San Jose, Calif. – December 14, 2015 – The Forbes CMO Practice released today a new report “Publish or Perish: A CMO Roadmap for Managing, Systematizing and Optimizing the Marketing Content Supply Chain” which reveals that publishing has emerged as a critical marketing discipline that is now essential to top-line growth. The 126-page in-depth report includes best practice analysis, as well as an assessment of the leading solution providers. It is now available for sale at www.forbes.com/CMO-Practice.

This report confirms that brand publishing is central to achieving virtually every program on the executive growth agenda and increasingly defines the success of the Chief Marketing Officer.

Content Marketing is a universal point for CMOs. They are now spending more on content than traditional media advertising, yet few have mastered the discipline and economics of creating content at scale – said Bruce Rogers, Chief Insights Officer at Forbes Media and head of the Forbes CMO Practice.

Key findings from this study include:

  • Managing the growing cost and complexity of content operations is a critical business issue: Marketers will need to find ways to optimize their content operations and fundamentally reduce the cost and complexity of producing and managing the volume and quality of marketing content needed to support modern sales and marketing programs.
  • The CMO must become a publisher to effectively build brands, engage customers and support sales: 93% of CMOs agree that their organizations must develop a publishing function in order to execute their growth agenda and manage the rising cost and complexity of content operations. To lead this transformation from within their marketing operations, marketing executives are increasingly casting themselves in the role of publisher.
  • Marketers must simplify, streamline and automate their publishing processes to grow effectively: Over 80% of CMOs surveyed report they have already started working with their peers in sales, IT, HR and finance to establish editorial organizations and systems to support the creation, management and distribution of sales and marketing content at scale in every line of business.
  • Marketers who do not optimize their publishing process are putting their growth plans at risk: As marketers adopt more advanced and personalized marketing practices, the volume of marketing content and the complexity of managing it will continue to grow. Over time, the demand for well-organized, high-quality marketing content threatens to outgrow the labor-intensive content production and management systems that prevail in most organizations.

“The new bottom line for marketers is if you want to grow, you better become a publisher,” states Stephen Diorio, Chief Analyst for the Forbes CMO Practice and the author of the report. “Our team of experts spent hundreds of hours researching the latest brand publishing best practices, skills, technologies and competencies to help senior marketing executives lead the transformation of their organizations from an advertising to a publishing model.”

The Forbes Publish or Perish analysis outlines steps required to successfully simplify, streamline and automate publishing processes. This report also includes:

  • The top 100 Brand Publishing technologies to enable content production, management, distribution and optimization. This list includes such point solution vendors as Acrolinx, Kapost, Lionbridge, Seismic and ScribbleLive.
  • Profiles of the 13 major technology partners most qualified to help the CMO establish a publishing technology roadmap, including Adobe, Oracle, IBM, Marketo and Salesforce.com.
  • Vendor selection guidance that CMOs can use to sort, rank and prioritize their technology approach.

The Publish or Perish report is designed to help CMOs and other marketing executives get control over the publishing process and reduce the cost and complexity of content operations. A summary of the findings and the full report is on sale online at: www.forbes.com/cmo-practice.

 

About this research

This comprehensive research initiative is based on a quantitative and qualitative survey of 380 marketing executives from around the world completed in June 2015, as well as interviews with over 50 subject matter experts, and an in-depth analysis of over a thousand marketing technology solutions with the ability to enable aspects of the brand publishing process.

 

About Forbes Media

Forbes Media is a global media, branding and technology company, with a focus on news and information about business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership and affluent lifestyles. The company publishes Forbes, Forbes Asia, and Forbes Europe magazines as well as Forbes.com. The Forbes brand today reaches more than 80 million people worldwide with its business message each month through its magazines and 38 licensed local editions around the globe, websites, TV, conferences, research, social and mobile platforms. Forbes Media’s brand extensions include conferences, real estate, education, financial services, and technology license agreements.

About Acrolinx

The Acrolinx platform helps the world’s greatest brands create amazing content: on-brand, on-target, and at scale. Built on an advanced linguistic analytics engine, Acrolinx is the only software platform that can actually “read” your content and guide writers to make it better. That’s why companies like Adobe, Boeing, Google, and Philips use Acrolinx to create content that’s more engaging, enjoyable and impactful. Learn more at acrolinx.com.

 

Contact

Laura Daunis, Senior Manager Corporate Communications, Forbes Media, 212-367-4874, ldaunis@forbes.com