CMO vs. CIO: Who rules the digital world at your company?

Last week, I received a call from a colleague in Canada asking for my opinion on the role of IT in the development and management of an organization's digital and web based initiatives.  She was being challenged over that role by her new CIO who felt that the IT department should be managing content as well as technical support.  I told her quickly and candidly that I didn't think IT should play any role at all in the content management of our digital initiatives, and that they should play only a supporting role in the development of those initiatives. I think my exact words were, "they should help ensure that we have the technical resources and bandwidth to achieve our objectives."

Shortly after having this conversation, I stumbled across an interesting article on the animosity between CMOs and CIOs over the challenges of meeting customer expectations in a digital world.  It suddenly dawned on me that this was a real issue for many organizations.

According to a recent study by Accenture and the CMO Council, "69% of marketers said the CMO should be the primary leader of digital marketing, and only 19% of them see the CIO and the IT department important to defining digital marketing strategy. However, 58% of IT executives see themselves as the true champions of digital marketing."

I guess I'm fortunate that I've not experienced these challenges at my organization.  Our CIO and I are both in lockstep on what needs to be done to try and improve the quality of the customer experience both on and offline, and who is responsible for the technical development and content management of our digital initiatives.  We actually share the same primary frustrations as most organizations:  limited time and resources.  Though we have a common vision and work well together.

However, my belief has always been that marketing is the manager of the message and how the message is delivered.  IT's role should be to provide the technical infrastructure and resources necessary to maximize the marketing department's ability to deliver that message in a manner that is most convenient and appealing to the consumer. 

If you can, download the executive summary from the Accenture study linked to above.  I think you'll find it a compelling read.

What role does the CIO play in the development and management of your digital marketing initiatives?  Have you been faced with challenges similar to my colleague's?  If so, what have you done to mitigate the fallout and create a collaborative environment?

Why are you paying to distribute digital coupons?

I've been reading a lot of stories lately about the popularity of online coupon sites like Living Social and Groupon.  As a consumer, I can see why these sites have value.  Who wouldn't want to get substantial discounts at local and national retailers, restaurants, theaters and other businesses?

But do online coupon sites have value for the advertiser?  According to some articles, small businesses that have used the sites are questioning the benefits of offering big discounts in the hopes of converting prospects into customers, when the costs are so high, and their level of control is so low.  Living Social and Groupon charge a huge fee for posting discounts on their sites.  To generate a measurable return, businesses need to start with large margins and/or hope that a significant percentage of consumers who redeem the offers will return at some point ready to pay full price.  The retailer also needs to hope that the coupon offer doesn't alienate the business' loyal customers who are already paying full price and are not being rewarded for doing so.

As a business, one of the competitive advantages of using location based social media platforms like Foursquare or Places is that a retailer can offer digital coupons, at no cost, to anyone who happens to be near one of its locations.  Additionally, the retailer controls the amount of time the discount is offered, how many coupons it wishes to distribute and whether or not it wants to require the user to "check in" multiple times before he or she can access the coupon, thereby significantly increasing the possibility of repeat business. 

While coupon sites like Groupon may presently have more members worldwide (35 million), they don't offer the geographic convenience of geo-based sites like Foursquare.  Granted, Foursquare offers aren't delivered directly to the consumers email inbox, but by simply logging onto a geo-site through a smart phone, a consumer can immediately identify any retailer in his/her vicinity that is offering a special. Therefore, any perceived inconvenience with redeeming the coupon is mitigated by the retailer's proximity to the user.  And there is no 24 hour wait for the coupon download.  It pops up on a smart phone ready to use.  Additionally, if the consumer wants to share his or her experience with friends, they can easily do so on geo-sites; a benefit that sites like Groupon and Living Social don't provide.

So if you're interested in distributing digital coupons to drive new business, don't be misled.  Big coupon sites like Groupon, WOW and Living Social aren't your only options.  Nor are they necessarily your best options. It's only a matter of time before burgeoning platforms like Foursquare or Places become the preferred digital coupon distribution channel for small businesses...and probably even large ones.