“Get out of your chair, put away the report, and live the world a bit.” Interview With Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP & Principal Analyst At Forrester

Transformational CMO is less than a month away! Before we go #MillenniumLive in late October in Denver, Digital Diary had the opportunity to sit down with Dipanjan Chatterjee, VP & Principal Analyst at Forrester to gain insight into what is impacting CMOs and how we can stay ahead of this year’s digital transformation as we charge into 2019.

Thanks, Dipanjan, for your expertise!

As a VP & Principal Analyst, you help CMOs thrive in the age of the customer. From your experience, what can a brand do to develop and manage themselves as a “world-class brand”?

Have an unyielding obsession with customer primacy. Leverage, but don’t get distracted by the tech and the toys, the data and the analytics. Don’t let your laser vision of your customer and how you can motivate them to get obscured by anything else.

At Forrester, you challenge thinking and lead change. By working with business and technology leaders to develop “customer-obsessed strategies that drive growth”, what have you seen as being the best practices in achieving that growth for a business?

This goes along with what I said previously. Leverage, but do not get distracted by what’s around you.

Since we are currently in the age of the customer, it is important that CMOs understand that building a powerful brand lies in the hands of those customers. How can CMOs shift from a company-centric approach to one that is focused on the customer?

Embed and demand empathy, fold it into the fabric of your organization. Hire for it. Train for it. Reward it. Then boost the human force of empathy with the analytic force of technology to create relevant and compelling brand experiences.

You recently released your report, “Give Your Brand A Voice — Literally”. Why do you think that voice will flourish and what does the shift to this paradigm mean for a modern brand?

Voice is the most natural form of communication. Human are there already. Machines are not. But the pace at which they have advanced is phenomenal, and we are likely not more than a few years away from a few pioneer brands implementing meaningful voice interfaces at scale. Add to this the growth of screen fewer devices, and any brand, modern or not, must be getting ready now to navigate and interact in the near-future world of voice.

(Check out Dipanjan’s report, Give Your Brand A Voice – Literally here.)

As the marketing industry continues to evolve, the way people develop solutions and strategies has drastically changed when compared to the past. How have influential technologies like AI or Blockchain impacted the way brands develop breakthrough solutions that resonate in the industry?

The capacity for machines to generate, gather, and analyze data with tremendous
processing power and the virtuous cycle of artificial intelligence has brought unprecedented power to brands. Now it is up to them the use them appropriately, use them well, and have the foresight to know when to supplement with context and intuition.

Is there a certain experience that you reflect upon or bring up when you create and scale solutions for global brands?

The world can be remarkably similar. And remarkably different. There’s a version of 5 the Avenue and a Rodeo Drive, and people that shop there, in most countries. Chocolate and vanilla are the preferred ice creams flavors just about anywhere. Yet Land Rover evokes very different emotions in China than it does in the US. And I can never forget the flabbergasted expressions of a team of Italian consumer durables executives as I walked them through kitchens in every corner of India. Get out of your chair, put away the report, and live the world a bit.

What advice do you have for CMOs looking to stay ahead of this year’s digital transformation?

Try and stay five years ahead in your understanding of market dynamics. And seed all kinds of pilot and tests targeting what’s coming two years down the road. Then you might be ready for the “next year” every year.

We are very excited that you are attending our Transformational CMO Assembly in Denver. As our Analyst Partner. What are you looking forward to most at our event?

To share my ideas and seek feedback to refine and sharpen them, and to learn from all around me.

What do you think are the benefits for a C-Level executive in attending this event?

To hear from some of the experts in their respective field on developments that will shape business in the near future, and to have the opportunity to shape that future.

Thank you, Dipanjan, for taking the time to interview with Digital Diary and we will see you in Denver!

ABOUT TRANSFORMATIONAL CMO

This October, the 8th Transformational CMOAssembly in Denver is a unique event that challenges our attendees to learn how to anticipate what’s next for the highly complex marketing environment that has emerged throughout the year through a series of executive education roundtables, keynote presentations,collaborative think tanks, educational workshops, and networking sessions with our industry experts and advisory board over the course of 2 days.

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Spaces are reserved for the best in the business. If you’re a CMO looking to stay one step ahead of the digital world, reserve your seat today >

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