As customer understanding becomes the most powerful sustainable competitive advantage, the comparative study of human societies and cultures and their development has become a core business competency. The ability to conduct qualitative ethnographic research, develop insights based on that research then translate those insights into business strategy is as important as the technology strategy the CTO is driving.

Our hyper-focus on the snippet, the blurb and the micro-moment is causing us to lose something. Entrepreneurs and companies quit trying to solve the hard problems. Solutions to hard problems are not easily communicated. They are not easily pitched. They are hard to sell. But those are the problems worth solving. They are complex. Likewise, the solutions are complex.

 You no longer get to communicate the brand in the context of the brand guidelines. You no longer control the channels used to communicate the brand. You no longer get to pick the brand ambassador. Without context and control, words become everything.

You can market successfully with a great story and minimal technology. Great technology and a story no one cares about is a commodity. Get the story right then use the technology to support the story

Automated full lifecycle customer engagement has become a necessity and not a luxury. Even small companies without the staff or money for a big enterprise system need the ability to monitor their brand and industry, automatically convert website visitors to email marketing candidates to sales opportunities and provide live, real-time sales support.

How can you get your content noticed in the flood of content? How can you hold your customers attention long enough to create a connection? How can you make your customers care about your content? 

Almost every marketing related article I read over the last month focused on two key assertions:

1. Technology is king and companies are investing heavily in technology in 2016
2. Content is king and companies are investing heavily in content creation in 2016

Where is all that content going to come from?

If marketing organizations are staffing up with software developers and platform managers, who is going to develop the content?

In 2016 context relevance will be most important factor driving customer satisfaction and loyalty. Marketing is currently leading the charge on contextual relevance but customer demand for contextual relevance extends beyond the presentation of offers.

As consumers, we are confronted by an overwhelming variety sameness. Similar (or even identical) products and services with differences that only the experts see or care about.

As companies, we face incredibly fierce competition. Barriers to getting new products to market are incredibly low. The cost to develop new products, both physical and digital, has never been lower. The advantages of new features are short-lived and quickly copied. The result is price or feature wars and rapid commoditization.