November 2008

Adobe commissioned Forrester to conduct tis study and author the report. It is available for download here (Adobe Engagement Site and the PDF report).

Engagement is a key business imperative, but actually measuring the business impact of technology-driven engaging experiences is no simple task. Two commissioned studies conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Adobe analyze how companies are creating and measuring engaging online experiences.

In this report, Forrester recommends a new methodology for tying engagement metrics to business metrics.

July 31, 2008

People increasingly expect firms to behave in a socially responsible manner, but many companies are only beginning to take action. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not simply a passing fad; it's a growing trend that CMOs need to acknowledge and that will affect every part of the organization. As their firms assess which CSR initiatives to take, marketing leaders should take the lead in understanding the customers' needs and voicing them inside the firm. With more consumers willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products and fair trade, CMOs will find that CSR can add to the profitability of the business.

July 31, 2008

Organizations are under pressure from consumers, shareholders, and government bodies to develop green strategies. However, many marketers are jumping on the green bandwagon and committing common green marketing mistakes. To avoid these mistakes and build effective green strategies, marketers should focus on seven key actions: 1) assessing current impact and attitudes toward green; 2) listening to consumers about their wants, needs, and ideas for better sustainability; 3) aligning the green strategy with the organization, brand, and consumer values; 4) committing to environmental goals and making significant changes; 5) partnering with outside organizations for credibility, expertise, and joint solutions; 6) educating stakeholders on the issues and benefits of green products; and 7) engaging stakeholders in open dialogue and activities to facilitate behavior change.

July 31, 2008

Intel actively participates in efforts to improve the sustainability of all aspects of the product life cycle and value chain, from the materials it sources to the end-of-life reuse and recycling efforts. To push these efforts forward, Intel uses the support of industry partners, community groups, employees, and government agencies. As a result, Intel creates a more sustainable product life cycle, while helping its end customers see the benefits of greater energy efficiency — positioning Intel in first place on the 2007 "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list published by CRO Magazine.

July 31, 2008

Herman Miller, designer and manufacturer of furnishings and other building interior systems and technologies for the office, healthcare, education and home, began to incorporate sustainability into its business practices in the early 1950s. Since then, Herman Miller has committed to audacious environmental goals and transformed its organization, design and manufacturing processes, marketing materials, and relationships with customers. As a result, Herman Miller has seen significant cost savings from energy reduction and more efficient manufacturing processes as well as progress toward its goal of zero emissions by 2020.

July 31, 2008

As a small credit union in the Vancouver area, Vancity was founded on principles of community and has won numerous awards for its work around sustainability and climate change. With a re-branding effort that included an opportunity to better highlight its sustainability efforts, Vancity actively engages members and prospective members through new social media channels, member forums, unique brand campaigns, educational activities, and numerous opportunities for stakeholder feedback. As a result, brand preference went up by 30% and Vancity announced that it became carbon-neutral at the end of 2007, two years ahead of plan.

June 10, 2008

The metrics marketers use today fail to capture the supercharged social behaviors and intimate relationships people have with brands. With the four I's of engagement: involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence — marketers obtain a framework to decipher this complexity. To measure engagement, marketers need to take four critical steps: define, audit, assess, and prioritize the metrics that are appropriate for their customer buying processes.

May 6, 2008

A new crop of financial services startups use social media tools like social lending and re-envisioned money management to enrich the experience around money management for consumers. As the quality of online financial services drives customer loyalty and advocacy, and customers of the major US banks are very active in social networks, marketers of financial institutions have a great opportunity to add community services to their portfolios. They should start with researching the needs and drivers of their target customers with ethnographic research and studying the adoption of services from the new entrants.

April 22, 2008

Measuring engagement is no simple task: It requires a cross-channel, data-intensive approach that strains today's measurement processes and the underlying technology that supports them. Furthermore, marketers attempting to measure engagement without the proper tools often find themselves lacking the infrastructure to make engagement an ongoing effort. Forrester has defined five key tools and technologies that marketers need to put in place an engagement-driven measurement methodology across their enterprise.

Ten percent of US online adults visit YouTube at least weekly. These online video viewers are strong WOM-centric consumers, which makes them an attractive audience for marketers.

December 4, 2007

Forrester's evaluation of leading interactive marketing agencies across 52 criteria revealed a market adept at handling today's digital campaigns but lacking the thought leadership to drive more comprehensive brand strategies. In the current environment, OgilvyInteractive, Avenue A | Razorfish, Sapient, and Digitas lead because of their breadth of experience with interactive marketing campaigns utilizing many different channels (email, search, display ads, and emerging channels), as well as strong measurement and analytics capabilities. Strong Performers include VML, based on its strategic guidance, and Critical Mass and imc2, with their interactive skills rooted in Web site design. All of the agencies in this evaluation still have a lot of work ahead of them to prove that they have the acumen, vision, and road map to lead broader cross-channel marketing and brand strategies.

August 8, 2007

The marketing funnel is a broken metaphor that overlooks the complexity social media introduces into the buying process. As consumers' trust in traditional media diminishes, marketers need a new approach. We propose a new metric, engagement, that includes four components: involvement, interaction, intimacy, and influence. Each of these is built from data collected from online and offline data sources. Using engagement, you get a more holistic appreciation of your customers' actions, recognizing that value comes not just from transactions but also from actions people take to influence others. Once engagement takes hold of marketing, marketing messages will become conversations, and dollars will shift from media buying to customer understanding.

This data chart is a profile of youth podcast users, including current usage, current topics, and future interests.

This data chart is a profile of online video users, including their demographics, psychographics, what sites they visit, and attitudinal statements around online ads.