Holistic Marketing Management, Volume 7, Issue 1, Year 2017

Editorial Board of “Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University) Editor-in-Chief Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA

Bernd HALLIER

John SAEE

John L. STANTON

Léon F. WEGNEZ

William PERTTULA Levent ALTINAY

Andrew KILNER Dana ZADRAZILOVA Riccardo BELTRAMO Sinisa ZARIC Gabriela SABĂU Hélène NIKOLOPOULOU Vasa LÁSZLÓ Peter STARCHON John MURRAY Kamil PÍCHA Irena JINDRICHOVSKA Holistic Marketing Management

President of European Retail Academy; President of EuCVoT, Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club; Former Managing Director EHI Retail Institute, Germany, Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop, Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent, Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P. President - Association of Global Management Studies (USA); Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues & Former Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management Systems, USA; Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, the Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology; Member of France’s National Academy of Scientific Research (CNRS); Director - ESB International Teaching and Research Exchanges, Reutlingen University, Germany Professor of Food Marketing, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, USA; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2016; Former Director, Institute of Food Products Marketing, and Editor, Journal of Food Products Marketing Secretary General, International Association of the Distributive Trade, AIDA Brussels; Member of France’s Academy of Commercial Sciences; Doctor Honoris Causa of NUPSPA (SNSPA) Bucharest; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2015 Internet Marketing Professor, College of Business, San Francisco State University, USA Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Research Area Leader, Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, UK First MBA Director at the Rennes Graduate School of Business in France; Director of RAFME Research into Management Excellence; PhD (Cambridge), MBA (City, London) Faculty of International Economic Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic University of Turin, Italy University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia Memorial University, Grenfell Campus, Corner Brook, Canada University of Lille 3, France Szent Istvan University, Hungary Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Faculty of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Deputy Head of Department of Business Economics, University of Economics 1

Norbert HAYDAM Constantin ROŞCA Hans ZWAGA Roxana CODITA Dumitru MIRON Valeriu IOAN-FRANC Iacob CĂTOIU Virgil BALAURE Gheorghe ORZAN Luigi DUMITRESCU Marius D. POP Petru FILIP Ion VOICU SUCALA Virgil POPA Alexandru NEDELEA Olguța Anca ORZAN Ana-Maria PREDA Ovidiu FOLCUȚ Doinița CIOCÎRLAN Marius Dan DALOTĂ Mihai PAPUC Gheorghe ILIESCU Costel NEGRICEA Alexandru IONESCU Tudor EDU Olga POTECEA Oana PREDA Nicoleta DUMITRU Monica Paula RAȚIU Elisabeta Andreea BUDACIA

and Management, Prague, Czech Republic Faculty of Business, Marketing Department, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa President of Romanian Scientific Society of Management - SSMAR Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences, Finland Technische Universität München, TUM School of Management Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest National Institute for Economic Research, Romanian Academy; Romanian Marketing Association; Romanian Distribution Committee Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Management and Economic Engineering Department; University of Glasgow, UK, College of Social Sciences, School of Social & Political Sciences; Managing Editor, Review of Management and Economic Engineering Valahia University of Târgovişte Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University

Associate Editors Diana SOCA Irina PURCĂREA Dan SMEDESCU Art Designer Director Alexandru BEJAN

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“Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University)

Volume 7, Issue 1, Year 2017 Contents

Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA - Editorial: The Research of the Organizational Culture in Romania ……………………………………………………...…..4 Nicholas DIMA - From National Independence to International Integration: Europe and Romania ………………………………………………………………………7 Costel Iliuță NEGRICEA - Digital Intelligence and Digital Marketing Effectiveness ……….12 Ioan Matei PURCĂREA Theodor PURCĂREA - CMO Priorities in Approaching Consumer Decision Journey, and Inspiration and Influence in Marketing………………………………18

Diana Anca SOCA - Producers and Consumers Face to Face with the Technical Advancements of the 3rd Millennium…………………………………………………….32

Theodor PURCĂREA - The Latest Issue of our Partner Journal, „Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Vol. XI, 2016, Number 3, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia…….………………………................................36

The responsibility for the contents of the scientific and the authenticity of the published materials and opinions expressed rests with the author.

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Editorial: The Research of the Organizational Culture in Romania Today’s concrete realities give us the opportunity to evaluate the strength of our own spirit and identity to believe in the unity of never stop reorganizing in approaching adaptive challenges, while preparing economists through continuing education, development, and training, always thinking about the increasing competition and the increasing global interdependence within the context of the linkage of education to work. There is no doubt about the importance of: the organizational culture (arisen and formed as a result of repeated interactions between its members (being influenced by the management style, the organizational structure, the business policies and practices and so on), which displays a mix of rational and irrational behavior (the modern management having as major components the emotional skills, the empathy, and the altruism), and ensures a consensus on principles and values of an organization; the intercultural studies, of the intercultural communication, as managers and employees come from different countries and cultures in this globalized world, and as the behavior in organizations is influenced by national cultures, each employee being influenced by the environment in which it was formed.

The beautiful Aula Magna of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE Bucharest) hosted Friday, February 24, 2017 the works of the General Assembly of the prestigious Association of Faculties of Economics in Romania (AFER). On this occasion it was launched the Volume 1 of “The research of the organizational culture in Romania” (Coordinators: Constantin Roşca and Nicolae Istudor; Universitaria Publishing House, Craiova, 2016), developed under the auspices of the Romanian Scientific Society of Management (SSMAR) in collaboration with AFER, and offering an optimistic outlook for the Romanian organizations led by professional, rational and emotional leaders. It is well-know that AFER and SSMAR, both responsible and dynamic actors of the academic scene, are continuing to confirm the importance of the quality of team relations, as well as the quality of the network in initiating partnerships, along with establishing a fluid and flexible process for planning sequential stages, of a supportive organizational culture, developing a high research potential via learning Holistic Marketing Management

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experiences based on projects and workshops conducted by excellent managers who aim high but at the same time pay a lot of attention to details.

The Members of the Presidium were Profesors: Nicolae Istudor, President of AFER, Rector of ASE Bucharest, and Honorary Member of SSMAR (in December 2016, at the Romanian Academy, the “Pierre Werner Centenary” Medal has been awarded to Professor Nicolae Istudor as recognition for his contribution to the development of higher education and academic research); Gheorghe Zaman, Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy, Director of the Institute of National Economy , Honorary Member of AFER, and President of the Scientific Council of SSMAR; Ovidiu Folcuţ, Vice President of AFER, and Rector of the Romanian-American University; Petru Ştefea, Vice President of AFER, and Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara; Ioan-Radu Petrariu, Executive Director of AFER. Professor Nicolae Istudor gave the floor to the four speakers invited to share their thoughts and ideas as the above mentioned Volume’s first ambassadors: Gheorghe Zaman, Theodor Purcarea, Gabriela Marinescu, and Constantin Roşca (President of SSMAR, and Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee).

The first volume of “The research of the organizational culture in Romania” is divided into three parts: Organizational culture - the theoretical foundations; Research methodology; Sample representativeness. COMOR project (“The Managerial Behavior in Romanian Holistic Marketing Management

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Organizations”, an experiment of SSMAR): studies various manifestations of respondents’ behavior (managers and non-managers, men and women, young and elderly persons, with medium and higher education level, who work in companies in all areas of economic activity according to the NACE code11, in all the counties of Romania) in order to learn and develop, both those national specificities which remain and have to be developed further, and those behaviors (which have to be improved) that alter one or other cultural dimensions of organizations at local, regional or national level; aims to identify the peculiarities in the Romanian organizational culture and managerial behavior (through benchmarking of Hofstede and GLOBE models) by researching multiple forms of expression, and considering the views expressed by the broad spectrum of respondents with regard to two aspects in parallel (according to the evaluations of the current situation; according to the respondents’ desired future/prefigurations), which constitutes the novelty of this approach.

It is worth remembering that the second volume, dedicated to this research report on results achieved in defining the organizational culture of the Romanian economy has five chapters corresponding to the five dimensions of organizational culture (as defined by Gert Hofstede), the variables corresponding to specific organizational behavior and an approach from two perspectives: regional (in the 8 development regions of Romania: North-East, South-East, South Muntenia, South-West Oltenia, West, North-West, Centre, Bucharest-Ilfov) and sectorial (in 7 areas of activity: agriculture and forestry, industry and energy, construction, trade, transportation, tourism, services). On the other hand, a special chapter in this second volume presents a correlative analysis of the degree of participation of respondents to define the dimensions of organizational culture and behavioral variables of these dimensions, as well as of responses from the questionnaire with multiple meanings in defining the cultural dimensions while the last chapter of the volume presents the general conclusions about the content of the dimensions of the organizational culture specific to Romanian economic organizations. As shown by the authors: the above mentioned regional approach allows multidimensional analysis at the county level of the major role that the human factor - in general and its behavior (organizational and managerial) - in particular, from different types of economic activities (agriculture, industry, trade, transport, construction, services, etc.) and sub-national cultural entities have for sustainable development of the Romanian society as a whole; they aim mainly to support the revival of national culture as multicultural practices support in organizations using individuals’ fundamental similarities while respecting their cultural differences, the culturalmanagement problem becoming the spiritual support (immortal in its essence and flexible in connection to this multicultural global current reality) of achieving the mission, seeking to provide solutions to common problems (both for the organization and for its members).

Theodor Valentin Purcărea Editor-in-Chief

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From National Independence to International Integration: Europe and Romania Nicholas DIMA

Abstract In the process of globalization, some countries and their inhabitants do progress and prosper while others are left further behind. And here is where national governments still have an important role to play because they can enact policies that no corporation can. Thus, governments should keep a balance between international interests, local businesses, and the general population. There is a strong link between political decisions and economic activities. In order to prosper, a country needs honest and competent political leaders and good economic specialists. And they must act together keeping in mind the national interests of the country and the needs of the people. The case of Romania is complex and a true analysis of the transition from a command economy to a market economy is beyond the scope of this paper. The situation could only improve if people elect honest political leaders who in turn appoint competent specialists to rebuild the economy. Only then could Romania aspire to a dignified place in the New World Order brought about by the process of globalization.

Keywords: Globalization; Transition; National interest; New World Order JEL Classification: F02; F23; R11

The aspiration of the Romanians for a very long time was to unite under their own independent nation–state. That was achieved in 1918 at the end of the First World War and it was followed by a period of nation building and social progress. Political leadership was central in the life of the new country and economic activities followed national interests. The Second World War changed the situation. The country was mutilated territorially and was occupied by Russia, which imposed a government of godless communists. The formerly Western educated elite and the middle class of Romania were replaced with a largely opportunistic group of Holistic Marketing Management

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individuals. Most of those who joined the communists lived in hypocrisy, paid only lip service to ideology, and helped themselves to the detriment of the nation. Then, communism was kidnapped by Ceausescu, who promoted a strident but empty nationalism and imposed himself on top of a dictatorial pyramid.

During 45 years of communism, and especially under Ceausescu, Romania built a strong industrial base. However, led by a semi-literate individual who would not listen to specialists, the new industries were largely uncompetitive. And to make matters worse, during the second part of the 20th Century, the world changed drastically. It was the beginning of the process of globalization. Huge international companies started to buy smaller ones, merged into even bigger corporations, created local affiliates in other countries, and began to grab great shares of the global business. Concomitantly, servicing activities, marketing and feasibility studies became crucial in the new global economy. As a result, business decisions began to trample political decisions. Then, the 21st Century brought about another change: Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) started to dislodge national authorities. This trend led to new economic blocs, eroded the power of national governments, and forced average people to adjust to new realities. For Romania, the transition has been painful and is continuing.

The 20th Century changed the political and economic map of Europe radically. It began in the 1950s with the European Economic Community and gradually it led to the present-day European Union. During this transition, the traditional nation-states lost their pivotal importance and the EU became the dominant power of the continent. From an economic point of view, the change should have been beneficial to all member countries, but in the case of Eastern Europe the results have been a mixed bag at best. Currently, Trans-National Corporations are at the base of the new global economy, but they are in a difficult relationship with the national governments.

The two of them sometimes cooperate; other times compete, and occasionally collide. For a better understanding it should be recalled that nations are created historically in a natural way from the ground up. They are located on a given territory, have governments that in principle are elected democratically, and have an inner balance of power between the executive, legislative and judiciary. By contrast, TNCs are created from above without any popular consent, have no inner balance of power, and have no national or local loyalties. They only exist for profits. And if they deem it necessary they move to other countries with no regard for local consequences.

In spite of all these negative traits, international corporations do bring about certain advantages, such as increase world trade and new technologies. Nevertheless, in the process of globalization, some countries and their inhabitants do progress and prosper while others are left further behind. And here is where national governments still have an important role to play because they can enact policies that no corporation can. Thus, governments should keep a balance between international interests, local businesses, and the general population. In a sentence, governments should always have in mind the welfare of the nation which they represent. Has the Romanian government done that over the last decades? Why is the population

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better off in such countries as Poland and Hungary, countries that started from similar regimes and are less endowed with resources than Romania?

It should be stressed that economy means the production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. Yet, there is no economic development without political backing, and politics mean the rules by which a society is governed. There is a strong link between political decisions and economic activities. In order to prosper, a country needs honest and competent political leaders and good economic specialists. And they must act together keeping in mind the national interests of the country and the needs of the people.

The case of Romania is complex and a true analysis of the transition from a command economy to a market economy is beyond the scope of this paper. However, the results of the transition are readily visible: They are ruined old industries, inefficient new agriculture, high unemployment, inadequate services and a disoriented population. From a social point of view, the situation is even worse. It is true that there is freedom and democracy today, but they do not help old people live any better and do not keep the youth of the country at home. On the contrary, over three million Romanians have left the country to find employment abroad. It is also true that a good part of the old communist economy was uncompetitive, but some industrial establishments were profitable and should have survived the transition. That would have provided employment for today’s young generation of Romanians. What happened?

Members of the former nomenclature have ripped off the old economy for their own interests and have become the multi-millionaires of today. Their ill-gotten wealth and their ostentatious behavior are an insult to most people and an offense to everyone’s common sense.

While this new class of nouveau rich and their offsprings are promoted to leading positions, too often competent people are marginalized. Has the process of globalization been good or bad for Romania? It has been good for a few and bad for many! And the situation could only improve if people elect honest political leaders who in turn appoint competent specialists to rebuild the economy. Only then could Romania aspire to a dignified place in the New World Order brought about by the process of globalization.

Nicholas Dima, Visiting Professor, Romanian-American University, 1 January 2017 (This article is inspired in part from Dr. Dima’s book, A Brief Study of Globalization, Exlibris: U.S., 2013; Dr. Dima offers courses on Globalization at RAU)

Editor’s Note: Great honor and pleasure to introduce Professor Nicholas DIMA Dr. Nicholas Dima is a strong advocate of freedom of learning, of education, of seeking knowledge – as the foundation for a better generation today and for a better society tomorrow – in his capacities as a professor, a writer and a “Voice of America” journalist. His American Holistic Marketing Management

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professional career (he received a doctoral degree from Columbia University in New York) includes working 20 years for Voice of America (VOA) in Washington, and teaching college, university and US Military schools for another ten years. Among his most rewarding achievements were meeting Kings, Presidents, and Prime ministers as a VOA reporter and editor, teaching American officers up to the rank of full colonel (for example, Professor and Director for European Studies at the US Army, J.F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Fort Bragg, NC., 1985-1988), teaching in the US and Africa, and promoting democracy, education, and human values world-wide.

On June 27, 2016, Professor Nicholas Dima posted an article entitled “America, Globalization and Brexit” on the website (http://sfppr.org/2016/06/america-globalization-andbrexit/ ) of the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research, a conservative Washington DCbased think tank founded in 1985 during the height of the President Ronald Reagan years, whose mission is to formulate and promote public policies based on the American values and benefits derived from the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, including limited government, individual liberty, freedom, opportunity, economic prosperity and the primacy of national sovereignty.

In August 2016, he has reviewed Robert D. Kaplan’s new book entitled “In Europe’s Shadow: Two Cold Wars and a Thirty Year Journey Through Romania and Beyond” (Random House, New York 2016), which focuses on Romania, but reflects the author’s wide knowledge of the entire area of East-Central Europe. According to the review posted on the above mentioned website of the Selous Foundation for Public Policy Research (http://sfppr.org/2016/08/leaving-something-to-history-2/ ), Robert D. Kaplan (who is fascinated by the uniqueness, culturally, historically and ethnically, of Romania – a key country to understanding Southeastern Europe) takes up historical questions, old and new challenges, sociopolitical and philosophical issues, as well as contemporary worries, politics and geopolitics. The author notices that for Romania geography was a nightmare and history was a tragedy (he consulted, among others, George Cristian Maior, former Director of Romanian Domestic Intelligence and currently Ambassador to Washington). The reviewer Nicholas Dima captured the reader’s attention with his opening sentence (“Leaving Something to History”), gave the essential information about this challenging book, determining the author’s main ideas and how they are developed, offering the reader some understanding of the author’s thoughts, supporting this documented work’s evaluation with evidence from the text, and proving that he knows not only the work under review, but also the author. He also proved the understanding of the author’s purpose, established the book’s authority and made a final judgement regarding this book.

Recently, on March 1, 2017, Professor Nicholas Dima has reviewed Peter H. Wilson’s new book entitled “Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire” (Belknap Press of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 2016 HC), an encyclopedic study covering over one thousand years of Western European Christianity, roughly from 800 to 1806. While perusing or scanning the book looking primarily for relevance to our century, the reviewer Nicholas Dima Holistic Marketing Management

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asked himself: “What lessons can Europe learn from the experience of its Western ‘imperial’ past?” Professor Nicholas Dima also added, among other aspects, that: “It is worth recalling that in 1787, when theoretically the Empire still existed, James Madison, the future American President, wanted to get inspiration from the Empire’s experience for the organization of the United States”… “Apparently, human nature has not changed much! Yet, can the EU draw from past experience and avoid those old traps one thousand years later?” (http://sfppr.org/2017/03/europes-never-ending-struggle/ ).

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Digital intelligence and digital marketing effectiveness Dr. Costel Iliuță NEGRICEA Ioan Matei PURCĂREA

Abstract All businesses are beginning to better understand the significant role of digital intelligence as a continuous initiative transforming businesses and customer experiences. There are lessons to learn from digital predators on the way of solving the so-called “digital dilemma”. And as we are in the “converged lifestyle”, digital marketers must act accordingly in their journey from strategy to execution, including by rethinking buyer persona development and insight gathering in our digital-centric world. There is a real need of using the adequate techniques for improving the organization’s digital marketing effectiveness, better understanding what are today’s in-demand marketing skills, not forgetting that digital marketing is considered to be an essential part of the marketing budget.

Keywords: Digital intelligence; Digital operational excellence; Digital customer experience; Digital marketing effectiveness JEL Classification: L86; M15; M31; O33

Digital intelligence, a continuous initiative transforming businesses and customer experiences It is well-known that the American Marketing Association (AMA) offers access to a wide variety of resource solutions from its sponsors and partners that can help readers understand complex marketing strategies, solve a problem, or make a decision. On January 29, 2017, we received e-mail from “AMA on behalf of Tealium” (specialoffers@oneama.com) inviting us to download their copy of the November 2016 Forrester report, “Your Digital Intelligence Strategy Must Match the Speed of your Customers”. In this message presenting the report the following was underlined: how important is to effectively using digital data to optimize interactions for business advantage within the context of the proliferation of the ways customers can digitally interact with brands; that according to Forrester report digital intelligence practices must constantly refresh their view of customers with new data and insights in order to remain competitive, the necessary strategic plan in this respect including: Customer Engagement

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Optimization; Data and Technology; Metrics and KPIs; People and Process; Strategy to Support Digital Transformation.

The above mentioned Forrester report (Little and McCormick, with Leganza, Lee, and Reese) highlighted three key takeaways: Elevate digital intelligence with a strategic plan (the last one incorporating data and technology, people and process, metrics and key performance indicators, and customer engagement optimization); Outdated approaches hobble digital intelligence (where the need of having both a complete digital analytics , and a modern approach for applying data-rich digital analytics in real time); Reboot with digital intelligence (going beyond insights-influenced and becoming insights-driven). The authors attracted the attention, among other issues, on the imperative of solving the so-called “digital dilemma” by an adequate digital intelligence strategy, avoiding this way losing customers whose expectations rise while their digital experience isn’t optimized to meet those expectations, case in which their perception of value falls.

Here is a good opportunity to remember the arguments brought by the Forrester Analyst Nigel Fenwick in August 2016 in relation with the need of taking a more holistic approach as transformers, becoming digital predators who recognize the evolution of their customers’ expectations, and redesign their business to evolve alongside these evolving expectations.

(Fenwick, 2016) Which involves confirming the better understanding of the continuous challenge of delivering digital operational excellence (DOX, which focuses on the ability to use emerging technologies to change business operational aspects) by proving the ability to evolve quickly and create business agility in service of the customer (solving this way the digital dilemma: as expectations rise, without changes in experience perceived value decreases).

Fenwick explained clearly: “The perceived value for each customer is unique and determined by the actual experience delivered (numerator) compared to the expectations that the customer has prior to the experience (denominator).”

As Fenwick showed on other occasions: every company that exists today will have become a digital predator or digital prey by 2020, digital predators differentiating from other companies by understanding the connection between digital experiences and the customer’s perception of the value the company creates; (Fenwick, 2016) the digital business success is determined by three factors: delivering exceptional customer experience, creating new sources of value for customers, and executive understanding and leadership. (Fenwick, 2016) And coming back to the first article mentioned above, that of Fenwick, it is important to note that he underlined that a company that wants to solve the digital dilemma must master simultaneously DOX (digital operational excellence) and DCX (digital customer experience), digital predators focusing the same much energy on both.

Another recently published Forrester report (Bieler, Fenwick, Matzke, Gill, MargaritStoica, McPherson) highlights that in order to support the continuous exchange of information

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and data to create value digital businesses need digital ecosystems, which must be understood and embraced so as to better help both the B2C and the B2B businesses.

The current “convergence era” and the 5 Cs of digital marketing It is well-known that we are in the “converged lifestyle” (phase of convergence in which technology enables consumers to get what they want, when they want it) (KPMG International, 2011) businesses need to continuously rethink the way they interact with their customers, considering “Mega Trends” such as “Connectivity and Convergence” and “Bricks and Clicks” (Jawad, 2014), “The Digital Era” and “Technological Convergence”, convergence driving the greatest innovations (Bricklemyer, 2014), and the most disruptive technologies (Mobile technologies; Big data/analytics; Social media; Public cloud) in combination (Gartner, Inc., 2013).

Some time ago, the Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce (Afshar and Gupta, 2016) showed how he collaborated with the Senior Vice President, and Head of Digital at Healthgrades, in order to better understand his approach to digital marketing transformation. In the current “convergence era”, in the opinion of Gupta: ● digital marketers across all industries can achieve success if they focus on the following 5 Cs of digital marketing: consumer/ customer/client (at the center of the strategy as a human being, and not as a segment), context (agnostic pillar of a seamless experience: knowing and understanding behavior at any point in the relationship, across all touch-points, at all times), content (another agnostic pillar of a seamless experience: influenced, inspired and driven based on context), commerce (organically driven by the other 4 Cs), convergence (considered to be needed at all levels to overcome the challenges of fragmentation and silos; using CRM, marketing automation, communities, analytics and social networking). ● the journey from strategy (which now is the “Protagonist” demanding real and tangible experiences) to execution is the biggest challenge faced by marketers, the DNA of the modern marketer being defined by overlapping attributes and the intersection of marketing, technology, data, content, creative, storytelling and more.

The founder and leading authority in buyer personas for B2B Marketing (Zambito, 2017) underlined recently today’s need of rethinking buyer persona development and insight gathering in a digital-centric world. After a reflective period examining the state of insights and buyer persona development sixteen years later (when buyer personas were first launched), Tony Zambito recommends now new thinking and new approaches, starting from: the increasing need for human insights (considering the ability enabled by the digital technologies of producing an overwhelming amount of data analytics); the valuable ability to utilize the power of crowdsourcing today to test insight understanding (by using digital platforms); accurately gain insights into the what, how, and why of what people really do (by using field observations and onsite conversations); creating iterative and collaborative insight communities with engaged Holistic Marketing Management

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customers (contextual insight communities); in-depth executive interviews (and transforming contextual insights in the cornerstone of what drives marketing); the use of analytics to scale insights (and getting more detailed pictures of growth opportunities). Zambito pledges for a correct view of customers in a digital-centric world, by reengineering insights and persona development, taking into account the strategic necessity of transforming insights’ gathering, identifying relevant insights, and developing archetypal market personas.

Improving the organization’s digital marketing effectiveness As we all already know, according to the State of Digital Marketing Skills in 2016 (on the basis of data taken from Smart Insights’ study and survey Digital Skills 2016), (Allen, 2016) the top techniques for improving the organization’s digital marketing effectiveness are: a planned approach to digital marketing based on planning, analytics, and continuous optimization (77% of respondents); encouraging a culture of personal upskilling and sharing of best practice throughout the organization (71%); adequate budget for investment in staff learning and development (57%); process support collaboration and integration between different people/teams (47%). While according to 2016 CMO Summit Survey Highlights (conducted by Spencer Stuart, being involved more than 150 marketing leaders across industries), digital marketing (including social media) ranked 1st position in the top of the most important skills to marketing team’s success today (62%), followed by data analytics and insights (49%), and strategic thinking (48%).

On the other hand, it is also interesting to note that in February this year a marketing consultant, copywriter, content strategist, and founder of Precision Marketing & Communications invited us to look at the job postings lately to better understand what are today’s in-demand marketing skills: Marketing automation, CMS, and CRM; Google AdWords and Analytics; A/B-testing, user funnels, PPC, SEO, SEM, HTML, CSS; social media and email; UX design, mobile marketing, SMS; Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. (Smoldt, 2017) And as marketing technology (martech) is a driving business force today (understanding martech being ranked, in a recent study of marketers across the US and Europe, only behind creativity as an increasingly important skill for successful senior marketers), let us also look at some basic ways to get martech-savvy and stay relevant in the opinion of the above mentioned marketing consultant: make a plan… make time… get on-the-job training… check your ego… get useful certifications… network… use it or lose it… follow influencers… subscribe to industry newsletters… have confidence.

Coming back to the State of Digital Marketing Skills in 2016, let us remember that in the barrier to building strong marketing teams ranking budget constraints were ranked as the 1st position (33%), followed by shortage of talent (29%), and a focus on other strategic objectives (14%). And as digital marketing is considered to be an essential part of the marketing budget, we find useful to make a link with the approach of a representative of a digital marketing leader, UNION (a digital marketing agency founded in 2002 and headquartered in Charlotte, NC). In the Holistic Marketing Management

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opinion of this Union’s representative, (Price, 2016) leading with digital offers value, agility and measurable returns, and in this respect, a digital strategy should include the following steps: start with specific, attainable goals… explore a budget framework… focus on the right channels… content marketing… search engine optimization… paid search and display campaigns… social media… marketing automation… analytics…

Conclusion As we can see there are many common points between the different approaches presented above. And as all these confirm the viewpoints expressed by us in our journal, allow us to recall some of them as a short conclusion.

There is no doubt about the real need of talent and leadership to approach digital marketing challenges, by having a more active digital agenda, doing periodic assessments and developing action plans to improve company’s execution, raising awareness for digital marketing among the executive staff. Marketers are indeed under the continuous pressure of improving their company’s digital marketing efforts by using the adequate digital marketing techniques, following the trends, and doing the right thing about them, integrating digital and traditional marketing, enhancing knowledge of their customers’ needs, wants and attitudes, achieving a complete customer view, and delivering real-time experiences accordingly. Digital is a dynamic marketing function, and digital marketing capabilities have become one of the most important marketing capabilities. Marketers are truly convinced about the real need to build digital marketing capabilities, including digital strategy, social media, and mobile marketing activities, considering the impact on performance of digital practices, and understanding convergence of market-oriented behaviors associated with the usages and purchases of goods or services.

References Afshar, V., Gupta, M., The 5 Cs of Digital Marketing, 09/09/2015, updated Sep 09, 2016, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vala-afshar/the-5-cs-of-digital-marke_b_8104090.html Allen, R., The State of Digital Marketing Skills 2016 [Infographic], September 20, 2016, retrieved on 09.03.2017, from: http://www.smartinsights.com/manage-digital-transformation/state-of-digital-marketing-skills/ Bieler, D., Fenwick, N., Matzke, P., Gill, M., Margarit-Stoica, C., McPherson, I., Customer-Obsessed Businesses Need Digital Ecosystems, February 12, 2016, retrieved on 06.03.2017, from: https://www.forrester.com/report/CustomerObsessed+Businesses+Need+Digital+Ecosystems/-/E-RES127761?

Bricklemyer, J. - Leadership 2030: Megatrends and Their Implications for Project Management, September 23, 2014, quoted by Purcarea, T., Expo Milano 2015, TUTTOFOOD 2015, and SHOP 2015, Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 1, 03 2015, pp. 8-10 Fenwick , N., How To Solve The Digital Dilemma, August 26, 2016, retrieved on 06.03.2017, from: http://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/16-08-26-how_to_solve_the_digital_dilemma Holistic Marketing Management

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Fenwick, N., The 2016 Guide To Digital Predators, Transformers, and Dinosaurs, May 10, 2016, retrieved on 06.03.2017, from: http://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/16-05-10the_2016_guide_to_digital_predators_transformers_and_dinosaurs Fenwick, N., Digital Transformation 2016 Infographic, May 9, 2016, retrieved on 06.03.2017, from: http://blogs.forrester.com/nigel_fenwick/16-05-09-digital_transformation_2016_infographic#node-12350 and Cultures, Mega Trends. Defining our future: Are you ready? M82C-MT, quoted by Purcarea, T., Expo Milano 2015, TUTTOFOOD 2015, and SHOP 2015, Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 1, 03 2015, pp. 8-10 “Gartner Executive Program Survey of More Than 2,000 CIOs Shows Digital Technologies Are Top Priorities in 2013,” quoted by Purcarea, T., Expo Milano 2015, TUTTOFOOD 2015, and SHOP 2015, Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 1, 03 2015, pp. 8-10 KPMG International - The Converged Lifestyle. Consumers and Convergence 5, Publication number: 111227, Publication date: December 2011, quoted by Purcarea, T., Expo Milano 2015, TUTTOFOOD 2015, and SHOP 2015, Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 1, 03 2015, pp. 8-10 Little, C. and McCormick, J. with Leganza, G., Lee, J., and Reese, A., Your Digital Intelligence Strategy Must Match The Speed Of Your Customers. Strategic Plan: The Digital Intelligence Playbook, November 30, 2016, pp.

0,3, available also at: https://www.mediastruction.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Forrester-Digital-StrategyReport-Nov-30-2016.pdf Price, K., How to Plan Your 2017 Digital Marketing Budget, November 10, 2016, retrieved on 09.01.2017, from: http://blog.union.co/how-to-plan-your-2017-digital-marketing-budget Smoldt, J., How to Stay Relevant as a Marketer in a Crazy Martech World, February 7, 2017, retrieved on 05.03.2017, from: https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2017/31543/how-to-stay-relevant-as-a-marketer-in-acrazy-martech-world?

Zambito, T., New Approaches To Understand Customers Needed In A Digital Transformation World, Jan 30, 2017, retrieved on 07.02.2017, from: http://customerthink.com/new-approaches-to-understand-customers-needed-in-adigital-transformation-world/?

2016 CMO Summit Survey Highlights, April 2016, retrieved on 09.03.20117, from: https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/2016-cmo-summit-survey-highlights

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CMO priorities in approaching consumer decision journey, and inspiration and influence in marketing Theodor PURCĂREA Abstract In today’s digital world there is a real need of approaching consumer decision journey within a well-orchestrated program by placing more emphasis on the initial consideration set, and expanding initial consideration. CMO are challenged to clearly identify priorities in the year of data and measurement, of Agile Marketing, focusing marketing activity on creating customer value, tying marketing’s contribution to this customer value, and measuring marketing’s performance within the context of the company’s business value. They also need to include customer inspiration as a metric in managerial decision-making, and to consider influence as a driving force for change in approaching customer experience, building proper relationships on the way of digital transformation, and enabling the customer-centricity, reimagining marketers’ role as a central driver of organisational change, output, and impact, and avoiding thinking of influencers in a linear way.

Keywords: consumer decision journey; marketing’s value and performance; customer inspiration; influencer marketing JEL Classification: L81; L86; M31; M37; O33

Approaching consumer decision journey by placing more emphasis on the initial consideration set, and expanding initial consideration In the opinion of McKinsey’s representatives (Court, Elzinga, Finneman, and Perrey, 2017) there is a new battleground for marketing-led growth (initial consideration being considered the marketing’s most critical battleground), the strongest path to growth in this digital world being to capture consumers (encouraged to shop around) early in their decision journeys (McKinsey’s consumers decision journeys database covers more than 125,000 consumers, shopping for more than 350 brands; the recent study researched 30 categories), taking into account the disruption of their established patterns of behavior because of new technologies and greater choice (87% consumers shopped around). Making the distinction between brand loyalists (13%), vulnerable repurchasers (29%), and switchers (58% were tempted away compared with the above mentioned 42% consumers stuck with incumbent brand; within the 27 categories where shopping around was dominant) , it was underlined that: loyalty is ephemeral (with the exception of consumers in categories characterized by loyalty, such as: auto insurance, investments, and mobile carriers); it is important to place more emphasis on the initial consideration set and to increase the odds of converting shoppers at the moment of purchase; it also remains important to provide quality and service, or rewarding company’s most loyal customers during the post purchase experience; as it is easy losing consumers faster than adding new ones, it is necessary to put more focus on innovative programs for the huge percent of potential; consideration and growth are strongly correlated, the previous interaction with a brand Holistic Marketing Management

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being the most important touchpoint for driving initial consideration, and being necessary to begin expanding initial consideration (by identifying new ways of boosting broad awareness of company’s goods, services, and brand, one hand, and by taking an innovative approach for translating traffic beyond simple awareness to real brand consideration, on the other hand); consideration can be organically grown by creating more innovative and exciting products or variations (building a pipeline of innovative product, service, and brand news); there is a tradition of the customer growth indicator leaders of building buzz with brand news as part of an integrated plan (the case of Apple Inc., for example, which constantly stimulated shoppers in placing the brand in their initial consideration set by using product news on innovations).

McKinsey’s representatives concluded that is crucial to earn a spot in consumer’ highly valuable initial consideration sets, but without diminishing the need for a well-orchestrated program across the consumer decision journey.

Important signals in relation with CMO priorities in the year of data and measurement, of Agile Marketing The author of the book “Metrics in Action: Creating a Performance-Driven Marketing Organization” highlighted recently (Patterson, 2017) some important signals in relation with Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) priorities coming from valuable publications (taking into account the current trend toward more compelling measurements of value): the double need of being able to measure marketing’s impact in order to be effective, and of doing a better job of justifying marketing investments (other identified priorities by the research published in AdAge being: a broader look at brand; more specialty shops, fewer AORs; when possible, take it inHolistic Marketing Management

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house); (Kennedy, 2017) continued cross-channel measurement of brand engagement efforts, adoption of sophisticated marketing measurement by small to mid-sized businesses, and steady progress toward real-time marketing attribution (other trends being: increased investment in mobile, growing addition of audience data as a dimension of cross-channel marketing and measurement, and continued acquisitions by major marketing cloud players); (Muller, 2017) measurable improvement in marketing performance, as 2017 will be the year of Agile Marketing (according to a Forbes article); (Lyman, 2017) the need to prove accountability, marketers being under more pressure in 2017, the year of data and measurement (in the opinion expressed by Steven Wastie, CMO of Origami Logic). (Wastie, 2017) According to the above mentioned book author, President and Founder of VisionEdge Marketing, measuring marketing’s value and performance constitutes the current challenge, this way determining marketing’s contribution to the business, by transforming the perception of marketing from a cost center (focused on keeping costs in line or below budget) to a value center as the first step in helping marketing prove its value by using outcome-based metrics (linking marketing efforts to business outcomes).

This kind of approach involves enabling marketing to measure value and impact by linking adequately marketing activities and outcomes so as to form a metrics chain (the foundation for reporting/dashboard, as a sequence of metrics that form the links between activity, output, operational, and outcome metrics). (Patterson, 2015) And in this respect, focusing marketing activity on creating customer value, it is necessary both: ▪ to know: company’s value drivers; the way customer value is calculated (customer lifetime value, for instance); the current customer value; the desired customer value; the way marketing’s contribution will be tied to this customer value (the most critical step); ▪ to choose a means to measure marketing’s performance within the context of the company’s business value, in this process being very useful the following performance metrics table: Tabel 1: Performance metrics Marketing objective Business outcome Measure of performance Business value measure measure Result X existing customers will Adoption rate Customer win rate % increase in adopt new solution Y market share Source: Patterson, L., Marketing Activity Metrics Mean Little: Here's How to Really Prove Marketing's Value, March 2, 2017

All of the above made us recall what we showed, among other issues, in the last years in our journal (2011-2016): • the need of accountability (well understanding the difference between being responsible in a general sense/ you can delegate it, and being held accountable - more measurable/you can’t delegate it to anyone if it goes wrong), creativity and courage on the part of marketers themselves; (Purcarea, 2011)

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• the need of a clear understanding of the transformation context, and bridging the gap of the timeline and the urgency and allowing to envisioning new possibilities, encouraging emergence, conveying the message across multiple levels in the organization, exploring marketing resource management solutions and transforming holistic marketing management in a profit center; (Purcarea, 2012) • the need of thinking about individual performance in the light of core principles, considering that health-related considerations are just as important as performance-related ones; (Purcarea, 2012) • today’s consumers are considerably contributing to the moving target of the marketing

environment, within this framework metrics being rarely perfect; (Purcarea, 2012) • we are witnesses and actors of a digitization process, and holistic marketing managers are convicted to bringing data quality expertise, while spending and measuring the return of marketing investment in both, the physical and the second economy; (Purcarea, 2013) • as an art and also a management science calling for the implementation of rigorous processes and metrics, marketing is challenged to be more and more creative and accountable, being important to reinforce and embed ROI thinking in the daily marketing approach, focusing on demonstrating how marketing is creating and capturing customer value, not relying too heavily on analytics, but on the so-called “both-brain” approach, by making the right balance between creativity and analytics, and also constantly reevaluating the marketing strategies, by acting with speed and agility in addressing key customer needs and expectations; (Purcarea, 2014) • marketers are increasingly challenged to ensure the orchestration of the six A’s of marketing

performance management, to understand the role of marketing technologists, to ensure a successfully intersection with their audience across channels and devices, to constantly innovate and improve the customer experience; (Purcarea, 2014) • marketers also need to keep a tight focus on the metrics, to better understand the marketing

predictions and the direct relationship between marketing’s value and impact and marketing’s alignment to the business, viewing marketing and sales as a company’s investment, they must identify and face the current challenges, so as to achieve measurable and actionable results, and to refresh and realign company’s marketing objectives on the basis of an outside perspective that also helps those outside the accountable marketing department understand the whole picture; (Purcarea, 2015) • the marketing organization must redefine itself as a revenue generator, modern marketers are adaptable, inquisitive and have the ability to collaborate, having a good understanding of technology, always searching for ways to meet their customers’ changing needs and evolving life stage requirements, are developing multiple points for their customers’ feedback, and are using marketing to educate not just promote, they are also harnessing the power of new technologies, Holistic Marketing Management

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attracting the next generation of talent to build engaging brands and content, personalization of digital experience being at the heart of the efforts to overcome around how they create intimacy and relationship in the digital world of customers overwhelmed by a lack of time and too much choice; (Purcarea, 2015) • by providing valuable information, marketing can have a direct impact on revenue generation,

being also important to know the secret behind successful B2B marketing, better understanding the real value of “Account-based marketing”, reinventing the marketing department of a B2B organization by achieving a tangible transformation and delivering the types of insights that the market wants, better understanding of the relevance and role of CMOs in the C-Suite under the pressure of data and measurement, preparing for the next era in marketing while understanding that the game changer for marketing transformation is the reciprocity of value equation; (Purcarea, 2015) • marketers are today more focused on driving business growth, pursuing with diligence the essence of being customer-focused, connecting with the customer with commitment and research in focusing on its values and priorities, remaining relevant to existing customers and also introducing marketers’ company to new customers by developing values-based personas, also investing in the next big thing which is Advocate Marketing that amplifies word of mouth recommendations, and integrating technology, people, and practices to help take advantage of the wealth of data available today, creating unbreakable bonds between their brands and customers, while keeping in mind the impact of the customers’ last, best interaction with a brand; (Purcarea, 2015) • it’s also time to rethink the B2B buyer’s journey, better understanding the ways of

communication, and the practical tips on what and how to segment, developing content with clear segments in mind, and using personalization as an embedded function within the marketing department, providing consistent content on each channel, prioritizing leads from inbound channels, never separating leads and contacts, and aligning marketing and sales, building the content marketing strategy around business outcomes; (Purcarea, 2016) • marketing decisions should be guided by an analysis of customer lifetime value, measuring and

managing it, taking advantage of the available and bringing different marketing channels together in a new way for new experiences, including by becoming mobile marketers, seeing the world through the customer’s eyes and redesigning functions to create value in a customercentric way, linking the customer experience to value, improving this customer experience by moving from touchpoints to journeys, considering the impact of the new and emerging technologies, rethinking the tools and platforms, focusing on the customer technology stack, really caring about marketing technology stack within the framework of developing a marketing capabilities platform (being well-known that building marketing capability was identified in the valuable Marketing 2020 study as the most important of all strategic levers to drive competitive advantage), building marketing engagement engine, keeping making forward progress, because Holistic Marketing Management

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strategy, marketing, and technology are all intertwined, and marketers must connect, inspire, focus, organize, and build, while delivering their messages in accordance with the fundamental human motivations to be satisfied; (Purcarea, 2016) • harmonizing marketing and revenue management within today’s constantly shifting

environment is a real challenge, while improving decision journeys with Agile Marketing is a must as marketing shifted from the business of communications to the business of experiences, and as the new name of the marketing game is agility, it is important to understand that the agile management methods offer organizations a proper way of transforming the current changes in opportunities. (Purcarea, 2016) Inspiration and influence in marketing In the opinion of Beth Comstock, Vice Chair at General Electric from August 2015 (former GE’s chief marketing and commercial officer), and a member Nike’s Board of Directors: “Whether B2B or B2C… good marketing essentials are the same. We are all emotional beings looking for relevance, context and connection.” On the other hand, according to John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States (from 1825 to 1829): “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you’re a leader.” While according to Zig Ziglar (November 6, 1926 – November 28, 2012; American author, salesman, and motivational speaker): “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.

That’s why we recommend it daily.”

Inspiration was presented (Böttger, 2015) as a core function of marketing, as part of the customer experience, customer inspiration (which has direct effects on behavioral outcomes) being recommended to be included as a metric in managerial decision-making. Inspiration (Thrash and Elliot, 2004) has three core characteristics (transcendence, evocation, motivation), may be decomposed (from the viewpoint of social psychology) into separate processes related to being inspired “by” (the cognitive constituent) and being inspired “to” (the motivational constituent), involving the realization of a new insight or idea and creating a motivation to act on this basis.

Within this framework it is interesting to note that in February 2017 it was underlined that marketers need to better understand cognitive biases (defined in an article on Psychology for Marketers as: “…shortcuts in our brain that determine our behavior without us even knowing about it”), these mental tendencies (status quo bias, loss aversion, anchoring, bandwagon effect, in-group bias, framing etc.) having the potential to pose some of the biggest obstacles to ROI) in order to ensure that their communications strategies will thrive. (Oldfield, 2017) While a month before, at the end of January 2017, a Forbes contributor (Amstrong, 2017) expressed his interest in “Influence” as one of the big “issues” of this year, and made reference from the very beginning at the new report called “Influence 2.0” by Altimeter and Traackr, quoting the report’s

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author, the reputed Brian Solis: “[The report] offers a [call for a] new mindset and approach to customer experience where influence become the driving force for change.”

Three days later, Solis shared the complete interview, (Solis, 2017) highlighting, among other issues, the following aspects: marketing now becomes part of customer experience, building relationships based on usefulness, productivity and breeding reciprocity along the customer journey, better understanding how it applies to an evolving set of customer behaviors, measuring “Return on relationships” and building metrics that drive outcomes and change behaviors, influencers being tied directly to decisions making, and letting go of the past (the old school influencer marketing tactics and measurements based on the numbers). And one day later, Tatiana Beale, Head of Content at Traackr (an influencer relationship management platform), argued that an entirely new world for companies has been opened up by the influencer relations, “Influence 2.0” being both the key driver of digital transformation, and the enabler of customercentricity. She also underlined (Beale, 2017) some key findings (as analyzed by Solis) of the above mentioned global research study (for which Traackr teamed with TopRank Marketing, being surveyed 102 enterprise marketing leaders from Adobe, American Express, Microsoft etc.), such as marketing leaders’ prediction that influencer programs will reach new audiences and improve sales conversion, as shown in the figure below:

Figure 3: 10 Goals of Influencer Marketing Source: Beale, T., New Influencer Marketing Research Has Four Key Findings, January 31, 2017

Next month, on February 15, (Crenshaw, 2017) the CMO at Traackr, Kirk Crenshaw, stated that Brian Solis introduced “Influence 2.0” (Influencer Relations) as a new business model that unifies disparate organisational functions and encompasses all relationship-driven marketing activities, championing influence at a higher cross-functional level, considering influencer marketing also as an investment priority, pledging for reassessing the value chain and creating value within the relationships between influencers and their communities, for integrating influence management, content strategy, and customer experience in order to impact sales, satisfaction, and retention, and inviting marketers to “reimagine their role as a central driver of organisational change, output, and impact by connecting with customers in more genuine and useful ways and channels they trust and value.”

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Let us also remember that five years ago, in March 2012, Solis (celebrating his first anniversary as Principal Analyst of Altimeter Group marked with the release of his first official Altimeter report: “The Rise of Digital Influence”), argued that as the social networks become part of our digital lifestyle, (Solis, 2012) within each network our social activity contributing to our stature, there is an enormous potential for social influence (by on-going engagement and community building). On this occasion he presented, among others, the framework of the pillars of influence (reach, resonance, and relevance):

Figure 4: Framework: The pillars of influence Source: Solis, B., Report: The Rise Of Digital Influence And How To Measure It, March 21, 2012

Three years later, in October 2015, Nicolas Chabot, Investor and Head of Traackr in Europe, showed how the influencer marketing become an essential, cross-functional process, (Chabot, 2015) and introduced the model of the cross-functional influence programs throughout the organization integrating all aspects of a marketing strategy of influencing the web and social media:

Figure 5: The Cross-Functional Influence Model Source: Chabot, N., The New Cross-Functional Influencer Program, October 7, 2015 Holistic Marketing Management

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Identifying potential influencers among your well-known customers and starting building relationships with them Managing adequately the process for gaining customer insight is a real challenge, presupposing: continually monitoring customer activity, asking for input, building relationships (by also looking for influencers who can be right in front of you), measuring twice and cutting once, better understanding communication channels. (Hartert, 2017) And as Accenture’s representatives argued recently, it is important to respond to direct signals of demand, and to embed new demand-sensing capabilities into processes, mastering the just-in-time marketing by excelling across customer knowledge, channel capability, and real-time marketing flexibility.

(Hosbein, 2017) A report (“The CMO Shift to Gaining Business Lift”, December 6, 2016) of CMO Council and Deloitte (based on data from 200 global CMOs/Senior marketers surveyed in the third quarter of 2016) revealed that in the opinion of CMOs (Nanji, 2017) the use of data to maximize the effectiveness of spend and the embracement of new digital advertising and engagement technologies represent the top methods by which marketers can drive revenue and improve margin, as shown in the figure below:

Figure 6: The top methods by which marketers can drive revenue and improve margin Source: “The CMO Shift to Gaining Business Lift”, CMO Council and Deloitte, December 6, 2016, in Nanji, A., How the Role of the CMO Is Changing, MarketingProfs, January 10, 2017

Influencer marketing (which “opens up endless opportunities for brands to amplify their content, connect with consumers and build relationships more organically, and more directly”) is step by step more important within the context in which: choice is abundant; there is too little time to consume content and engage with adverts. (Read, 2016) Influencers (journalists, industry experts, celebrities, academics, editors of highly read blogs, highly viewed YouTuber’s etc. – according to “SocialChain”), who act as a mutual friend connecting a brand with its target Holistic Marketing Management

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consumers, are the innovators and early adopters within a brand’s target audience, having the ability to create and distribute content. How cost-effective an influencer is can be well understood by analyzing, for instance, the scoring system (considered a great way to measure engagement various influencers receive on their content) developed by SocialChain (founded by Steve Bartlett) for measuring influence across the main platforms: T-Score (Twitter) F-Score (Facebook) Y-Score (Youtube) I-Score (Instagram).

The first annual “Influencer Marketing Days” Conference took place on November 14 and 15, 2016, in New York City (the next one will be in September 24-25, 2017). On this special occasion, the owner of Robbins Interactive (who manages influencer marketing campaigns with a focus on incremental revenue and brand equity through affiliate marketing), blogged live from a session at this conference, (Robbins, 2016) highlighting some very interesting ideas resulting from the panel experts: when working with influencers, advertisers are really buying based on the business objective of the brand; brands are turning everyday people into influencers, micro influencers contributing and lifting the brand without any monetization; depending on brand and influencer, pricing varies greatly (the influencer and brand relationship is even more critical than money, the influencer needing a “Why” to promote the product); the trend of all social media platforms will be to incorporate tracking within their technology (the ROI will speak for itself as the tracking mechanisms further integrate within influencer platforms), the ease of use for influencer being crucial; in order to be easy for consumers to transition from discovery to purchase, internet giants, brands and influencers are working to turn a picture into a point of purchase (integration within social media of “Buy” buttons is considered to be key); mega influencers can have agents or representatives, and the vast majority of influencers are “one person shops,” being important for them to have direct contact with the brand; there is a shift in content that brands display to be more editorial and resonate more on a personal level, budgets will support both the mega and micro influencers; there is no doubt that influencers are having a positive impact for branding and revenue alike.

Beyond the influencer-focused topics (such as: “How to win influencers and influence customers”; “Leveraging the evolution of content in ecommerce marketing”; “Influencer outreach, onboarding, activation and motivation”; “How to Turn your Influencer Partners into Revenue-Generating Publishers”), at the above mentioned Conference there were also other subjects approached, such as: (Chew, 2016) attribution (placing marketing value and credit where it is due, attributing sales to marketing channels so as to optimize the allocation of advertising budgets), defining success in influencer marketing (performance - measurable traffic and incremental sales - over engagement and reach), shifts in online buying (buyers’ move to buying wherever and whenever they discover a good or service that interests them).

It is also worth mentioning that the owner of Robbins Interactive showed at the beginning of this year (Robbins, 2017) that “influencer” has been one of the most popular buzzwords used in marketing meetings everywhere in 2016, brands recognizing the importance of working with influencers, but continuing the debates over which level of influencer provides the greatest value Holistic Marketing Management

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to a brand. She made a clear distinction between mega influencer (followers over 100,000 on and/or offline; aspirational to followers; can be niche or lifestyle focused; unable to respond individually to all followers due to larger numbers; produces significant social media engagement such as likes, views, shares and comments), and micro influencer (sweet spot of between 1,000-10,000 followers; create related micro-moments that their followers find inspirational but also attainable; more responsive to followers due to smaller numbers; smaller numbers of likes, shares and comments in quantity but higher in ratio), recommending to approach the influencer marketing campaigns as a marriage of both opportunities, avoiding thinking of influencers in a linear way.

Instead of a conclusion We have seen above that influencers are innovators and early adopters within a brand’s target audience, having the ability to create and distribute content.

On February 23, 2017, we received another e-mail message from “Marketing Best Practices Blog” (ernan@erdm-mail.com), this time entitled “TIAA CMO Connie Weaver Answers 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators”. It is well-known that the widely read blog Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices launched this new feature at the beginning of December 2015, the 4 Questions for Marketing Innovators being as follows: What is one marketing topic that is most important to you as an innovator? Why is this so important? How will the customer experience be improved by this? How will this improve the effectiveness of marketing? The person interviewed by Ernan Roman (author of both, “Voice of the Customer Marketing”, and well-known Huffington Post published blog “Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices”; inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame thanks to the three Customer Experience methodologies he created: Voice of Customer Relationship Research, Integrated Direct Marketing, and Opt-in Marketing) – according to this last message from February this year – was Connie Weaver (an expert in brand transformation, customer analytics, and digital strategy, known for combining the “art and science” of branding by establishing data and measurement as a key complement to on-going innovation), currently the CMO for investment giant TIAA. Connie Weaver (who has led marketing efforts for a range of Fortune 100 companies, start-ups, and non-profit organizations) argued, among other issues, that: breaking down the barriers to innovation is the one marketing topic that is most important to her as an innovator (placing the customer at the center of every decision, enhancing the emotional connection, making the customer a priority and passionately standing behind company’s mission, testing and learning, walking before running but staying resolute in the efforts to be innovative); major wins occurred because of the commitment to innovate with the customer in mind (meeting customers where they are in their journeys and providing them with the tools they need to reach major milestones); trust, loyalty and total transparency are essential in approaching the improvement of

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customer experience; the effectiveness of marketing can be improved by going ahead with the above mentioned view having buy-in from all the employees, partnering internally.

Indeed, as we show above, marketers must connect, inspire, focus, organize, and build, measuring and managing the customer lifetime value, seeing the world through the customer’s eyes and redesigning functions to create value in a customer-centric way, linking the customer experience to value, improving this customer experience by moving from touchpoints to journeys, placing more emphasis on the initial consideration set and expanding initial consideration within a well-orchestrated program, rethinking the tools and platforms, building marketing engagement engine, and avoiding thinking of influencers in a linear way.

References Amstrong., P., The Future Of Influencer Relations Is...Influencer Marketing, Jan 27, 2017, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paularmstrongtech/2017/01/27/the-future-of-influencer-relations-is-influencermarketing/#563bb73d6d97 Beale, T., New Influencer Marketing Research Has Four Key Findings, January 31, 2017, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://spinsucks.com/communication/influencer-marketing-research-findings/ Böttger, T., Inspiration in Marketing: Foundations, Process, and Application, Dissertation to obtain the title of Doctor of Philosophy in Management of the University of St.Gallen, School of Management, Economics, Law, Social Sciences and International Affairs, Approved on the application of Prof. Dr. Thomas Rudolph and Prof. Dr. Heiner Evanschitzky, Dissertation no. 4395, Difo Druck GmbH, Bamberg, 2015, pp. iii, 5-6, 27, 46-47, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://www1.unisg.ch/www/edis.nsf/SysLkpByIdentifier/4395/$FILE/dis4395.pdf Chabot, N., The New Cross-Functional Influencer Program, October 7, 2015, retrieved on 04.03,2017, from: http://www.traackr.com/blog/the-new-cross-functional-influencer-program Chew, A., What you Missed at Influencer Marketing Days, November 22nd, retrieved on 05.03.2017, from: http://www.accelerationpartners.com/blog/what-you-missed-at-influencer-marketing-days/ Court, D., Elzinga, D., Finneman, B., and Perrey, J., The new battleground for marketing-led growth, McKinsey Quarterly February 2017, retrieved on 24.02.2017, from: http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketingand-sales/our-insights/the-new-battleground-for-marketing-led-growth?cid=reinventing-eml-alt-mkq-mck-oth-1702 Crenshaw, K., It’s time for influence to evolve: Welcome to Influence 2.0, 15 February 2017, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2017/feb/15/its-time-influence-evolve-welcomeinfluence-20/ Hartert, S., Five Ways to Gain Customer Insight: A Guide for Marketers, February 21, 2017, retrieved on 21.02.2017, from: https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2017/31629/five-ways-to-gain-customer-insight-aguide-for-marketers?

Hosbein, M., Davis, R., Just-in-Time Marketing: Reach the Right Customer at the Right Time, February 8, 2017, retrieved on 08.02.2017, from: https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2017/31542/just-in-time-marketing-reachthe-right-customer-at-the-right-time?

Kennedy, H., Five Things CMOs Want in 2017, December 15, 2016, http://adage.com/article/small-agencydiary/things-cmos-2017/307136/

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Lyman, C., Is 2017 The Year Agile Marketing Goes Mainstream? Jan 23, 2017, retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/01/23/is-2017-the-year-agile-marketing-goesmainstream/#248ac9f863f1 Muller, B., 6 Marketing Trends for 2017, December 13, 2016, http://www.chiefmarketer.com/6-marketing-trendsfor-2017/ Nanji, A., How the Role of the CMO Is Changing, January 10, 2017, retrieved on 10.01.2017, from: https://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2017/31357/how-the-role-of-the-cmo-is-changing?adref=nlt011017 Oldfield, A., What is cognitive marketing - and why does it matter to you? 24 February 2017, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2017/feb/24/what-cognitive-marketing-and-why-doesit-matter-you/ Patterson, L., Marketing Activity Metrics Mean Little: Here's How to Really Prove Marketing's Value, March 2, 2017, retrieved 0n 02.03.2017, from: https://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2017/31683/marketing-activitymetrics-mean-little-heres-how-to-really-prove-marketings-value?

Patterson, L., How to Apply the 'Golden Circle' to Your Marketing and Performance Measurement, October 15, 2015, retrieved from: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2015/28650/how-to-apply-the-golden-circle-to-yourmarketing-and-performance-measurement Purcarea, T., Marketing accountability, critical dimensions of the new marketing organization, quality higher education and understanding the communication of new knowledge, Holistic Marketing Management, 2011, Volume 1, Issue 4, pp. 04-05 Purcarea, T., Managing change by changing management: Facing the challenge of making management more adaptable, innovative, inspiring, and accountable, Holistic Marketing Management, 2012, Volume 2, Issue 1, pp. 0405 Purcarea, T., The organizational health, the emotional memory of the organization, the positive associations of CRM capabilities, and the desired change to drive organizational performance, Holistic Marketing Management, 2012, Volume 2, Issue 3, pp. 04-05 Purcarea, T., Waiting for the third spring, by considering all related interactions with customer that make up the customer experience and expanding our role in leading this customer experience, Holistic Marketing Management, 2012, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp. 04-05 Purcarea, T., Holistic Marketing Managers convicted to bringing data quality expertise, while spending and measuring the return of marketing investment in both, the physical and the second economy, Holistic Marketing Management, 2013, Volume 3, Issue 1, pp. 05-07 Purcarea, T., Marketing’ s Continuous Rise and Shine, Holistic Marketing Management, 2014, Volume 4, Issue 3, pp. 06-25 Purcarea, T., A Review of the Different Marketing Opinions on Marketers’ Maturity and Challenges in the Second Half of 2014, Holistic Marketing Management, 2014, Volume 4, Issue 4, pp. 05-14 Purcarea, T., Marketing as a center of constant improvement and change, Holistic Marketing Management, 2015, Volume 5, Issue 1, pp. 30-39 Purcarea, T., At the confluence of customer knowledge, delivery and engagement forming a challenging evolving delta of marketing, technology and management, Holistic Marketing Management, 2015, Volume 5, Issue 2, pp. 2129 Purcarea, T., Rethinking the Business by Ensuring Marketing Transformation, Holistic Marketing Management, 2015, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp. 13-19

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Purcarea, T., Marketers, challenged to prove their new skills within the context of the actual trends, Holistic Marketing Management, 2015, Volume 5, Issue 4, pp. 28-35 Purcarea, T., New Challenges for B2B Marketers, Holistic Marketing Management, 2016, Volume 6, Issue 2, pp.

15-23 Purcarea, T., The practice of marketing under the pressure of continuously updating the marketing capabilities platform, Holistic Marketing Management, 2016, Volume 6, Issue 3, pp. 27-41 Purcarea, T., A Holistic Approach of Revenue Management and its Relation to Agile Marketing. Tourist Experience in a Customer-Driven Era, Holistic Marketing Management, 2016, Volume 6, Issue 4, pp. 16-27 Read, A., How to Get Your Ideas to Spread with Influencer Marketing, Apr 27, 2016, retrieved on 05.03.2017, from: https://blog.bufferapp.com/influencer-marketing Robbins, S., The Innovation Shift to Empower Emerging Influencers and Brands, Nov 14, 2016, retrieved on 05.03.2017, from: http://influencermarketingdays.com/blog/2016/11/innovation-shift-empower-emerginginfluencers-brands/ Robbins, S., Value of Mega and Micro Influencers: A Case Study, Jan 31, 2017, retrieved on 05.03.2017, from: http://influencermarketingdays.com/blog/2017/01/mega-micro-influencers-value-case-study/ Solis, B., What Is Influence 2.0 And Why Is It Important In The Future Of CX? January 30, 2017, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://www.briansolis.com/2017/01/influence-2-0-important-future-cx/ Solis, B., Report: The Rise Of Digital Influence And How To Measure It, March 21, 2012, retrieved on 04.03.2017, from: http://www.briansolis.com/2012/03/report-the-rise-of-digital-influence/ Thrash, M.T., and Elliot, J.A., Inspiration: Core Characteristics, Component Processes, Antecedents, and Function, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2004, Vol. 87, No. 6, 957–973 Wastie, S., Predictions for Marketing Performance in 2017, Jan 17, 2017, retrieved from: https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/performance-attribution/predictions-for-marketing-performance-in-2017/ *** https://www.ge.com/about-us/leadership/profiles/beth-comstock *** https://www.socialchain.com/ *** https://www.tiaa.org/public/index.html

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Producers and consumers face to face with the technical advancements of the 3rd millennium Dr. Soca Diana Anca

Abstract The globalization of markets as well as the new technical and scientific breakthroughs done in the beginning of the 3rd millennium have had and continue to have a heavy impact upon the behavior of both producers and consumers. Specialists in the field refer to this as the ‘4th industrial revolution’, an ongoing process that will drastically change economy and society as we know it.

Key words: consumer behavior, CRM, automation, prosumer, technology, the fourth industrial Revolution JEL Classification: L80; M31; O33

The 4th industrial revolution, the age of machines and the evolution of the labor market Ever since the early 70s, known American futurist Alvin Toffler predicted the evolution of technical progress in his famous book “The Third Wave”, noting that breakthroughs in the manufacturing sector and the development of communication infrastructures based on the advancements in electronics and informatics will lead in the 21st century to the development of the so called “prosumer” (the role of producer and consumer would begin to blur and merge).

Nowadays we experience a world where billions of people can be interconnected with each other through mobile technologies with unprecedented processing power and storage capabilities that would have been considered science fiction a few decades ago. Many of the duties of engineers, designers and such other employees are no longer met in traditional office

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buildings, but are instead met from the comfort of their own homes, as a result of the economic advantage brought by replacing transport with telecommunications.

Given that most of the technically advanced countries are currently faced with a so called transport crisis (roads and highways are crowded, parking spaces are rare, pollution is a serious problem) and transportation costs keep increasing everywhere, this replacement is beneficial, telecommunication satellites and fiber optics dramatically reducing the cost of great distance communications.

Our entire economic and social life is influenced by recent technological breakthroughs in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, genetics, quantum computing.

The experts talk about the “fourth industrial”, a revolution of the cyber-physical systems such as computerized industrial environments, household robots, Internet of Things, automated transport, medical engineering, more specifically the involvement of artificial intelligence (AI) in the day to day economic and social life. They show that the spectacular development of technology, although it brings many benefits, it also hides certain dangers, such as unemployment and the generation of an even greater inequality on the labor market at a global level - more than 7.1 million people risk to lose their jobs as a result of automating the manufacturing process. Also it is estimated that in a few decades the world population is likely to contain billions of people as well as billions of robots. People will work to improve robots while robots will take over the majority of day to day activities.

To prepare employees in front of this wave of change, it is necessary to identify welldefined measures that will help direct the workforce towards other activities and professions as well as drastically change our approach on education.

In the context of the new global economy, graduates need strong communication and social skills, as well as analytical and problem solving skills that many of the current graduates of educational institutions do not possess at this moment. Among the fields where work force demand is constantly increasing are those that require serious knowledge in mathematics, computer science and analytics and those that involve more creativity.

The impact of technical advancements upon consumer and producer behaviors New technologies have impacted the entire economic environment and its two most essential actors: the consumer and the producer.

Under the impact of the ever accelerating economic processes, the modern consumer finds himself in a permanent competition with time. He wants to gain time and be able to spend it at will. With the help of e-commerce, he can order from anywhere in the world in real time.

The modern consumer no longer desires only products, but also complementary services that will make his life easier and his acquisitions more profitable. The modern consumer no longer has a passive role in the market, he wants to be heard and even to be able to build the desired offer himself.

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The free market has allowed suppliers to offer superior quality products and services, but customer expectations have also increased dramatically. Moreover, if their needs are not met properly, they can react instantly in the online environment through social networks where they can articulate their grievances. Maintaining market share, profitability and customer loyalty are more difficult now than ever. Therefore modern manufacturing companies are trying to develop an effective CRM (customer relationship management) as this represents the most successful strategy to attract and ensure customer loyalty in the current economic environment.

So CRM is a business strategy supported by information technology, strategy whose results optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction by stimulating behaviors that satisfy customer requirements and implementing client centered processes.

The purpose of a CRM system is to help companies to effectively use the technologies and human resources at their disposal in order to gain new insights into customer behavior and their value.

A CRM system allows the producer to:  ensure an automated workflow (opportunities-deals-orders-shipments-bills-revenue);  efficiently manage contracts and internal documents;  efficiently manage marketing, sales, service and support activities by avoiding bureaucracy ;  easily generate reports and dashboards that provide an overview of the business to the stakeholders;  develop new functionalities as the business evolves; Financial services and telecommunications are the top fields when it comes to CRM implementations. Also high-tech companies, producers of daily consumer goods and retailers are among the frequent users of CRM solutions.

The American giant Hewlett Packard Inc. recently signed a contract with Microsoft that allows it to use the CRM Dynamics for a period of five years. HPI will use this solution for sales and services activities in a project that will cover both their own team as well as the channel partners. HPI has a team of 6,500 sellers and 20,000 employees.

Another well-known CRM solution is SAP Hybris. This is a multi-channel solution and integrates any form of relationship with the customer whether it is commercial, marketing, support, etc. It is a unique platform for online, mobility, POS, call centers, social media, digital or print campaigns, B2B or B2C. Its objective is meeting with the client on any possible channel, creating a customized experience and increasing sales. Part of its client portfolio are companies like Vodafone, Samsung, Nikon etc.

Conclusions The fourth industrial revolution is the greatest challenge that mankind is facing today. It affects the global labor market, relationships between producers and consumers and generally the Holistic Marketing Management

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entire economic and social life. However, the impact of automation will be felt most strongly in developing countries, as robots will primarily replace cheap labor force with a low level of competence. Therefore the governments of these countries must adopt urgent and well defined measures in order to avoid unemployment and increased social inequity that could have serious consequences.

References [1]. F. Buttle - Customer Relationship Management. Concepts and Tools, Ed. Butterwort Heinemann, 2006 [2]. Y. Claeyssen, A. Deydier, Y. Riquet - Marketingul direct multicanal, Ed .Polirom, Bucuresti, 2009 [3].M. Ioncica, R. Minciu, G. Stanciulescu - Economia serviciilor, Ed. Uranus, Bucuresti, 1996 [4].Th. Purcarea - Managementul relatiilor cu clientii, Ed. Carol Davila, Bucuresti, 2011 [5]. A. Toffler - Al treilea val, Ed. Politica, Bucuresti, 1983 [6]. http://www.revistamagazin.ro/ [7]. http//www.crmreview.ro/

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The latest issue of our partner journal, „Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Vol. XI, 2016, Number 4, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Theodor PURCĂREA JEL Classification: Y30

We are happy to receive by post a new issue of our partner journal, „Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Vol. XI, 2016, Number 4. „Marketing Science and Inspirations” is a wellknown academic journal addressed to academics and practitioners. The latest issue of this journal covers a wide range of topics in the marketing research field: “The Czech and Slovak Republics: A cross-cultural comparison” (Jerome Dumetz, Eva Gaborikova; the authors demonstrate that both countries have a narrow cultural gap and share many cultural traits, beyond a few noticeable differences such as: Particularism, Specifism and Emotions display); “Governance of international distributors through incentive travel programmes” (Christian Stadlmann, Magdalena Kass; the authors examine how incentive travel initiatives can be designrd in international business and provide an insight into their application by manufacturing companies); “Hierarchy of values of young people and their attitudes towards immigration” (Dana Vokounova; the author presents the results of a survey focusing on values and attitudes of university students towards immigration); “Marketing problems of subjects called Ethical hacking” (Peter Vesely, Vincent Karovic ml., Vincent Karovic, Frantisek Olsavsky; the authors show the starting point, how education of students progresses, and what is happen after completing this education at the Faculty of Management at Komenius University in Bratislava); “Typology of readers: qualitative and quantitative approach in book market segmentation” (Radim Bacuvcik; the author approaches the perception of public towards literature, books and the reading habits).

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The „Marketing Science and Inspirations” journal also includes other sections such as: “Marketing Briefs” (Pavel Strach – “Political marketing redefined: New media, personal communication, and emotions”); “Captured us” (“FLEMA Media Awards 2016”; “An Announcement of the twelfth year of Marketer of the year contest”); “Reviews” (Milan Banyar – “Social Marketing” by Radim Bacuvcik and Lenka Harantova; Peter Starchon – “Strategic partnership in management, business and marketing” by Eva Smolkova), “Dictionary of Useful Marketing Terms” (Dagmar Weberova).

It is our honor and pleasure mentioning that the Editor-in Chief of the „Marketing Science and Inspirations” journal is Professor Peter Starchon, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, who is also Member of the Editorial Boards of the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal and of the “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”. We always remember our meeting in Koln, Germany, in 2011, on the occasion of the working meeting of the European Retail Academy (ERA).

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