Roundtables
MSI Roundtables provide a forum for ongoing peer-to-peer discussion and learning about topics of shared interest. Roundtables are centered around small group shared collaboration and support.
MSI Roundtables provide a forum for ongoing peer-to-peer discussion and learning about topics of shared interest. Roundtables are centered around small group shared collaboration and support.
Structure
- Meeting frequency is determined by Roundtable participants, but it is reasonable to expect one or two 45 to 60-minute sessions per quarter. Each meeting will be focused on a specific, previously agreed upon topic, and may feature an invited academic (or other) expert to enhance discussion. During each meeting, participants will decide on the subject of the next meeting.
- Roundtables operate on a “give to get” model of engagement and are intended to have reach within and among member firms. While attendance at every session is not mandatory, to maintain continuity and peer sharing, participants may choose to invite their whole team to one meeting, or have an alternate attend in their place at another. While many participants may remain consistent, the topic of each meeting may draw new faces, and MSI welcomes this.
What Participants Can Expect
- Develop a network of MSI corporate member contacts who can call on each other for help on beyond formal meetings of the Roundtable
- Connect with academic subject matter experts affiliated with MSI who can serve as resources for future needs/challenges
- At the discretion of the Roundtable, share selected learnings with the wider MSI community at in-person or virtual events. For this purpose, Roundtable participants are strongly encouraged to attend MSI’s in-person events (and to meet one another).
Marketing Education & Upskilling
This group covers the internal work of developing marketing, analytics, and insights capabilities and enhancing the role of these functions in an organization.
Current topics of discussion:
- How to align analytics with senior management priorities to get attention and needed resources
- How to bridge the communications/knowledge gap between analytics and senior management
- How to drive better data integration and actionability o Understanding digital experiences (decision journey) and potential disruptors o Exploring different ways analytics and insights teams think about journey mapping, targeting, and technological enablers
- Factors that inhibit and enhance data-driven decision making within a company
Advanced Analytics
This group covers sophisticated analytic methods for measuring marketing activities, with subjects such as targeting, modeling, and experimentation.
Current topics of discussion:
- Upskilling analytics competencies given skill gaps in market research teams; understanding the right balance of skills/backgrounds to ensure a successful market research team
- Implementing sustainable standards for what constitutes a “good” research project
- Strengthening an organization for research success by defining how to effectively judge data vendors and hold them accountable
- Using real time experiments and retrospective models together to predict results
Tracking & Measuring Marketing Effectiveness
This group covers brand measurement and tracking, as well as methods for understanding the impact of marketing dollars spent.
Current topics of discussion:
- Top metrics/KPIs for measuring marketing effectiveness
- Multi touch attribution and attribution models in the context of fragmented media channels
- Creating strong surveys and effectively interpreting survey results
- How to engage with consumers around using their data, connecting with consumers in creative ways, and what is worth paying to track
B2B Forum
The B2B Forum is a joint initiative between the ARF and MSI, developed to engage industry leaders in the B2B ecosystem. Members of the Forum discuss the unique challenges and opportunities facing B2B marketers today, and participate in networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration on various initiatives.
Current topics of discussion:
- Working with long sales and decision cycles, in which relationships must be cultivated over time rather than via standardized, one-off transactions – personalization is paramount here
- To justify the required investment in such relationships, B2B companies must be able to adequately predict and measure customer lifetime value (CLV)
- Delivering on accurate measurement and reporting requires aligning marketing, sales, and service teams and processes
- Shifts in the demographics of decision makers at customer firms mean understanding a new set of needs