The ways in which consumers are acquiring goods and services are ever-expanding. We are in the driver’s seat when it comes to competition among brands, both in price and value. And beyond that, we are more in control of the customer experience than we’ve ever been. How are brands responding to that? I recently had a chat with our CEO Michael Caccavale about direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing and what it means to marketers.

Often, consumer behavior – especially in the ever-changing digital landscape – can feel like a moving target. And as we’re head-first into the new year, it’s always enlightening to sit down with our CEO and talk shop about what’s happening, what’s ahead, and what we as marketers should – and shouldn’t – be responding to. 

We work in a time where the influx of customer data has gone from a garden hose to a full-on floodgate. And while wrangling that information is not without its challenges, it’s also an opportunity for companies to make data-driven decisions across departments and throughout the organization. In order to better understand the true value of these opportunities – and the pitfalls organizations face – I sat down with our CEO Michael Caccavale to discuss.

More and more, the zombie apocalypse is looking like people wandering the streets, driving, eating out, and doing just about everything with their faces buried in their screens. Communications have gone the way of messaging, leaving face-to-face, and even phone, conversations a novelty. We’re all guilty of it – or at least half of us are.

For marketers, leveraging their data management platform (DMP) is the key to mapping, measuring, and ensuring each marketing dollar is well-placed. According to eMarketer, “DMPs help marketers find the inventory they seek by creating custom audience segments.” And once you know your target audience, you know where to spend. Great if you have a DMP. What if you don’t? I sat down with our CEO Michael Caccavale to discuss.

Gary Satterfield and I go way back. We met while I was working on a marketing research project for Gary twenty years ago at a utility. And he’s since gone on to become an expert in the retail energy space and was kind enough to sit down with me and my team to talk shop. The topic of deregulation, removing restrictions in a particular industry, ran a thread through much of our conversation. This has implications for consumers – and therefore, marketers.

As marketers – and as consumers – connecting the dots between previous and future behavior is the key to appreciating a good offer when we see one. And today, that’s not as simple as recommending a fun pair of boots after I bought designer jeans. With our offices, mobile devices, and homes all connected and talking to each other, being on time and on message is increasingly complicated. I recently sat down with our CEO Michael Caccavale to talk about the challenges and opportunities that marketers can uncover when we look at the smart home market.

Marketers use many different channels to reach customers, and they’re increasingly building omnichannel strategies that can follow and engage an audience on multiple different platforms. But when it comes to the marketing tools they use, too often these solutions are siloed from one another.

It’s always shocking to find that a major retail brand doesn’t have a mobile app. Meanwhile, it’s equally stunning when a small business has built a killer mobile experience for its customers.

But when you understand the role omnichannel plays for retail and other major industries, the shortcomings of the big-box retailer are much more confounding than the smaller company’s assertiveness in building a better mobile presence.

We used to live in a world where if you wanted something the same day, you’d go to the store to get it. With same-day delivery, fast shipping, and things like drone delivery on the horizon, the days of having to leave your house to pick up something are numbered. But while logistics teams are busy developing ways to meet these demands, marketers still have some fundamental problems to solve at the top of the funnel.