We just launched our 4th annual CMO Innovation Trends survey to help senior marketers learn what growth and innovation opportunities their peers are facing in the industry today.

If you are a VP of Marketing or CMO, will you please participate in this 2 1/2 minute survey now?

This survey contains only 9 questions. For participating in this survey, we will send you:

An Executive Summary to help you see how your investments and issues compare to peers
An MP3 replay with key insights and recommendations
A series of short videos with marketing innovation tips from our annual CMO Conference

Go here to complete the survey: http://tinyurl.com/CMOtrends16

Thank you for participating–we sincerely value your input….

As a marketing leader, do you have the necessary know-how to strategically manage a technology portfolio?

As businesses continue the rapid move towards digital, more technology purchases will find a home in the marketing organization.  In fact, The Gartner Group estimates that 40% of technology investments are already happening outside of the IT organization.

You likely have a mix of technology-related projects, ranging from applications or systems that your team is building. These include mobile apps, content management systems, back-end data systems, hosting solutions, CRM, and analysis. …

It takes a leap of faith to unplug and stop moving from crisis to crisis. Yet the rewards are many, especially when you bring that mindset to work. Yes, work.
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Many senior marketing leaders and CEOs whom I’ve met think of their lives as an “either/or” proposition. They are either relaxed and unplugged OR overworked and hyper-connected.…

It’s finally summer here in the Washington, DC region. Now is the time to schedule “innovation vacations” to unplug, reflect, and savor the great outdoors.

Instead of asking you “what’s on your reading list?,” I’m curious to know “What’s on your watch list?”

You will find some cool videos below that we just released. Check out the three complimentary marketing innovation videos below from our annual CMOs Leading Innovation Conference. …

We just hosted the Atlanta CMO Innovation Breakfast.

The purpose of the interactive session was threefold: to outline the fundamentals of marketing innovation, assess the participants’ readiness to foster an innovative culture, and deliver fresh insights to kick-start innovation in their organizations. For four consecutive years, our CMO community has asked “How will we make the shift from order taker to innovator?” We helped participants take away specific action steps to address this persistent issue….

Marketing leaders often ask me “how do you stay centered and focused? What can I do to create more “white space” on my calendar? My schedule is very hectic, and I seldom make time to reflect.” Mindful marketing techniques have really helped me in this area.

I recently sat down with “Shareology” author and Purematter CEO, Bryan Kramer to further explore this topic. We had both discovered that we are mindfulness practitioners.

Check out this 19 minute podcast to hear:

The importance of daily white space
The 3 main sources of my creativity
How removing yourself from your normal routine and surroundings leads to a more creative life
Bryan’s favorite sources of creativity
How over-reliance on technology leads to missed cues and muted intuition
Why pets are one of my favorite mindfulness reminders
The number one question every marketing leader needs to ask to increase their efficacy

Four quotable moments from this discussion include (and feel free to tweet):

“That is what wealth is about… creating discretionary time to do the things you love with the people you enjoy.” —@lisa_nirell #mindfulmarketer

 “You’ve only got now so live and love fully.” —@lisa_nirell #mindfulmarketer

 “When I rely only on technology and data, I seem to always get myself in trouble or miss some important cues.” —#mindfulmarketer @lisa_nirell

 “Create and design the life you really want….

In our 3rd annual CMO Innovation Trends study, participants told us their two biggest challenges are 1) a lack of talent to address business imperatives and 2) effectively building a strong brand across online and offline touch points. What’s a CMO to do when resources are this scarce, yet growth is an imperative? Many turn to partnering.

Today, partnering is often the first strategy CMOs evaluate to help their organization reach new audiences, test new products, accelerate domain knowledge or IP, expand geographically, access capital sources, and close revenue shortfalls….

If you are a CMO or VP of Marketing in the Atlanta area, please join our Atlanta CMO breakfast at The Commerce Club of Atlanta on Wednesday, May 11 from 8:00-9:45 am. This complimentary session is entitled “From Order Taker to Innovator: How CMOs Will Thrive in a Modern Marketing World.”

Today’s marketing leaders are doing their best to adapt to unprecedented changes in customer behaviors, pricing models, and digital landscapes….

The early-bird rate for our 2nd annual CMOs Leading Innovation Conference (CLIC ’16) will end this Friday, April 15. This year, our conference happens at the historic Airlie Retreat Center in Warrenton, Virginia October 20-21 (just 45 minutes from Dulles Airport).

You will be joined by CMOs from Bozzuto, Informatica, Hilton, Gannett, NACD, and RES Software (to name a few). The 1 ½ day private conference features an evening reception, three panels, and a handful of top notch interactive sessions….

Here’s something that all marketing professionals understand but that many marketing organizations have forgotten: the most sophisticated customer analytics tools cannot replace the insights we gather through genuine human conversations.

Humans possess the ability to be empathetic, compassionate, and intuitive. As of this writing, computers lack these abilities.

This is why no matter how powerful your data tools, you still need to talk with your customers.

We recently completed our third annual CMO Innovation Trends study….