Marketers gathered on Twitter yesterday for a discussion about several of the marketing world’s hot issues—based around Accenture Interactive’s recent CMO-CIO survey. The discussion, led by Glen Hartman, managing director of digital transformation at management consultancy Accenture Interactive, was filed under the hashtag “#digitalchat,” a monthly Twitter forum Accenture hosts.
Although the topics discussed were many and varied, the conversation repeatedly returned to organizational design. The prevailing opinion pointed to a need for structural change at the enterprise level, with customer-centricity at the center.
@krisbober every employee at the company should be a #CCO – if they aren’t you’ve got a problem #digitalchat
— Samantha Klein (@samjoyk) August 13, 2014
@dmnews @ValaAfshar @Hartmanglen Completely agree.. digital transformation is the responsibility of the entire enterprise.
— MikeSutcliff (@MikeSutcliff) August 13, 2014
@whatsnext So true. And you can only do so much without that backing and Board buy-in. Long-term viability vs short-term $$. #digitalchat
— Daria Steigman (@dariasteigman) August 13, 2014
#CMO and #CMO should adopt ‘labs’ concept and invite ideas from all parts of organisation. Inspire creative disruption #digitalchat
— Iain Simpson (@irsdigital) August 13, 2014
@jasonbreed until everyone in the c-suite puts the customer first, this will all be talk and nothing else. #digitalchat
— Eric Yale (@ericyale) August 13, 2014
Many participants seemed particularly rankled by the expanding purview of marketing and the increasingly heavy title of CMO.
@Hartmanglen one lone CMO trying to lead company-wide transformation is surely a losing battle #digitalchat It also has to come from the top
— B.L. Ochman (@whatsnext) August 13, 2014
@Hartmanglen …and there better be a quick uptick, because the lifespan of the CMO is getting shorter all the time #digitalchat
— Arnie McKinnis (@amckinnis) August 13, 2014
Clearly CMOs need to embrace change – but change is more than technology – It’s about your empowering your ppl @Hartmanglen #digitalchat
— Cheryl K. Burgess (@ckburgess) August 13, 2014
One thing for sure CMO/CIO collaboration is not an “if” it’s a “when”… sooner the better #digitalchat
— Glen Hartman (@Hartmanglen) August 13, 2014
Data, of course, was another major driver in the discussion.
@Clagett @ericyale Agreed. Data per se is HIGHLY overrated. Need to understand context, goals, customer touchpoints, etc. #digitalchat
— Daria Steigman (@dariasteigman) August 13, 2014
@Clagett @dariasteigman 3 insights w/actions should be more valuable than 48 aggregate reports that get interpreted differently #digitalchat
— JasonBreed (@jasonbreed) August 13, 2014
@AccentureSocial …data will only take you to the point of pressing the button, press it and let the chips fall where they may #digitalchat
— Arnie McKinnis (@amckinnis) August 13, 2014
