Lori Witzel

Being a revenue-focused, data-driven tech marketer is no longer a best practice—it is, to use Hollis Tibbetts' pithy wording, "table stakes." But even if a marketing organization can't quite raise the stakes to get a seat among their best-performing peers (many marketers lag behind according to Hypatia Research Group) all still must improve outcomes. Despite an intense focus on improving outcomes, enterprise technology marketers’ best efforts at consistently increasing their return on marketing investment (ROMI) too often fail. (One of the most notable recently? HP's tablet launch fail, which we will discuss in the last of these three posts.) Even after we implement platforms for marketing automation and models like SiriusDecision’s new Demand Waterfall, even after we tune our SEO and campaigns, our employers/clients still don’t get consistent value from their inv... (more)

Applying the Marketing Center of Excellence (MCOE)

The HP TouchPad was launched July 1, 2011, and was discontinued August 18, 2011. The Marketing Center of Excellence (MCOE) may provide a framework for understanding (and preventing) the sorts of “black swan” marketing failure that HP experienced with its TouchPad launch. I think the key value provided by a MCOE for reducing the risk of a “black swan fail” is its enablement of a holistic, cross-disciplinary approach to marketing at enterprise level. Leslie Ament, SVP at Hypatia Research Group, asked a great question that points towards the complexity underlying the situation, and... (more)

Why Does Enterprise Tech Marketing Keep Failing

Just as "one does not simply walk into Mordor," one does not simply walk into an Enterprise Marketing Center of Excellence (MCOE). I've learned from friends in the business analysis community some useful transitional stages to evolve a COE. These involve identifying Key Areas of Practice, and then the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with influence within the marketing organization. Once these areas and influencers are identified, they can be invited to charter Communities of Practice. For example, here's a high-level view of a Marketing Automation Community of Practice across Enter... (more)