Discussing how company marketing evolves from the digestion of customer data, John Battelle moderates a panel of marketing executives; Nikesh Arora of Google, John Hayes of American Express, and Yusuf Mehdi of Microsoft.
As customer habits migrate from off-line to on-line, there is more information about who customers are and what is important to them. Chief marketers adapt to maintain their brand profile, using data for constant improvements to service and to make offerings more in line with customer populations.
John Battelle, Federated Media Publishing Inc., is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor, and author who has founded or co-founded scores of online, conference, magazine, and other media businesses.
In addition to his work at Federated Media, one of the largest media companies on the Internet, Battelle continues to serve as the Executive Producer and Program Chair of the Web 2 Summit, as well as a partner with BoingBoing.net. Battelle also maintains Searchblog, an ongoing analysis site that covers the intersection of media, technology, and culture at www.battellemedia.com.
Nikesh Arora, Google, oversees all revenue and customer operations, as well as marketing and partnerships. Since joining Google in 2004, he has held several positions with the company. Most recently, he led Google’s global direct sales operations. He also developed and managed the company’s operations in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets and was responsible for creating and expanding strategic partnerships in those regions for the benefit of Google’s growing number of users and advertisers. Prior to joining Google, he was Chief Marketing Officer and a member of the management board at T-Mobile. While there, he spearheaded all product development, terminals, brand and marketing activities of T-Mobile Europe. In 1999, he started working with Deutsche Telekom and founded T-Motion PLC, a mobile multimedia subsidiary of T-Mobile International.
John Hayes, American Express Chief Marketing Officer, John Hayes has continued the company’s legacy of customer-focused innovation, which remains the hallmark of American Express today. For the past 15 years, John has overseen American Express’s global marketing efforts. In addition to overseeing marketing strategies and product development, John leads the company’s global brand management, advertising, digital marketing, corporate sponsorships, market research and publishing organizations. He has been the force behind marketing campaigns such as “My life. My card.” and has led over 200 new product launches including the Centurion card and Blue from American Express.
John is recognized as a thought leader and market-mover in a constantly changing marketplace. He believes that the chief challenge for brands today isn’t customer awareness; it’s customer engagement. Prior to joining American Express, John was the President of Lowe and Partners, and held senior positions at Geer DuBois, Ammirati & Puris and Saatchi & Saatchi Compton.
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft senior vice president of the Online Audience Business, has revenue and market share responsibility for the Bing and MSN businesses at Microsoft. His team leads global product management, strategic partnerships, business development and US marketing execution. Mehdi served as Microsoft’s chief advertising strategist and senior vice president of Strategic Partnerships. He negotiated a number of strategic agreements, including the US$6 billion purchase of aQuantive, Inc.
Previously, Mehdi led research and development for the Information Services division during which time he directed the launch of Microsoft’s initial web search platform and next generation advertising platform in Microsoft adCenter. Prior, Mehdi was responsible for the marketing of Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 1.0 through 5.0.
Mehdi began at Microsoft in 1992, playing key roles in the launch and marketing of Microsoft Windows. Before Microsoft, Mehdi was a product manager at Reuters Group PLC, where he helped roll out the first PC-based Reuters Terminal.
Resources
This free podcast is from our Web 2.0 Conference series.
For The Conversations Network:
Photo: O'Reilly Media