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The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As an amateur historian, I can say with certainty that technology has never embedded itself into society as rapidly as it has in the last decade. Todays consumer relationship with technology is complicated and multifacetedunderstanding that intersection is at the heart of everything we do as a company, and personally for me as Verizons Consumer CEO. Given our focus on the consumer, we publish an annual view of insights and trends that shed light on these relationships and the evolving role of technology in our lives, and this years Consumer Connections Report does just that. The report reflects our commitment to understanding and supporting the ways technology shapes our relationships, empowers our families, and enriches our daily experiences. It explores the interplay between digital and physical shopping experiences, and the growing reliance on home connectivity, as people use more and more smart home devices. And for the second year in a row, we look at how NFL fans showed up for their favorite teams, alongside the events and moments from the past year that connected us most as a society. What we learned: Limits reign: Parents and caregivers are using tech to monitor tech Parents are motivated to keep on top of their childrens use of technology. Our report reveals that theyre focused on social media apps like Tumblr, Whisper, and Snapchat the most. Theyre also utilizing transitional options, like the Gizmo watch, which averages 3.3 million calls connecting parents and other caregivers with children each month. They can set content controls, block unwanted contacts, view text and call history, set usage limits, and more. That helps kids find their balancelearning to make smart, safe connectivity choices. Connectivity is where the heart is Home data use is on the rise. The average monthly data usage in 2024 across all Verizon Home Internet households was 656 GB, a 6% increase from 2023. People enjoy video and music streaming, gaming, videoconferencing, and smart home technologies that bring convenience, energy savings, and security. We know that to be true given that 18 is the average number of devices per Verizon Internet household. Customer experience is on demand Brick-and-mortar retail is returning to growth after pandemic-era slowdowns, indicating that in-store shopping provides a social and sensory experience that appeals to many consumers. Were seeing the emergence of the phygital economy, which combines online and in-person in a single experience. Sixty-two percent of our customers purchases were made in a Verizon retail store. Most Verizon customers who use our in-store pickup service initiate their order online, and a growing number place the order over the phone. Go live from the gameits on 5G My company provides the 5G infrastructure for the NFL, which gives us insights into how fans are using their phones at games. Fans are increasingly creating and sharing their own game experience. Theyre interacting with fellow fans via text, social media, and voice calls. Theyre analyzing fantasy football matchups and checking scores. And theyre embracing AR and VR for on-site entertainment. In fact, average mobility (wireless) usage per game was 3.6 TB this season, a 37% increase over last season. The game with the most mobility usage? Giants at Cowboys. Video accounted for 25% of consumer data usage at NFL stadiums. Thats a lot of footage of the action. Other ways consumers use connectivity During the holidays, Americans are generating an enormous volume of calls, texts, and data to reach out. We studied data use at the airports over the winter holiday season, and found it rose to 17.7 million GB, and 28% of that was video. At the same time, many of us are also focusing more on connecting in personand on balancing our access to the world around us with our attention to those in front of us. Indeed, on New Years Eve, the number of phone calls skyrocketedit was the top holiday for phone callswhile on Christmas and Hanukkah, the number was muted. And thats the point. Mobile devices connect us all to a world of opportunity, but dont replace the world. Recognizing that truth is one of the keys to a healthier life. Sowmyanarayan Sampath is the CEO of Verizon Consumer.
Category:
E-Commerce
The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. For the last decade, chief marketing officers (CMOs) havent felt as appreciated and necessary as they once were. But that may be changingI should stress may. I’m thinking of the 2024 CMO Tenure Study by marketing consultancy Spencer Stuart. Theyve been issuing this study for two decades. Four years ago, the length of CMO tenure tightened to its smallest interval in more than a decade. In Spencer Stuarts latest report, the average time spent by Fortune 500 CMOs in that job post in 2023 was 4.2 years, unchanged from 2022. While I wouldnt say flat is the new up, stabilization after years of decline is somewhat positive. A bit more context: Conventional wisdom has suggested that CMOs turn over more often than other C-suite leaders. But Spencer Stuart’s analysis shows that CMO tenure is just under the 4.6-year average for all C-suite leaders such as chief operating officers, chief revenue officers, chief technology officers, etc. Still, CMOs are living in an era of less,” according to a Gartner Marketing Practice study. Issued in May 2024, around the same time as the Spencer Stuart report, the GMP study notes that in the four years preceding the pandemic, average marketing budgets were 11% of overall revenue. In the four years since, they’ve dropped to an anemic 8.2%. The roles of marketing and advertising appear more diminished than ever before. Meanwhile, ad agencies and brand marketing departments are under greater pressure and scrutiny to prove effectiveness. The essential quality of the CMOs job is akin to an orchestra conductor; but instead of musicians, the role is to make sure companies and individuals act seamlessly and complementary. But it’s not. There are reasons for that, good and bad. Short-sighted efficiency An ethos of efficiency has served as the defining, underlying feature of the advertising business for the last 25 years. The ’60s were about pushing the boundaries of creativity. Advertisers and agencies wanted to impress everybody with the ideas, images, and messages bursting from Madison Avenue. However, that shifted: The 21st century has been about personalization, speedand above allcost savings. But it takes a larger advertising team to expertly handle all parts of the marketing funnel from discovery to purchase while simultaneously instilling brand loyalty. The demands are, in fact, too complex for one agency, let alone one individual. As a result, specialists have divided the responsibilities associated with the multiple consumer touchpoints that need to be checked off. So much for efficiency. If only there were a single individual who could organize, synthesize, and prioritize all those crucial tasks. Oh, right. That’s what the CMO does. Its what the CMO has always done. Marketings ah-ha moment Companies are increasingly recognizing this. There is solid value in developing marketing leadership from within. In 2023, 74% of CMOs of the top 100 advertisers were serving in their first corporate-level CMO rolethe highest percentage since Spencer Stuart began tracking this data in 2016. Moreover, 59% of these CMOs were promoted from inside their companies. This move toward internal promotion signals an ah-ha moment as the CMO role is rediscovered as the truly efficient solution to advertisings largest problems. Institutional knowledge and recognizable authority are virtues worth keeping.We might be witnessing a maturing perspective on marketing leadership. Organizations are investing in succession planning and management development specifically for the CMO role. Theres even a higher opinion for the general marketing and management acumen a CMO possesses, Spencer Stuart data indicates. When external hires are needed, companies are showing greater flexibility, with 43% of CMOs recruited for Fortune 500 companies in 2023 coming from different industries, up from 37% in 2022. Despite facing significant budget constraintswith 64% of CMOs reporting insufficient funds to execute their 2024 strategy per Gartnerthere’s optimism about the potential of generative AI to expand marketing’s impact beyond traditional resource limitations. This technological evolution could help CMOs overcome the “era of less” while delivering more value. As companies focus on developing their marketing leadership pipeline, they have an opportunity to increase diversity at the top by identifying high-potential leaders early and creating smoother development paths. Not only would that strengthen the CMO role, it also ensures marketing leadership better reflects the diverse audiences they serve, which helps build brand affection. When consumers associate a brand with trust and other positive qualities, the path to performance and purchases is more immediate and direct. The intersecting lines of technology, branding, advertising, and sales all converge at the CMOs desk. Perhaps it’s time agencies, platform companies, and the brands themselves showed more trust and value in the CMO role after all. Tim Ringel is global CEO of Meet The People.
Category:
E-Commerce
Unilever surprised investors on Tuesday by ousting chief executive Hein Schumacher and replacing him with finance chief Fernando Fernandez, who will focus on speeding up the execution of the consumer group’s turnaround strategy. Unilever’s board, which includes billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz, was unified in its decision to oust CEO Schumacher, a source familiar with the board’s thinking told Reuters. Schumacher was surprised by the move, but the decision involved “nothing untoward”, the person said. In an email to associates, Schumacher defended his approach and record as CEO and said he regretted leaving the company earlier than anticipated. “The board is eager to step up the pace of our strategy execution and realise swift value creation underscored by a change in leadership,” he said in the email, which was shared with Reuters. The CEO’s sudden departure after less than two years in the job hit Unilever’s shares, which fell as much as 3.4% on Tuesday. They had gained more than 9% since Schumacher took the helm on July 1, 2023. The consumer goods industry has had a difficult time coping with a supply chain crunch triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, plus sky-high commodity prices and an energy crisis after Russia invaded Ukraine. Profit margins have been squeezed and sales volumes hit by consumers switching to cheaper options. Unilever, which gave no specific reason for the CEO change, is facing pressure from investors to revitalise its fortunes and the top management upheaval comes just weeks after Unilever announced underwhelming full-year earnings. Nestle CEO Mark Schneider was ousted last year after several quarters of weak sales volume growth. Unilever’s management change was made after a board meeting on Monday, another source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The board concluded that Fernandez, who has been with Unilever for nearly 40 years, was the right person to execute the company’s strategy, the source said. Schumacher’s appointment and strategic changes had been welcomed by Peltz, who built a stake in the company in 2022 and sits on Unilever’s board. “We are gobsmacked at the news that Unilever’s very highly regarded CEO Hein Schumacher is to step down,” RBC Capital analyst James Edwardes Jones said in a note. When Schumacher became CEO, analysts and investors had applauded the choice of an external candidate as CEO. Schumacher reset the group’s strategy to address years of underperformance and laid out cost cuts last year, including plans to separate its ice cream division and cut thousands of jobs. The company has tried to step up the pace of asset sales, although some categories, like plant-based meat, are proving hard to exit. Chairman Ian Meakins said the board was impressed by Fernandez’s “decisive and results-oriented approach”, and had given him the task of executing the growth strategy. “There is much further to go to deliver best-in-class results,” Meakins said in a statement. Execution Analysts and investors said the news was unexpected, but Fernandez was a good choice to lead Unilever’s turnaround strategy. “We agree with the board that Fernandez is best placed to accelerate the value unlock,” Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman said in a note. UBS analyst Guillaume Delmas said “execution is key” in the new phase of the company’s strategic journey. Fernandez, 58, has been with Unilever since 1988. Before he became CFO last year, he held a number of roles such as President Latin America and CEO Brazil and President of the Beauty & Wellbeing business. Harsharan Mann in the Global Equities team at Aviva Investors, a Unilever shareholder, said: “We were surprised by the announcement but have a positive view of the CFO He is a 30-year veteran of the business who ran the Beauty and Wellbeing division very well.” In January, Fernandez took up extra responsibilities including overseeing supply chain and procurement. Unilever, which owns Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, said there was no change to its 2025 outlook or medium-term forecast and the board was committed to “further accelerating” Schumacher’s growth plan. Schumacher, 53, will step down as CEO in March and leave the company on May 31. He is leaving by mutual agreement, the company said. He will be treated as a “good leaver” and will continue to get his 1.85 million euros ($1.94 million) fixed pay until he leaves the business, the company said. He will then get an undisclosed payment for the remainder of this notice period, it said. Srinivas Phatak, currently Unilever’s deputy chief financial officer and group controller, will become acting CFO, while the company looks for a permanent replacement. ($1 = 0.9549 euros) Yadarisa Shabong and Josephine Mason, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
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