#Hashtags, The Gartner Marketing & Communications Podcast

In this episode, Gartner analysts Brad Jashinsky and Mike Froggatt discuss how retail media networks are changing the digital advertising and media landscape. They also examine how brand marketers can take advantage of this new channel to reach customers online. We’ll provide an overview of the top three retail media networks, discuss why many retailers are launching their own, and focus on how retail media can fit into both brand and performance advertising strategy.Brad Jashinsky is a director analyst at Gartner covering the retail and travel and hospitality industries. Brad has spent his career at the intersection of marketing and technology, with over 15 years of experience in digital marketing. He has driven successful business results by creating and executing industry-leading digital marketing strategies for companies in the consumer electronics, enterprise technology, entertainment, travel and hospitality industries. As a Gartner analyst, Brad helps marketing leaders achieve their strategic objectives and improve their digital businesses by providing actionable, objective insight into digital marketing, personalization, loyalty and commerce strategies.

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Jason McNellis discusses what economic uncertainty and inflation mean to marketers.The beginning of 2022 saw many marketers attempting to claw back budgets to pre-COVID-19 levels. As 2022 progressed, new macroeconomic challenges started blocking the path to higher budgets. While some marketing organizations today are working through cuts — often starting with their media or brand building budgets — others are investing to gain share. Most marketing leaders will have to wear both hats over the next six months: on some days, playing defense to bolster the evidence of marketing’s ability to drive business outcomes, and on other days, playing offense and outlying plans demonstrating how investments in marketing will increase growth. The most successful will combine the two approaches, such as using marketing automation to increase efficiencies and drive conversions with minimal incremental investment.Jason McNellis specializes in marketing analytics and building insight-generating organizations with a focus on enhancing marketing through machine learning, artificial intelligence, marketing mix modeling, and campaign measurement. Jason helps clients concentrate on the right data and right approach to guide their critical decisions.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Claudia Ratterman discusses the missed opportunity of paid on social media platforms. Even though marketers and communicators are publishing engaging organic content on social platforms, data shows a minimal number of current followers will ever see it. We’ll cover the reasons for the limited reach as well as ways to help brands maximize potential return on investments by focusing on specific content types and platforms with higher organic reach potential.

In this episode, Gartner analysts Kassi Socha and Suzanne Schwartz discuss how marketing leaders need to shift their holiday strategy to meet the expectations of skeptical consumers. For consumers, the fear of continual price increases, lack of discounts, and continued supply disruptions means they are prepared to shop earlier, focus on value, and adopt omnichannel solutions that remove hybrid shopping barriers. To exceed consumers’ expectations, brands must make it easy to find and share holiday gift inspiration, be transparent about pricing, and make shopping seamless and fun — across online, in-store, and everything in between.Kassi Socha is a Gartner analyst covering e-commerce, digital marketing, and consumer insights. Kassi has spent more than 10 years leading digital and customer strategies for fashion, beauty, and consumer tech brands, including Nordstrom and Drybar.Suzanne Schwartz is a Gartner analyst covering omnichannel campaign management, orchestration, and mobile marketing. She advises on multichannel marketing strategy and execution, orchestrating campaign execution across channels, scaling marketing content across channels, analyzing cross-channel campaign performance, and mobile marketing strategy. Suzanne has more than 12 years of global marketing experience across a range of industries including retail, e-commerce, IT, advertising, apparel, personal care, and luxury.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Benjamin Bloom discusses new challenges to marketing’s role as a technology steward. While IT and marketing have improved their collaboration efforts, marketing’s position as a growth driver cannot survive in the face of remarkably low utilization of the technology capabilities in the stack. CMOs must overcome customer data frictions and disrupted customer journeys, but our 2022 Gartner Marketing Technology Survey reveals that talent training and integration remain critical ROI bottlenecks.We’ll cover new insights into where martech teams are placing their bets, from today’s critical components to the emerging technologies to battle the cookieless future.Benjamin Bloom is a VP analyst helping marketing leaders with martech stack optimization, personalization, and customer data management. Benjamin’s experience spans customer engagement, direct response, CRM, data management, analytics, web development and brand marketing roles, as both a consultant/strategist and as a client-side team leader. He has developed and optimized marketing campaigns, as well as selected and implemented technology and advertising solutions for more than 15 years. Before entering the marketing world, he analyzed the technology, media and telecommunications industries at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information at Columbia University.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Sally Witzky discusses insights from Gartner's Marketing Organization Insights Survey for 2022, with her perspective of what CMOs seemed to get right, and other data points that make us scratch our heads. Either way, CMOs changed all aspects of their marketing resource ecosystem from org structures to operating models to agency roster. The episode covers what they changed and what we’ve heard from CMOs since the survey’s release.Sally Witzky analyzes marketing organizational and operational trends and best practices. She advises CMOs to leverage proven and actionable techniques, systems and tools for building in-house strategic marketing capabilities that maximize value creation and strengthen competitive advantage.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Jay Wilson discusses how marketing leaders are in a position to influence their organization’s approach to internal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), while ensuring those efforts are accurately represented in marketing communications. As an increasingly diverse customer base demands that the brands they buy from take action on DEI, the CMO must advocate for that mandate internally. In doing so, a CMO can improve her influence within the C-suite, while making a positive impact on marketing and business outcomes. Success depends on new approaches to hiring, retention, agency selection, and — ultimately — marketing that is more relevant and representative of our world.Jay Wilson focuses on helping CMOs achieve optimal results from their agency rosters, including agency selection. He works with clients on their social media marketing strategies, including influencer and employee advocacy programs. Jay led social marketing efforts at a large digital advertising agency in New York, with hands-on experience in the airline, consumer packaged goods and high-tech industries.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Iliyana Hadjistoyanova reveals key insights from an organizational survey of 182 Communications leaders. We discuss the positive trend of the function’s growing influence and debate the implications of high reorganization rates. And we try to answer the question, “If all seems to be trending well, why are communicators quitting in droves?” Iliyana Hadjistoyanova supports Communications leaders in optimizing structure and skills within their own teams, prioritizing high-value work and connecting it to business goals in clear, measurable ways.Her expertise includes strategic planning and measurement, functional design, and talent development and training. She leverages insights, best practices and benchmarks to help executives make smart decisions that elevate their functions to become true business partners.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Andrew Frank discusses how marketing, communication, HR, legal, and IT roles need to align to address the wide-ranging implications of new laws and law enforcement actions that raise the risks associated with personal data routinely collected and processed by their organizations. For consumers, the fear of digital surveillance is becoming more concrete while, for businesses, the ethical and operational complexities are becoming more acute.We’ll cover some specific situations where organizations’ commitment to protecting the health and well-being of stakeholders is being challenged.As VP Distinguished Analyst with Gartner for Marketing Leaders, Andrew Frank specializes in best practices for data-driven marketing, including how organizations can use data to drive sales, loyalty, innovation, brand value and other business goals.Andrew also focuses on emerging marketing technology and trends, including marketing applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, algorithmic marketing, and marketing in emerging environments such as metaverse and Web3.  Run Time: 27:57

In this episode, Gartner Director Analyst Leah Leachman discusses how marketing leaders all too often make a commitment toward customer centricity when all signs lead to the opposite effect. Marketing’s efforts are really more channel-led vs customer-led, focusing on acquisition and demand generation versus understanding customer needs. But does that strategy really lead to sustainable, long-term growth? Or will customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy suffer as a result? There is a way to balance company and customer.