CMOs still not ready for social media – IBM

MANILA, Philippines - Despite the wide use of social media by consumers, many chief marketing officers (CMO) are unprepared to respond to data explosion, technology and consultancy firm IBM Corp. said.

In its CMO Insights for the C-Suite study which covered 524 CMOs from Japan, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, North America and South America, IBM said 82 percent are unprepared to deal with data explosion, up from the 71 percent in 2011.

Two-thirds of all CMOs also report that they’re not ready to cope with the use of social media, marginally less than the number three years ago.

IBM notes that there are three distinct kinds of CMOs who take different approaches to data explosion.

The bulk, 37 percent, covered by the report are considered traditionalists who are still challenged by data explosion, growth of social media and new communication channels.

The second type of CMO, the social strategist, accounts for 33 percent and is considered to have recognized social media’s potential as a vehicle for engaging with customers but is still is building the infrastructure needed to operate in the social arena.
The remaining 30 percent, meanwhile, are digital pacesetters or those who are reasonably prepared for data explosion and can handle the increasingly heavy social media traffic from a growing number of devices. This group actively positions the resources required to operate as a fully integrated physical-digital enterprise in place.

They also regularly use advanced analytics to generate insights from customer data.

“We are not seeing people getting more prepared because I think this phenomenon (data explosion) is really accelerating in an unprecedented pace and businesses are not investing enough to harness this market phenomenon. They (CMOs) have to believe now. Two or three years ago, they see this as a trend but now it is happening,” IBM ASEAN marketing and communications director Jojo Cheung said in an interview.

With consumers turning to social media to share what they think about product or service, she said CMOs cannot afford to remain traditionalists and would have to make sense of the data.

“Data is accumulating everyday. CMOs have to turn that (data) into a business advantage,” she said.

The IBM study notes that there’s a close link between the degree of digital acumen CMOs display and the financial performance of the enterprises they serve as 43 percent of the outperformers covered are digital pacesetters, compared with just 25 percent of traditionalists.

Cheung said CMOs now would have to use social media not just to
observe clients but to engage with them as well as to better understand their needs individually and collectively.