Marketing Operations Conference 2007

The upcoming Marketing Operations conference in Hollywood November 12–13 looks to be the best MO event Henry Stewart has ever produced. What's that, you say? Wasn't it you, Gary, who wrote just this Spring about the limitations of the event — the small audience, the even smaller number of potential buyers, how the MO side is the ugly stepsister of the DAM (Digital Asset Management) event it is co-hosted with.

All true, and certainly those problems haven't gone away overnight. The DAM event is still … Read more →

Marketing ROI: Investment-Think

Marketing ROI
Just read an insightful article today in Advertising Age that encourages Chief Marketing Officers to start thinking like investment managers. Amen!

The author, Anthony Young of Optimedia US, suggests that the first stage is to start with the language. For example, instead of referring to the marketing budget, we might call it a loan instead, one that needs to be paid back, with interest. Young also wonders if we shouldn't "recast ROI as profit or loss", and view advertising and marketing channels as "alternative investment funds designed to maximize marketing profits." Changing our … Read more →