The 10 most influential cmos to watch, 2018

July 2018
www.insightssuccess.com
Cinn Tan:
Crafting Prolific Marketing Strategies
The
10Most
Influential
CMOs To Watch
2018
Cinn Tan
CMO
Pan Pacific Hotels Group
The Significance of an
Effective Marketing Strategy
Reforming Benchmarks
Components of
Digital Marketing
Digital Engagement
CMO of the Month
Peter Neve, CMO
ACG Group

he discipline of marketing, in its essence has been a reformatory practice since its advent. The
Tconception of an organization’s outreach in the global market is largely aided by an immaculate
marketing approach. Whether it is oriented towards product, pricing, place or promotion,
marketing evidently exists in every aspect of a business. Being au fait with the contemporary trends of
marketing, and devising all-encompassing marketing strategies with a prolific approach, aids in sculpting
oneself into an ideal Marketeer.
With the introduction of social media platforms, the marketing discipline has been disrupted into a whole
different form. Marketing personnel have an additional benefit of exhibiting their products and services on
various platforms to instill an influence among people. A competent marketeer is what an organization
requires to cater to the widening use of modern marketing techniques. An erudite practitioner of modern
marketing methodologies recognizes, visualizes and executes actions that throttle the analysis and
derivation of a profound marketing strategy.
An effective marketing strategy outlines an organization’s approach towards its business. The
organization’s outreach to the intended audience is strongly reliant on the ability of the marketeer’s vision
and determination. Maintaining adequacy and efficiency in devising a marketing strategy must be a Chief
Marketing Officer’s forte.
Thus to emphasize upon such proficient CMOs, Insights Success has curated a list of “The 10 Most
Influential CMOs to watch, 2018,” who are excelling in the provision of best-in-class marketing
strategies and solutions which incessantly advocate ingenuity and unparalleled expertise.
Editor’s Note
Marketing:
A Universally Essential
Success Strategy
July 2018
www.insightssuccess.com
Cinn Tan:
Crafting Prolific Marketing Strategies
The
10Most
Influential
CMOs To Watch
2018
Cinn Tan
CMO
Components of
Digital Marketing
Digital Engagement
CMO of the Month
Peter Neve, CMO
ACG Group

Our Cover Story Features Cinn Tan, the CMO of Pan Pacific Hotels Group. Cinn oversees and
drives the marketing and sales strategy of Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which operates 40 Pan Pacific
and PARKROYAL hotels, resorts and serviced suites in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. She
has more than 20 years of sales and marketing management experience from international hotels in
China, Hong Kong and Singapore. She has spearheaded the Group’s brand refresh along with several
strategic marketing initiatives. These include a revamped brand website and ‘Pan Pacific
Connections,’ the group’s new corporate loyalty program.
The issue also features Peter Neve, the CMO of ACG World. A combination of personal conviction,
curiosity, and innovation has enabled Peter to consistently deliver stellar marketing results across
vastly different industries. We have also enlisted CMOs who are providing insightful and innovative
marketing solutions to enhance the applications of the Marketing discipline.
April Critchfield, of Zurixx LLC, which develops financial education programs by crafting
messaging and developing materials, and launching sales programs for students interested in growing
their real estate investment businesses; Joelle Kaufman, of Dynamic Signal which is a leading
Employee Communication and Engagement Platform connecting companies to their most valued
asset- their employees; Barry Rabkin of Identified Technologies, which provides managed drone
mapping solutions, a new level of transparency and insights for earthmoving and construction
contractors; Sidra Berman of Tangoe, which is a leading global provider of IT and Telecom Expense
Management (TEM) software and services to a wide range of global enterprises and service
providers; and Sharon Cook of Mountain America Credit Union, which assists its members on the
right path to help them identify and achieve their financial dreams.
Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CXO
standpoints of some of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.
Let’s start reading!
Abhishaj Sajeev

Digital Engagement
Components of
Digital Marketing
Cinn Tan:
Crafting Proliﬁc
Marketing Strategies
Articles
Purpose Driven
The Importance
of Purpose
4622
Cover Story
Leader’s Preaching
Impact of Women
in Tech
08
28 40
34
Tech Evolution
Emerging Technologies:
A Revolution with Challenges

CONTENTS
Barry Rabkin:
A Passion
for Problem
Solving Products
26
April Critchﬁeld:
Voyaging towards
Marketing Zeniths
20
Sharon Cook:
An All-Rounder in
Modern Marketing
on Cook:
ounder in
ting
38
Joelle Kaufman:
Reforming the Art
of Marketing
Joelle K
R
32
Sidra Berman:
Advocating Self-Development and
Creative Marketing Techniques
44
Sidr
A
Cr
Peter Neve:
Breaking the
Marketer Mold
CMO of the Month
16

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Contributing Editors
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Cinn Tan:Crafting Proliﬁc Marketing Strategies
Lead, Inspire and Inﬂuence,
don’t simply be a follower.“ “
Cover Story
10
most
influential
The
CMOsToWatch 2018

In an era marked by innovations and reformative
individuals, sculpting an identity for oneself with
chisels of creativity, determination and leadership, has
been deemed essential. One such outstanding individual
who has marked her evident presence and identity in the
hospitality sector is Cinn Tan, the CMO of Pan Pacific
Hotels Group.
Cinn oversees and drives the marketing and sales strategy
of Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which operates 40 Pan Pacific
and PARKROYAL hotels, resorts and serviced suites in
Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. She has more than
20 years of sales and marketing management experience
from international hotels in China, Hong Kong and
Singapore. Cinn was previously Senior Vice-President of
Sales & Marketing for Jin Jiang International Hotels, and
Vice-President of Sales & Distribution and Brand
Marketing for the Ascott Group.
Cinn joined the hotel group in August 2017. Since then, she
has spearheaded the Group’s brand refresh along with
several strategic marketing initiatives. These include a
revamped brand website and ‘Pan Pacific Connections,’ the
group’s new corporate loyalty program. As a critical
component of its China strategy, Pan Pacific Hotels Group
became the first Asia-based hotel brand to launch a WeChat
mini-program, which provides authentic travel guides and
e-concierge services to its hotels globally to all WeChat
users.
Ascension from Challenges through Faith
Cinn has been exposed to different cultures since her youth
as she has had the opportunity to travel extensively with her
parents. This in turn, nurtured a keen sensitivity in her and
the ability to relate to people from different backgrounds.
This attribute would eventually help her succeed in her
budding sales career as she was able to exercise her people
skills and to build a strong network of supportive clients
very quickly.
Fresh out of school and determined that she wanted a career
in sales and marketing in the hospitality sector, Cinn met
her first roadblock when she was told by the HR Manager
during an interview, for a sales job in a hotel, that she was
not suitable for the sales profession and ‘should not waste
her time searching for a job in sales & marketing.’ That did
not deter her from applying to another hotel when a Sales
Executive opportunity opened up.
This time however, Cinn had to face the disapproval of her
traditional family, whose members saw her as a woman
working till late hours in a hotel. This was more than 25
years ago, where not many people, especially in Asia, were
familiar with the nature of work in the hospitality sector.
Despite the objections, Cinn stayed with the job and worked
doubly hard and in less than two years, she was promoted
twice and rose from Sales Executive to Sales Manager.
These experiences, early on in Cinn’s career shaped her
outlook on life and strengthened her belief that one should
not let others dictate one’s capabilities and potential.
Cinn is anchored by her faith and its teachings, which has
shaped her leadership style. She believes in ‘serving
leadership’, where in order to lead, one has to serve first.
Guided by honesty, integrity, and a genuine care for others
regardless of personal or professional interactions, she
believes that her faith is a source of strength which has
given her purpose in life and sustained her in challenging
times.
A Volatile Discipline
“Marketing has become so multi-faceted that it’s no longer
a pure marketing function,” states Cinn.
Marketing has
become so
multi-faceted
that it's no
longer a pure
marketing function.
“
“
Cover Story

preferences and be highly-attuned to
changes to the marketplace.
Marketing is no longer about having
big flashy advertising campaign across
broadcast and print. There’s so much
about personalization, targeting and
retargeting with the advent of Big
Data, which allows for unprecedented
customer segmentation. Lead times
have also become much shorter and
faster so marketing has to be pre-
emptive and proactive.
The Essentials of an Efficient
Marketeer
Emphasizing upon the characteristics
of an ideal CMO, Cinn states, “to lead
effectively, a CMO needs to be able to
inspire others; he or she must be a
change agent, one who has original
ideas and is not confined to the status
quo. Through leading by example, a
CMO encourages others to be a leader
in their sphere of influence and not
simply be a follower.”
“Besides having technical skills
including market awareness and field
expertise, a CMO needs to be dynamic,
open-minded, sensitive and aware of
the constant flux in the bigger
operating environments,” she adds.
Concluding her definition of an ideal
CMO, Cinn expresses, “I believe that
the fundamental function of the leader
is to create more leaders not followers,
being a senior leader means having the
patience and willingness to identify
and groom talent and nurturing the
next generation of leaders for the
company and the industry-at-large.
The sense of pride which one gets from
helping others grow comes from the
sincere humility to learn from others,
regardless of age, experience, or
seniority.”
Sincerity is the hallmark of Pan
Pacific Hotels Group and we will
continue to invest in relationships
with people who make us the
preferred hotel company. They
depend on us to deliver positive
outcomes, high standards and
returns, and that drives
everything we do.
more resorts in Malacca and Langkawi
in the country.
The group’s serviced suites are
designed to meet the needs of guests,
such as expatriates, who require
accommodation for weeks or months at
a time. Under both its Pan Pacific and
PARKROYAL brands, it offers one and
two-bedroom options to cater to
individuals as well as those travelling
with family. In addition to round-the-
clock, personalized service, the group
has a distinct advantage of being able
to offer an extensive range of culinary
concepts and wellness facilities within
its hotels, which are located in the
vicinity.
Continuing Sincere Endeavors
Pan Pacific Hotels Group has
established itself as a trusted hotel
management company with aspirations
A Conglomerate Redefining
Hospitality
Pan Pacific Hotels Group is the only
regional hotel chain to offer three
products – hotels, resorts and serviced
suites, which cater to short and long-
stay needs across corporate and leisure
segments. With 25 hotels, resorts and
serviced suites across Asia, Oceania
and North America, the group’s hotels
are located in key cities around the
world, and appeal to globetrotters and
individuals who seek excellence in life
– whether at work or at play.
PARKROYAL Hotels on the other
hand is passionate about creating real
connections and joyous moments,
which can be felt across all 15
properties across Asia and Australia.
Following the success of its flagship,
PARKROYAL Penang Resort in
Malaysia, the group is building two
“
“
Cover Story

to be the best in Asia Pacific.
“Sincerity is the hallmark of Pan
Pacific Hotels Group and we will
continue to invest in relationships with
people who make us the preferred hotel
company. They depend on us to deliver
positive outcomes, high standards and
returns, and that drives everything we
do,” Cinn asserts.
Recently, the group has launched its
corporate bookers’ loyalty program
named Pan Pacific Connections, to
better engage and grow the corporate
segment. It continues to expand its
network of global sales offices to
provide close and dedicated support to
its clients. Having opened a new office
in Hong Kong this year, the group will
be opening its London office next year
to support the opening of Pan Pacific
London, its flagship in the UK, in
2020.
The forthcoming years hold the
opening of Pan Pacific Hotels Group’s
first serviced suites property in Jakarta
in Indonesia, located at the Thamrin
area in the city center, as well as
PPHG’s flagship property, Pan Pacific
London. These will offer 237 hotel and
160 luxury residence keys in a 43-
storey building in the financial district,
next to Liverpool station.
In Southeast Asia, there are planned
resorts in the pipeline in Malaysia and
Vietnam while in Singapore, Pan
Pacific Orchard will be redeveloped
into an Orchard Road icon when it is
completed in 2021. Designed by
award-winning WOHAArchitects, the
hotel will offer 340 rooms with eco-
friendly features, surrounded by three
levels of experiential sky gardens.
“We are confident that the brand
refresh will bring greater visibility and
awareness of the Pan Pacific and
PARKROYAL brands to the industry as
well as the end customer in key
markets such as China, Australia, and
Southeast Asia,” states Cinn with
reference to the current marketing
strategy she’s involved in.
With a strong tradition and presence in
Asia-Pacific, PPHG appreciates and
understands the culture and mindset in
the markets it operates in.
“We have combined this
comprehension with a number of
marketing initiatives targeted at
increasing awareness of our brands in
our key markets, leveraged our core
competencies and brand strengths to
the fullest, and are well-positioned to
grow further in the region,” Cinn adds.
Advising the Aspirants
Cinn’s advice for the upcoming
generation of marketing enthusiasts is,
“Stay positive, motivated, and put
passion into your job. Have fun and
enjoy what you do. Having a natural
interest and curiosity and being
sensitive towards human needs and
emotions will help a marketer establish
a real connection with the customer.
Dare to do what you think is right, be
bold, and do not limit your ideas.”
She adds, “It’s critical to build
knowledge by keeping up with trends,
talking to people, and researching and
learning all the time to enhance your
knowledge of the customer and the
business. Be humble, never stop
learning, and most importantly, do not
give up in face of challenges. Keep
pursuing your passion.”

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CORPORATE OFFICE

CMO BriefCompany Name
Joelle Kaufman
Jetstar Airways
jetstar.com
Barry Rabkin
Mountain America
Credit Union
macu.com
Siegel+Gale
siegelgale.com
Wildix
wildix.com
Cinn Tan
Margaret Molloy
Zurixx
zurixx.com
April Critchfield
Sharon Cook
ACG World
acg-world.com
Identified Technologies
identifiedtech.com
pphg.com
Dynamic Signal
dynamicsignal.com
Tangoe
tangoe.com
Emiliano Tomasoni
Phil Wade
The ACG group is the only global supplier of integrated
manufacturing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.
Dynamic Signal is the leading Employee Communication and
Engagement Platform connecting companies to their most
valued asset- their employees.
Identified Technologies’ managed drone mapping solutions
provide a new level of transparency and insights for
earthmoving and construction contractors.
Jetstar branded carriers operate up to 5,000 flights a week to
more than 80 destinations. The Jetstar Group carried more than
34 million passengers in financial year 2016.
Mountain America Credit Union assists its members on
the right path to help them identify and achieve their
financial dreams.
Pan Pacific Hotels Group is a regional hotel chain with a global
footprint stretching across 40 hotels, resorts and serviced suites
in Asia, Oceania and North America.
Siegel+Gale is a global brand strategy, design and
experience firm.
Sidra Berman
Tangoe is a leading global provider of IT and Telecom Expense
Management (TEM) software and services to a wide range of
global enterprises and service providers.
Wildix seamlessly unifies internal and external communications
to better facilitate businesses across all platforms while
continuing to embrace new technology.
Zurixx develops financial education programs by crafting
messaging and developing materials, and launching sales
programs for students interested in growing their real estate
investment businesses.
Peter Neve
10
most
influential
The
CMOsToWatch 2018

Breaking the Marketer Mold
Peter Neve:
pportunities are as much a part of life as
Ochallenges; knowing how to recognize the first
and hurdle the other lay the groundwork for
success.
Peter Neve, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at
ACG attributes his success and career growth over the
past three decades to mastering this approach.
ACG is the world’s only supplier of end-to-end
manufacturing solutions for pharmaceutical and
nutraceutical manufacturers of tablet and capsule based
products. Its range of solutions cover everything from
Empty Hard Capsules, packaging film, and foil to tablet
and capsule production machines, inspection systems,
and Track & Trace systems.
A combination of personal conviction, curiosity, and
innovation has enabled Peter to consistently deliver
stellar marketing results across vastly different
industries.
Self-Taught Expertise
Peter found himself in the startup game long before it
became a buzzword in the business world. It was the
1980s and he was also straddling another nascent sector
– Machine Vision (MV) and Industrial ID – with Image
Industries, a U.K. enterprise he had founded and was
managing.
As is almost invariably the case with startups, Peter had
no choice but to wear several hats, including that of
marketer. Image Industries had to contend with selling a
new technology as an unknown entity with no customer
base and a fledgling business team.
Effective marketing was crucial to jumpstart revenue
generation and the task fell to Peter. He decided to
employ high-impact, cost-effective marketing. It worked.
Image Industries achieved enough success to catch the
eye of U.S.-based MV company, Cognex Corporation.
They acquired the startup and, despite Peter’s lack of
formal marketing training, gave him a marketing
position overseeing Europe based on his track record of
execution.
With his knack for success in the arena, he quickly rose
through the ranks and was appointed Global VP of
Marketing.
When asked what he believes are the key characteristics
a CMO ought to possess, Peter says that the same skill is
critical to any role in the marketing field – an ability to
truly put yourself in the customer’s position.
| July 2018 |16
CMO of the Month

“By honestly answering the strategic
questions of “Is it clear?”, “Is it
understandable?”, “Does it generate
interest?”, “Does it make me
respond?”, and “Do I want to buy?”,
any marketer can get incredible
insight into what might work and
what will not long before a plan is
implemented.”
He values gut feelings highly, too,
explaining, “If you ignore them, they
will inevitably come back to haunt
you.”
Peter also touches on the challenges
he has faced despite embodying his
effective marketing philosophy.
“Building the right team is absolutely
essential,” he stresses, “and this was
my ﬁrst priority when I joined ACG.
Without the right people to
complement your strategy and
business and regional brands into a
single ACG identity that would be
promoted globally.
Reputed brand consulting ﬁrm,
Landor Associates was chosen to
help with the process. They came up
with the strap line ‘Absolutely
Committed’, which Peter doubts that
his internal team would have been
able to create on their own.
He believes that it aligns perfectly
with ACG’s reputation for customer
service and ethics, and with the
company’s three beliefs -
‘Collaborative’, ‘Consistent’ and
‘Unrelenting’.
Under Peter, ACG’s commitment to
collaboration extends beyond the
marketing narrative. He oversaw the
recent launch of a mobile app for
implement your vision, it is
impossible to deliver on any
marketing goals.”
He works hard to prevent tunnel
vision from setting in. “I keep an
outside-in view of the business and
measure the ROI of every activity,”
he reveals.
Open-Minded Collaboration
Peter’s decentralized approach is not
limited to just marketing products; he
also uses it to broaden horizons and
bring new thinking to his team. It is
the prime reason that he is so
enthusiastic about involving external
vendors whenever he can.
This approach was on full display in
the recent rebranding of ACG that
Peter and his team implemented. The
aim was to coalesce multiple
I keep an
outside-in
view of the
business and
measure the
ROI of every
activity.
| July 2018 | 17
””
”” Peter Neve
CMO
ACG Group

internal communications, which was designed to foster
better and more meaningful interaction between the
company’s staff.
Using daily posts, videos, and assorted content, the
initiative has been highly successful in keeping the entire
organization abreast of the updated branding and new
identity. It incorporates the new strap line and beliefs
into many of the company’s internal events and
processes.
Peter emphasizes that it was critical to complete this
internal communication activity before they started their
external campaigns that incorporate the new branding. It
helps to ensure that everyone in the company reinforces
the brand’s values during every interaction with every
customer.
Sharing the Secrets
Peter is a good leader and an even better mentor, having
dedicated a lot of his career not just to marketing but also
to creating cohesive marketing teams who value their
differences as they execute a common vision. He is eager
to share what he has learnt, while continuing on his own
journey of personal growth.
Peter is proof of the fact that a marketing MBA does not
make you a naturally effective marketer. “Practical
experience, experimentation - without fear of failure -
and working within a complex organization structure are
even more important than a theoretical background,” he
explains.
“Making marketing effective is hard work but a lot of fun
at the same time. You have to quickly acknowledge that
things are not working, however great you thought the
idea was,” he adds. “Learn to ramp up successful
programs quickly and keep ahead of the curve in terms
of the marketing mix being used.”
“I love it when I see competitors playing catch up with
new activities and programs we have introduced,” he
smiles.
Another key piece of Peter’s advice is to share every
idea and concept with as many people as possible, as
many times as possible. Peter acknowledges that the
feedback can sometimes be hard to take, but reiterates
that every comment helps refine the final execution.
Fomenting Progress
Speaking of his plans to keep ACG relevant, engaged,
and effective, Peter says that he intends to exploit the
B2C marketing techniques that have worked so well for
him in the past to B2B marketing programs today.
Before joining ACG he kept his marketing mind whetted
on constant interaction with new technology start-ups in
the U.K. It complements perfectly what he learned in the
U.S. about growing fast and reacting to change quickly.
This diverse range of experiences has helped him
develop more formalized processes and work faster to
deliver solutions.
“Together, this varied practical knowledge, and
interactions with people from a spectrum of industries in
some of the most progressive international markets gives
me great confidence about doing the right thing at
ACG,” adds Peter.
“I really enjoy working here. The fact that ACG was
growing and successful - despite many underexploited
opportunities that existed for us - intrigued me,” he says.
“Helping address these opportunities and making ACG
even more successful is what really drives me every
day.”
Over the first 18 months at ACG, he has created many of
the key infrastructure building blocks needed to make
their marketing even more effective. Now, he is looking
forward to having more fun exploiting the promotional
and revenue generation opportunities this will support.
Peter relishes the unmitigated support his team and he
have enjoyed from the whole organization for the
strategies they have implemented. “It is very satisfying to
see the team moving so quickly to achieve our targets for
making ACG a recognized leader in our field.”
| July 2018 |18

Voyaging towards Marketing Zeniths
April Critchfield:
An efficient marketeer is what
an organization needs to cater
to the evidently widening
outreach of contemporary marketing. A
well-learned practitioner of modern
marketing methodologies knows, sees
and performs actions that throttle the
analysis and derivation of a profound
marketing strategy.
One such marketing specialist working
in Zurixx, LLC is its CMO, April
Critchfield. Holding a BS in
Communication, Organization &
Speech and initially an accounting
background, April possesses the
curiosity and ambition towards
marketing. “I have 10+ years of
experience in accounting, I love
numbers. I love reports: Creating them,
analyzing them, presenting them and
everything about the numbers. With
Accounting, I did it all: payroll, A/R,
A/P, Recon, you name it,” states April
while narrating her story of how she
entered the marketing discipline.
Another instance that instigated April’s
passion for marketing is her history of
stage performances. She asserts, “I did
a lot of big band shows in college and
earned vocal scholarships to help pay
for tuition. Watching a big event from
back-stage and also all the parts that
make it a ‘well-oiled machine’, made
me want to know more about the event,
from start to finish.”
and I had a really good conversation
about my passions which included
people and numbers, so he offered me
the marketing assistant’s position,
right there, on the spot. My accounting
experience, combined with a dormant
desire for marketing created a new
opportunity for me, so I jumped – all
in, entire body, mind & soul – into the
deep end,” states April about her
moment of realization and her
subsequent step towards a promising
career.
Defining Roles
According to April, setting an example
in the little things like being on time,
sticking up for others, accepting blame,
praising team members, encouraging
ideas, and promoting employees to be
self-sufficient and to see their value to
the overall company should be
influenced by every CMO.
She also explains the insistent issues
that CMOs face on a regular basis.
“CMOs rely on numbers and statistics
to make decisions, so when stats
change, and we have to re-think the
way we’re doing things, sometimes it
makes ‘making the change’very hard to
implement.”
“Campaigns or ideas that may or may
not work are a challenge, but just
because something doesn’t work or
doesn’t translate like we thought it
An Innovative and Compassionate
Organization
Zurixx, LLC is based out of Salt Lake
City, Utah, and Dorado, Puerto Rico.
Founded in 2012 by James Carlson, the
company develops financial education
programs and has received several
accolades and awards from Inc
Magazine, Fortune, Salt Lake Tribune,
and many more. By crafting messaging
and developing materials, and
launching sales programs, Zurixx’s
team members are thoroughly involved
in constantly improving educational
programs to fit their clients’ needs.
Zurixx is also a big contributor to
community efforts and organizations. It
is extensively involved in fund-raising,
food banks, sports events, health
awareness, etc. In 2017, Zurixx
stepped in as the presenting sponsor to
the Huntsman Cancer Foundation and
helped raise thousands of dollars for
the event. April was honored to kick
off the race as the spokesperson from
Zurixx for the event.
The Commencement of Success
April has always wanted to own a
business and to get involved in a
company that was just starting up.
“When I had the opportunity to
interview at Zurixx, I actually
interviewed for the Accounting
Assistant Position. My Boss, the CEO,
| July 2018 |20
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would, doesn’t make it a failure. Being able to see the parts
of it that worked, makes every test a success,” April
expresses.
Overcoming Imminent Challenges
April discovered the abilities of determination and
discipline, which is not possessed by many people. She has
been honing these skills for a long time and now, applies
them to a lot of situations in life, and in and out of her
workplace.
“I like to really be prepared when I go to meetings or with
presentations. I love displaying the element of surprise
when my CEO asks me for a report that I’ve anticipated
and I can actually show it to him on the spot,” April asserts.
Speaking up about situations she feels strongly about, and
having her issues addressed, she emphasizes, “A lot of
times, I would think that my idea has been brought up
before, or it’s been suggested by someone else, but I’ve
come to ﬁnd out that 9 times out of 10, it hasn’t been
suggested. So it has encouraged me to speak up and know
that I’m heard.”
Expressing about her ambitions, April says, “I see myself
continuing to grow, and encouraging others to grow, not
only in Zurixx, but in life. Understanding communication,
networking, and relationship marketing has been a huge
opportunity for me. Learning what I have at Zurixx,
combined with all of my odd-jobs before I became a CMO
has shaped me into who I am in this Industry.”
Advising the Aspiring Generation
“I would deﬁnitely say that if you think someone has “been
there” or “done that” you’re wrong. The marketing world
is getting so creative and just because someone might have
done something before you, doesn’t mean you can’t tweak it
and make it better. Be prepared for multiple outcomes and
be ready to roll with the punches,” is April’s advice to the
young marketing aspirants.
She also elucidates, “Sometimes you just have to
understand what you want to create. Do it yourself if you
can, and if you can’t, allow other people to help you. Keep
testing, keep learning, allow mistakes, learn from them, and
keep coming back for more. Don’t be afraid to collaborate
and ask for support. You never know what could come out
of a new partnership.”
Keep testing,
keep learning,
allow mistakes,
learn from them,
and keep coming
back for more.
””
””
April Critchfield
CMO
Zurixx, LLC.
| July 2018 | 21

WAlyce Tran, from , saidAdelaide
the inspiration behind Co-
founding her brand The Daily
Edited stemmed from a gift she
received from her uncle at the
age of 16. Working in the
corporate world, Ms Tran began
juggling her job - as well as
running her brand via social
media on the side with her
fellow lawyer Tania Liu. The
business partners initially
started off with a clothing line in
2011 - but after the business
failed, they looked into
blogging. The Daily Edited
boasts eight stores around the
world, concessions in countless
department stores and a website.
About the Author
Alyce Tran
Co-founder
The Daily Edited
| July 2018 |22
Leader’s Preaching

Women
Impact
in Tech
of
Given half of us are women it is
astonishing how under
represented we are in the tech.
No matter what the service or product
a company is in the business of
providing in most cases the end user of
that product will be a woman. How it
then that is there are so few women at
the top or heading up businesses that
center around technology. In my
business I feel like as a woman selling
to predominantly female customers it
would be crazy if my job was held by
someone else. Women bring a point of
view necessary to deliver products
successfully to other women. For
example, with The Daily Edited ease of
use on a mobile, amazing packaging
and our tailored product range appeals
to women, I’m a woman selling to
other women. We haven’t been lucky
to have an all-female web development
team and we’ve got some lovely guys
in the mix, the issue is though getting
them up to speed with what women
want when shopping or even getting
them to understand our product. I look
forward to having more females in my
team who understand the designs of
our products and why we sell certain
items (yes, a cosmetic case is an
essential)
In operating my business I am
definitely compassionate and
understanding of issues that women
may face, whether that be maternity
leave, flexible working arrangements
while working with children, the need
to bring your children to work on days
where it all goes wrong or the need to
have a day off because it’s that time of
the month! This all leads to a more
harmonious community based feeling
at work where every team member is
valued and their needs are met. I have
a very low attrition rate at TDE as a
result.
The interesting thing I have found with
female founders is that there is a
meeting of creativity and commerce in
women that is somewhat unique.
Where women can run businesses and
also be the creative force behind them
those two factors combined are a
recipe for success as they are able to
create products or services that are
commercial and can therefore resonate
in their markets. I feel I am in a much
stronger position to create products
that women want that make sense to
our bottom line and that generate sales
that continue to grow the TDE brand
and business. The fact that I can road
test our products myself, make changes
and improvements I think has been
pivotal to the success of the business.
I haven’t always been in e-commerce,
I actually started my career out as a
lawyer and did not have a background
in tech nor did I excel at STEM
subjects, I have learnt my skills on the
job and hope that ordinary women like
myself hopefully demonstrate to other
women that anyone can have a career
in tech and provide the next generation
with confidence to excel and contribute
to the field.
| July 2018 | 23

A Passion for Problem Solving Products
Barry Rabkin:
In an interview with Insights
Success, the CMO of Identified
Technologies, Barry Rabkin
shares the key insights powering his
transformative results as the Chief
Marketing Officer. Learn the
innovative marketing strategies that
this recognized industry leader has
used to create coast-to-coast demand
for his company’s offerings.
Below are highlights from the
interview conducted between Barry
and Insights Success:
Can you brief us on your
background?
I have always loved technology,
creativity, people, and the fusion of the
three. I am a computer programmer,
turned psychology major, turned
breakdancing entrepreneur, turned
product and marketing strategist. I’ve
always followed my passions, and
however random my path may seem,
every step has helped prepare me for
the challenges that followed.
I started CypherStyles out of my
college dorm room and grew it to be
the world’s largest online street dance
store. We reached 17 million YouTube
views, nearly 2 million in sales, and
offered over 1,000 different products,
60 of which I developed, before
bringing the company to acquisition.
After discovering my love of product
management and marketing, I took
night classes to earn my MBA from the
Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper
School of Business. After graduating
from CMU, I managed new product
development for Heinz’s largest brand,
Ore-Ida. There, I led my cross-
functional innovation team in creating
and implementing the strategic re-
with everything that has come before
for a nearly infinite range of world
changing possibilities.
What are the most daunting
challenges for CMOs today?
Modern marketers are blessed and
cursed with a churning ocean of new
marketing tactics, strategies, and tools
available to us daily. With so many
opportunities for distraction, it has
never been more essential to focus on
timeless principles, and avoid getting
sucked into the churning undercurrent
of short-term trends.
Instead of analyzing rapidly changing
new solutions, what can you learn
about the timeless problem to be
solved? Instead of writing about the
fast forgotten news of the day, what
‘evergreen’ content can you create that
will still be relevant in a year, or better
yet, in a decade?
How did you arrive at your unique
approach to marketing leadership?
Playing drums in bands throughout my
teens was the perfect training to
become a CMO. What happens if the
marketer’s customer insights are off or
the drummer goes off beat? They drive
the whole group in the wrong
direction. What happens if the
marketer stops generating interest from
new prospects or the drummer stops
playing? Either the entire group stops,
or each member goes off in their own
separate direction without a single
driving force keeping them together.
Drummers and marketers aren’t
usually in the spotlight doing solos, but
if you take them out of the mix, no one
else in the group can do their job. I’m
amazed every day by my co-workers’
skills, and it gives me immense
branding of the entire portfolio and the
most successful new product launch in
a decade.
When I first met Dick Zhang, the
Founder of Identified Technologies, I
knew nothing about drones, enterprise
SaaS, or the commercial construction
industry, but I was blown away by the
innovative autonomous technology the
team had developed, and they
appreciated my product and marketing
experience, and ravenous hunger to
learn more.
What are the most critical
characteristics that every CMO
should possess?
To be a successful marketer you need
the 3 Cs. You have to be curious,
collaborative, and creative. Curious,
because in a fast-evolving industry,
yesterday’s fact is tomorrow’s fiction.
You have to accurately predict what
will be true in the months and years
ahead and position your products and
company accordingly.
Collaborative, because anything worth
doing is worth doing well and anything
worth doing well is worth doing big
and scaling up with a team, and also
because complex problems require
complex solutions. By communicating
our centralized vision and goals, our
shared perspectives create a better
outcome than any one person could
create individually.
Creative, because we live in an age of
modern miracles and the interplay
between new technology, new
competition, and new customer trends
mean that amazing new breakthroughs
are happening daily. If we have the
creativity to ask ‘What if?’ every new
invention is an opportunity to combine
| July 2018 |26
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satisfaction to provide a foundation for their work and bring
in new prospects for us to serve.
What advice would you give to aspiring marketers?
Strategy is defined by hard choices, prioritization, and laser
focus. If you are responsible for scaling a company, ask
yourself what few things have the potential to rapidly 10x
the business? Decide what is likely to have a transformative
impact on your business, and go after it single-mindedly.
This approach means that some lower impact work won’t
get done. Some blog posts and social media updates won’t
get written. That’s okay. There are only so many hours in
the day, and the best way you can serve your stakeholders is
by focusing all your resources on the top priority
opportunities that can help fuel the company’s exponential
growth.
Where do you see yourself in coming years, and how do
you see yourself catalyzing that progress?
I proudly specialize in being a generalist. As Leonardo da
Vinci said, “Everything connects to everything else.” I love
studying fields that may at first seem unrelated. I know that
every new insight that I gain can be combined with my
other experiences to create something unique.
I live at the intersection of people, technology, and
creativity. Whether I’m leading product management at
Fortune 500 companies or marketing at VC backed startups,
you will find me doing what I love to do, solving problems
by bringing great people and great products together.
About the CMO
Barry Rabkin has over a decade of strategic and operational
success ranging from Fortune 500 B2C companies to
venture-backed B2B startups. He is passionate about
identifying, communicating and solving problems, using
new technologies such as big data analytics, cloud
computing, machine learning, IoT, and robotics.
CareerMetis, CMU Today, Going Deep, and the Pittsburgh
City Paper have featured Barry’s work leading
development on over 100 successful physical and digital
products that have sold millions of units
.
About the Company
Industrial leaders use Identified Technologies’ managed
drone mapping solutions to improve project tracking and
team productivity. Founded in 2013, based out of
Pittsburgh, PA, the company’s integrated hardware,
software, and services take care of everything from FAA
compliance and flight planning to advanced analytics.
Identified provides clear insights to make fast, accurate
project management decisions at the push of a button.
Making the
world a
better place,
one product
at a time.
””
””| July 2018 | 27
Barry Rabkin
CMO
Identified Technologies

arketing has been the real essence in the
Muplifting of any Organization in the long run.
While there are a number of other parameters
that foster a business, marketing certifies to be the base of
it, upholding the awareness and reach it requires, printing
its mark worldwide.
For all firms, whether any poor start-up or an MNC giant,
an effective marketing strategy can serve as a pivotal road-
map for the entire business. By developing a coherent and
well considered marketing strategy, organizations can
promote their business, target the right types of client and
allocate their resources correctly, all while safeguarding the
reputation of the firm.
Because one parameter of a marketing plan affects all of the
others, synchronizing activities is critical to eliminate
obstacles and maximize profits. A marketing strategy looks
at all the areas of the sales activities and helps each one
support the next.
One of the most important aspects of any marketing
strategy relates to recognizing growth opportunities. This
can be efficiently done by using the SWOT analysis. Once
an organization identifies its strength, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of any marketing scheme, it
becomes easier to en-cash those opportunities and
reconsider what course or action should be taken to
eliminate prevalent threats.
The underlying focus of the organization’s marketing
strategy should be based on the concept of developing and
increasing awareness of the company’s brand, and also on
developing trust assurance in that brand. A company’s
credibility or service is its most important asset. Hence,
attempts should be made to enhance and protect it during
the course of the marketing process
.
Understanding how to create an integrated marketing
strategy is the key help to make better individual decisions
with respect to specific marketing tactics. In order to
achieve this, organizations must implement robust and
efficient marketing strategies as quickly as possible. All the
key components of a marketing strategy, if catered and
applied in the best manner, helps to design and manufacture
successful business.
Here are some of the crucial parameters that play a pivotal
role in successfully implementing and nourishing effective
marketing strategies.
Goals and Objectives
As with all the plans, goals and objectives are the origin of
any target-oriented organization. Without a proper mix of
these objectives according to the prevalent resources, a
company proves to be inefficient in the long run.
It can begin by thinking through goal-specific
accomplishments, identifying basic marketing objectives,
The
Significance anof
Effective Marketing
Strategy
Marketing
Strategy
| July 2018 |28

which may include some of the following aspects:
Ÿ Increased brand recognition
Ÿ Growth in the market share
Ÿ Market to New Customer Segments
Ÿ Digitization
Investment, Budget and Revenue
Once the objectives for the business are fully determined,
the concept of On-margin investments, Budget and End
revenue come into play. However, there is never enough
budget to cover all the marketing ‘wish-lists’ adequately.
The process of Investment is iterative and operates
continually. It may be a function of:
Ÿ Coming up with budget to shelter all the marketing
needs
Ÿ Identifying the objectives that are more critical and
inclined towards the success factor and reallocating
budget meet top-priority objectives on a ‘ﬁrst-serve’
preference.
Ÿ Searching for innovating ways to stretch the marketing
budget. For example, content development, low-cost
crowd outsourcing etc.
Ÿ Constructing a big picture view and reviewing the key
marketing thrust areas. Others parameters such as spend
comparison, consumption of utilization channels,
website optimization etc. should be fetched under
consideration.
As far as revenue is considered, a marketing strategy is
used to determine the revenue that the campaign will
deliver. All of the parts that go into determining revenue,
including the budget allotted to the campaign, product cost,
selling price and the life span of the product, should all be
considered while developing the marketing strategy. The
estimated End-Revenue can be measured against the actual
revenue, and that information can be used to create future
marketing strategies that are more successful.
Target Audience and Buyer Journey
Tracking and analyzing the dynamic and changing needs of
the audience under radar is pivotal in effective marketing.
Identifying the demographic and psychographic
characteristics of the target audience aids to re localize the
radius under consideration. Based on the available data,
| July 2018 | 29

Ÿ Traditional marketing channels (TV, Radio, Newspaper,
Direct Mail etc.)
Ÿ Digital Marketing Channels (Website, Mobile
applications, Social platforms, online advertisements
etc.)
Ÿ Content Marketing (Blogs, Newsletters, e-books, Info-
graphics etc.)
Competition
Though the role of competition in devising an optimal
marketing strategy is limited, it helps to draw comparisons
among identical products and groups, providing scope for
‘brand-improvements’. In order to symbolize a powerful
campaign, marketing strategy needs to offer a detailed
description of the competition, according to the small
business experts at the Center for Business planning.
The objective of the marketing strategy is to provide
historical information on how the competition has
advertised products in the past, the target market the
competition goes after and the product features that the
competition offers. Some other factors include competition
pricing, the competition’s distribution network and the sales
strategies, which are also a part of the comprehensive
marketing strategy.
segmentation should be done to provide qualified and need-
based resources.
A buyer persona is a fictional representation of your ideal
customer based on statistical market research and the
prevalent data about your existing customers. After
developing buyer personas, developing the Buyer Journey
for each single persona and its interaction with the brand is
considered to be the key to implement trust and satisfaction
among the target audiences.
Media and Messaging
Messaging is a process which signifies the firm’s intentions,
and informs the actual purpose of your business to the
external world.
Based on a detailed evaluation of how target is reacting
with the various components of the brand, establish an apt
messaging media, tone, selling propositions and key terms
that are likely to resonate the most.
Determining the Channel Mix
Ÿ Analyze and decide where the business would get the
most Return on Investment (ROI). This can be done by
echoing the channels around three road categories:
| July 2018 |30

Reforming the Art of Marketing
Joelle Kaufman:
Aprolific marketing strategy
defines an organization’s
approach towards its adopted
business. The organization’s outreach
to the intended audience is profoundly
reliant on the proficiency of the
marketeer’s vision and determination.
Maintaining adequacy and efficiency in
devising such a strategy must be a
Chief Marketing Officer’s forte.
Joelle Gropper Kaufman is the
recursive ingenuity of Dynamic
Signal’s marketing strategies and
processes conceived from her role as
the CMO of the company. She began
working in the Internet in 1996 when it
was just beginning and dial up was still
the dominant mode of consumer
connection. Her days in Product
Management at Firefly Networks, time
in Brazil advising multiple US
companies and working in product,
business development and sales
management at start-ups and large
companies all combined to give her a
broad experience and perspective to
lead marketing.
She has led marketing and sales
development for Reactivity, Adify,
BloomReach, Westfield and now
Dynamic Signal, the leader in the
Employee Communication and
Engagement category. Joelle’s primary
goal is to create and operate the engine
of growth for her companies using the
most effective sales and marketing
tactics for each market and product.
technology with Barnes&Noble for
their launch to include personalized
recommendations. From that point
forward, Joelle focused on the
transformational and disruptive power
of technology on business.
Reconceiving Ideologies
While sharing her insights on what
qualities should be possessed by an
ideal CMO, Joelle states, “Every CMO
needs to be focused on growth
opportunities and risks that are 6-12
months away, at least, while
supporting the activities to drive near
term sales and delight existing
customers.”
“The most pressing challenge that
CMOs face is continued creativity.
There is no strategy or tactic that
works every time or is impossible to be
copied. The speed of duplication has
accelerated along with Moore’s Law
and CMOs must stay on the edge of
experimentation while remaining
budget conscious,” Joelle adds.
Exemplifying Determination
“I value clarity, prioritization and
authentic interactions,” Joelle
expresses. Her ability to identify root
causes, organize and align people
across the organization behind a
strategy and then execute it is
prominent among the people who have
worked with and around her. In her
An Empowering Workplace
Dynamic Signal is the leading
Employee Communication and
Engagement Platform trusted by over
20% of the Fortune 100 and more than
350 enterprises worldwide. The
company solves the challenge of
connecting with any organization’s
most valuable asset, its people, though
modern, streamlined and measurable
communication. This platform can
deliver targeted broadcasts and content
to each employee on any channel or
device they prefer.
Dynamic Signal closes the loop with
robust analytics that illuminate
engagement with content and the
impact it’s having.
Perceiving Success
In her second year of business school
at Harvard, while taking an
Entrepreneurial Marketing class, she
was asked to write a business plan for a
new business. Joelle recognized an
opportunity to leverage technology to
increase the volume of books sold by
harnessing preferences to make
personalized recommendations.
This insight to revitalize a slow growth
business introduced her to the world of
start-ups, enterprise sales and
marketing and SaaS product strategy.
In 1996, she sourced, closed and
implemented a license of Firefly’s
| July 2018 |32
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first leadership role in Marketing at Reactivity, she was one
month into her tenure when multiple bake-off reviews were
published in her category. Her appliance won rave reviews
for its interface and usability, but lost dramatically on
throughput.
Joelle created both, a rapid response and a long term
strategy to focus discussion and buying criteria on usability
and integration working with sales, marketing, customers,
press and analysts at Gartner and Forrester. This was carried
out in order to educate the market, empathize with the
application and security architects and ensure that
Reactivity was seriously considered for their current XML
needs – and that Reactivity’s architecture would allow them
to accelerate to meet future envisioned targets. Reactivity
survived and three years later was acquired by Cisco at over
x
20 revenues.
Bequeathing the Keys of Excellence
“Don’t fall in love with your technology. Fall in love with
solving a big problem,” is Joelle’s advice for the aspiring
marketeers.
She adds, “Ideally, your problem should either impact one
large industry significantly or many verticals in a
meaningful way. Don’t try to create a problem to fit your
technology – instead, find the problems and build scalable
solutions to address.”
“Stay as focused on making your customers successful as
you do on acquiring new ones. As a marketer, learn how to
tell stories that resonate and build bridges between many
audiences. Enterprise B2B technology is not bought by one
person, it’s bought by a committee and you have to help
each person on that committee in navigating the process,”
Joelle expresses while reminiscing about her past
experiences and lessons.
Foreseeing a Triumphant Tomorrow
Joelle envisions ascending growth at Dynamic Signal
globally, over the next few years and continuing the journey
of building great companies and creating a community of
inspired, creative marketers who deliver.
Live Big.
Play all-in,
be extremely
clear about goals
and roles and
then unleash
people with
autonomy to
solve problems
and get
stuff done.
””
””| July 2018 | 33
Joelle Kaufman
CMO
Dynamic Signal

Emerging Technologies:
A Revolution with Challenges
By Kizzy M. Dominguez, President of K. Parks Consulting, Inc. (KPC)
Reality (VR), 360-degree videos, and other learning
management systems remains bright, there are challenges in
some uses of these technologies that continue to help focus
the efforts of those professionals that specialize in their use
in their effort to solve the practical problems some
organizations may encounter as they adapt to these
technologies.
For example, technology which allows users to become
fully immersed in an interactive, computer-generated three-
dimensional environment has greatly advanced in recent
years. VR seemed like a technology destined to forever live
in the future: tantalizingly close, yet just out of reach for
practical use by organizations. Recent advancements in
computer processing, video graphics, and hardware,
however, finally closed the gap between today and
tomorrow, allowing consumers and organizations to readily
obtain inexpensive, high-quality VR experiences
(Axworthy, 2016). What used to require a room of
computers and thousands of dollars in equipment can now
be had by anyone with a smartphone and a $12 pair of VR
goggles. The sudden ubiquity of VR is reflected in the
projections for its growth over the next several years. The
total revenue related to VR usage across all industries is
expected to increase from $7 billion in 2017 to over $74
billion in 2021 (Greenlight Insights, 2017). Although
consumer VR applications represent the largest market
sector now, the adoption of VR technology by organizations
will eventually surpass use by consumers (Beccue &
Wheelock, 2017). Organizations are already exploring how
VR can be best used in their operations, and they are
extremely interested in applying it to talent management. A
recent survey found 48% of organizations are considering
adopting VR for simulation exercises, testing, onboarding,
and training (Tandulwadikar, 2016), while some companies
have begun experimenting with VR as part of their people
processes (McLaren, 2017). Walmart, for example, planned
to include VR in all its training academies by the end of
2017 (Feloni, 2017), while German transportation company
Deutsche Bahn uses VR Realistic Job Previews (RJPs) at
career fairs to show applicants what it is like to work in jobs
that are hard to fill at the company (Dixon, 2017) and
Lloyds Bank has developed a VR assessment to determine
Emerging technologies continue to lead a revolution
in the ways organizational training, education, and
assessments are more effectively and efficiently
conducted which has yielded fantastic results. These
technologies have radically altered the landscape in
achieving higher rates of learning and growth not only for
organizations and their members, but also within entire
industries. While the future of such technologies as Virtual
| July 2018 |34
Tech Evolution
Kizzy M. Dominguez
President & Founder
K. Parks Consulting, Inc.

Dr. Kizzy Dominguez is the Founder and President of K.
Parks Consulting, Inc. (KPC), which is one of the 2017 Inc.
5000 “Fastest Growing Private Companies.” KPC creates
difference makers through instructor-led, web-based, and
blended learning, as well as through executive coaching and
emerging technology services, such as VR and 360-degree
implementation. Over the last three years, KPC has trained
and coached over 10,000 students and collaborated with
several public-sector agencies to implement emerging
technologies and their use.
With over 50 team members located worldwide, KPC
Difference Makers have been helping clients shape their
futures since 2008 by partnering with Fortune 500
companies, government agencies, and universities, with
such clients as FHI, Medtronic, Seminole State College,
Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the U.S. Army, the U.S.
Department of Education, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Training
Systems Division.
Dr. Dominguez was recently recognized by Profiles in
Diversity Journal as a “Woman Worth Watching.” She
received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial/Organizational
Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology. Her
published work includes several book chapters, a case study
in “Understanding and Management Diversity,” and an
edited book, “Managing Diversity in the Military: The Value
of Inclusion in a Culture of Uniformity.”
About the Authorjob candidates’ personality characteristics (Roberts, 2016).
As the cost of VR technology continues to decrease and its
quality increases, it will significantly influence how
organizations recruit, hire, and train their workforces (Salas,
Kozlowski, & Chen, 2017).
The challenge with employing these emerging technologies
is that there are very few empirical or practical resources
available to guide these organizations’ efforts to best use
these technologies. While there was some discussion
several years ago about the potential for VR in talent
management and selection (e.g., Aguinis, Henle, & Beaty,
2001; Pierce & Aguinis, 1997), the technology then was too
expensive for widespread adoption by organizations. As a
result, it was not possible to conduct empirical studies and
begin developing a robust evidence base. Similarly,
practical guidance about implementing VR in this field can
be challenging as some organizations have only recently
started using VR for talent management, and any issues
related to the development and deployment of VR
technology in other fields have not been reported outside of
their respective specialty areas (e.g., clinical psychology,
computer science, medical). This is also true for
government agencies, as there remains a dearth of
information they can use to assess the critical role VR can
play in the development, implementation, and evaluation of
their talent management initiatives.
Therefore, organizations continue to need information about
the practical use of emerging technologies such as VR and
360-degree videos for not only their training and education
efforts but also for their talent recruitment and retention
efforts. Recent advances in this technology have now made
it possible for organizations to incorporate it more
seamlessly into their employee recruiting and hiring
processes. However, more information is needed to
properly develop, implement, and evaluate these types of
initiatives to achieve true talent management. The
continued collaboration of the diverse group of researchers
and talent management consultants using emerging
technologies, including sharing examples of current
applications, potential implementation challenges,
addressing important research gaps, and defining the future
of emerging technologies as versatile tools should be a
major factor in addressing this challenge.
From the perspective of this Entrepreneur and
Industrial/Organizational scientist-practitioner with
firsthand experience working with this technology in
research and client engagements, how these technologies
are perceived and currently used by some organizations in
talent management remains a challenge to those
organizations achieving their fullest potentials. While the
widespread use of emerging technologies in training and
education has been decidedly successful, the successful
methods and techniques of those organizations associated
with implementing these technologies must continue to be
shared with those that would benefit from using these
technologies in their own talent management initiatives.
Through expert mentoring, educating, and supporting of
those organizations grappling with talent management
challenges through uniquely tailored initiatives that
leverage the already-proven success of these emerging
technologies, those organizations should be fully able to
realize all of the benefits these technologies have to offer
and thereby achieve their fullest potentials.
| July 2018 | 35

An All-Rounder in Modern Marketing
Sharon Cook:
With the advent of social
media, the marketing
industry has taken a whole
different shape altogether. Marketing
personnel have an additional benefit of
showcasing their products and services
on different platforms to create
awareness among people. One leader
in the marketing industry who
completely comprehends the
importance of it and takes it to the next
level is Sharon Cook, the Chief
Marketing and Public Relations
Officer for Mountain America Credit
Union.
After acquiring a degree from
Westminster College, and receiving a
certificate in Leadership and
Negotiation from Harvard Law School,
she held a number of positions as
Director of Brand Strategy and
Director of Marketing in the finance
industry before becoming the Chief
Marketing and Public Relations Officer
for Mountain America Credit Union in
2009. Apart from this, she Co-Chairs
the annual fundraising event sponsored
by Mountain America which raises
money for Primary Children’s
Hospital.
Infusing Creativity and Innovation
Sharon blends a successful mix of
digital, social, and traditional
marketing tactics with innovative ideas
and multiple technologies. She
advocates technology, data, AI, and
strategic communications. Sharon has
savings, mortgages, home equity lines
of credit, business accounts,
commercial loans, personal loans, auto
loans, visa cards, Express Debit cards,
student loans, small business loans,
and wealth management.
Members also enjoy access to secure,
cutting-edge mobile banking
technology, over 90 branches in five
states, thousands of shared-branching
locations nationwide and more than
50,000 surcharge-free ATMs.
Today, Mountain America’s essence
—‘guidance’— remains the focal point
of the company’s identity. It’s a
purpose-driven identity to ensure that
everything else Mountain America
Credit Union does, moves its members
safely along their journey. With more
than 760,000 members and $7.5 billion
in assets, Mountain America Credit
Union assists its members on the right
path to aid in identifying and achieving
their financial dreams.
Voyage of a Market Leader
Sharon’s love for writing landed her an
early career, working in strategic
communications where she learned to
deliver messages that built a brand and
delivered exponential growth across
several industries. The ability to
understand audiences led her into
marketing and her ability to tell
compelling stories, led to big brand
development. She realized what
a fascination for new technologies and
has implemented a full-stack at
Mountain America while building new
cornerstones and digital platforms.
Sharon leads numerous departments
including Public Relations, Social
Media, Creative Services, Content,
Analytics, Web & Online, Channel
Management, Sponsorships, and
Financial Literacy. Adding to this, she
also contributes to the strategic
planning of the overall credit union as
a dedicated member of the senior
executive management team.
She advises the executive team as well
as the Board of Directors on how her
multiple teams and the associated
technologies support and drive growth
in every facet of the organization. The
results of which are evident in the
unprecedented growth of the
organization as it is recognized as one
of the fastest growing companies in the
financial industry for the last 8 years.
Supporting the Communities they
Serve
Mountain America Credit Union was
founded in 1936 in the midst of Great
Depression with a commitment to
guide their members to achieve their
financial dreams. Mountain America
Credit Union provides consumers and
businesses with a variety of
convenient, flexible products and
services, as well as sound, timely
advice. This includes checking,
| July 2018 |38
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technology and data could do when combined with strategic
marketing knowledge and connected all the dots.
In order to imprint this vision on the organization, Sharon
methodically introduced changes and technologies that
produced results, one step at a time. She achieved this by
implementing sophisticated layers of processes into projects
while simultaneously growing the expertise on the team,
creating a unique combination of talent and technology over
time. Sharon’s commitment to help those in need has led
her to work with numerous non-proﬁt organizations in both
fundraising and serving in numerous board positions within
the community.
A Potential to Achieve Milestones
Sharon always had a fascination for innovation. She is a
recognized industry leader and early adopter in the
marketing technology, analytics, and social media space. As
an early communications professional, she quickly saw the
potential of social media. Sharon was a pioneer in the credit
union world in understanding the importance this channel
has for developing member engagement and loyalty.
Mountain America Credit Union’s social media campaigns
have achieved national recognition from several sources,
including theﬁnancialbrand.com as an example of
outstanding Facebook campaigns. Sharon has also been
able to monetize this channel through new accounts and
loan growth. Her ability to implement a communication
strategy, member targeting and compelling offers has
delivered world-class results in short time frames.
Because of Sharon’s contribution, Mountain America
Credit Union currently ranks number 3 globally for Credit
Unions using social media and has held this spot for the last
several years. It also ranks number 2 globally for Credit
Unions using Facebook.
Golden Words for Emerging Trailblazers
Sharon believes, in order to be a successful leader, one must
be intellectually curious and should understand what makes
you successful and keep replicating it. Being aware of your
competition and not copying others’ tactics will always help
maintain originality and thus, achieve success. She states,
“follow your own strategies because you know what works
for your business.”
Great leaders ask
hard questions.
Hard questions
drive great results.
| July 2018 | 39
Sharon Cook
Chief Marketing & Public Relations Officer
Mountain America Credit Union””
””

Components
Digital
Marketing
of
Digital Marketing is marketing done on digital
platforms such as search engines, websites,
emails and mobile apps. It is an efficiently
targeted, conversion oriented and interactive marketing
of products and services by optimally utilizing digital
platforms to acquire customers. The scope of digital
marketing is not limited to advertising. It also includes
Acquiring new customers and sustaining the current
customers. The reason why digital marketing is a topic
of discussion is the statistics behind the same:
Ÿ 81% of shoppers conduct online research before
making big purchases. (Retailing Today, 2014)
Ÿ 65% of smartphone users agree that when conducting
a search on their smartphones, they look for the most
relevant information regardless of the company
providing the information. (Google, 2015)
Ÿ 51% of smartphone users have discovered a new
company or product when conducting a search on
their smartphone. (Google, 2015)
Ÿ 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing
their organic presence is their top inbound marketing
priority. (HubSpot, 2017)
Components of Digital marketing
Digital Marketing is known to be an umbrella under
which all the aspects of online marketing activities are
covered. Following are the most common types of
marketing activities under digital marketing:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is a process of utilizing all
the available resources in order to optimize the overall
performance of a website. Through SEO, a company can
improve the quality of the content on its website,
increase the reachability, attain higher user engagement,
etc. For example, Amazon generating content to be on
top of the search engines is a type of SEO. According to
statistics, 67% of the clicks come from the first five
listings of a search page. This clearly states how
important it is for companies to use SEO.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
Pay per Click is when a company bids for a certain
keywords and optimizes its website accordingly to be on
the top of the search results page. The companies pay the
search engines every time someone clicks on the
| July 2018 |40
Digital Engagement

websites link. In the process, the
search engines look at three aspects
before putting them on the top of the
list in their search results page:
Ÿ The amount of money the
company is bidding
Ÿ How relevant the keyword is with
the website and its products
Ÿ How optimized is the landing
page of the website
Content Marketing
Content Marketing is a process of
creating relevant content to acquire
the
response
time from
customers
via smartphone is highest.
97% of all the text messages are read
within 4 minutes of being sent. The
companies acquire new customers
every day by offering them discounts
on its products through text
messages.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing refers to the
process of interacting with customers
new customers. The content must be
valuable to the customers and
consistent in quality. It is a key tool
for SEO and helps the website to get
noticed on social platforms. Good
Content should not be promotional
but educational and inspirational so
that the user can see the website as a
source of information.
Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing refers to
advertising/selling the products and
services to potential or existing
customers through text messages on
their mobile phones. This is one of
the most direct ways of marketing as
| July 2018 | 41

In other words it enables the company to know what it is
doing and whether is it feasible or not.
Digital marketing has become a milestone in this ever
changing digital world and has replaced traditional ways
of marketing to some extent by offering a variety of
marketing tools that are very cost efficient compared to
the old marketing techniques. It enables better
interactions with customers, resilient marketing and
better customer relation, rapid growth in sales and
overall effective development of business. Needless to
say, Digital Marketing may just be named as Marketing.
| July 2018 |
through social media platforms. Companies
advertise, sell, and assist customers on social
media for numerous reasons:
Ÿ Creating brand awareness for free
Ÿ To get feedback directly from
customers
Ÿ Get more traffic on website and improve
SEO rating
Ÿ Acquire new customer and expand sales
Ÿ Marginally low marketing cost
Ÿ 47% of all internet users are on Facebook
Ÿ 88% of product purchases are Pinterest pinned
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a form of marketing that enables
companies to communicate potential/current customers
through electronic mails. The process includes:
Ÿ Sending emails to current customers to enhance
relationship with them for brand loyalty
Ÿ To acquire new customers or to convince the current
one to purchase
Ÿ Advertising through mail
The key benefits of email marketing include cost
effectiveness, flexibility and better rate of success. The
content must be relevant and useful to the user, should
look authentic and strategic and well-coordinated.
Marketing Automation
Marketing Automation is a tool that keeps all your digital
marketing activities together and synchronizes them for
efficient and effective business. It also measures the
performance and ROI for faster growth. Automation
gives direction to the company by providing it data that
shows the area of improvement and ways to improve it.
42

Advocating Self-Development and
Creative Marketing Techniques
Sidra Berman:
In an interview with Insights
Success, the CMO of Tangoe,
Sidra Berman shares her insights
behind her triumphant ingenuity as a
Chief Marketing Officer. The zealous
and admired leader has driven the
ascension of the Technology Expense
Management and Enterprise Mobility
Services Company with her
contemporary and innovative
management and marketing expertise.
Below are the highlights of the
interview conducted between Sidra and
Insights Success:
Explain your background in detail
and tell us your prime goals?
When I graduated from college, I had
no idea what I wanted to do with the
rest of my life. Fortunately, the
company that I had been interning with
hired me full time. Basically, I “fell”
into the beginning of my career. Within
a few years, I ended up at GE. GE had
a great training program—the company
really invested in people, their careers,
and growing their skill sets. That is
where I met the first mentor in my
career, Reid Walker, who was a
fantastic boss.
I would ask him regularly during our
1:1 catch-up meetings, “What can I do
better?”, and he would always give me
feedback. Even though it can be hard
candidates and specific issues, and was
able to carry over those skillsets.
What is the most important
characteristic that every CMO
should possess?
There are two important characteristics
that every CMO should possess. First,
listening to the market and customers;
this includes both external customers,
as well as internal feedback from your
sales team. Always remember that
customers pay your paycheck, so you
need to listen to pay attention to what
they want. Second, do your homework
and understand the dynamics of the
market. How big is it? Who signs the
checks that buy your products? Who
influences and researches that
purchase? Knowing the market both
quantitatively and qualitatively is
essential.
What are the most pressing
challenges that CMOs are facing
today to be innovative and Why?
One key challenge for CMOs is that
there is so much noise in the market –
it’s hard to be heard by the people
you’re trying to reach.
Since social media has given everyone
a platform, it is difficult to get attention
as people are being inundated. This
makes it more important than ever to
go back to the basics: who are you
targeting and what is their pain?
to get constructive criticism, when it is
well delivered and meant to grow the
person, you can’t be brittle about it. As
I’ve moved up in my career, I try to do
the same for the people who work for
me. I want all of them to be successful,
and try to help them with both the hard
and soft skills necessary to get to
where they ultimately want to be in
their careers.
Tell us about the company you work
for, and the services it provides.
Tangoe is the global technology
expense management and enterprise
mobility services standard for the
world’s greatest brands. Our clients
rely on Tangoe to increase productivity,
reduce costs, and drive predictable
results. Our customers believe – like us
– that people work smarter when
technology works for them.
How did you decide to pursue the
career you are working on today?
What was the pivotal moment or
inspiration?
I started my career working on political
campaigns and for non-profits. As I
matured and decided jumping from
campaign to campaign was getting old,
I realized that what I was actually
doing was marketing. While I wasn’t
marketing a product, I had been
marketing and raising money for
| July 2018 |44
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here do they go to research a purchase? You
Wneed to focus your message through the right
channel in order to get the attention of the
people you’re trying to reach.
What are the key values, which helped you to overcome
the roadblocks/challenges in your career as a CMO? Tell
us something about a memorable incident under your
leadership.
The key value I try to live by is treating people as what they
actually are — people with their own hopes, goals, dreams,
lives, and families. When you treat someone like a
human—just as you would want to be treated—it changes
the way you give feedback, lead the department, manage
tasks.
A key memorable incident was when I first became a
Director and had my own team to lead for the first time
ever. My manager at the time (as well as mentor & friend),
Jim Rogers, said to me “I know you’re ambitious and
running a team is a step to where you want to go. Always
remember, the way you treat people who work for you
influences how they feel about themselves, how their
interact with their spouse or significant other, treat their
child and even how they sleep. Being a manager is a
massive, sacred responsibility.”
What would you advise to the budding entrepreneurs
and marketing individuals entering into the market?
Early in your career, try as many different roles as you can
within the marketing or business function you’re in. I
worked in communications, web marketing, event planning,
field marketing, and product marketing throughout my
career before becoming a CMO. Each role taught me a new
aspect of marketing and helped me figure out where I
wanted to focus on with my career.
Where do you see yourself in coming years, and how do
you see yourself catalyzing that change?
I love what I do, and want to empower and mentor others to
reach the highest pinnacle they can in their careers. It would
be an honor if in 5, 10, or even 15 years, there were lots of
CMOs who used to work on my team.
Lead by example.
Don't ask others
to do what you
won't do yourself.
””
””| July 2018 | 45
Sidra Berman
CMO
Tangoe

In addition to running Kenja as CEO, I have the
fortune of teaching MBA students part time on
Leadership, Marketing, and Strategy. For my classes
and as a CEO, I think the most important place to start is
with the “Why” — what is your Purpose as an Leader
and as a Company.
Purpose as a Leader
As a leader, the first place to start is with yourself. If you
cannot lead yourself then how can you lead others? The
first thing to know about a leader is their Passion and the
Values that led them to put importance on those passions.
With an understanding of Passion, people can develop
their Life’s Purpose. Purpose is your North Star, it is
your unwavering unchanging goal which your daily
actions will lead you to. Upon setting your own Purpose,
you will need a Plan to take concrete steps towards the
Purpose, Partners to benefit and to help you achieve
your Purpose, and finally Persistence to help you with
the very difficult task of staying focused on your
Purpose.
Passion, Purpose, Plan, Partners, and Persistence are
the “5Ps of Life” - a workshop that I do with students to
help them figure out their Life’s Purpose. 95% of people
do not have a concrete Purpose in life - they let events
and daily to-dos determine their activities. I do not think
that Purpose is something that can be discovered in a day
- often it will take time to think about this and reflect on
it. The point of the exercise is simply to begin the very
important self-dialogue to get to your Life Purpose. It
does not matter how fast you go if you have not figured
out what direction you want to run first.
In Kenja, every person in our company knows that
although I had C level experience in companies like
Vodafone, Verizon Wireless, and Fidelity Investments, I
have always had a dream to found a different kind of
company - one that valued Innovation and Ideas over
Politics and the primary focus on Quarterly Profits. My
passion is for solving problems in innovative ways and
for implementing very difficult projects.
I was fortunate that I started with good co-founders,
people that shared my vision and could contribute
complementary skills. The plan is usually a natural
outcome of a strong purpose and Persistence is usually
achieved by knowing what works for you on a daily
basis. For me Persistence is reinforced by refusing to
consider a return to large company executive jobs and by
daily use of the “Pomodoro” technique. (using 30
minutes interval of focused effort followed by a short
break)
The Importance of
Purpose
| July 2018 |46
Purpose Driven

Purpose as a Company
Just as with Individual Leaders, a company will need to
develop its own clear Purpose. A Clear Purpose gives
motivation to people, clarity to strategy, and a clear
branding for Marketing.
If we are honest with most companies, the Purpose easily
devolves into meeting the Monthly or Yearly Targets.
The Purpose is not merely the result of your actions —
the Purpose describes WHY you are pursuing your goals.
The Clear Purpose is lived by company members so it
becomes a reflection of why people join and stay with
your company.
Company Strategy is strongly guided by Purpose.
Things that lead you off the Strategic Path are rejected
and you can find further value and differentiation in the
area of your chosen competition. Small changes in your
Purpose drives big results in the marketplace. Although
Facebook and MySpace are both Social Networks,
Facebook’s focus on connecting your friends resulted in
many small innovations that MySpace with their focus
on creating cool personal spaces did not.
If you are clear on your Purpose, then the Brand is not a
just a slogan on a TV Commercial. It is lived by
employees, reflected in your products and services, and
felt by your customers. It is far more enduring than any
single campaign message or even a business plan for a
year.
Kenja’s purpose is to Revolutionize the way that mid to
large companies collaborate to get work done through
software. In the beginning it was difficult since larger
companies tend to buy from other larger companies but
we have now achieved something not easily copied.
After 7 years in Business, we now have larger
organizations like Mitsui and Company, Randstad, and
JICA (the Japanese Peace Corp) and many mid sized
companies using us. If we had started with consumers
and small companies only, then the functionality,
security, and ease to use (for older employees as well)
would be far different.
Starting with Purpose is not always the easy or obvious
choice. There are many obstacles in the way and it is too
easy just to focus on Profit or KPIs of the company.
However, a focus on Purpose will automatically keep
Employee Engagement, Strategy, and your Branding on
track.
Ted Katagi
CEO
Kenja
| July 2018 | 47

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