A quarter century – that sure sounds like a long time. Think back 25 years… what do you remember about 1993? Bill Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd president of the United States. Top films were Jurassic Park, Mrs. Doubtfire, Groundhog Day, Sleepless in Seattle and Schindler’s List. The cost of a first-class stamp was $0.29.

My Vya colleagues and I recently returned from our first BAI Beacon conference (Oct. 9-11 in Orlando), and I have to say, there was a freshness about it that is often lacking at financial services industry events. The format was energizing, the content thought provoking. Here are some of the top ah-ha moments and inventive aspects we experienced.

Is it smart to include marketing at the highest levels of strategic planning? At Vya, we think so. Organizations across a wide range of industries are searching for ways to gain their competitive advantage in the face of rapidly changing market dynamics. More than ever, marketing’s influence and insight can and should play a role in high-level business strategy.

Today’s marketers are increasingly adopting marketing resource management (MRM) solutions to help them manage a number of core use cases, from ensuring brand consistency and content localization to budget and workflow management.

As a considered investment, due diligence is essential for finding the right MRM technology partner for your organization. In addition to evaluating MRM software capabilities, think about what happens after you make your selection. How will the solution be implemented and supported?

Following are some suggested measures to help ensure a successful MRM implementation.

I recently returned from the 2018 Franchise Consumer Marketing Conference, in Atlanta, and as with past FCMC events, it was a great place for picking up fresh ideas and insights from some of franchising’s most innovative and successful marketing pros and practitioners. 

In marketing, there may be no better resource for keeping pace with change, innovation and best practices than our marketing peers. The insights of those who have “been there, done that,” provide valuable input for finetuning our own marketing strategies and tactics.

In the current issue of Harvard Business Review, a team of experts from Bain & Company presents an analysis of B2B client data that offers insights into what matters most to B2B buyers of business products and services. A framework emerged from their research – a pyramid which organizes 40 fundamental “elements of value” within five categories. At the bottom of the pyramid is table stakes, followed by functional value, ease of doing business, individual value and inspirational value.

In its 2018 Banking Outlook report, Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services talks about the multiple challenges banks face as they aim to transform into “more strategically focused, technologically modern and operationally agile institutions.” Among the challenges Deloitte identifies are: complex and diverging regulations, legacy systems, disruptive models and technologies, new competitors, and an often-restive customer base with ever-higher expectations.

Could there be a shake-up on the horizon regarding national advertising funds paid into by franchisees for the purpose of promoting franchise brand awareness at the national level? The answer may very well be “yes,” as new research indicates franchisors are shifting from an over-investment in national-level marketing to locally targeted campaigns, in order to tap into the local movement that consumers are increasingly embracing.

The number of innovative ways to use large format printing continues to multiply, making it one of the hottest areas in marketing. According to a report in Printing Impressions, the wide-format market is growing at a rate of 10% to 12% annually.