Victor Milligan says, “The transfer of power from companies to the customer is driving a wide variety of changes: some small and targeted and some that are far-reaching and fundamentally change the trajectory of companies (and careers I may add). I had the pleasure of moderating a video webinar last week that explored the customer dynamic, specifically looking at how it will play out in 2016. We also looked at how companies sense and respond to this dynamic change: how well companies are reading the tea leaves and taking action, and what actions seem to matter to compete and win in a customer-led... [...]

Steve Casey says, “Ah yes, the obligatory customer logo slide. As an analyst you get to see a lot of these. (Too many, perhaps.) Any more, these slides mean less and less. What matters in the digital world — what Forrester calls the “Age of the Customer” — is not how many companies or organizations you serve, but how much they appreciate working with you — and whether or not they are willing to tell others that they do. In B2B marketing, sharing customer logos is one small way of validating that you are an effective supplier of products and services. References... [...]

Steve Casey says, “Greetings! This is week three in my journey as a Forrester analyst serving you, B2B marketing professionals, after nearly as many decades as a practitioner like you. I’d like to start our conversation by sharing an idea I had the opportunity to explore during the interview process for this position. It was a process I enjoyed tremendously by the way, because it allowed me to connect the dots between several trends I had observed in my most recent role, where I led marketing for a digital engagement platform vendor, and some recent research from Forrester, most notably... [...]

Daniel Klein says, “Delivering credible, objective, and engaging content is a must for today’s B2B marketer as prospects discover, explore, and buy your solution. But what attributes and sources make content credible and objective to B2B buyers? This is a common question asked of my consulting team, and in the age of the customer — where empowered buyers rely on multiple content sources before talking with a sales team and 50% of buyers say much of the content they receive is useless — the answer is more important than ever. To get answers to this and other key questions we receive... [...]

Ron Rogowski says, “One of the most enjoyable and fulfilling things about helping Forrester clients become customer-obsessed is leading an experience co-creation workshop. Forrester defines co-creation as the active participation of employees, customers, and stakeholders working together to design new experiences. It’s a technique that helps companies define the right experience for their customers and provides critical information that supports human-centered design. A typical co-creation session puts Forrester consultants, our clients, and our clients’ customers in a room for a whole... [...]

Brendan Witcher says, “Today we announce the launch of our brand new Omnichannel Commerce Playbook! In its many forms, omnichannel is quickly resetting customer expectations, and redefining what it means to deliver seamless, fully-integrated commerce across the enterprise. This playbook provides a structured framework to help eBusiness leaders strategically plan, launch, and maintain omnichannel capabilities and services. Customers today forge paths to purchase that seamlessly cross channels, screens and stores. For example, U.S. consumers in 2015 spent a whopping $1.5 trillion in-store... [...]

Steven Wright says, “The first quarter of the year is that magical time for sales kickoffs. For this analyst, 2016 is the first in over 20 years when I haven’t been involved in one. My sigh of relief far outweighs any twinges of nostalgia. After all that time, some things about kickoffs are clear: The more about products, the less sellers remember: This is a sales, not a marketing, event – the focus should be on how to sell to, engage with, and be obsessed by buyers. One good customer story is worth more than most motivational speakers: Inspiring stories of overcoming obstacles are all... [...]

Martin Gill says, “For the past eight years, business leaders have used Forrester’s eBusiness and digital marketing assessments to mature their firms toward excellence. In 2013, we introduced a comprehensive digital maturity model that consolidated our interactive marketing and eBusiness maturity models.Two years applying the model with clients have helped hone and focus it even further. Our latest report, the Digital Maturity Model 4.0 updates our 2014 digital maturity model into a single set of scoring criteria that today’s cross-functional digital leaders can use to benchmark... [...]

Satish Meena says, “The retail market in India is going through a very interesting phase. Online retailers are flush with funds and spending aggressively on acquiring customers and building infrastructure, while organized retailers are trying to come out of their “wait and see” mode before online sales start hurting them in categories other than music, books, and mobile phones. The Indian online retail market is the fastest-growing market in Asia Pacific, although it is still very small compared to China and Japan. According to the recently published Forrester Research Online Retail... [...]

Thomas Husson says, “In November, Forrester released its mobile predictions for 2016, highlighting how mobile will act as a catalyst for business transformation and explaining why the battle for mobile moments will redefine the vendor landscape. Let’s now take a closer look at how mobile will impact marketing in 2016. A year ago, Forrester argued that most brands would underinvest in mobile in 2015. This is likely to remain the case this year, since too many marketers still have a narrow view of mobile as a “sub-digital” medium and channel. This is good news for the 20% of marketers... [...]