EVENT

In 1997, an article was published outlining the “7 Principles of Supply Chain Management.” The paper outlined the supply chain programs of 100 of the most successful manufacturers. Fundamentally, the seven common practices and principles, when applied across the organization, led manufacturers to realize greater customer satisfaction and profitability. A testament to these principles is that the same article has been reprinted, cited and quoted as the definitive guide to supply chain management, despite the massive advancement in technology between 1997 and 2017.

In the world of marketing, these principles have been applied through the application of a marketing supply chain, effectively connecting customer and company demand for marketing materials (typically marketing consumables like printed content, promotional items, etc.) into a transparent, technology-powered network of suppliers and users to streamline processes and optimize budgets and utilization. Just as with manufacturing supply chain management, marketing supply chain optimization has led marketing leaders to realize great customer satisfaction and profitability, particularly through significant savings and the reduction in material obsolescence.

So now, savvy CMOs are turning to the customer and asking whether these same principles of supply chain dynamics can be applied to a process that actually reaches, engages and connects with customers. The answer is surely yes…but before we take that leap, the same rigor and advancement used to establish a marketing supply chain must be paid to content itself. Now is the time to realize the state of the content supply chain.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, 32 percent of a B2C organization’s budget and 28 percent of a B2B organization’s budget is spent on content. In a recent CMO Council study on the impact of the connected omni-channel experience, 60 percent of marketers admitted that the new connected customer has necessitated a shift in content strategies and a call for the rapid development of new content in new formats and sizes. Yet despite the clear budget priority content has taken—as well as the clear call to rapidly advance our content development and management skills to meet the demands of our customers—why is content still developed in campaign and functional team silos, often lacking effective paths for cross-functional collaboration and distribution? Are we giving content the respect and attention it deserves?

To kick off this dialogue around the content supply chain, the CMO Council will host a one-hour, interactive webcast in partnership with Hightail to discuss the implications of making the shift from telling a brand’s story through content to driving business opportunities with an effective content supply chain. Among the topics to be discussed:

• How is a content supply chain established, and what stakeholders should be included?
• What principles of supply chain management can be applied to the content supply chain, and why do they matter?
• If content is the fuel for customer engagement, why are we ignoring how we collaborate, create and distribute content?
• What impact does a content supply chain focus truly bring to fast-moving organizations?