No, I’m not Australian . . . at Forrester, "boomerangs" are analysts that, after leaving the research team for a stint in the "real world,"  have decided to re-join. Clients and fellow analysts value the experience we "boomerangs" have built as marketers and the pragmatic outlook we always bring to the table. As for me, I am a bit of an anomaly, as this is the second time that I am back at Forrester. My 20-year career as a marketer can be roughly split in two phases: first, the CPG marketing and strategy roles for brands like Ferrero, L’Oreal, and Johnson&Johnson; then, my digital marketing phase, which recently closed with more than four years at Google.

I would like to think that I am now entering a new phase by helping organizations understand the key role that marketing can play in shaping the way they navigate markets and customers that are constantly affected by the adoption of new technologies. Quite an ambitious scope, so to make sure that I stay relevant and deliver actionable research and advice, I have decided to launch this blog to start a dialogue with CMOs and Marketing Leaders on what’s keeping them up at night and how we can help them.

Coverage areas and topics I’m interested in.

As I type this, I am in the process of writing research on the following areas (please note that links are to reports that are only accessible by clients):

• I’ll primarily focus on helping marketers redefine brand loyalty and the role that it plays in the Customer Life Cycle.
• Secondarily, I will focus on helping senior marketers choose the right media mix to get the best bang for their investments across all media channels. To do this, I plan to tap into the wealth of consumer data that we have available in-house within Technographics, benchmark client and agency best practices, and monitor the rapidly evolving technology vendor landscape.
• Finally, I will focus on helping CMOs align the whole organization around the "voice of the customer" by further developing the 'connecting the dots' framework with my colleague Mary Beth Kemp.

What you can expect from my blog.

It’s a place where we will:

1. Share fresh insights and ask for your feedback.
2. Sanity-check research assumptions and themes.
3. Preview and debate content from upcoming research.

Keep me honest.

I am really looking forward to starting a fruitful conversation with you and please, help me keep my research relevant and pragmatic by giving candid feedback and suggestions.

 Please subscribe to this blog if you think I’m doing a good job and participate in the conversation. I’ll be listening.

Thank you.