Dec 06 2022

ChatGPT – Still a ways to go

Everyone, especially marketers, should be testing new AI solutions to maximize efficiencies in delivering better product experience, development, and marketing content. ChatGPT was launched in November and is now the most talked about new AI tool. Ryan Reynolds has even claimed to develop a TV ad with it.  Compared to other AI tools that may focus on writing, video or coding, ChatGPT attempts to take any prompt and deliver a complete solution.  Although the results are pretty impressive, there is a high error rate and quality variance depending on your query.  The attached article from Fast Company provides a good summary.  It’s promising but has a ways to go to be a go-to tool for marketers.

Click here to read the full story.

Oct 25 2022

Toxic cultures: Know how harmful they are and how to fix them.

Most of us have experienced and heard stories about toxic work environments. They are more common than one might think as approximately 1 in 10 workers experience their workplace culture as toxic. This can have a big impact on your results. In fact, 90% of CEOs and CFO in North America believe that improving their culture would boost financial results.  This article from MIT Sloan Management Review identifies key predictive factors such as leadership, social norms, and work design based on multiple studies. The authors also give detailed tips on how to design or change your environment to reduce toxicity.

Click here to read the story.

Oct 27 2021

Economic worries overtake COVID fears for first time in almost 20 months

In this latest study by IPSOS, COVID now ranks as the 3rd biggest concern among the global consumer population behind economic-related worries of poverty and unemployment. This is a significant shift in sentiment and should be considered as we develop messages to our audiences as we get further from the pandemic.

Click here to read the full study 

Mar 30 2021

COVID-19 related social isolation harms cognitive function

As we are now exiting the final major COVID-related safety restrictions in California, it is good to take away any learnings. An interesting study by researchers in the UK published in the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology shows that in addition to the emotional damage caused by social isolation, the lockdowns also caused a significant drop in executive function, risk processing and other cognitive measures.  This study is another reason that we should think about reducing isolation when designing marketing team structures and even through the marketing programs to our customers and prospects.

Click here to read the full study.

Dec 31 2020

Marketing predictions for 2021

A new report from Gartner analyzes how the turmoil from 2020 (COVID, racial tension, political unrest, recession, etc.) will impact marketing for the future. They have made 6 predictions that we all should consider as we plan for 2021:

1. Major shift to real-time, virtual events – Need to think of this as the standard going forward, optimizing the virtual user experience

2. Shift from channel-based strategies to customer-centric, channel-agnostic – Need to think customer first and get a multiplying effect from an omni-channel approach

3. Continued growth in subscription model pricing – With increased competition, strategies to differentiate your offering and retain your customers will be even more important

4. Due to digital acceleration, customer experience (CX) function increasingly merged into marketing and sales – Higher need to look for an eliminate organization redundancies, share data and map all elements of the customer journey from high in the funnel prospects to loyal customers

5. Increased employee activism – Need to monitor and help guide employee comments and attitudes to help protect brand image

6. Increased emphasis on content moderation – Need to utilize the latest tools to help to maintain brand safety in user generated content

Download the full report here for full information:
Gartner Marketing Predictions 2021 & Beyond

Nov 20 2020

Almost half of Americans plan to spend less this holiday season

If your sales are slowing into year end, you will not be alone. This report froom IPSOS indicates that the consumer sentiment index post-election is down almost 4 points to 49.5 (and 10 points below May 2020). 23% of consumers plan on spending a lot less and 26% a little less than last year. Even higher income consumers are planning to cut back with 43% of those households planning on spending less this holiday season vs. last.

Historical consumer sentiment chart

Click here to view the full article.