Marketing threats; latest social media news and more

Jun 4 2012 2:45 PM

Marketing threats: Why effective marketing self-regulation is a CMA imperative

By John Gustavson, President and Chief Executive Officer

My remarks at this year's CMA Summit focused on the very serious threat of more government interference in the marketplace if the marketing community doesn't effectively self-regulate. It's a threat being largely driven by consumer and government concerns about new marketing technologies and techniques, the era of big data and pressure from special interest groups about how it can be analysed and used by business.

We're never going to convince consumers that there's a benefit to them in all our analytics even if we know that there is. To them, it's just prying, snooping and inappropriate use of their information. And it's why consumers want more control over our use of their information and business to be more transparent.

CMA and seven other marketing and advertising associations are launching a program this year that gives consumers more control over how marketers use their online information. The initiative is modelled after a very successful program in the United States and will include a common online identifier that members from participating organizations can use to link consumers to more information about online behavioural advertising and give them the ability to opt-out of online data collection.

If this self-regulatory initiative works and the Canadian marketing community fully participates, we will all win – both to build consumer trust and avoid some serious government interference in our marketing practices that will not be limited to just online data collection.

If the marketing community doesn't take effective action, government will do it for us (or to us). That's a huge risk we don't want to take.

Regards,

John Gustavson

PS – Read more about CMA's advocacy activities in our regular update report for CMA Members. This month's update looks at amendments to Canada's federal privacy law and their impact on marketers, the new anti-spam law and challenges in the digital space.

Martha Rogers headlines June 13 Social Media Conference

One of the top business thinkers on customer issues, Dr. Martha Rogers of Peppers and Rogers will provide attendees at the June 13 CMA Social Media Conference with key insights into how the C-suite views social media, the implications for on-the-ground marketers and how you can start building trustability within your organization.
Complete program and registration details.

CMA Marketer of the Year nominations close June 6

The deadline for nominations from CMA Members for the 2012 CMA Marketer of the Year Award is Wednesday, June 6. The CMA Marketer of the Year Award is presented annually to a Canadian individual who has continually displayed outstanding marketing acumen and leadership in forwarding the cause of marketing on a national scope in Canada and perhaps the cause of Canadian marketing beyond our borders. This award may represent either a body of work or an extraordinary achievement within the past year. Past recipients include the CEO of lululemon athletica, Christine Day; John Furlong, President and CEO of the Vancouver Olympic Committee; and Guy Laliberté, Founder and Head of Cirque du Soleil. This year's award will be presented at the 2012 CMA Awards Gala on Friday, November 30 in Toronto. Nominate now.

Google, Ford, Cossette take on CMA Awards senior judging roles

Fourteen well-known and respected client and agency executives have been named senior judges for the 2012 CMA Awards. Submissions are now being accepted in the competition. Winners will be honoured at the CMA Awards Gala on Friday, November 30 in Toronto. The 2012 CMA Awards Senior Judges and award categories are:

Advertising -- Sandra Sanderson, Senior Vice-President, Marketing, Shoppers Drug Mart and Joseph Bonnici, Creative Director, Bensimon Byrne
Digital -- Chris O'Neill, Managing Director, Google Canada and John Gagne, Senior Vice-President, Executive Creative Director, Proximity
Community Engagement -- Gary Fearnall, Director of Global Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn Canada and Sarah Spence, Senior Vice-President, High Road Communications
Customer Engagement -- Chris Stamper, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Marketing, TD Bank Group and Scott McKay, Vice-President, Group Creative Director, MacLaren McCann
Experiential and Innovative Media -- Graeme Whickman, Vice-President, Marketing, Ford Motor Company of Canada and Maggie Fox, Founder, CEO and Chief Marketing Officer, Social Media Group
Integrated -- Susan Lute, Associate Vice-President of Brand Portfolio Management, Canadian Tire and Christina Yu, Creative Director, Red Urban
Promotion/Shopper Marketing – Stephen Silverstone, Executive Vice-President, Marketing, Boston Pizza International and David Daga, Co-Chief Creative Officer, Cossette.

The Chair of the 2012 CMA Awards senior judging committee is Aldo Cundari, Chairman and CEO, Cundari.

Details on the 2012 CMA Awards can be found on the CMA website.

Tell us what you think about CMA – In confidence

If you haven't yet taken CMA's member survey, we hope you'll do so today. It's your chance to tell us what's important to you, from programs and services to topics of interest. Your responses will help the Association focus on serving you and your organization better. Our study is being conducted by Protean Strategies, individual responses are confidential; only findings in the aggregate will be reported back to CMA. And......by completing the survey, you are eligible to enter a contest to win one of three Blackberry Playbook tablets. It will take about 15 minutes, you can stop mid-stream and then come back to it. Take the survey

Last chance to register for June 7 Retail Faceoff

Hear from Best Buy, Nestlé, Shoppers Drug Mart and more as we explore how retailers can overcome internal barriers to deliver on consumer expectations. Register now.

What's all the chatter about on the CMA Marketing Blog?

June 22 early-bird deadline for CMA marketing certificate courses

CMA's Professional Marketing Certificate courses are designed to keep you up to date on the latest marketing trends and give you the skills and knowledge you need to advance your career. Register by June 22 and save on classroom courses that start in September.

New jobs posted on marketing-jobs.ca

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Winning customer retention practices focus of June 21 CMA roundtable

Join us on June 21 for a discussion on how organizations can apply advanced customer analytics to optimize retention programs. Guest speaker: Dr. Patrick Surry, Global Solutions Owner for Customer Analytics from Pitney Bowes Business Insight. Register today.

Visit CMA's new online membership directory

CMA's new online membership directory allows you to search by the organization's name, contact person, location, industry or services offered. Visit the membership directory often to find your next business partner or grow your business with new and improved advertising opportunities.

Welcome new CMA Members

Mark Your Calendars -- Upcoming CMA Events

June 13 -- CMA Social Media Conference

All CMA events are held in Toronto unless otherwise noted.

Tags: Advocacy, Analytics, Behavioural Marketing, CMA Awards, Marketing Careers, Marketing Education, Measurement, Research, Social Media