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Q and A with our Next Keynote Speaker, David Sable!

We’re looking forward to our Transformational CMO Assembly at the Four Seasons in Denver this November! Leading up to the assembly, we had the opportunity to interview our Keynote Speaker, David Sable, for a taste of what to expect at the event.

About David Sable:

David Sable is the a Senior Advisor at WPP.  He previously served as CEO of Y&R, now VMLY&R. An industry thought leader and soon-to-be published author, David is a frequent contributor to Linkedin and has often published in the Huffington Post. At WPP, David specializes in content expansion, strategic innovation, and partnerships. David was selected as both a Top 20 Must-Know Global Influencer by LinkedIn, as well as a Top 10 Most Generous Marketing Geniuses by Fast Company. He serves on the Board of the Special Olympics, UNICEF and on American Eagle Outfitters’ Board of Directors.

Q: Where does your passion for leadership come from? Has it been in your DNA all of your life or did you have a certain experience that triggered your passion?

A: My passion for leadership comes from the simple truth that you always remember the best leader you ever had and the worst person who tried to come off as a leader. Too often leadership masquerades as power and they are not to be conflated. I have been blessed in my life to have had a number of incredible role models, a number of whom I have written about. As for DNA, I don’t believe you can learn about leadership from a book or course, maybe its DNA, but I believe that need triggers the Leadership gene. In my life my late Father was a Rabbi, of a rather large congregation that he founded, I witnessed up close what it takes to have people follow you.

Q: Is there a specific challenge you think the marketing/advertising industry is currently facing?

A: A specific challenge? OIY. Frankly, we are facing a number of challenges but they are linked in twisted chain, partially of our own making. We continue to talk about Digital First or Mobile First or Transformation and Disruption as if those are messages about products and services, rather than just strategies and channels. We are still drowning in “Digibabbale” rather than thoughtful, insightful, creative marketing.

Q: What is one of the greatest lessons you learned on your way to becoming Global CEO of Y&R?

A: The greatest lesson I have ever learned is to be true to yourself. Never loose sight of who you are and where you came from.

Q: If you had to pinpoint it, what makes compelling content?

A: To understand what makes compelling content read the Bible or the Koran; read, watch, listen to any of the hundreds of versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey, Sherlock Holmes, Shakespeare: ask yourself why Harry Potter still is read in book form, the movies and play watched….and then watch or read some of the online drivel that passes for content. We throw the word content around too quickly and freely. It either connects viscerally or not.

Q: We are excited to have you join us next month as Keynote Speaker. Can you give us a preview about the message or story you want to convey to our audience? What are you hoping to instill upon the executives?

A: My story is simple, we need to shatter conventional wisdom, but not the knee jerk reaction. We all get that Digital is the foundation of the world, next! I hope to challenge everyone to have a great and lively discussion and take multiple sides of an argument. What would you fall on your sword for? It better be good. I’ll also speak about how leadership is affected by all that.

Transformational CMO Assembly

The digital revolution has forever changed the balance of power between individual consumers and brands. This need to think “customer first” has made the marketing function more vital than ever before.

C-Level executives around the world are anticipating that digital technology will continue to drive business. We’ve put together a series of executive education roundtables, keynote presentations, collaborative think tanks, educational workshops, and networking sessions with our industry experts and advisory board.

Are you interested in becoming a sponsor for this event? Click here today to learn more >>

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

Millennium Achievements: Congrats Jacob and Michelle!

Jacob and Michelle have broken records here at Millennium, and that isn’t stopping anytime soon. We’re happy to announce that they’ve both been promoted to Directors of Executive Alliances in under a year’s time at Millennium. 

See what they had to say about working with Millennium Alliance!

Jacob Rosenbaum, Director of Executive Alliances

What excites you most about your new role?

I am able to continue building up new employees while improving on both my managerial and sales skills that I have learned here at The Millennium Alliance.

What do you like most about working at Millennium?

The training is second to none.  I have learned so much more here in about a year and a half than I did throughout my school career.  Also, the support system is fantastic. I never feel left behind and I always have somebody whom I can depend on if I need help.

Tell us something you’ve discovered and executed that has contributed to your success.

I’ve learned that the more times that you’re put down, the stronger you are getting back up.  The key to the job is to have a short-memory while also being relentless.   

What are you doing when you’re not at Millennium? Hobbies, “fun facts”, etc.

I am currently training for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon, which is taking place October 19th in Prospect Park.  I am also going to begin training for the 2020 NYC Marathon, which is something I have wanted to do since I was a little kid.  Other than that, I like to consider myself the biggest New York Giants fan in the world. They’re struggling right now, but things are looking up with Daniel Jones at the helm!  

Michelle Zicca, Director of Executive Alliances

What excites you most about your new role?

Having the opportunity to coach, train, guide and lead my coworkers to be successful. Expanding my role and responsibilities to become a better salesperson. Lastly, being a resource for The Millennium Alliance to maximize profit & enhance our programs.

What do you like most about working at Millennium? 

Relaxed work environment, no micromanaging, sales tools are readily available and support from management.

How do you help a new employee understand the roles and responsibilities of The Millennium Alliance?

Clearly explain our business model and show them examples of how I build relationships with executives. Also, demonstrating the persistence and motivation needed.

If you’re interested in joining The Millennium Alliance team, go here for more information!

What Marketers Really Want: Transparency and Visibility

The media landscape has evolved so dramatically in recent years- agencies have shifted their focus towards AI-engineered personalization, AR/VR experiential marketing, automated ad buying, smart speakers, and all the like. Yet despite these massive leaps in tech-driven innovation, there hasn’t been much progress in improving transparency and visibility in these marketing campaign strategies. The presence of monopolized ad businesses, particularly Facebook and Google, are partly to blame for the opaque nature of ad buying today, but what the industry is in dire need of is a collective effort for transparency, a resurgence in competition, and a resolution to the excessive ad fraud that marketers are facing today. 

The New York Times recently reported that a group of 16 companies – including Oracle, News Corporation, MediaMath, IBM Watson Advertising, White Ops, Havas Media, and Business Insider are coming together in an effort for efficiency, transparency, and competition amongst media entities to keep up with market demand. 

In the piece, Joe Zawadzki, chief executive of MediaMath, claimed, “We’re trying to create new terms of trade to modernize the business […] Seeing where every dollar goes — that doesn’t exist today.”

An open marketplace is imperative for the future of marketing, and with the innovation we’ve refined over the last 10 years, it’s absurd that ad fraud runs rampant, leading companies are making 85 cents on the dollar, and we’re given only a handful of alternatives to Facebook or Google in digital advertising today. 

Check out the full article to learn more!

Cybersecurity Trend Report: Crowd Sourced Solutions

Security vulnerabilities are a fact of life. Consequently, technology unicorns, e-commerce conglomerates, governments around the world, and hospitality giants are competing to attract hackers who have one key advantage over traditional methods: they can think like an attacker.

HackerOne is home to the world’s largest hacker community, with the power of nearly half a million hackers in their network. Their latest report emphasizes the pertinence of ethical hacking in cybersecurity and breaks the “hacker stigma” by sharing their stories of positive impact. 

They’ve helped find and fix over 130,000 vulnerabilities for 1,500 client organizations, earning hackers more than $67 million in awards—nearly half of that in the past year alone. Based on their findings, they’ve broken down the top vulnerability types by industry, median resolution times, and their typical severity level. 

HackerOne is tasked with protecting over 267 million active accounts in more than 200 markets in the world with PayPal, and their Information Security Engineer, Ray Duran stated, “In addition to being able to work with a broader more diverse set of researchers, HackerOne has enabled us to process bounty awards for qualifying submissions faster and get direct feedback from researchers on how to further improve our program.” 

With DropBox, HackerOne reported 264 vulnerabilities in the course of just 8 hours, claiming that “Our HackerOne bug bounty program has one of the most permissive scopes in the industry.”

Having a Vulnerability Disclosure Policy has proven to be vital in recent years, despite the fact that 93% of the Forbes Global 2000 companies have no known VDP. Jeff Massimilla, Chief Product Cybersecurity Officer of General Motors claims that, “To improve the security of their connected systems, every corporation should have a vulnerability disclosure policy that allows them to receive security submissions from the outside world.” By the same token, Gartner’s recently predicted that crowd-sourced security solutions will be employed by more than 50% of enterprises by 2022, up from less than 5% today, 

Hackers are the solution to the world’s cybersecurity challenges. By investing in people, not just software, we will see the greatest outcome. For full access to HackerOne’s latest report, click here!

THE EVENT FOR SECURITY INDUSTRY LEADERS

HackerOne is pleased to announce our third annual hacker-powered security conference, Security@ San Francisco on Tuesday, October 15th at the Palace of Fine Arts.

Meet industry leaders from some of the most advanced security teams and the top hackers from all over the world. Hear firsthand their challenges, successes, and cybersecurity predictions. This one-day event brings together those who are committed to making the internet a safer place to be. Help to pave the way with the same passionate, security-first-minded people like yourself.

Go here for more information!

Exclusive Interview with Agency Within

We had the opportunity to sit down with Agency Within to discuss strategy, challenges and trends at our Digital Marketing & Retail Transformation Assembly last month in Dallas, TX. If you don’t know already, Agency Within is a full-service digital marketing agency based out of Long Island City, NY, and their clientele includes industry leaders such as Nike, Budweiser, Shake Shack & Facebook. With their finger on the pulse of marketing innovation, see what they had to say about digital transformation.

1. Can you give us a little insight into what Agency Within specializes in? 

Agency Within is a full-service performance marketing company. They help their partners grow through paid media strategy/execution, as well as creative services They work with brands to solve complex business problems like cross-channel attribution and optimizing for customer lifetime value and long-term profit, instead of just monthly revenue or CPA.

2. Why do you think it is important for brands to invest in a digital marketing strategy?

Digital marketing allows brands to connect with potential consumers in a way that is not only highly trackable, but provides the opportunity to combine branding with performance marketing in a way that generates an emotional connection while also driving results.

3. Since the digital marketing landscape is constantly changing and evolving, how do you think brands can stay relevant, especially among their competition? 

Creative testing is the key to staying relevant. We work with all of our clients to develop rigorous methodologies for testing creative and messaging concepts at scale, quickly iterating on the winners and generating insights that can be leveraged for future testing.

4. What marketing trends do you think will make a disruptive impact in 2020?

Augmented reality (AR) is one we’re really excited about and think could make a big impact next year. The ability to add a “try before you buy” experience to the e-commerce journey could remove a lot of friction from the process in increase conversion rates in categories that typically rely on an in-person touchpoint. Our creative team has been working with leading publishers to push the boundaries on this new technology.

5. What has been the most rewarding brand success story that Agency Within has been a part of?

In recent years, our partners at Nike have shifted their focus to the new standard of retail – building a direct, digital connection with customers through it’s owned digital platforms. To quote Mark Parker, “FY19 was a pivotal year for Nike as [they] continue to bring [their] Consumer Direct Offense to life through the marketplace”. The 35% increase in digital commerce sales was further supported by a focus on NikePlus membership and integrating the owner properties – like app activations in retail locations.

For more information on Agency Within, click here!

How Retailers Can Counter Digital Disruption

80% of people say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services, and jointly, 61% of consumers will share more data with brands that use personal information to make their shopping experiences more relevant. According to Bank of America Merchant Services’ latest whitepaper, that means pairing compelling online content with a browsing experience that’s as relevant and pleasurable as possible is a life force for retailers.  

In the state of retail today, there’s a long list of mall merchants and big-box stores being overwhelmed by a handful of eCommerce powerhouses. But if you dig deeper, you’ll find many retailers are finding ways to thrive in the age of digital disruption. How? They bolster their relationships with customers by using omni-channel technology — connecting to customers through a handful of channels while they shop or otherwise engage with their brand — to amplify their natural competitive advantages.

The businesses that thrive in the coming years will be the ones that combine convenience and ease with unique, hard to-replicate experiences.

It isn’t uncommon to find today’s shoppers reading product reviews and sourcing social media for ideas, thus creating a new occasion for a retailer to interact with a customer. Bank of America’s whitepaper strategizes how retailers can seize every opportunity and counter digital disruption for their competitive advantage. 

Click here for exclusive access!

How to Make Digital Identity a Business Enabler

Sila’s latest whitepaper explains the expanding landscape of digital identity services, and how to make your digital identity a business enabler. With the evolution of digital identity services, their key takeaways are: 

1. Identity targets automating access provisioning

2. Identity programs focus on checking audit and regulatory boxes. 

3. Digital identity services drive business success through secure identities, systems, and data

Over the past decade, organizations have made great strides in their digital identity services programs. Previously, identity was managed by IT as an infrastructure function to automate provisioning. As time and technology progressed, digital identity became a security program driven by audit and compliance needs including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and Federal Identity, Credential, and Access Management (FICAM). This shift resulted in several organizational benefits, such as increased visibility into access to high-value assets and improvements towards a “least privilege” model. 

Organizations often have a wide array of programs and teams to meet business and security needs, including IGA, PAM, SIEM, SOC, WAM, DAG, and CIAM. However, the emphasis on a compliance-driven security approach has resulted in many programs being implemented in a siloed manner. Even though they all fall under the same cybersecurity umbrella, they often have separate stakeholders, drivers, and roadmaps, resulting in a discordant set of services being independently implemented and administered.

Breaking down these silos is critical to increasing security and supporting business needs. Each program has its specific purpose but organizations benefit from coordinating and integrating their individual contributions into a broader cybersecurity ecosystem. 

Click here for exclusive access to the full whitepaper!

The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama Whitehouse

We’re looking forward to our Transformational CISO Assembly with Keynote Speaker Ben Rhodes this November, and leading up to the event, we recommend that you make Rhodes’ The World as It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House the top of your summer reading list. 

Rhodes’ inside-the-bubble account gives a glimpse into the Obama Administration like never before, with George Packer of The New Yorker claiming it to be “The closest view of Obama we’re likely to get until he publishes his own memoir.” His memoir details behind-the-scenes insight on some of the most gripping moments during the Obama Administration- waiting out the bin Laden raid in the Situation Room, responding to the Arab Spring, reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran, leading secret negotiations with the Cuban government to normalize relations, and confronting the resurgence of nationalism and nativism that culminated in the election of Donald Trump. Rhodes’ novelistic style gives clarity and depth to the events we lived through, and much like the speeches he’s written, captivates the audience from the start.

Find out why the Guardian named The World as It Is one of the books of the year! Click here to purchase your copy. 

We are excited to hear Ben Rhodes’ wealth of knowledge in his keynote presentation this November! 

About Ben Rhodes:

Ben Rhodes is the author of the New York Times bestseller The World As It Is; a contributor for NBC News, MSNBC and Crooked Media; the co-chair of National Security Action; and an advisor to former President Barack Obama. From 2009-2017, Rhodes served as a Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. In that capacity, he participated in nearly all of President Obama’s key decisions, and oversaw the President’s national security communications, speechwriting, public diplomacy and global engagement programming. He also led the secret negotiations with the Cuban government which resulted in the effort to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba, and supported the negotiations to conclude the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. Prior to joining the Administration, he was a Senior Speechwriter and foreign policy advisor to the Obama campaign. From 2002-2007, he worked for former Congressman Lee Hamilton, supporting his work on the 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group. A native New Yorker, Mr. Rhodes has a B.A. from Rice University and an M.F.A from New York University. 

Transformational CISO Assembly

The Millennium Alliance is thrilled to present our bi-annual Transformational CISO Assembly, taking place in Nashville, TN.

With the instances of cyber attacks increasing, businesses of all sizes are working tirelessly to secure their networks, devices, and data. Fortune 500 organizations are especially vulnerable as they have big data pools and thousands of people who need access. CISOs need to plan for worst-case scenarios, stay ahead of the latest IT Security transformation technology, and maintain their company’s information assets, all without losing sight of the corporate culture.

Are you interested in becoming a sponsor for this event? Click here today to learn more >>

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

How to Approach your Virtual Front Door for the Digital Patient Experience

Did you know that patients have to wait, on average, 24 days to schedule an appointment with a doctor in 15 major US cities? Consequently, 61% of patients agree that they would switch providers just to get a faster appointment. The digital customer experience faces consumer expectations like never before thanks to standards set by the Amazons on the world, and the patient experience is no exception to this. SCI Solutions found that according to research, 77% of patients conduct an online search and read reviews before making an appointment with a physician, which means that most consumers’ first impressions are occurring online. As a result, the healthcare industry as a whole demands a better digital patient experience, especially with increasing out-of-pocket costs running the risk of patients switching service providers. For this reason, it’s imperative that your virtual front door offers a welcoming, convenient experience that can both acquire and retain a customer base. 

SCI Solutions’ latest whitepaper outlines how to achieve success with your digital customer experience, emphasizing a comprehensive view of the patient experience that encompasses every touchpoint across the system as a whole. In 5 objectives, SCI Solutions answers how to build an effective digital patient engagement strategy that addresses patient acquisition, intake and conversion, care coordination, and retention. 

Click here for exclusive access to the full whitepaper!

The CCO as Pacesetter: What It Means, Why It Matters, How to Get There

Industry leader, Jon Iwata, recently released his report on the progression path to the CCO position, and how essential their role is in pacesetting transformation at the company level. 

CEOs across industries and regions are driving the greatest wave of transformation in generations. It is striking that not only are so many companies changing simultaneously, but many are changing into the same kind of company. We are seeing the emergence of a new business design. 

We also see ample evidence that CCOs are playing a key role in helping CEOs transform their companies by defining, reinforcing or reviving corporate character – the unique, differentiating identity of the enterprise. At the same time, new digital capabilities are helping CCOs to engage stakeholders, authentically and effectively, to build a reputation, earn trust and achieve measurable results in entirely new ways.

“Pacesetting CCOs are playing a key role in helping CEOs transform their companies.”

While few CCOs who participated in our research are at the most advanced stage in any of these realms, the trends and trajectories are clear. To help CCOs and their teams continue to develop and grow, the centerpiece of this report is “Progression Paths.” There are four: one for CommTech and three — Brand, Culture and Societal Value — for the major elements of corporate character.

Click here for access to the full study!