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….

 You will also hear Guy also share his latest interests and strong opinions on the most pressing social topics of the day–including the Apple-DOJ standoff. Over the years, Guy has endorsed my books, including “The Mindful Marketer” and “EnergizeGrowth NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company.”. Guy has inspired my work for over 13 years, and is one of a handful of leaders and experts who inspire my work.

Guy is one of the 6-7 leaders who have greatly inspired my work….

Love is in the air this month, and Valentine’s Day, of course, is likely responsible. Much about the genesis of the holiday, and even who this St. Valentine was, is lost in the fog of time. One legend has it he was a priest in third century Rome who helped soldiers get married. Another tells the tale of the imprisoned Valentine who, having fallen in love with his jailer’s daughter, sent her a letter signed, “From your Valentine,” a phrase used to this day….

Yet I’m certain you haven’t considered all 7 of my latest marketing plan boosters.

Some of my clients have and are moving forward with greater confidence. In fact, one CMO is on track to creating at least $15M in new business as a result of working with me on their marketing innovation framework.

In the 28-minute bonus MP3 program, you will hear some of my clients’ secrets, including:…

Why customer communication vehicles are changing, and what you need to do about it
The pitfalls of chasing unicorn growth fantasies
My take on marketers who are gorging on the millennials craze
Which “friendly ghosts of marketing past”

What are the innovation opportunities and challenges today’s marketing leaders face?

I was honored to be asked back for a second interview with Spiral Marketing, a podcast that helps current and future business leaders, marketers and entrepreneurs elevate their brand. (Their first return guest!)

Host Karl Boehm and I discussed the recently released 3rd Annual Energize Growth CMO Report, From Fledgling to Falcon: How CMOs Make the Leap from Order Taker to Innovator….

By Guest Blogger Deanna Zaucha, Senior Specialist of Content Marketing for Webs and Pagemodo

Independence Day will come and go, but it never fails to set the momentum for the holiday season to come. For marketers, holidays are a great time of the year to drive traffic and encourage engagement with customers. However, we’re often faced with outdated and stagnant social media campaigns.

For your marketing campaign to stay ahead of the curve and stand out in a crowd, it should be memorable, unique and most importantly, engaging….

What does the term “customer data” mean to you?

Many tech-savvy marketers will imagine a magical dashboard showing customer churn rates,  pipeline velocity, lifetime customer value and the cost to acquire a customer. And the topic of customer data is top of mind for many CMOs in my community. Let’s examine why a frenetic level of focus on technology-generated customer data is often a waste of marketing resources.

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

By Guest Blogger Juliana Smith Holterhaus, Head of Strategic Alliances for Your Eye
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More than 10 years after the debut of Dove’s “Real Beauty” program, it remains an advertising icon and source of controversy. It’s impossible to deny the program’s success in terms of brand exposure: The viral popularity of specific program elements significantly outperformed paid placements….

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There are many different strategies involved in mindful marketing, from using intentional language to designing our customer communities in a new way. It can be hard to implement all of these things in our companies at once. Where to begin?

In this video, I offer guidance in setting your mindful marketer priorities….

Marketers face more career choices and growth opportunities than they have in decades, and marketing compared to other departments, is perceived as a hotbed for innovation. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that we’re focusing on one small slice of innovation and learning: marketing technology. If we focus most of our energy on technology, what growth opportunities will we miss?

It is easy for marketers to be seduced—and feel downright deluged—by the number of new technology offerings and providers….