We work with a lot of clients that focus on verticals, many that consider focusing on verticals and several that go back and forth in terms of their commitment to verticals. asked myself — why aren’t companies better at this? Here’s the answer: World-class vertical marketing takes executive level commitment. No commitment, no success. As we mention in CMOs: Step It Up , this is the responsibility of the CMO. Companies must recognize that this is a significant cultural shift, not a casual “marketing” shift. Products may change. New solutions may be developed. This is a big deal. MORE >>

In answer to the question in my blog title, I would contend that Enterprises have adopted social media and in fact could be considered an early adopter in some sense. Now before we get into an up-roaring debate about this, let me explain my theory. I’ve been doing social marketing since early 2000 before there was such a term (see my interview with Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester Analyst and thought leader in social computing). Back then conversation was taking place on directories and boards asking the end user what they thought of a brand, product or service. Is this sounding familiar? MORE >>

recent survey by B2B Magazine taken at the end of Jan 08 shows that the majority (58%) of B2B marketers are not revising their 2008 budgets. There has been a lot of talk about marketing budgets and our clients are asking us what they should be doing in the event of a downturn. In general, we aren’t seeing a slow-down in terms of online marketing spending… some areas of interactive may hold up better than others if a true recession hits. What’s Happening with B2B Marketing Budgets? What About Social Media? Interactive MORE >>

One key dependency for the growth of the mobile internet is that we must have reliable web services. Not only will it be important for all these services to exist on the web, but also users must be able to trust in their reliability and security. CIOs have their own concerns and needs about web services, however individual users will also need to have a high confidence level because they have limited negotiating power with the web service providers. Some recent developments show that we have a long way to go to earn this consumer trust. Products & Markets MORE >>

A recent Harvard Business Review article entitled “In E-Commerce, More is More” , provides valuable insight into what customers are looking for from vendors. Two professors, one from London’s Imperial College Business School and the other from Munich’s School of Management, conducted research into two critical items: What increases the likelihood of customers revisiting a site and, What causes customers to feel engaged with that company’s products. At Crimson, we have spoken before about Engagement (see #2, Rethink the Basics) as a critical component in marketing. Order tracking. Interactive MORE >>