Insights From a Trifecta of (Female) CMOs -- Part 1: Alicia Tillman – SAP

As it turns out the new CMO is a woman amp8212 one of the many speaking at or attending the conference Reflective of its remit to be more genderbalanced ANA was successful in drawing female senior marketers to this year39s Masters of Marketing confluence While not quite yet an embarrassment of riches it did give me the opportunity to make this episode of Insider InSites a curation of three great leaders across tech media and CPG who happen to be female chief marketing officers Each is impressive in her own right with tremendous takeaways to share But the added layer they offered was advice on how to achieve these heights while amp8212 reminiscent of Bob Thaves39 quote on Ginger Rogers dancing with Fred Astaire amp8212 moving quotbackward and in high heelsquotIn this threepart companion topline to the one podcast which you can listen to in its entirety here you39ll first hear from SAP39s Alicia Tillman pictured below cited by Forbes in 2019 as the world39s 14th most influential CMO amp8212 and who keynoted at the conference next our Clorox Company legend for this year Stacey Grier and finally Alysia Borsa who upped the ante as CDMO chief marketing and data officer speaking on the marriage of data and marketing for Meredith CorporationThe following has been edited for clarity and length Subscribe to MediaVillage39s Insider InSites just named a top podcast for digital advertising professionals everywhere Stitcher Spotify iHeartRadio GooglePodcasts Apple TuneIn and YouTubeTalking with SAP39s Alicia TillmanTo get a sense of the breadth of her role know that Alicia Tillman heads marketing for what is the largest enterprise software company in the world In my last episode of Insider InSites Sir Martin Sorrell included SAP among the tech companies one should watch and study In operations for 47 years it is predominantly B2Bfocused has more than 480000 customers across 180 countries produces nearly 30 billion in revenue annually and employs about 100000 people Tillman summed up SAP39s service as quotcreating technology to help companies operate at their best by supporting any aspect of a business39s operations including enterprise resource planning financial planning travel and expense management human capital management procurement systems and networksquotTillman spent 11 years at American Express responsible for marketing for the travel services business quotI always say that I learned to be a marketer at the best marketing organization on the planetquot she says quotI then ran marketing for one of the brands in SAP for two and a half years And then I was asked to become the CMO of all of SAP which was the most exciting day in my careerquot With a multitude of products in the portfolio and a lot of buyers to target amp8212 from the CIO to the CFO to the CHRO amp8212 her role as the chief marketing officer focuses on how to organize their story and make it relevant to those vastly different buying groupsThe overarching message is of quothow our technology helps companies be more efficient operationallyquot Tillman explains quotbut then to also showcase customers that have true success stories with our technology in solving problems in the economy and society or in the environment And the reality is regardless of what business you39re in people want to buy from companies that feel they have a sense of responsibility to improve something in the world So it39s less about the features and functions of the products which once was a way that we marketed but now it39s about value creation and it39s about making a differencequotMoss It seems you39re marketing the experience of helping improve and streamlining your business and that39s the experience so to speak that you want SAP to convey You also speak about experience marketing Tillman We live in an experience economy As I shared in my keynote presentation human beings experience 27 different kinds of feelings and these feelings play a significant role in decisions we make as it relates to buyingamp8230 If we39re happy and a brand is delivering us an exceptional experience we39re going to keep going back to itThe types of data that we39ve had for our customers are operational transactional financial behavioral but we39ve introduced a new form of data this year through our acquisition of a company called Qualtrics which unlocks quotexperiential dataquot Through surveying technology social sentiment understanding and compiling this all together into a central database we39re able to anticipate the experiences your customers want because they39re telling youWith this experiential data think about how much more companies can actually claim to be customerfirst because we39re now taking direct data and saying quotHey tell me what type of experience do you expect from this brandquotMoss Do you find any certain marketing channels or tactics more conducive to communicating any of those 27 feelings or experiences Tillman As marketers we often talk about the benefits of both traditional and modern forms of marketing I think we live in an environment today though where feedback loops and social listening platforms are more relevant than ever Because the reality is if you look at the data 80 percent of CEOs believe that they are delivering an exceptional experience to their customers yet only 8 percent of their customers agree That39s what we call an experience gapAnd when you look at how you would measure that experience gap it39s a 40 billion addressable marketamp8230 If we have an ability to create technologies to help narrow that gap to help marketers understand how to drive an exceptional customer experience amp8230 that39s what winning in this experience economy is all aboutMoss What advice would you give others coming up in the world of marketing or just in this crazy media world we39re in today Tillman First and foremost is know your authentic self We talk a lot about building your personal brand and authenticity is really at the core of that I always say quotKnow what you39re good at and focus on thatquot As women we often like to spend the time focused on the areas that we39re not good at and we lead with that quotOh I can39t do this becausequot or quotI39m not going to speak about this becausequot or quotI39m not good enough becausequotWe need to switch the dialogue quotI39m going to go for this becausequot or quotI feel I deserve that becausequot Sure there are things that everybody needs to work on but we need to stop leading with that and lead with where we know we39re good and let that shineamp8230Seek the feedback from others especially your close network because they39ll say quotHey you39re awesome at this and you don39t think you are but I think you are and you need to be more confident around thatquotMoss Those are great suggestions Of course it can be a little scary to ask for feedback Tillman It is scary And you know the world is often about having thick skin I always remember the example of American Express39 longtime CEO Ken Chenault besides being super smart he always asked for feedback at every turn every project good bad or indifferent Feedback not only helps you personally but it also helps the other person believe more in you because you care enough to ask for their feedback And you have to realize you are not the only person accountable for your successMoss Interesting that things on our personal level can be applied to the macrolevel because that39s how companies also need to exact trust by being genuine by receiving feedback by engaging with their actual customers Now with 2020 on the horizon what do you think is going to change the most and how are you going to corral what39s new in marketing Tillman I think the number one priority of companies amp8212 and that therefore will then become a big focus for marketers amp8212 is how to better shape the customer experience that brands deliver it39s an economy where business is won or lost based on the quality of the experience you deliver It39s very easy for customers to shift to another brand that has equal if not greater products that can delight them more effectivelyTwo other things that I think are going to be frontofmind for marketers the continuously evolving role of the marketing organization within a company is going to continue especially with the evolving nature of technology and emphasis on customer experience Yet I think the value of marketing is often not being recognized at the level that it needs to be We as marketers have to continuously evolve and do an excellent job in describing and aligning our value and then measuring that value for our companyFinally I think as companies we need to have a continued focus on how we shape the purpose narrative of our brands What is it that our business helps to enable at a much higher level for our customers What is the purpose that we have as brands How do we focus on things that truly matter to people such as women in leadership positions or other topics of inclusion and why that matters within companies It matters to employees when they choose brands they want to work for and it matters to consumers when they39re choosing brands they want to buy from So I think that will be a continued priority as we look out into 2020Click the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Insights From a Trifecta of (Female) CMOs -- Part 1: Alicia Tillman – SAP

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E.B. Moss

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Insights From a Trifecta of (Female) CMOs -- Part 1: Alicia Tillman – SAP

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