Arktic Fox

19/11/2021

CMO Australia's new State of CX leadership survey has taken a closer look at the state of customer experience leadership across Australian organisations today.

The research has demonstrated CX is still very much in its infancy in Australia, with nearly six in 10 saying their top operational priority is aligning org-wide processes and resources around CX.

Some key takeouts:
🧐 Marketing and CX aren't well aligned
📈 CX budgets are on the rise
🤝 Cross-functional connection on CX is still a big challenge
⭐️ Brand purpose and action are vital to CX
☝️ No one function is responsible for CX

Read more below.

More than one in five customer experience (CX) leaders are facing a disconnect between KPIs and metrics with marketing counterparts, hampering alignment and consistency across an organisation’s customer approach.

15/11/2021

CMO to CEO. What can stop the step up?

Former marketer, Warren Hebard has recently been named the CEO of , and says that one of the wider challenges in the CMO to CEO step is the way marketers are pigeon-holed into tight marketing and communication swim lanes.

“You see some CMO roles that are very specific to the core skills of the marketing arm and limited in scope... and in some organisations, we have seen customer experience split between products and tech for delivery, and you don’t have a CMO having that voice at an executive level or table. In these instances, you can get pigeon-holed into advertising and lose the ability to drive the P&L.”

So, what advice does Warren Hebard have for CMOs looking to take the leap to CEO?
🤝 The CMO, CFO relationship: "Having the respect of the CFO and an ability to speak to both cause and effect is one of the vital skills CMOs need to earn their place at the executive leadership table today."
➕ Financial management skills: “It’s a combination of wanting to learn, then having the right acumen around P&L and financial management – that’s really important. If you don’t gravitate towards that, it doesn’t excite you and you’re not numerate, you probably won’t cut the mustard."
🤩 A different style of leadership: "What leads a lot of people to lead is ultimately the performance and outcomes deliverables that help progress your career. You can’t do that or have that approach when managing people at a CEO level.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/31YYFDv

Having the respect of the CFO and an ability to speak to both cause and effect is one of the vital skills CMOs need to earn their place at the executive leadership table today. And it’s also instrumental to making the leap up to CEO, iSelect CEO, Warren Hebard, says.

12/11/2021

At Arktic Fox, we are specialists in digital and marketing transformation... but we hear you - what is it that we actually do?

Arktic Fox isn't just a training organisation - we also partner with marketing and business leaders to build and implement business transformation strategies that help to drive real organisational growth.

What we offer:
🧑‍💻 Advisory services: From strategy, culture and capability to MarTech, data and organisational transformation, we are here to help with all organisational transformational challenges.
🧑‍🏫 Training programs: We provide a range of training options in both a public format and in-house corporate training to help leaders and teams build confidence to tackle new challenges and problems.

If you're facing a challenge that you'd like support with, get in touch with us! We'd love to help.

To find out more about our advisory services, click here: https://bit.ly/3Hb6K7S
You can also find out about our training programs here: https://bit.ly/3koap8K

12/11/2021

The latest from the Arktic Fox Blog.

Did you know that we regularly share thought leadership pieces that are specially crafted for today's marketing and digital leaders?

Our five most recent articles focussed on:
⭐️ Sustainably scaling your eCommerce presence
💪 The key skills leaders need to drive digital adoption
🤩 Direct to customer retailing and whether it is a viable strategy for your business
❤️ Customer obsession and moving beyond the hype
📱 Three key reasons why your digital transformation efforts are stalling

To read more head to arkticfox.io/blog

While you're there, you can also sign up to our monthly update to stay in the loop with our thought leadership pieces, industry trends and more here https://bit.ly/3mYatxE

08/11/2021

The rivers of eCommerce gold have been flowing since the pandemic began. In Australia alone we have seen eCommerce sales grow to reach 13% of total retail sales - up from 9% in 2020. This has naturally driven sizeable uptake in eCommerce offerings for large and small businesses alike.

One of the common misconceptions we see for those in the early stages of building eCommerce maturity is the belief that sales will continue to grow at the same rate and trajectory they have to date, without the realisation that driving that next wave or level of growth is harder without evolution of your strategy.

So how can you sustainably scale your eCommerce presence?

💪 Build maturity and scale your eCommerce presence: what got you to where you are will not get you to where you are going and growth is harder to come by over time.
💰 Don’t make every decision based on driving short term ROI: investment in areas of experience, brand and distribution are all important for growth and attracting new customers.
📱 Look to diversify channel strategies: In the digital world, being beholden to one platform or channel is a big risk to profitability and growth.
❤️ Focus on driving loyalty: having a sizeable and robust 1st party data asset, and giving consideration to how to embed more loyal behaviours are both strategies to deepen engagement and drive loyalty.
🛍 Consider the role of marketplaces to reach new audiences: marketplaces can provide valuable reach and enable you to new reach audiences beyond your own eCommerce channel.
🥇 Don’t compete with yourself: don't think of an eCommerce strategy as a separate channel that adopts its own pricing and merchandising strategy, as it creates customer confusion, which can impact profitability across the board.
🤩 Build team capability: identifying key skill and talent gaps are vital to ensure the team is equipped to tackle the challenges ahead and tap into the growth opportunity that exists in your category.

Read more below.

While the pandemic has been the kick start many brands needed to truly put eCommerce on the agenda, driving growth, building maturity and scaling an eCommerce presence is a very different challenge to the early stages of growth.

05/11/2021

Driving innovation and change can be hard, but it is absolutely necessary to evolve and grow.

Are you looking for help with developing and implementing your transformation strategy? We specialise in working with leaders to drive real and lasting change within their organisations.

Get in touch with us here: https://bit.ly/2ZSEztW

04/11/2021

Our next Digital Marketing & Data Masterclass will be kicking off on Feb 23, 2022!

If you are looking for a program that will allow you to enable success across marketing tech, data, digital strategy and ways of working - this course if for you.

Facilitated by top 20 CMO, Teresa Sperti and product and innovation expert, Jonathan Henshaw, this highly interactive course also provides an opportunity for you to sound board your ideas and wrestle with what digital and data means for your marketing strategy.

About the Digital Marketing & Data Masterclass:
💯 100% of attendees say they are more confident after completing the course
🎯 rated 9.2/10 by attendees
⭐️ NPS +81
🤩 trusted by leading brands including Cotton On, Coles, Thermomix Australia, carsales.com.au, Quest Apartment Hotels and more.

Find out more and secure your place here: https://bit.ly/31cR03O

We also offer this program in-house for teams. Find out more here: https://bit.ly/3GDPsAa

03/11/2021

The Federal government recently released two long-awaited privacy papers, which indicate that marketers will soon face far-reaching and more restrictive laws when it comes to collecting and use customer data.

What you need to know:

❌ Organisations are facing an upending of current data and consent practices with Australian lawmakers and regulators.
🖥 As well as an overhaul of consent to use consumer data, companies will have to apply a ‘fair and reasonable’ test to everything they collect, use or disclose.
📍The definition of what counts as personal information is set to change in Australia, with online identifiers even down to geolocation under review.
🕵️ Organisations will no longer be able to assume that if they can't identify someone through their IP address, that the Privacy Act does not apply to them.
🚨 As well as the threat of stiffer penalties, the proposals open up the prospect of class actions.

Has your organisation got a plan in place to meet the ever-evolving changes to privacy?

Read more:

The definition of what counts as personal information is set to change in Australia, with online identifiers even down to geolocation under review, alongside use of loyalty and credit card data. The upshot is that the ad industry has to change everything it has done to date. The rules about how cons...

29/10/2021

For more than 50 years, CES has been the global stage for innovation - and for the first time, the 2021 event was completely virtual.

Despite the event being online, there were still all of the big announcements, launches, and insights into upcoming tech and trends that the event provides every year.

Technology related to healthcare and safety was more prominent than ever, along with a focus on technology designed to help us adapt to home working, homeschooling, and our increasingly housebound lives. There were also ideas and concepts that look forward to a time when traveling, socialising, and partying is back on the agenda.

So, what were the top 5 consumer technology trends from CES 2021?

🦠 Covid-tech: smart face masks and smart thermometers were a trend during the 2021 event
🏡 Working and learning from home: high-tech office chairs, remote education platforms and home robots were heavily featured
📺 Home Entertainment: think "invisible" TVs, wearable display headsets and gaming chairs
📱 5G: nearly all of the amazing new toys and gadgets on show need data to power them, and 5G was everywhere at CES this year
🚗 Transport and mobility: a battery powered one-person aircraft, a vertical takeoff/landing Cadillac and a "crab-walking" Hummer were on show.

Read more:

Bernard Marr is a world-renowned futurist, influencer and thought leader in the fields of business and technology, with a passion for using technology for the good of humanity. He is a best-selling author of 20 books, writes a regular column for Forbes and advises and coaches many of the world’s b...

26/10/2021

When you sit down with leaders and professionals charged with driving organisational change, soon enough you’ll be confronted by an all too familiar story. It’s not that technology implementation failed (although there is plenty of that occurring), it's that leading the transformation is an uphill battle – one which leaders are often losing in a sea of organisational resistance.

So, what skills do leaders need to drive digital adoption and transformation?

⭐️ The ability to educate and make the complex simple
🗣 Strong communication skills
🤝 An ability to collaborate:
📈 Data literacy
🧠 Learning orientation
❓ Ability to operate in ambiguity
💪 Resilience

Read more here: https://bit.ly/2XPzd1u

Do you need help driving digital adoption within your organisation? We partner with industry leaders to build and implement digital transformation strategies that help to drive real change. Get in touch with us to chat about how we can help: https://bit.ly/2WdG584

22/10/2021

Deloitte's 2021 Media Consumer Survey investigates how Australian audiences across the generations are currently consuming all types of media.

According to the report:
📺 the average household has 2.3 paid TV subscription services
📱46% of respondents are most willing to engage with ads on TV, rather than smartphones (20%)
🧐 6% of "boomers" check social media at least 5 times per day, while 35% of "gen z" do
🚨 49% of respondents said that news is a major reason they check social media

This report is a must read and covers consumer behaviour in a range of areas, including sentiments towards advertising, most used news sources and subscription habits.

Read more:

The 2021 Media Consumer Survey investigates how Australian audiences across the generations are currently consuming all types of media.

18/10/2021

Direct to consumer (DTC) retailing is having its moment in the spotlight. Whilst the trend had been gaining momentum over the past few years, interest in D2C retailing has shifted gears due to COVID driving consumers further online. As a result, brands are seeking to build data assets to derive insights and deepen relationships with the end consumer.

So what are some key considerations to build an effective DTC strategy?
👀 Create clarity around the role of DTC within your strategy: start by defining why DTC is an important part of your strategy moving ahead and what you seek to achieve.
🔎 Identify the best ways to enter the market: understanding how consumers procure products within your category is vital to determine the best market entry approach.
👟 Put yourself in the customers shoes: a lack of price parity erodes trust and will impact consumers decision to buy direct.
⭐️ Be prepared to stick it out and learn and evolve as you go: a D2C strategy requires organisations to be able to build for the long term, while building capability over time.
🧠 Think about the opportunity beyond your owned assets: marketplaces provide a viable alternative channel with vast audiences to further augment your direct distribution platforms.

Need help building an effective D2C strategy? Get in touch with us here: https://bit.ly/2WdG584 - we would love to help.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3n4vDsU

Direct to consumer (DTC) retailing is having its moment in the spotlight. Whilst the trend had been gaining momentum over the past few years, interest in D2C retailing has shifted gears due to COVID driving consumers further online. As a result, brands are seeking to build data assets to derive insi...