What's Your Marketing Innovation Score?

Last December, I wrote two blogs (Top 10 Marketing Challenges Part 1, Part 2) to help corporate leaders with marketing management responsibilities. In those blogs, I warned of 10 "game-changer" challenges that these executives would face in 2011, given the rise of social media and a newly empowered consumer. Now it's time to look at the list again ... and assess your company's progress in meeting each of these ten challenges. The resulting numerical score is your enterprise's MIQ (Marketing Innovation Quotient) score. MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #1. Accept that the balance of power between buyer and seller has changed… forever. We have identified new ways our company can provide clearly defined, competitively differentiating value both at the point of purchase and throughout the customer's lifecycle. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model) ____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #2. Completely re-think how you view your customers. We have made Customer Lifetime Value an essential business metric within our organization. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model): ____

MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #3. Stop chasing the "quickie". Build relationships instead. The allocation of budget and resources has been shifted from a traditional focus on Acquisition, to a balance between Acquisition and Retention. We have changed our compensation plans from an Acquisition/new sales focus to reflect Retention and repeat customer purchases. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model): ____

Note: Additional insights are contained in Ernan's manifesto "Don't You Want to Do Real Marketing?" published by 800-CEO-Read.

MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #4. Communicate with customers and prospects through multiple channels. We emphasize the value of engaging with our company via all media and channels. Then we personalize the communications per individual opt-in preferences, so the value and relevance is obvious. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model): ____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #5. Create uniquely powerful Opt-In preference-driven databases. Rethink your marketing so it provides unquestionable value from the consumer's point of view. We have conducted research to identify the value propositions required to engage customers to Opt-In and share their media, message, and offer preferences. We have developed an opt-in database to drive preference-based communications. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model): ____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #6. Re-design your web site to meet customer expectations. Given the rise of social media and the newly empowered consumer, re-think your entire website strategy. We have learned how customers and prospects define value and relevance, and we have followed their lead by connecting them with easy access to peers, subject matter experts, and the right people within our own organization. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model): ____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #7. Give Customer Service the respect it deserves. We have abandoned the view of Customer Service as an Operations expense line-item, repositioned it as a revenue center, and synchronized it with our marketing efforts. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model): ____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #8. Don't let short-term financial objectives destroy your long-term customer-focused strategies. We use quarterly financial forecasts as tools. We don't let the tools run the business. Our organization's strategies are focused on building and sustaining strong customer relationships. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action taken yet in 2011) to 10 (industry role model):____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #9: Model the behavior and the priorities. We have created an Employee Council and meet with its members at least once a quarter to hear about what is and what is not working. We model the resulting new behaviors and priorities from the top down. From the Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action) to 10 (industry role model): ____ MARKETING INNOVATION CHALLENGE #10. Accept that ultimately, the responsibility for moving away from "business as usual" in any and all of these areas lies with senior leadership. If customer feedback dictates that a change is necessary in any area of our organization, our president, founder, or CEO is willing to make the necessary changes. Mid-year assessment score: 0 (no action) to 10 (industry role model): ____

Next Step: Share your organization's midyear MIQ score with the senior management team ... and identify specific areas for improvement in the second half of 2011.