerbated by an organization’s challenges specific to their ability (or inability, as the case may be) to collect the most valuable data about the customer that can be leveraged to craft journeys and improve the state of engagement.”

The difficulties marketers are encountering are not due to a lack of effort, either. According to the CMO Council, 47 percent of marketers have replaced their martech platforms in the past because of failure “to connect data and channels in the way that was promised.”

The CMO Council’s findings align with multiple surveys conducted earlier this year by OnBrand, Bynder and PointSource, which found that the vast majority of marketers it surveyed identified their greatest challenge going into 2018 as their difficulty in finding the proper martech platform for their needs.

Forrester: CMOs Will Spend Over $122B On Martech By 2022

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Chief marketing officers in the US will spend over $122 billion on marketing technology (martech) and services by the year 2022, according to Forrester’s US Marketing Technology and Services Outlook.

Forrester’s predictions, released on Monday, spans 2017-2022. The company states that growth in CMO technology spend will outpace that of services as marketers emphasize building customer experiences, automating more processes, investing in innovation and supporting more forms of mobile engagement.

This growth in martech and services will create a new marketing economy, Forrester predicts. The report sizes and explains the trends behind the growth in marketing, advertising, and data and analytics technologies as well as operations, advertising, and strategy services between 2017 and 2022.

CMOs scaled back on martech spending last year, however, according to the 2017-2018 Gartner CMO Spend Survey. Martech spending accounted for 22 percent of the marketing budget last year, compared to 27 percent in 2016. Paying for marketing services rose slightly last year, constituting 25 percent of budgets compared to 22 percent in the prior year.

“There has been a trend toward insourcing, with CMOs bringing strategically important capabilities such as analytics and digital commerce in-house,” Gartner noted with the findings.

Forrester predictions regarding marketing technology and services are similar in dollar amount to those made last year regarding digital marketing. According to a report released in January 2017, CMOs will spend nearly $119 billion on search marketing, display advertising, online video, and email marketing by the year 2021.

“These changes reflect a new emphasis on quality over quantity, a dynamic that will reintroduce human intervention into programmatic ad buying, turn marketers into growth hackers, and put long-tail publishers out of business,” predicted Forrester.

In addition, CMO spend on search will lose share to display and social advertising while video will scale.

Johnson & Johnson Joins The AI Game With Acuvue Chatbot

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Hoping to capture more customers at an early stage of the decision funnel, Johnson & Johnson Vision has launched a social-media Acuvue chatbot, the company’s first, focused on contact-lens information.

Called “Andy,” the Acuvue chatbot will live on Facebook Messenger, a platform that has long supported the AI-powered natural conversation.

“Andy is designed to help guide US consumers throughout their Acuvue brand contact lens journey—from those considering contact lenses for the first time to long-term wearers,” the company declared in its announcement. “The chatbot also provides intuitive coaching to help new wearers develop healthy contact lens habits.”

Acuvue hopes the chatbot will provide an easy resource for consumers with questions about contact lens usage, as ignorance about inserting, removing and caring for contact lenses often acts as a barrier to entry into this subset of the corrective lenses market. Additionally, the bot will answer commonly asked questions.

“Consumers are looking for information at their fingertips and through the communication tools they are already using,” said Kara Peterson, Johnson & Johnson Vision spokesperson, to AListDaily. “Interacting with consumers interested in contact lenses and those already wearing Acuvue contact lenses through Facebook Messenger is a simple way to deliver helpful information when and where consumers want it most.”

Johnson & Johnson’s strategy with the bot is a quiet one, relying on social media to spread awareness.

“Acuvue is spreading awareness in several ways, through owned channels including the Acuvue website and CRM, as well as social posts,” Peterson said.

The company is careful about its AI platform, however, asserting that the information provided by Andy should not come at the expense of seeing eye care professionals.

Acuvue’s adoption of an AI chatbot comes at the tail end of marketer obsession with chatbots—a report released in November of last year found that 58 percent of marketers claimed that chatbots weren’t enough of a priority to concentrate on, and 43 percent didn’t see an applicable strategy for the technology.

Johnson & Johnson, on the other hand, sees promise in the future of the Acuvue chatbot.

“Like other AI-powered technologies,” the company stated, “Andy becomes smarter with each interaction.”

Mobile Will Drive Growth Of $137.9B Global Games Market In 2018

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Newzoo released its quarterly update of its Global Games Market Report on Monday, forecasting that 2.3 billion gamers will spend $137.9 billion on video games this year, a majority of which comes from the mobile sector.

Global games market revenue will increase 13.3 percent from the year before, or $16.2 billion. At $125.3 billion, digital game revenues will take 91 percent of the global market. Consumer spending on games will grow to $180.1 billion by 2021, a CAGR of 10.3 percent between 2017 and 2021.

Mobile Gaming On The Move

Mobile gaming will be a $100 billion market by the year 2021, according to predictions by Newzoo but the meantime will fetch $70.3 billion in 2018—51 percent of total industry revenues. This is the first time mobile gaming has accounted for more than half of all game revenues—no small feat, considering that mobile gaming was the smallest segment in 2012.

Smartphones will account for 80 percent of this of mobile game revenue this year at $56.4 billion, with the remaining 20 percent coming from tablets. Mobile game revenue growth will outpace the overall games market, growing to $106.4 billion in 2021. By that time, smartphone and tablet games combined will generate 59 percent of revenues in the entire market.

Newzoo attributes growth in the mobile market to several factors, including the growing number of users—particularly in Asia—as well as an increased spending per player in “mature” mobile markets such as the US, Japan and to a lesser extent, China.

“The rise of competitive gaming on mobile is another contributing factor, as there are types of games which players often spend more on,” Newzoo market consultant Tom Wijman told AListDaily. “By becoming more immersive and ‘core,’ games are drawing in more of the traditional gaming audience found on PC and console, who are used to spending on games.”

Despite the impressive growth mobile gaming has not significantly cannibalized revenues from other platforms like PC or console, Newzoo observed.

Competitive Console

Console gaming is the second-largest segment generating $34.6 billion in 2018—a quarter of global revenues. Newzoo predicts that the console segment will grow to $39.0 billion in 2021 with a CAGR of 4.1 percent.

Newzoo says it sees further room for growth in the console segment if publishers continue to improve in-game spending options while retaining the upfront price point, such as loot boxes in Star Wars: Battlefront II, Destiny 2 and Shadow of Mordor.

“While some of these games did get public backlash for implementing these [monetization] strategies, the issues were mostly related to how they were implemented rather than that they were at all,” said Wijman. “We expect that publishers will continue to experiment with in-game monetization while keeping that same purchase price and, ultimately, finding a way to do so without upsetting their fanbase. We’re likely to see more optional cosmetic spending along with the season passes on a (semi) annual basis whereby more significant content will be added to the game, which will be more costly (~$40).”

The company also sees livestreaming and esports being fully embraced by the console segment by 2021, further driving player engagement.

PC Keeps A Slow Pace

In 2018, PC games will bring in $32.9 billion, or 24 percent of total market share, the smallest gaming segment. The total PC gaming market will grow at a CAGR of 1.8 percent between 2017 and 2021, Newzoo predicts, as the continued shift from browser PC to mobile games cuts revenues from the browser segment in half.

While PC gaming is expected to grow over the next few years, it will be at a modest rate of 1.8 percent CAGR through 2021.

“We believe that some of the most popular [PC] titles are already operating at close to their full monetization potential and, at the same time, are unlikely to be displaced by new games soon,” explained Newzoo. “In addition, average prices for pay-to-play PC games have been declining in recent years, putting downward pressure on the segment’s overall revenue growth.”

Editor’s note: This article was updated to include analyst commentary received after publishing time.

Sonos Pokes Fun At Apple With ‘Dumb Smart Speakers’ Campaign

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A new campaign by Sonos warns consumers of flashy smart speakers that can’t handle a simple music-related task.

The music-focused smart speaker brand released two video ads this week that feature high-tech devices offering everything but what the music users are asking for.

In “The Not-So-Smart Home vs. The Sonos home,” a woman named Cheryl asks her smart speaker to play her wake-up playlist. She is instead bombarded by everything from reminders to an unwanted call to her mother-in-law. Room by room, Cheryl desperately asks for something to play her wake-up playlist, before asking Sonos, which complies without incident.

Another spot called “Serge, The Speaker vs. The Sonos System” shows two men eager to try out a futuristic, hovering smart device called Serge. Unfortunately, Serge isn’t able to—or not allowed to—access Spotify or Pandora and when it runs out of options, simply floats away. The man then asks his Sonos system and the music plays instantly.

The “Serge” is a tongue-in-cheek jab at devices like Apple’s HomePod, which only accepts commands for Apple Music. A day before the HomePod released in February, Sonos ran a print ad in the New York Times that boasted all the music services its speakers support, compared to just one offered by “Big Tech.”

Juniper Research predicts that 55 percent of US households will own at least one smart speaker by the year 2022.

In a blog post written by Sonos chief marketing officer Joy Howard placed an emphasis on the quality of sound offered on a smart speaker. While the smart speaker market skyrockets toward $17.4 billion by 2022, Sonos says it is more concerned about the listening experience.

“We find it weird that some of the world’s biggest companies who claim to champion music and culture cut so many corners when it comes to sound,” wrote Howard. “What good is an ‘innovation’ if it ultimately devalues the things you care about most?”

https://youtu.be/yqAA1OPfhl4

Marketers Are Overwhelmed By Martech Options According To Study

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As martech eats up more and more of marketing budgets, marketers are having trouble finding the right technology to achieve their martech strategy goals.

A pair of studies by OnBrand, Bynder and PointSource, which surveyed US and UK executives in February of this year, revealed that rising customer expectations are leaving many brand marketers struggling to keep up.

“The two-fold challenge facing marketers today is how to deliver relevant and consistent customer experiences across all channels, while filtering through the clutter of the rapidly evolving marketing technology landscape,” OnBrand’s report reads.

OnBrand found that 90 percent of its respondents marked “identifying the right technologies to serve as an extension of our brand” as a top challenge for their martech strategy. Likewise, 57 percent of PointSource’s respondents claimed that they are unsatisfied with at least one of the martech platforms they use.

Finding the correct martech stack was also found to be the most widespread obstacle for marketers, with 20 percent of respondents listing it as their greatest challenge going into 2018. Finding the proper martech strategy induced more anxiety in marketers than even securing a high enough budget (17 percent), adapting to changing consumer behaviors (15 percent) and even ensuring brand safety (10 percent).

OnBrand suggests two reasons for this struggle, the first of which is the sheer volume of martech platforms coming to market and vying for marketer attention: Brinker’s Martech supergraphic has grown by 40 percent just over the last year alone, accounting for almost 7,000 different firms.

Second, OnBrand’s report indicated the relative lack of experience marketers have in keeping track of the martech stack.

“Most organizations are still at an early stage in the marketing maturity curve and the task of navigating the marketing tech landscape is a daunting one,” the report reads.

PointSource’s study found a similar trend: companies younger than ten years old were 15 percent more likely to be dissatisfied with their current martech strategy.

The authors of PointSource’s report seemed to be downright baffled at the behavior of marketers with their martech strategy.

“Decision makers are not investing in the solutions they’ve identified as most valuable. Even their understanding of what’s valuable can be called into question,” the report reads. “Getting dizzy? So are we.”

Both analyst groups indicate that the way out of such a technology quagmire is investment internally, either in specialists or employee expertise. According to OnBrand, 53 percent of marketers plan to hire additional tech talent in the next year.

“The best preparation for digital transformation holistically considers how technology will impact every pocket of an organization,” PointSource’s study asserts. “To get started, companies should prioritize the two areas say would build their confidence most—education and culture.”

Pepsi Increases Marketing Budget To Win Favor Over Coca-Cola In North America

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PepsiCo has announced that it will increase its marketing budget in order to remain competitive against Coca-Cola, especially in North America.

Despite reporting higher-than-predicted earnings of $12.56 billion, revenue for PepsiCo beverages in North America fell one percent in the first quarter of 2018.

In response, PepsiCo will invest in additional marketing, including its “Pepsi Generations” campaign that debuted during SuperBowl LII. The company previously announced in February that it would invest its GOP tax cut savings in ecommerce and digital capabilities.

“The overwhelming driver is that, despite moderately increasing our media on trademark Pepsi over the past three years, our share . . . has fallen dramatically relative to our key competitor, who has substantially stepped up their media spending on colas over the past two years,” PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi told investors on Tuesday.

That “key competitor,” of course, is Coca-Cola, whose rebranded Diet Coke products drove volume growth in North America during Q1.

“Although we continued to face challenges in North America Beverages, the sector had sequential improvement in top line momentum since the fourth quarter of 2017,” said Nooyi. “We continued investing in and growing share in a number of faster-growing, future-facing categories. However, competitively we recognize the need to step up investments in core carbonated soft drinks, which we intend to responsibly do.”

Pepsi reported that it saw “improved sales performance and trajectories,” for Gatorade. It recently launched Gatorade Zero, a version without carbohydrates as the company reacts to consumer demand for healthier options.

PepsiCo may not increase ad spending across all divisions, however. The company reduced advertising and marketing expenses in the snack category during Q1 to offset rising freight and commodity costs and may continue to do so. The snack division, which includes Doritos, reported growth in Q1 despite under scrutiny over snacks that were being designed for women. Dubbed “Lady Doritos” by the internet, Pepsi quickly backpedaled against public outcry and mockery.

Fusion Bank Appoints Charlotte Luer CMO, And Other Hires

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This week: executive shakeups as Nintendo’s president retires, Facebook appoints a new public policy lead, Mars promotes advertising inclusivity, Life Fitness prepares to split from Brunswick and others.

Fusion Bank Taps Charlotte Luer For CMO

Cannabis-operator financial manager Fusion Bank has hired Charlotte Luer as its chief marketing officer.

“We are exceptionally excited and privileged to have such an experienced and capable marketing, PR, and investor relations professional on our team,” said Kendell Lang, Fusion Bank founder and board chairman. “We have great conviction in our choice for CMO and look forward to watching Ms. Luer work her magic.”

Luer has spent a quarter-century working in finance marketing, and will retain her current position of CEO of LJH Financial Marketing Strategies.

The Rest Of The C-Suite

Editor’s Note: Our weekly careers post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, April 27. Have a new hire tip? We’re looking for senior executive role changes in marketing and media. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.

Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima Retires

After rising to the role of president in 2015, Tatsumi Kimishima will be retiring at the end of June.

Replacing him will be Shuntaro Furukawa, currently the company’s general manager of its corporate planning department. Furukawa has been with the company since 1994 and earned control of the game company’s global marketing efforts in 2016.

Facebook Appoints Keven Martin US Public Policy Head

Opting to pare down her responsibilities as both chief privacy officer and vice president of US public policy, Erin Egan has stepped down from the latter role. Former FCC chairman Keven Martin will take her place in the position.

“We need to focus our best people on our most important priorities. We are committed to rebuilding people’s trust in how we handle their information, and Erin is the best person to partner with our product teams on that task,” Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s vice president of communications and public policy, said in a statement provided to The Hill.

Martin first joined the social network in 2015 as vice president of mobile and global access policy. He will serve in the new role on an interim basis, as the company seeks a more permanent solution.

Supreme Poaches Julien Cahn, Converse CMO

Julien Cahn has departed from his position at the Nike-owned shoe brand, Bloomberg reports, setting up shop at streetwear brand Supreme.

Cahn had resigned from his position back in February, though neither company commented on the move. He will be replaced by Sophie Bambuck, who currently serves as Nike’s brand director.

Mars Names Michele Oliver Brand And Purpose Director

In an effort to improve its advertising inclusivity, Mars is promoting Michele Oliver to the role of global corporate brand and purpose director, a newly created position.

“There is room for every market to be more inclusive, it’s just a case of where you focus first, and in the US [diversity] is very top of mind at the moment, they are in a similar situation to the UK,” Oliver told The Drum.

Oliver has been with the confectionary company for over two decades, serving before her promotion as vice president of marketing.

Life Fitness Appoints Judith Toland CMO

As the fitness equipment manufacturer prepares to split from Brunswick, its parent company, Judith Toland joins as its chief marketing officer.

“Life Fitness is leading the digital transformation in fitness and that requires the continued transformation and adaptation of our business to support that change,” said Jaime Irick, president of Life Fitness. “Judith will play a crucial role in fulfilling our vision and leading Life Fitness into the future.”

Toland most recently served as CMO at Wells Fargo’s commerical distribution finance division.

Versace CMO Stephen Croncota Joins Ambrosus

Blockchain firm Ambrosus has named Stephen Croncota as its chief marketing officer, where he will oversee all aspects of the brand’s marketing and PR efforts.

“I am proud and pleased that Stephen joining us and bringing his wealth of experience and networks to turn Ambrosus into a globally recognized brand,” said Angel Versetti, Ambrosus CEO.

Croncota most recently served as CMO of Versace, and before that held senior marketing roles at Warner Brothers and Sony Pictures Television.

Armen Najarian Drafted For Agari CMO

Cybersecurity firm Agari is appointing Armen Najarian as CMO to strengthen the brand’s worldwide presence.

“Armen has consistently demonstrated an ability to grow revenue and company valuation through a best-in-class marketing and communications strategy,” said Ravi Khatod, CEO of Agari. “As Agari continues its global expansion and explosive momentum, Armen will be a fantastic leader and addition to the executive team to accelerate growth.”

Najarian joins the company from ThreatMetrix, where he also served as CMO.

Grad Conn Joins Sprinklr As Chief Marketing, Experience Officer 

Joining the customer experience management platform from Microsoft, Grad Conn spent the last 7 years as its US chief marketing officer.

“At Microsoft, Grad wasn’t just one of Sprinklr’s most forward-thinking customers, he was one of the world’s most forward-thinking marketers,” said Ragy Thomas, founder and CEO of Sprinklr. “With his rare combination of B2B, B2C, and startup skills, I can’t think of anyone better suited to help us bring the customer-first future of marketing to life for Sprinklr and our customers.”

Before joining Microsoft in 2007, Conn served in the positions of CMO and CEO for a variety of startups.

Rolling Stone Appoints Andrew Budkofsky Chief Revenue Officer/Publisher

Officially joining the company on May 1, Andrew Budkofsky will lead Rolling Stone‘s sales and marketing departments as the company works to relaunch its magazine, website and live media businesses.

“Andrew brings with him an outstanding track record in growing significant revenue,” said Gus Wenner, president and chief operating officer of Wenner Media. “His skill and knowledge in the media marketplace, specifically in digital media, will set a high bar for what Rolling Stone will deliver for our partners.”

Budkofsky brings 15 years of media sales experience to the role, most recently from his tenure as CRO at Digital Trends, a consumer electronics lifestyle digital media brand.

Seven Stars Cloud Hires M. Chad Arroyo As CMO

In a move to expand the blockchain financial technology company’s US-based management team, Seven Stars Cloud has brought on M. Chad Arroyo for his eclectic set of management leadership experience.

“Chad’s passion for and expertise in marketing, global interoperability, advanced computing platforms and blockchain technology reflect the disruptive qualities that make him the ideal candidate to build the SSC brand and drive value across our ecosystem and partner network,” said Robert G. Benya, SSC’s CRO.

Prior to joining SSC, Arroyo worked at Deloitte as a technology strategy consultant, and spent 7 years in active duty service in the US Navy.

Rick Bradberry Signs On As Community Brands’ CMO

Seeking to broaden its customer base among NGOs and schools, software developer Community Brands has appointed Rick Bradberry as CMO.

“We’ve made significant progress during this past year, focusing on product and integrating our businesses,” said Jean-Paul Guilbault, Community Brands’ CEO. “Rick’s passion for enabling meaningful connections between brands, their customers and their communities will be important as we complete our next phase of growth.”

Formerly the CMO of Pegasus TransTech, a Florida-based software provider, Bradberry brings two decades of marketing strategy and product management experience to the role.

Codewise Taps John Malatesta For Company President

AI-powered ad exchange Codewise has recruited internally for its first-ever company president, promoting Dr. John Malatesta, currently the company’s chief revenue and marketing officer.

“The exponential growth of Codewise’s revenue, pioneering new innovative technologies and the progressive expansion into new geographies now calls for the deployment of a state-of-the-art operational management structure,” said Robert Gryn, CEO of Codewise. “John’s delegated responsibility for the effective management of all operations will enable me to dedicate even more of my time and resources to high-priority strategic decisions and to breakthrough and visionary technological enhancements of the adtech ecosystem.”

Malatesta has been with the company since its inception in 2012, and is a member of the Forbes Agency Council.

Patra Corp Brings On Bob Murphy As CRO

Insurance-technology firm Patra Corp is filling its recently created chief revenue officer slot with Bob Murphy, who will oversee the company’s sales, marketing and strategic direction.

“The addition of the CRO role, and Bob, to our leadership team will ensure we remain at the forefront of the InsurTech revolution as we continue to apply technology and expertise to the industry’s processing needs,” said Patra CEO and founder, John Simpson. “Bob and I have a great relationship and have worked together previously, and I’m excited to be working with him again.”

Before joining Patra, Murphy served as CRO for Cloud Lending Solutions.

Snow Burns has joined Columbia Sportswear Company to serve as global vice president of marketing for its Mountain Hardware brand.

“We are excited to have Snow bring her expertise to our brand and industry,” said Joe Vernachio, president of Mountain Hardwear. “We feel there is a more modern way of communicating that outdoor brands fail to tap into. We think Snow brings just the right mix of ‘Silicon Valley know-how’ with a personal passion for the outdoors.”

Burns most recently led strategy, social media and analytics for John McNeil Studio, a digital marketing boutique.

Dunkin’ Donuts is expanding its loyalty team, appointing Stephanie Meltzer-Paul to the position of vice president of digital and loyalty marketing in the United States. Meltzer-Paul will focus on further developing the donut distributor’s DD Perks and On-the-Go Mobile Ordering platforms.

“Stephanie is a talented business leader who has excelled at delivering exponential customer growth, retention and revenue generation through best-in-class marketing strategies, and we are thrilled to have her head up our digital and loyalty marketing efforts,” said Tony Weisman, Dunkin’ Donuts’ CMO. “This is a very exciting time in the evolution of the Dunkin’ Donuts brand, and we believe Stephanie is exactly the right person to help us further engage with our customers, including building on the strength of our DD Perks program, one of the fastest growing loyalty programs in the quick service restaurant industry.”

Meltzer-Paul joins the company from BJ’s Wholesale Club, where she led the brand’s My BJ Perks loyalty program.

Mobile user data profiler Ogury has appointed Elie Kanaan as its chief marketing officer.

“Elie and his team will play a strategic role in fueling our hyper growth and enabling us to gain our rightful recognition as one of the hottest mobile data and marketing company on the planet,” said Jean Canzoneri, cofounder and CEO of Ogury.

Kanaan has a quarter century of marketing experience, most recently as executive vice president of marketing for Criteo.

Debra Berman has joined toy manufacturer KidKraft as its chief marketing officer.

“Debra’s keen ability to strategically align an organization to build its brand, engage the consumer and drive results is a critical addition to our growth,” said Lawrence Writer, KidKraft’s CEO. “Her focus on the intersection of data and creativity to drive brand will play a pivotal role in how we further engage and optimize the KidKraft brand globally.”

Berman previously served on Yahoo’s senior marketing leadership team.

Treasury Wine Estates has promoted Michelle Terry to the position of global CMO, following the departure of Simon Marton. Terry has been with the winery for a decade, most recently as marketing chief for the Americas region.

Job Vacancies 

Events Producer AList Pasadena, CA
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Systems IBM Austin, TX
Senior Brand Manager Mondelēz International East Hanover, NJ
Experiential Marketing Manager Nestlé Solon, OH
Sr. Direct Marketing Manager, App Store  Apple Santa Clara, CA
Marketing Manager MarketMuse New York, NY

Make sure to check back for updates on our jobs page.

Social Media News: AR Games, Diverse Beauty And Fighting Fakes

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This week in social media, Facebook draws the line for political ads, Twitter cracks down on spam, Pinterest makes its searches more diverse and Snapchat upgrades its camera glasses.

Facebook: Saving Face

Facebook released a video ad this week that addressed—but does not take responsibility for—the site’s decline from social network to spam, clickbait and fake news platform. Facebook refers to these changes as “something” that “happened,” but promises to address the issues.

The video, called “Facebook Here Together” will run through July on TV and movie theaters, as well as select NBA playoff games.

In an attempt to curb political manipulation on its platform, Facebook now requires political advertisers to disclose who they are, where they live and the source of their funding.

Despite rising public concern about data privacy, advertisers still pour money into Facebook. The company reported a 50 percent year-over-year increase in advertising revenue in Q1 2018, reaching $11.8 billion.

Twitter: Swabbing The TweetDeck

Twitter is waging its own battle against spam, bots, harassment and misinformation campaigns. In February, the platform banned automated mass retweeting across multiple accounts. In March, the company made changes to its API and TweetDeck that curb such activity and in its Q1 letter to investors, Twitter said 142,000 apps, accounting for 130 million tweets, have had their API access revoked.

Overall, Twitter is finally seeing hope in its finances, reporting its second profitable quarter in a row. Twitter reported $655 million, an increase of 21 percent year-over-year (YoY) and exceeding Reuters estimates of $608 million. A majority of that income was generated through advertising revenue, which totaled $575 million—an increase of 21 percent YoY.

Snapchat: Spectacles For Summer

Ahead of its Q1 earnings call on Monday, Snap, Inc. announced a new version of Spectacles that are water resistant and lower profile. The wearable camera also features upgraded audio and the ability to press and hold a button to take a photo.

On Wednesday, Snapchat debuted augmented reality games called Snappables that can be controlled by touch, motion and facial expressions. Games include joining a rock band, fighting aliens, playing basketball and more. Some Snappables feature multiplayer and high scores for competitive play.

https://youtu.be/NkvnmMc_hSg

Pinterest: More Colorful Searches

Pinterest has created a way to search for ideas by skin tone, allowing people of color to find images that better represent their beauty and hair needs. Now when someone makes a search related to beauty, a filter appears under the search bar that invites users to pick one of 16 skin tones to narrow the results.

Speaking of color, Pinterest has updated its color contrast sensitivity settings for those users with sensitivities to bright colors or low vision.

Pinterest partnered with the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired to audit the site’s accessibility overall and created accessibility best standards for engineers and designers. The company updated its iOS and web platforms to meet the majority of accessibility standards and will bring these changes to Android in the near future.

3 Percent CMO Roundtable: Inclusivity Can’t Be Enforced From The Top Down

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To solve marketing’s diversity problems, everybody has to get involved: top-down solutions will only lead to bitterness and conflict. At the 3 Percent Minicon in Los Angeles, marketing leaders at Adobe, Taco Bell, Logitech and Ellevest heavily emphasized the importance of getting all hands on deck to promote inclusivity in the marketplace.

“How do you make sure a brand is sincere? Show, don’t tell,” said Lisa Stone, CMO of Ellevest. “I won’t work with companies that aren’t inclusive anymore.”

The 3 Percent CMO roundtable, hosted by Joe Oh, president and CEO of FCB West, covered topics ranging from mentorship to technology to diversity initiatives to parenting, but always came back to one central theme: until everyone in an organization buys into the idea of inclusivity as a benefit, lasting change will not come.

“We should want it for the right reasons,” declared Marisa Thalberg, Taco Bell’s chief brand officer. Thalberg, who claimed with pride that Taco Bell’s customerbase represents a more diverse crowd than her neighbors in Orange County, stated that homogeneity in the marketing office leads only to an inability to relate to their customers, especially across class boundaries. “It can’t just be checking boxes.”

Thalberg expressed concern about the consequences of hiring women and persons of color to consciously meet quotas, wishing that diversity efforts would move past “affirmative action,” though Heidi Arkinstall, CMO of Logitech, pushed back, emphasizing the importance of remaining wary of unconscious biases.

In either case, the panelists agreed that pressure to improve inclusivity must come from both the top and the bottom in order to stick. “Dictatorial, didactic leadership is becoming less of a style for today,” Thalberg stated, who identified that part of the problem lies with harmful male leadership mentors and role models. “Men need to be in the room, too.”

Ann Lewnes, CMO of Adobe, supported Thalberg’s point, mentioning that all of her professional mentors have been male. The panelists, who expressed relief at the spread of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, emphasized the importance of safety in the work environment, expressed hope that gendered toxicity can be combatted by establishing more nurturing, more vulnerable leadership role models.

The subject of technology came up as well, and though Oh expressed voiced concerns at potential harmful consequences of technology on creativity in marketing, panelists unanimously disagreed, especially in terms of improving inclusivity. “Technology is the best thing to happen for creatives,” declared Lewnes, Adobe’s own creative work sharing platforms as one way that disenfranchised groups can use technology to have their voices heard. Arkinstall agreed, highlighting how technology drives “the democratization of creativity.”

For technology, like diversity, the panelists noted the importance of motive over means. “If you have to solve for AI or AR, you’re just checking a box,” Thalberg declared. “And that’s not where ideas come from.”

Inclusion, panelists offered, can solve this problem. “Women of color dominate social media,” said Lisa Stone, Ellevest’s CMO, emphasizing the importance of recruiting creatives well-versed enough in emerging technologies to treat them as just another tool in their arsenals.

However, despite the panelists expressing high hopes for the industry’s future, they acknowledged that their fields have much progress left to make, especially in how it affects society at large. Arkinstall worries acutely about the long-term consequences of voice-recognition platforms like Siri and Alexa, pointing out that children raised around the AI platforms act more curtly and less empathetically around women providing services.

Stone herself pointed out that for all its efforts, the 3 Percent Movement itself still has improvements to make. “We’re all white, aren’t we?” she asked of her fellow panelists.