Why CMOs Need To Keep It Simple

The word "simple" is so simple even the definition is simple: easy to understand; not complicated. Yet time and again we tend to make things more difficult then they need to be. And this not a recent trend by any means. No, on the contrary we humans have been at this whole self-imposed disorder for quite some time.

How long?

Well consider that Confucius once said "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." And he's been dead a really, really long time.

The reasons as to why we insist on constantly performing what amounts to exercises in futility are best left to the smart people of the world; the doctors, the psychiatrists and the Kardashians. Ok, just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

My point was the reasons are surely many but I'm more interested in getting it to stop ASAP. And it starts with the CMO for they call the marketing shots, if you will. They can ultimately steer their team away from the sea of complication and chart a course for revenue island.

Or something like that.

Top Reasons Consumers Continue to Participate in Loyalty Programs

That's the headline of a piece that was published the other day on MarketingCharts.com. Now, without even clicking on the article itself my bet would have been the #1 reason consumers continue to participate in loyalty programs was because they wanted something in return; they want to be rewarded.

I would have been wrong.

Look at what comes in at the top of the charts or chart, in this case: "The program is easy to understand."

Wait, I have heard that phrase "easy to understand" before. Don't help me. Oh yes, it means it's simple! Go back and re-read the first sentence of this post to remind yourself.

Simply Speaking

A few days ago, in an AdWeek piece, Oracle GM and SVP Kevin Akeroyd wrote "At Oracle Marketing Cloud, we see ourselves as agents of simplicity."

Now, in the context of this piece he was referring to the topic of data and "within many organizations, customer data has been siloed across disparate systems for so long that the whole process just seems messy" with messy being an antonym for simple.

Rest assured, however, when he writes that "we see ourselves as agents of simplicity" it's speaking to the entire organization. The fact is the data is available and so too is the technology to use it to its fullest advantage.

If you don't believe me, download The CMO Solution Guide to Leveraging New Technology and Marketing Platforms and see for yourself. Not only will you see but you will also hear from your fellow CMOs on how they keep it simple.