Articles Archive - Page 110 of 114 -

Can Artificial Intelligence Overcome the Hype to Help Cybersecurity?

That promising view of what AI can deliver is not entirely wrong.

Businesses to governments are starting to face up to the vulnerabilities of everything being online. Sophisticated and disruptive cyber attacks are continuing to increase in complexity and scale across multiple industries. Areas of critical infrastructure from energy to critical manufacturing have vulnerabilities that make them a target for cybercriminals.

Just as businesses and authorities are beginning to understand the role that AI and machine learning will play in protecting them, criminals are using the same tools to get around defenses. With AI and machine learning showing encouraging signs of changing the face of cybersecurity, can these technologies break through the hype to truly help the cyberspace?

Where Do We Begin?

Fortunately, researchers developing new defenses at companies throughout North America largely agree on both the potential benefits and challenges. And it starts with getting some terminology straight.

“”I actually don’t think a lot of these companies are using artificial intelligence. It’s really training machine learning. It’s misleading in some ways to call it AI, and it confuses the hell out of customers.” – Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of the cybersecurity defense firm Malwarebytes commenting on the correct terminology for AI and Machine Learning.

It is important to get the terminology straight in order to adapt to security breaches. Since machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that refers to technologies that enable computers to learn and adapt through experience, distinguishing between the two provides a vital strategic initiative that businesses need to adapt to in order to truly be prepared for an attack.

Moreover, a weaponized AI in the hands of bad actors is a very worrying concept. However, it also highlights the importance of investing heavily in AI-defense and research. Thankfully, emerging machine-learning models are offering hope and greater protection against these sophisticated and complex threats, bringing to light the well-known “hype” that is surrounding the technologies.

Is it More than a Hype? It’s Complicated

With both sides using the same tools, systems will have the ability to learn patterns and identify deviations in a manner that traditional systems or analysts could ever dream of. Traditional protection methods involved the need for prior knowledge of a threat type before a defense could be prepared. This luxury is now confined to the history books.

To say that AI is just hype is to ignore both the significant and not-insignificant breakthroughs that have been made in the field, which are breakthroughs that are currently living in your smartphone and computer, for example. It also ignores the fact that not every AI has to have human-level intelligence in order to carry out its tasks.

“The answer to whether or not AI is just hype is complicated. The current boom is in some ways the result of companies inflating the abilities of their products, but there are also many companies out there doing extraordinary work. Ultimately, AI has a ways to go, but the advances already out there: advanced driver-assistance systems, facial recognition, voice assistants – are proof enough of the incredible potential that AI has to transform our lives and the way we work.” MediaPost reports.

Advances in technology are now enabling the rise in security systems that are always learning, adapting, and looking for new ways to preempt unseen methods of attack. Essentially, the most significant change is stopping attacks before they even occur.

Businesses should already be thinking about replacing reactive solutions with always online protection that is continuously learning emerging attack methodologies. We are entering a new digital era where AI and machine learning will undoubtedly redefine cybersecurity, and we have to take the appropriate measures to be prepared.

About The Transformational CISO Assembly

In a new digital world, driven by data, businesses of all sizes are working tirelessly to secure their networks, devices, and of course, their data. CISOs need to plan for worst-case scenarios, stay ahead of latest IT Security transformation technology, and maintain their company’s information assets without losing sight of the corporate culture.

The 7^thedition of our Transformational CISO Assembly will bring together industry leaders to discuss the latest strategies and innovations in cybersecurity. Join us today, the assembly is now open for application!

Download your copy of the sponsorship prospectus here for more information>>

How Technology Makes Shopping Easier

Let’s face it. We are busy people, carrying out busy lives and packed schedules that allow very few hours to enjoy the pleasure of leisure shopping. If you are anything like me, shopping is only made possible on the weekends (if I am lucky).

If we were living in any other year besides 2018, this may be an issue. Fortunately, that is not the case. We are, indeed, living in 2018. The year where technology has made our lives easier in more ways than one. Shopping is in fact, one of the things that have been made easier by different tech tools.

If this excites you, you are in luck because experts predict that technology will continue to grow and affect the retail space. This is just the beginning. As the busy shopping season starts to rev up, let’s take a look at some of the tools that are changing the way we shop.

Online Shopping

Online shopping is in no means a new tool for shopping. It has, however, remained among the most popular shopping tools. As technology increases, online shopping only becomes more intricate, offering consumers fast-paced platforms that allow shopping to be done in the comfort of your own home. Or, in some cases the comfort of your desk. (I won’t tell your boss).

This season, retailers are catering online shopping to the high demands that they receive during this year. This means carrying out new shipping standards and methods that make shopping seamless, and most importantly, quick. Hey, we are in a fast-paced world after all, and consumers are impatient to receive what they ordered. Retailers who accommodate these shoppers are staying ahead of the curve.

Purchase Items Via Voice

If you still feel too busy to online shop, then don’t worry. You can shop by simply using your voice. Thanks to Amazon Alexa, consumers are able to order items by simply barking an order into the device.

This has become extremely popular among shoppers due to the fact that it is so easy to accomplish. Amazon simply carries out an order for you, and you essentially don’t have to do any work. What more can people ask for?

New Payment Systems

Gone are the days where you would have to wait for the mail to come to receive a check from a distant family member. Now, with the touch of a button, you can receive it digitally. And you can bet this will help with shopping.

Venmo, Apple Pay, and PayPal are all tools that people can use in order to quickly make payments via digital components. This takes shopping to a whole new level because it allows consumers to pay in a quick and seamless way.

“With Apple Pay, anyone with an iPhone can purchase online and in-store with one click or touch.” Forbes reports.

What Will The Future Hold?

It’s hard to tell exactly what the future will hold, but it is clear that these tools will only advance further to make shopping an overall digital experience.

Big enterprises like Amazon have changed the way we shop, and as we continue to advance technology, these two worlds will combine.

Until then, we will continue to anticipate the number of tools we will be able to use while shopping.

ABOUT DIGITAL RETAIL TRANSFORMATION ASSEMBLY

C-Level experts from across North America’s retail industry are coming together in Dallas in February to anticipate the highly complex digital retail environment that will develop over the next few years.

Through a cutting-edge program designed by the industry, for the industry, we will provide a fresh and up-to-date insight to help move your organization to the next level of digital leadership. A series of executive education roundtables, keynote presentations, collaborative think tanks, educational workshops, and networking sessions will offer industry-specific topics and trends to ensure your company sustains its competitive advantage.

Are you a Retail executive interested in attending this event? Enquire here today to find out if you qualify for Millennium Membership >>

Download the Sponsorship Prospectus to find out if your eligible to sponsor our event >>

The State of Digital Content in 2018: Author Omar Akhtar, Industry Analyst at Altimeter Gives Insight into New Report

“Content strategies shift from thought leadership to product-focused information.”

Altimeter’s new report, The 2018 State of Digital Content, gives digital marketers and content strategists insight into the latest facts and figures about how companies are using digital content to drive business results this year. Uncovering key findings that you can only find in this report, this report is based on a survey of 400 content and digital marketers across North America, Europe and China, it provides key insights into what strategies, channels and content formats perform best in specific industries and regions.

Omar Akhtar, Industry Analyst at Altimeter sat down with Digital Diary to discuss his most recent report to date. He discusses how his new report will give the reader, especially digital marketers and content strategists, how to utilize digital content to drive better and more efficient business results in 2018 into the future.

Thanks, Omar, for sharing your insight with us!

As an analyst for Altimeter, you publish research that helps companies thrive on digital disruption. In your new report with Altimeter, The 2018 State of Digital Content, what key insights do you address to bring challenges with content to light?

In this research report, we specifically wanted to look for indications that companies
were using digital content to do more than meet only “marketing goals” such as brand
awareness and reach. Not only did we identify key ways that content marketing is being
measured, but we were also able to break down those results by different channels, industries, and regions. This gives companies a starting point in terms of benchmarks so they can evaluate their own content strategies, and the performance of their digital channels, relative to their industry and level of maturity.

In the report, you focus on the content strategies that are shifting away from thought leadership to product-focused information. How has digital content impacted how businesses drive results this year?

Businesses are doing a much better job at linking content strategies to driving business
objectives. For retail and e-commerce companies, using content to drive revenue is a
direct link, since product-focused content such as 3D images or guides can directly
impact a purchase decision. For B2B companies, content is being used not just for
demand generation, but downstream, revenue-generating activities, such as sales
enablement and cross-sell upsell. Digital tools have gotten better and attributing credit
to content and we’ll see even more use cases in the next year.

What are companies, not specific companies in America, doing to effectively operate their digital channels?

The best content-producing companies are using data to influence the kind of content
they create, the audiences they will target, and the channels they will target them on.
The most desirable skill for new content team hires in 2019 is data analysts, which
underscores how crucial it is to have an audience or customer-centric content strategy,
rather than one that is focused on brand or company needs.

What makes effective content stand out from the noise and what are companies lacking in their management of strategy and their production of content?

Making content stand out is becoming increasingly difficult, and the only way companies
can stand out is to be extremely relevant, which is different from being extremely
personalized. If the content is solving a customers problem, or need for information at
the exact time they are looking for it, it’s much more effective than just having content
directly addressing the customer’s name or location, which borders on creepy.
When it comes to producing content, companies are under so much pressure to produce
all of the content all of the time on all of the channels, when they should be making
smarter, data-based decisions on the type of content they will NOT be producing. Setting
priorities for key content types are essential to being efficient with resources, aligning to a vision and reducing waste.

In your report, you write that “as digital content grows to serves the needs of multiple departments, aligning all those teams on a single content strategy becomes harder and harder.” Why has this proven to be an obstacle for most companies? Is it more than a lack of communication?

The bigger the company, the more content producers, or content stakeholders it has.
Couple that with how easy it is to produce and deliver digital content (through social
media, websites, and email) we now have the problem of too much content being
produced by many different parts of the organization, and it becomes difficult to align
everyone on a shared vision of what they want the content to achieve, or even be
consistent with what it looks like. Communication is key, but so is a strong governance
system that allows independent creation, but enforces strategic alignment and creative
guidelines.

What technologies are companies utilizing to become savvier and creative with their digital content?

Companies are investing in personalization software, specifically for the web. It’s the
technology receiving the most investment this year and the next. Personalizing web
pages is one of the most effective points of personalization for digital marketing teams
and today’s systems have made it much more easy to implement and integrate with
other platforms in the stack.

What do you think is the key point an executive can take away from this report as they look toward product-focused information?

Executives can and should demand greater ambition from their digital content teams.
They must stop defining content as only a marketing tool, given that it can help drive
results across other customer-facing departments as well, such as sales and service.
There are better use cases, better attribution models, and better technologies to make
this a reality.

ABOUT OMAR AKHTAR

Omar Akhtar is an analyst and the managing editor of Altimeter, a Prophet Company.

He oversees the editorial process behind all of Altimeter’s publications, including its research reports, daily blog, and multimedia content. Omar’s research focus is paid, earned and owned content strategy, marketing technology, and customer experience.

Previously, Omar was the editor-in-chief of the marketing technology news site The Hub where he covered the latest trends, tools, and strategies in the world of digital marketing, big data, social media, and mobile. He has frequently served as a moderator in conferences and panel discussions on the above topics.

Before The Hub, Omar worked as a tech and finance reporter at Fortune Magazine, where he contributed to the publication’s most popular lists, included the Fortune 500, The Best Places to Work, and the 40 under 40. Omar has a masters degree from Columbia University’s Journalism School, with a specialization in digital media. In a previous life, he fronted a rock band and hosted a top-rated radio show in his native Pakistan.

ABOUT ALTIMETER

Taken off of Altimeter’s website. Click here to access>>

“We give business leaders the insight to thrive in the face of change.”

Altimeter helps leaders thrive by providing research and advisory on how to leverage disruptive technologies. Our analysts take a holistic, yet pragmatic approach to understanding the intersection of technology and the human side of business.

About Prophet: Our global team of thinkers, makers, and doers combine its diverse skills to create fresh thinking, actionable strategies, and beautiful design. With our optimistic yet pragmatic approach, we help our clients find new avenues for growth. We leverage our global footprint, and operate with a single P&L, enabling us to bring the right people with the right experience together to solve our clients’ current business challenges.

The Millennium Alliance Is Embracing the “Good” in Goodbye

The Millennium Alliance is waving goodbye to our Vice President of Marketing, Freya Smale, and welcoming a new member to our team. Seasoned marketing vet, Greg Dicso will take on her role as our new VP of Marketing.

As we send Freya off to a new chapter in her life back to her hometown in the U.K., we reflect on the hard work that Freya has done in creating and growing our marketing division. We also look to the future and what we are looking forward to when it comes to executing the visions of Digital Diary and beyond, with Greg now in charge.

Digital Diary has sat down with both Freya and Greg to recieve a first-hand look at their thoughts and ideas regarding the change. Take a look below!

Where It All Began…

The role of our VP of Marketing is no easy feat, but Freya took it on with stride. When Freya began her job in 2017, she had a clear vision in mind: to create a team of people passionate about showing the world the message of The Millennium Alliance. Through hard work and persistence, that vision came to life and now, our marketing and product team are an integral part of our company.

Since creating The Millennium Alliance Marketing Department almost two years ago, what do you hope to leave for the company and your team?

My hope for Millennium is that they continue to do what they do to the high standard they are known for. The best part of working for Millennium is the open-environment where innovation is welcomed.

I’m a little biased but the Marketing/Product/Client Services teams are at the center of the business and constantly push for positive change. I could not be more proud of how these teams tackle every challenge that comes their way! In just two years, we’ve launched events, launched and re-launched Digital Diary, founded a marketing team, put in place vital business processes and systems, and so much more!

I hope the teams continue to be the driving force behind the innovation and growth for the company and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

Was there something that surprised you when you first started working at The Millennium Alliance?

I was really surprised by how open everyone was to trying and experimenting. The biggest lesson I learned was that failing is okay. Rob and Alex are open to seeing what’s out there and understand that sometimes it doesn’t work! All they ask for is that you try your hardest and learn from everything you do.

What is your favorite memory of being onsite with your fellow staff members and C-Suite Executives?

Being onsite is always hard work but is always fun! Getting to see the finished product that you’ve been working on for months is hugely rewarding.

I can’t lie, but the team drinks post-event are a huge highlight. It’s great to get to celebrate with the rest of the team.

What are you looking forward to the most in the next chapter of your career?

I’m not sure what the next chapter is yet so that’s hugely exciting. I just hope that I’m lucky enough to work somewhere that encourages and challenges the way Millennium does.

“Working with Freya has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much from her, and am so grateful for the opportunity.” – Jenny Schecher, Social Media Manager & Client Services Director

“Freya is not only an incredible leader, but she is equally the greatest supporter and friend. You can always count on her to get things done to helping you out when you need it, all while bringing joy and laughter into the office (and British chocolates)! I will miss her very much and it is so sad to see her go, but she will do exceptional things no matter where she goes and I am so privileged to have worked with her this year – I am so thankful for you, Freya, you are the best boss ever!” – Catherine Hand, Marketing Coordinator

“Freya is one of the smartest individuals I’ve had the pleasure of working with. She always seemed to be two steps ahead with her forward thinking and has tremendously helped our marketing department. She will be missed by everyone!”- Josh Michi, Senior Alliance Director

“It has been an absolute pleasure working with Freya. Her dedication, creativity and leadership skills are only a few of the reasons she will be missed. Millennium has benefited greatly from her contributions and we wish her all the best!” – Victoria Rowland, Vice President, Human Resources

Where We Are Now…

Greg Dicso will become our new Vice President of Marketing, and we are excited for what Greg will bring to the table as he joins our team.

Tell us about where you were before The Millennium Alliance and what attracted you to the company?

Prior to joining The Millennium Alliance, I was most recently at Access Intelligence for five years, leading the marketing charge for a number of their largest conferences and trade shows. A big reason I was so attracted to joining the team here at The Millennium Alliance is the tremendous level of growth that this company has experienced in a relatively short period of time, in addition to the limitless potential for the future.

What excites you the most about stepping into such a vital role at The Millennium Alliance?

I’m incredibly excited to bring new ideas to the table to help build on the solid foundation that has already been established in the marketing department. There is huge opportunity to elevate this group to new levels and I’m thrilled to have joined such a dynamic and talented team.

Could you tell us about a few preliminary goals you have in mind for the company and for the marketing department?

For the company as a whole, I would like to further solidify The Millennium Alliance’s position as the premier networking and educational destination for top executive leaders across the globe. As for the marketing department specifically, a big priority early on will be to grow the Digital Diary and help it to reach its full potential as a leading content platform and community.

What was your first impression of Digital Diary and The Millennium Alliance community that’s been created?

I was extremely impressed with the Digital Diary and predict that this will be a vital part of The Millennium Alliance for years to come. Top notch content and key contributors will be the driving force behind building it into an established community, that members turn to daily to remain on the cutting-edge of their industry.

“Greg brings many years of industry experience and we are excited to continue to grow our brand and our footprint with his leadership and fresh ideas based on his global experiences. With so many new and exciting ventures coming in 2019, we know Greg will be leading from the front as we continue grow our C-Suite community.” – Nick Peacock-Smith, Director of Strategic Partnerships

“A new start means fresh ideas and a unique perspective on the future. I’m definitely looking forward Greg leading our team and I’m excited for what he brings to the table.” – Conor Tuohy, Producer, Digital Diary Content

With a goodbye, comes a hello. We are sad to see Freya leave but look forward to the future. Thank you, Freya, for all your hard work, dedication and passion you have shown our company.

ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM ALLIANCE

Headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, The Millennium Alliance is a leading technology, business, and educational advisory firm. Focusing primarily in areas such as business transformation, executive education, growth, policy, and need analysis. Millennium is quickly becoming one of the most dynamic locations for collaboration across the world.

Millennium Membership offers Fortune 1000 C-Level executives, leading public sector/government officials, and thought leaders across a variety of disciplines unique and exclusive opportunities to meet their peers, understand industry developments and receive introductions to new technology and service advancements to help grow their career and overall company value.

Digital Diary: The No.1 Online Resource for C-Suite Digital Transformers Launches Podcast

NEW YORK, November 1, 2018 – The Millennium Alliance announces the launch of Millennium Live, a Digital Diary podcast, the only podcast dedicated to bringing the latest Digital Business Transformation content to C-Suite Executives from North America’s most progressive industries.

The Podcast is now available exclusively on Soundcloud.

Listen and Subscribe today >>

The first three episodes are already available to listen. Each episode features an exclusive 1-on-1 interview with a business leader.

Check out Soundcloud now to hear from:

Sarah Robb O’Hagan, Former CEO, Flywheel Sports, and Founder of ExtremeYou
Alan Siegel, President & CEO, Siegelvision Corp
John D’Angelo, Executive Director & SVP, Northwell Health

Listen and Subscribe today >>

Freya Smale, Vice President Marketing, Product, and Client Services’ The Millennium Alliance; Editor-In-Chief Digital Diary stated “Here at The Digital Diary we are always looking for new ways to share our content.

Our C-Level audience often mentions one of their biggest challenges is staying ahead of business transformation trends. With so many new innovations and technologies out there, simply finding the time to keep up to date is a challenge! So, we put our heads together and tried to think of how we could help. That’s when we struck upon the idea of a Podcast!

Whether you listen to it on the commute to work or over a sandwich during your lunch break, the #MillenniumLive Podcast shares with you the best digital business transformation strategy out there!

We hope you enjoy it!”

Listen and Subscribe today >>

About The Digital Diary Team:

Jenny Schecher is a Client Services Director & Social Media Manager at The Millennium Alliance. Jenny is an avid contributor to our blog, Digital Diary, as well as all social media platforms. When she is not writing about digital transformation and technology, she is working with her team to make visions come to life at our events. (and eating all of NYC’s best food.) Follow her on Instagram: @jennyschecs or find her on LinkedIn!

Catherine Hand is the Marketing Coordinator at The Millennium Alliance and Editor of Digital Diary. A recent graduate of Siena College in Albany and New York newbie, Cat assists in the creation and implementation of social media, the event agendas, brochures, E-Books, and frequently write blogs for Digital Diary on topics from all industries from Marketing to Information Technology. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Cara Bernstein is Manager, Executive Education Partnerships at The Millennium Alliance. She works with Thought Leaders at The Millennium Alliance assemblies and is also a contributor to Digital Diary. Cara writes about different industries preparing for the digital revolution. You can catch Cara on LinkedIn and on twitter @CaraBernstein

Conor Tuohy is the Video Producer at The Millennium Alliance. He manages the creation of video content and our new podcast on Digital Diary. You can find his creative work on Vimeo!

Subscribe to The Digital Diary today >>

Gartner Released New Technology Predictions For 2019: Does This Scare Executives?

It’s going to take a little bit more than ghosts and goblins to scare executives. However, if you plug in technology moving at a rapid speed, with their business trying to catch up, you may be onto something.

Take the latest report released by Gartner revealing the most anticipated technology trends of 2019. Now that could cause some angst.

Gartner’s 2019 Technology Predictions

We are approaching the end of the year, where experts are futurizing all sorts of predictions within technology that has the ability to change the way major sectors work. Maybe not right away, but eventually.

These predictions portray the idea that technology will continue to be innovative, and influential in major industries. They may even appear to be “scary.”

Are we giving into a hype or reality? You can be the judge. Gartner has released a top 10 list of tech trends for us to consume and digest.

More Than Just Cars

One of the top trends Gartner has predicted has to do with the advancements that cars will make in the future.

“Gartner predicted, by 2021, 10% of new vehicles will have autonomous driving capability, compared with less than 1% in 2017.” Tech Target reports.

This includes human-assisted capabilities as well as different levels of automation.

AI Will Continue To Advance

If you think that AI is so last year, think again. Gartner predicts that AI will continue to be a driving force in the coming years.

“Gartner predicted, by 2020, at least 40% of new application development projects will have AI code developers on the team.” Tech Target reports.

Digital Space Will Connect Us

Digital environments will continue to expand in the next year. These spaces will start to evolve, including other factors of technology, like blockchain, and IoT. Although we have seen smart cities evolve this year, They will continue to mature.

To view the full list of predictions, click here.

So The Question Remains…

Are executives scared of these predictions? The only way to find out is if industries take these predictions head on and prepare for the future. These predictions eventually will no longer just be an idea, or a vision, but instead a concrete change in businesses.

The Millennium Alliance Named One of the 43 Fastest Growing Companies in 2018 by the University of Delaware

NEW YORK, October 29, 2018 – The Millennium Alliance is thrilled to announce it has been named as one of the 43 Fastest Growing Companies by the Blue Hen 17&43 Awards 2018.

The Blue Hen 17&43 Awards build on the University of Delaware’s long tradition of leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship by honoring the 17 most promising new ventures and 43 fastest growing companies founded, owned or led by our students and alumni.

Alex Sobol, Co-Founder and CEO, The Millennium Alliance graduated from the University of Delaware in 2007 having majored in Communications. During his time at the University, he was very active within the Greek community, acting as President of Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity during his junior year. In his senior year, he was head
of university recruitment for all fraternities on campus.

About The Millennium Alliance

Headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, The Millennium Alliance is a leading technology, business, and educational advisory firm. Focusing primarily on areas such as business transformation, executive education, growth, policy, and need analysis, Millennium is quickly becoming one of the most dynamic locations for collaboration across the world.

We provide a framework for Fortune 1000 C-Level executives, leading public sector/government officials, and thought leaders across a variety of disciplines, to meet their peers, understand industry developments, and receive introductions to new technology and service advancements to help grow their career and overall company value.

Millennium was created to provide opportunities for collaboration and offer guidance on best practices for executives from the world’s leading organizations. We are dedicated to providing meaningful opportunities for Alliance members to simplify their personal growth, increase business networks, and have the right information to build their capabilities and leadership skills at every level. This is in addition to providing market intelligence, advisory services, and industry-leading programs for all major industries. Millennium’s aim is to bring out the best capabilities for all of our clients so they can make the right decisions at the right time.

Marketing And HR: The Partnership That Powers Hootsuite

Article originally featured on Forbes.

In today’s marketplace where customers trust customer reviews and the word of mouth about brands far more than traditional marketing, customer experience (CX) has become a company’s most influential marketing. And CX excellence depends on CX alignment and engagement of everyone in the organization. As such, chief marketing officers and other marketing executives must ensure that the people throughout their companies are educated, equipped, and empowered to design and deliver extraordinary CX.

All employees must:

Know who are the company’s customers and what is the desired CX so they can align their attitudes and decisions to support them
Be motivated to move from a product-centric or financial target-driven approach toward putting the customer at the center of everything they do – and they must feel it’s important to work together on CX
Make decisions and take actions that deliver on your desired CX

Marketers can achieve these outcomes by working with their colleagues responsible for functions such as talent acquisition, learning and development, performance management, and internal communications. That usually means chief human resources officer and other HR managers. Unfortunately at most organizations, though, marketing and HR tend to diverge, with the former focusing externally and the latter, internally. Often the two groups compete for resources that have been flagged as discretionary and for top executive attention and support. So the collaboration between marketing and HR is usually non-existent.

Marketers Must Pursue a Partnership with HR

Since a robust, mutually supportive partnership between marketing and HR is absolutely critical for CX success, marketers must proactively pursue it. Marketers must break down the silos between the two groups, use their influencing and communications skills to affect change in HR efforts, and sometimes even reallocate some of their marketing budget toward HR programs and tactics. In other words, marketers must think and act beyond the narrow scope of marketing and assume a bigger, broader role as a change agent for their organizations.

Kirsty Traill, VP customer at Hootsuite, the social media management platform, has done just that. As part of the marketing department, Traill heads up the Voice of the Customer effort, the Customer Support organization, and the Customer Marketing team. In her role, she has learned that “CX is a role that succeeds through others,” and, in an interview with me, she described how she partners with the “people team” (the term Hootsuite uses for those in HR functions) to produce CX excellence.

She told me that their combined efforts start with the Hootsuite’s “Customer Standards,” the guiding principles in how employees show up for customers day to day. The Customer Standards include “Our Customers are No. 1: we prioritize work that positively impacts customers,” and “Our customer’s problem is our problem: We identify it. Own it. Solve it. One and done.” With these as the foundation for everything the company does, it’s clear that every employee must be engaged in CX and that Traill must work with the HR executives to ensure they do.

Partnership Throughout the Employee Experience

“Given the integral importance of employees in delivering the brand experience,” Traill said, “we’ve found it best to partner with key stakeholders in our People team early in the process. That way, they are involved in the co-creation of the key employee touch points which are critical to bringing the Brand Experience to life.”Therefore, she and her People team counterparts have developed a high-level employee experience map that helps them understand the employee journey, including the recruitment process, onboarding, daily work, and learning and growth. With the map as a guide, she helps her HR colleagues inform, inspire, and instruct employees about CX throughout the employee experience.

Recruiting. She described how they work together to ensure they are attracting employees who understand and value CX. “You have to be actively and consciously recruiting for that,” she said. “It has to be conscious choice.” Every prospective employee is asked at least one CX-related question during the interview process, regardless of role. She explained this standard ensures that everyone in the company is aligned to customer-centric thinking by qualifying the candidates, as well as by sending a clear message to new employees and hiring managers alike about the importance of CX at the company.

Onboarding. Traill helps the People team orient people to CX during the new employee onboarding process by taking everyone, again regardless of role, through content such as customer personas, buyer and user needs, and how Hootsuite solves customer problems. They will be introducing into onboarding sessions a pocket guide that contains all that customer insight along with the Hootsuite purpose, brand promise and attributes, values, customer standards and more, as well as a new video featuring interviews with customers about why they use Hootsuite.

Training. The two groups partner on learning and development initiatives so employees get training on the skills and capabilities necessary to excel at CX. They’ve co-developed courses focused on customer skills such as building a business case and collaborating cross functionally, and they’re in the process of developing role-based training specifically on customer experience.

Cultivating a CX Company Ethos

Traill includes in the marketing and HR partnership making CX a part of the ethos of the company. Some of these efforts are more programmatic.

For example, they’ve just implemented a peer-to-peer mentorship program, whereby people are matched together not only to learn from each other in terms of career advice, but they are also given three months to work on a customer pain point and develop a solution to it. At the end of the three months, each team is given 10 minutes to present their idea to the company’s executive leaders and the top impact proposals are implemented. Also employees are encouraged to use the customer focused areas of Hootsuite’s internal collaboration platform, Workplace by Facebook, to publish suggestions on how CX can be improved. Both of these initiatives align with the solutions mindset that characterizes the orientation at the company and helps break down silos to put the focus on customers.

The groups promote CX in more subtle ways by ensuring that a customer story is a part of every town hall meeting and the weekly emails that Ryan Holmes, Hootsuite’s CEO, sends to employees. They also have designed the office environment with decorative messages that remind employees about the company’s mission of solving customers’ problems.

Traill summarized the success of the marketing and HR partnership at Hootsuite by explaining that to ensure the company lives up to customer’s expectations across their journey, they put “a heavy focus on key touch-point optimization and employee engagement as enablers.”

Denise Lee Yohn is the go-to expert on brand leadership for national media outlets, an in-demand speaker and consultant, and an influential writer. Denise is the author of the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best f… MORE

Denise Lee Yohn is a brand leadership expert, speaker, and author of What Great Brands Do and FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies.

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“Hey, Siri”- How is Voice Technology Impacting the Future of Search?

The evolution of search over the past two decades has revolutionized the way people behave and interact with information. Two decades into the internet revolution and with trillions of searches later, it is remarkable to see how search has woven its way into the fabric of our everyday lives. We as consumers, businesses and leaders are constantly on the prowl for new information, and search has enabled this to be easier, quicker and more efficient in recent years.

Search using voice has been making waves in the digitization of businesses is not limited to only one industry, but it has been happening across all industries. Voice technology is undoubtedly the next frontier, and businesses need to get ahead of it or risk being left out of the conversation and falling behind their competition.

However, voice search has grown exponentially over the years due to the rise of affordable and accessible technologies. Notably, the voice search revolution has been catalyzed by the rise of smart speakers. Though similar technologies have been around for years, in 2017 especially, sales of smart speakers have grown tremendously thanks to the rise of both Amazon Echo, Siri, and Google Home. With Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft being major, if not the most influential, performers in the digital assistant game, individuals from business executives to the consumer expect this technology to become almost ubiquitous in the way people are interacting in the business scene in the upcoming years.

“Strong consumer uptake has led a growing appetite among brands to build voice-enabled experiences that look to build relationships with users and drive revenues. From a brand perspective, it is therefore important to understand how the technology is likely to evolve both now, next and in the future.” Alex Hamilton reports.

Leveraging the Benefits of Voice Technology

Many technology companies and retailers have certainly noticed the growing importance in voice-enabled search technology, and they are now moving further in a direction that is empowering them to take advantage of this growing rise of voice search. The emergence of this technology illustrates the potential of voice assistants to be able to engage in conversations in a meaningful, useful and natural way in real-time, giving businesses the opportunity to expand on providing their target audience with the best possible customer experience. With consumers looking for places or products to get quick and relevant answers to their searches, businesses are presented with the big opportunity to utilize this technology to respond in a timely fashion in order to grab their attention.

“As more and more people begin to rely on digital assistants and other voice search options, businesses will need to make sure they incorporate strategies for voice optimization so that they aren’t left behind. Only optimizing for desktop keywords means you are missing a significant portion of the searches that could potentially bring customers directly to you. Focusing at least some portion of your marketing strategy on voice search could mean bringing in new customers on a regular basis.” EMarketed reports.

Listen Up: What the Future of Voice Technology Means for Business

These technologies will ultimately give businesses the chance to be constantly available to engage and assist consumers all over the world. To leverage the benefits of voice search, businesses need to adopt the technology early, since competition is probably capitalizing on it already. With so many people using mobile internet devices there is no denying conversational search is the future of web search, and the true winners in this new technology era are businesses that are ready to embrace the technology available to them and be truly assistive and adaptive to provide relevant information to customers easily and rapidly.

This new conversational approach to searching will impact business in multiple ways this year alone, and ultimately allow them to pivot their strategies in order to incorporate a stronger technology focus to meet the demands of the digital consumer. So, the question remains: Are you optimizing your business for voice search? If not, it is essential that you start now, as voice search is more popular than ever, and it will continue to grow over the next few years as companies become more invested in it across the transforming business world.

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Advisory Board Member Denise Yohn Explores Brand + Culture In New Series

This post was originally published by Denise Yohn, Brand expert, author & Millennium Alliance Advisory Board member on LinkedIn.

Welcome to the Brand+Culture Series!

As I explained last week, I am participating in a pilot for a new offering from LinkedIn, “LinkedIn Series,” and will be posting bi-weekly on topics related to brand-culture fusion—the integration and alignment of external brand identity and internal workplace culture. I didn’t want to wait another whole week before posting again, since I thought some more background would be helpful to those of you who aren’t familiar with my book FUSION: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World’s Greatest Companies.

FUSION lays out a leadership game plan for achieving brand-culture fusion. While most of existing rhetoric on culture either overstates the importance of the trappings of culture (like wellness grants and unlimited vacation) or suggests that all companies need to have warm and friendly cultures where managers are nice and nurturing (completely untrue), I’ve discovered the way you build a healthy, sustainable, valuable culture is to ensure it is aligned and integrated with your brand. When you create an interdependent and mutually reinforcing relationship between how your organization thinks and acts on the inside and how it is perceived and experienced on the outside, you increase your competitiveness, you create substantive value for employees and customers, and you future-proof your business by developing an authentic brand and healthy organization.

How to Cultivate Brand-Culture Fusion

Moreover, by examining case studies, interviewing industry leaders, reviewing respected academic research, and drawing on my experience working with world-class organizations across a broad range of sectors, I’ve discovered specific ways in which brand-culture fusion should be cultivated.

First leaders lay the foundation for culture-building by identifying and clearly articulating a single overarching purpose and one set of core values of their organizations. Then they assess their organization and determine where the biggest gaps are between their existing culture and their desired one. And ultimately they take responsibility for leading culture-building. Even if implementing specific changes falls to the leaders of functional areas, the top leaders of an organization must initiate and champion them across the board. And they ensure all other leaders and managers are actively engaged in and accountable for cultivating the desired culture.

Five Brand-Culture Fusion Strategies

Then business leaders should implement specific strategies that cultivate a distinct culture that is fully aligned with their brand identity:

Organize and Operate On-Brand: Implement an organizational design and run your operations to give your organization the structure and processes necessary to operationalize your desired culture.
Create Culture-Changing Employee Experiences: Deliberately design and manage your company’s employee experience—just as you would customer experiences—so that every facet of an employee’s journey throughout his or her connection to your organization encourages and enables your desired culture.
Sweat the Small Stuff: Ensure even the most mundane or minute aspect of your organization advances and supports your desired culture—from its “rituals” (things people in your organization regularly do, from opening a meeting to participating in an annual event) and “artifacts” (things you create to commemorate or symbolize important achievements or events) to its policies and procedures.
Ignite Your Transformation: Use employee brand engagement tactics—stage employee brand engagement experiences, launch creative communications campaigns, and develop and deploy employee brand engagement toolkits—to kick-start the fusion process and then to regain focus and momentum when necessary.

The strategies above are for leaders who want to nurture brand-culture fusion by aligning and integrating their culture with their brand identity. They provide the path to achieve brand- culture fusion if your culture is less developed or defined than your brand, as I’ve found it is at most companies.

But if your culture is well established, you may achieve fusion by using it to shape or reshape your brand. That’s the fifth strategy, Build Your Brand from the Inside Out: Leverage your internal culture to shape your external brand identity, using your overarching purpose and core values to inspire external brand actions, such as new products or services or corporate programs with a positive social impact, that differentiate your brand.

Stay Tuned

More to come in the weeks ahead.

For now, I want to say thank you to all who have subscribed to and shared this Series! I see we already have a good start to the community here and I hope more will join, so please do use the “Subscribe” button to join and the “Share” button to share it with your friends and colleagues would be interested in this topic.