Marketing & Sales

Outlook 2013

McKinsey leaders outline what to expect in customer experience, mobile, marketing operations, shopping, retail, advanced analytics, and Big Data.

• Read more on the CMSO Forum web site

Building brands in emerging markets

September 2012—Companies that harness word-of-mouth effects, emphasize in-store execution, and get their brands onto shoppers’ short lists for initial consideration are more likely to capture the loyalty of emerging-market consumers.more

Getting beyond the buzz: Is your social media working?

Social media can add a lot of value as part of a company's marketing but only if it can be accurately and meaningfully measured.

• Read more on the Financial Times web site

How is the American online consumer evolving?

Just a decade ago online commerce was the exception. Now it's routine. Retailers must adapt and get ahead of the curve.

• Read more on the CMSO Forum web site

CEOs need to get serious about sales

The best CEOs call on their management toolkit to transform sales into a growth engine by focusing on three actions.

• Read more on the Harvard Business Review web site

The social care imperative

With social media, customers can freely voice their opinion to a broad audience, potentially harming your brand. Here are four steps to creating an effective social care program.

• Read more on the NM Incite web site

Five ‘no regrets’ moves for superior customer engagement

July 2012—Customers are demanding very different kinds of relationships with companies. Here are some ways to jump-start customer engagement across your organization.more

3 ways leaders can grow sales

Sales growth starts at the top. These executives explain how they set the tone, show the vision and motivate their teams to drive growth.

• Read more on the Fast Company web site

Selling into micromarkets

Micromarket strategy has emerged as the most potent new application of big-data analytics in B2B sales.

• Read more on the Harvard Business Review web site

Three Lessons for Today's Chief Marketing and Sales Officers

CMOs and sales leaders need to focus on strategy, building trust with customers, and organizing themselves to target the customers that matter.

• Read more on the Forbes web site

The power of sales coaching to drive growth

McKinsey partner Jon Vander Ark describes how a company used the "80-80" rule to tie compensation to sales coaching.

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B2B companies: The new rules of the digital game

B2B companies can overcome the complexities in understanding their customers' – and their customers' customers' – decision journeys from consideration to purchase to loyalty.

• Watch video on YouTube

Measuring marketing's worth

You can’t spend wisely unless you understand marketing’s full impact. Here are five questions executives should ask to help maximize the bang for their bucks.

• Read more on the McKinsey Quarterly web site

Seven strategies to beat the retail apocalypse

Retailers need to understand and exploit their multichannel advantages if they want to survive in a digital world.

• Download the report (PDF–129 KB)

Demystifying social media

April 2012—As the marketing power of social media grows, it no longer makes sense to treat it as an experiment. Here’s how senior leaders can harness social media to shape consumer decision making in predictable ways.more

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China’s social-media boom

May 2012—The country has by far the world’s most active social-media users, a new study finds.more

Making sense of social media

McKinsey partners show that by mapping social-media initiatives to different stages of the consumer decision journey, companies can prioritize investments and provide customers with exceptional brand experiences.more

B2B Marketers: It’s time to become a growth engine

For B2B companies to grow, their marketing organizations need to grow up.

• Read more on the Forbes web site

Content is queen

Social media needs a “woman's touch.”

• Download the report (PDF–119 KB)

Making a digital offer your customers can’t refuse

Marketers need to integrate digital offers into their multichannel strategy if they want to maintain their relationships with their customers.

• Download the report (PDF–3.81 MB)

How retailers can win the mobile shopper turf war

Retailers need to focus on the right mobile tactics to reach the anywhere anytime consumer and combat “showrooming.”

• Download the report (PDF–111 KB)

Badges & Benefits: Loyalty points are missing the point

In the digital age, the loyalty game is all about making emotional connections at scale.

• Download the report (PDF–58 KB)

Creating a winning digital strategy

Jim Farley, Group Vice President, Marketing & Sales-Ford Motor Company, on how customers don't trust companies, are overwhelmed, have a voice, and now own the brands.

• Watch video on YouTube