By Laura Morris

It’s that time of year again – predictions and “what’s in/what’s out” lists.  Thought I’d jump onto the bandwagon by sharing some of the themes we’re hearing from leading B2C marketers as we ask them “what’s next?” for marketing.  Here are a few of the more provocative ways F1000 executives think your job is likely to change in the decade ahead.

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Click Image to Enlarge Sample "Plan on a Page"

By Tasneen Padiath

Almost every member I speak to is in throes of planning season, and many are struggling to build plans that reflect a growth agenda as budgets edge closer to pre-recession levels.  In many cases, we see marketers try to make up for lost time, sprinkling in a little bit of everything that they couldn’t afford to do last year.

To help members, we’ve been presenting a tried and true best practice more than ever. MasterCard’s Plan on a Page is about getting back to the basics – mapping your planned marketing activities to your company’s strategic objectives – and scrapping the ones that don’t help meet them.  Easier said than done, especially when your internal partners are grilling you about not being on Twitter or not sponsoring that golf tournament the CEO really likes. Read More »

I sense an eerie (and I think false) sense of security from marketers as they enter 2010 planning, that the worst is behind us, we can forecast 1-2% GDP growth for the next 12 months, and the Fed has the financial crisis under control. 

After meeting with a regional retail bank, a Fortune 500 CPG company, and a host of planning executives last week, I’m almost frightened by the sense of stability I see in 2010 plans.  The picture is not rosy, certainly, but it assumes stability.  We seem to have checked any Black Swan thinking at the door.  How the economy recovers, its precise trajectory, and changes in consumer behavior are far more volatile than the stability many marketers are putting into their plans.  And let’s be honest – too many of us leave those plans on the shelf for 12 months without revision. Read More »

Last week, I wrote about marketers putting social experience at the center of their integrated communications.  I referred to Best Buy and Twelpforce.  Just this weekend, I caught a flurry of Honda TV spots promoting a particular Honda Facebook experience.

One of the open questions for marketers: How should one go about identifying the right social experience?

Answer: Identify an imprinting experience that best highlights your brand’s differentiating attributes or benefits. Read More »

Intriguingly, Best Buy is putting Twelpforce at the center of its big communications initiative for the holiday season.  Looking at data from the 125 companies that have taken the Council’s social media maturity diagnostic, we know that only 11% of marketers have built social media into their integrated communications planning processes.  That got me to thinking…

Most B2C marketers take the “tonnage” approach to touchpoint planning.  They work back from growth goals and volume targets to plan their touchpoint mix—their mix models tell them how much money they need to dump into broadcast, out-of-home, print, promotions and the like, to hit those volume targets.  Social and experiential touchpoints play second fiddle, at best.  Read More »