Executive Summary // A Study in Brand Transformation

A Study
In Brand
Transformation
Are Enterprise Marketers Transforming Their
Organizations for Sustained Storytelling?

On behalf of Skyword, Researchscape surveyed 190 U.S. marketers at large enterprises

(500+ employees), excluding advertising agencies. The online survey was fielded from
May 19 to July 23, 2015.
Executive Summary // A Study in Brand Transformation

Executive Summary
The rapid decline of interrupt advertising has forced marketers to begin looking for other ways
to reach and connect with consumers. Many brands are turning to sustained storytelling as the
primary way to engage with and convert customers across a wide array of digital channels and
mobile devices.

Adapting to this change dictates a shift in mindset from pure product marketing and interrupt
advertising to an editorial focus on building audience. This shift requires new organizational
structures for marketing teams. They need to gain greater insight into what motivates
their audience members, adopt technology and processes to support scalable publishing
and distribution models, and recruit talent more aligned to publishing than traditional
marketing roles.

Skyword explored the transformation process to better understand how marketing

organizations were changing – if at all – or if they were continuing to invest in traditional
marketing approaches and skill sets.

1
Executive Summary // A Study in Brand Transformation

BASED ON THE RESEARCH RESULTS, WE DETERMINED THAT A TRANSFORMATIVE

ORGANIZATION IS IN THE PROCESS OF SHIFTING OR HAS SHIFTED IN SIX KEY AREAS:

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE: Re-organizing their teams to eliminate silos and

streamline communication and collaboration

TECHNOLOGY: Rolling out new technologies to support this transformation

TEAMS AND SKILL SETS: Recruiting and developing team members with skill sets that
are aligned with a model for publishing original content in a scalable way

CONTENT MARKETING: Moving from interrupt marketing strategies to a publishing

strategy that is in line with changes in audiences’ information consumption preferences

COMMUNICATING BRAND STORY: Growing awareness of a brand’s story internally and

externally and expertise from throughout the organization at communicating it

TAKING THE STORY GLOBAL: Executing a multinational approach to

brand storytelling and publishing

Skyword commissioned Researchscape International, a market research firm, to

take a closer look at this subject.

On behalf of Skyword, Researchscape surveyed 190 U.S. marketers at large enterprises

(500+ employees) excluding advertising agencies. The online survey was fielded from
May 19 to July 23, 2015.

2
Key Findings // A Study in Brand Transformation

Key Findings
Much has been written about the power of brand storytelling, and the cadre of companies
reaping its rewards continues to grow. Despite profound shifts in the way people consume
information and relate to brands, companies surveyed within the research were only in the
early stages of transforming their marketing teams to adapt to this shift. These findings confirm
what many marketing leaders lament: they know they need to make this shift, but they don’t
have the internal resources to execute it.
Key takeaways of the research are as follows:

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
• T he majority of the companies surveyed (62%) had not reorganized their marketing teams in the
prior year. However, of the 38% of the companies that had reorganized their teams, more than a
quarter (26%) reported being extremely successful at marketing, compared to just 9% of those that
hadn’t reorganized.

TECHNOLOGY
• T echnology investment was a major area of transformation for the companies surveyed with more
than 58% of the companies having invested in new technology over the past year.
• F irms that reorganized marketing in the past year were also more likely to have adopted new
technology within the last three months (24% vs. the 9% that didn’t reorganize).
• T op technologies used were social media monitoring and measurement, design, analytics, and
content marketing software.

3
Key Findings // A Study in Brand Transformation

TEAMS AND SKILL SETS

• O
 rganizations are beginning to invest in brand storytelling roles such as editorial manager (33%)
and content marketer (28%). We also saw titles such as storyteller and evangelist appearing within
marketing teams.
• However,
 the most common roles were advertising manager (59%), marketing operations (58%),
brand manager (41%), and other titles that are most often found on traditional marketing teams.

CONTENT MARKETING
• 4
 0% of marketing teams have expanded content marketing in the past year.
• M
 arketers are making significant investments in visual storytelling. Video, produced by 49% of
enterprises surveyed, is the most common type of content produced.
• M
 arketers continue to invest significantly in blogs, which make up 45% of media produced.
• M
 arketing departments are investing significantly less in longer forms of content such as white
papers (18%) and e-books (17%) when compared with their investment in video and blogs.

COMMUNICATING BRAND STORY

• 73%
 of enterprise marketers said that they were extremely effective or very effective in telling their
brand story.
• In a successful organization, marketers are not the sole proprietors of brand story; 65% of the
executive team is just as effective, followed by 54% of employees in general.

TAKING THE STORY GLOBAL

• M
 any have a global vision for their content marketing strategy but are in the early stages, with 39%
of marketing teams planning on putting a global strategy in place in the next two years.
• O
 nly 23% of teams are creating content in five or more languages.

4
Table of Contents // A Study in Brand Transformation

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................... 1
Key Findings................................................................................................................................................ 3
Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................ 5
Table of Exhibits......................................................................................................................................... 6
Reorganization of Marketing Teams........................................................................................................... 7
Organization Participation.................................................................................................................... 10
Technology............................................................................................................................................... 11
Teams and Skill Sets.................................................................................................................................. 17
Content Marketing Overview................................................................................................................... 21
Communicating Your Brand Story............................................................................................................ 25
Storytelling............................................................................................................................................ 25
Taking the Story Global............................................................................................................................ 29
Firmographics........................................................................................................................................... 31
Marketing Team/Organization.............................................................................................................. 31
Appendix A—Researchscape Methodology............................................................................................. 37
Appendix B—Questions............................................................................................................................ 38

5
Table of Exhibits // A Study in Brand Transformation

Table of Exhibits
What changes have you made in the past year?....................................................................................... 7
What percentage of your employees outside the marketing department contribute to the
content pipeline?..................................................................................................................................... 10
How many technology providers do you work with for marketing?........................................................ 12
How has this changed in the past year?................................................................................................... 13
What technologies does your marketing department use?..................................................................... 14
How recently did you adopt this technology?.......................................................................................... 15
How long did it take/will it take to fully integrate this technology into your marketing efforts?.............16
What roles make up your internal or in-house marketing team?............................................................ 17
Do they have a media background?......................................................................................................... 20
What types of content do you produce?.................................................................................................. 21
What are the main goals for the content your brand creates?................................................................ 23
Overall, how effective are people in general at telling your brand story?................................................ 25
How many languages do you create content in?...................................................................................... 25
How effective is each of the following at telling your brand story?......................................................... 27
How would you characterize your global content marketing strategy?................................................... 30
How many staff members are in the marketing department of your organization?................................ 31
Is your organization primarily B2B, B2C, or B2G? .................................................................................... 32
What is your title?.................................................................................................................................... 33
How large is your organization?............................................................................................................... 34
What industry is your organization in? .................................................................................................... 35

6
Organizational Structure // A Study in Brand Transformation

Organizational Structure
The majority of the companies surveyed (62%) had not reorganized their marketing
teams in the prior year. However, of the 38% of the companies that had reorganized
their teams, more than a quarter (26%) reported being extremely successful at
marketing, compared to just 9% of those that hadn’t reorganized.

Those that did reorganize did so in a variety of ways. Fifty-eight

percent adopted new technology, 49% described a greater
integration of social media networking, and 40% expanded their
content marketing strategies.

? What changes have you made in the past year?

Adopted new
technologies 58%
Greater use of
social networking 49%
Expanded content
marketing 40%
Reorganized marketing
department
38%
Added new
marketing channels 34%
Enhanced digital marketing 33%
Added new roles
that hadn’t existed 29%
Expanded email marketing 28%
Implemented mobile
marketing
27%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

7
Organizational Structure // A Study in Brand Transformation

WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU MADE IN THE PAST YEAR? (FULL RESPONSES BELOW)

58% Adopted new technologies

49% Greater use of social networking
40% Expanded content marketing
38% Reorganized marketing department
34% Added new marketing channels
33% Enhanced digital marketing
29% Added new roles that hadn’t existed
28% Expanded email marketing
28% Expanded paid media
27% Developed a global content marketing strategy
27% Implemented mobile marketing
23% Developed thought leadership
19% Added partnership marketing
16% Increased internal stakeholders creating content
15% Eliminated physical walls in workspace
8% Implemented marketing automation
8% Introduced programmatic advertising
3% None of the above
1% Other
Note: Respondents could select multiple options.

8
Organizational Structure // A Study in Brand Transformation

MARKETING REORGANIZATION

Didn’t Reorganized
Total Reorganize Marketing Marketing
Total 190 62% 38%
Not at all successful 1% 1% 0%
Slightly successful 9% 12% 5%
Moderately successful 26% 27% 23%
Very successful 48% 50% 45%
Extremely successful 16% 9% 26%

9
Organizational Structure // A Study in Brand Transformation

ORGANIZATION PARTICIPATION
Whether companies had reorganized or not, marketing teams were tapping into subject matter
experts and content contributors beyond their own departments: 96% of the marketers surveyed
indicated that employees outside their teams are contributing to the content pipeline.

? What percentage of your employees outside the

marketing department contributes to the content pipeline?

0% 4%
1-10% 15%
11-20% 20%
21-30% 15%
31-40% 19%
41-50% 10%
51-60% 6%
61-70% 5%
71-80% 2%
81-90% 2%
91-100% 2%
Don’t know 1%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

10
Technology // A Study in Brand Transformation

Technology
Technology investment was a major area of transformation for the companies
surveyed, with more than 58% of the companies having invested in new technology
over the past year. Top technologies used were social media monitoring and
measurement, design, analytics, and content marketing software.

Examples from respondents included “higher-end graphic design software,” “more

social media use,” and “better social network integration.” This highlights the focus
of marketing to the individual through visual mediums and social networks. These
technology investments are key to building suitable infrastructure for brand publishing
and for adapting marketing practices to the changing behaviors of the consumer.

Firms that reorganized marketing in the past year were also more likely to have
adopted new technology within the last three months (24% versus the 9% that
didn’t reorganize). This indicates that transforming companies are investing in the
necessary software to support this evolving approach to the market.

Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed indicated that they work with three or more
technology providers with more than 20% working with more than 11 technology
providers. The days of teams developing their own technology have
passed. According to Gartner, the CMO’s budget will exceed the CIO’s
budget for technology purchases by 2017.

11
Technology // A Study in Brand Transformation

? How many technology providers do you work

with for marketing?

0 1%
1 9%
2 22%
3 21%
4-10 27%
11+ 21%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

12
Technology // A Study in Brand Transformation

Half of respondents said the number of technology providers they work with has increased,
while only 4% said it had decreased.

? How has this changed in the past year?

Increased 50%

Stayed the same 45%

Decreased 4%

Don’t know 2%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

13
Technology // A Study in Brand Transformation

? What technologies does your marketing department use?

(Select all that apply.)
Design software 52%
Social media monitoring 51%
Analytics 47%
Social media management systems 46%
Content marketing software 39%
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) 37%
Marketing automation 34%
Audience management 32%
PR software 28%
Real-time personalization 28%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES DOES YOUR MARKETING DEPARTMENT USE?

(FULL RESPONSES BELOW)

52% Design software

51% Social media monitoring
47% Analytics
46% Social media management systems
39% Content marketing software
37% CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software
34% Marketing automation
32% Audience management
28% PR software
28% Real-time personalization
24% Video production
23% Retargeting
17% Paid amplification tools
11% DSP (Demand-Side Platform) Note: Respondents could select multiple options.
1% None of the above
14
Technology // A Study in Brand Transformation

The majority of marketing teams (86%) have adopted new technologies within the past 12 months.
Some departments adopted free solutions, such as social media and blogging tools, and others
leveraged ongoing corporate investments in applications.

Only 2% of marketing teams said they last adopted technology more than 3 years ago.

? How recently did you adopt this technology?

Last 3 months 14%

Last 6 months 30%
Last 9 months 20%
Last 12 months 22%
Last 2 years 19%
Last 3 years 3%
More than 3 years ago 2%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 189 (99% of Respondents)

Firms that reorganized marketing in the past year were also more likely to have adopted
new technology within the last 3 months (24% versus the 9% that didn’t reorganize).

MARKETING REORGANIZATION VS. TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT

Didn’t Reorganized
Total Reorganize Marketing Marketing
Total 189 62% 38%
Last 3 months 14% ˇ 9% ˆ 24%
Last 6 months 30% 32% 26%
Last 9 months 20% 21% 19%
Last 12 months 22% 23% 21%
Last 2 years 9% 9% 8%
Last 3 years 3% 4% 0%
More than 3 years ago 2% 3% 1%

15
Technology // A Study in Brand Transformation

Adopting new technology and having it work for you does not happen with a simple flick of a switch:
29% of respondents said it took or will take 4 to 6 months to fully integrate the new technology into
their marketing efforts, while 26% said it took or will take 2 to 3 months. One percent reported that
more than 3 years are required to fully integrate the discussed technology.

? How long did it take or will it take to fully integrate this

technology into your marketing efforts?

1 month 12%
2-3 months 26%
4-6 months 29%
7-12 months 21%
1-2 years 7%
3+ years 1%
Don’t know 4%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 189 (99% of Respondents)

16
Teams and Skill Sets // A Study in Brand Transformation

Teams and Skill Sets

Despite increased investment in new technology, the companies surveyed continued to invest
in traditional marketing/advertising roles within their marketing teams. When questioned
about the roles of their in-house marketing team, more than half of the respondents said they
had an advertising manager (59%). Marketing operations (58%) and brand manager (41%) were
the next most common roles.

Companies are beginning to invest in brand publishing roles. From the top 10 roles, 28% of the
companies had content marketers on their staff and 33% of companies
indicated they had an editor on their staff. In addition, new “storyteller”
and “evangelist” roles are beginning to emerge, accounting for 6% and
4% respectively.

? What roles make up your internal or in-house

marketing team? (Select all that apply.)

Advertising manager 59%

Marketing operations 58%
Brand manager 41%
Graphic designer 39%
Product marketing 38%
Public relations 34%
Web designer 34%
Editor 33%
Social networking marketer 23%
Content marketer 28%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

17
Teams and Skill Sets // A Study in Brand Transformation

WHAT ROLES MAKE UP YOUR INTERNAL OR IN-HOUSE MARKETING TEAM?

(FULL RESPONSES BELOW)

59% Advertising manager

58% Marketing operations
41% Brand manager
39% Graphic designer
38% Product marketing
34% Public relations
34% Web designer
33% Editor
33% Social networking marketer
28% Content marketer
27% Copywriter
27% Media analyst
23% Video producer
19% Mailing list manager
18% Direct response
18% Lead generator
17% Analytics sciences
14% Brand journalist
11% SEO expert
6% Storyteller
6% User experience (UX) consultant
4% Evangelist
1% Other
1% None of the above

Note: Respondents could select multiple options.

18
Teams and Skill Sets // A Study in Brand Transformation

The highest percentage of content marketing leaders were hired in 2014, reflecting recency of this shift.

Year % of Content
Hired Marketing Leaders
2010 13%
2011 3%
2012 10%
2013 14%
2014 15%
2015 2%

19
Teams and Skill Sets // A Study in Brand Transformation

Interestingly, 82% of marketing departments said their content leader has a media background,
reflecting a trend to bring this skill set in-house within transformative organizations.

? Do they have a media background?

Yes 82%

No 18%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

20
Content Marketing Overview // A Study in Brand Transformation

Content Marketing Overview

Forty percent of respondents expanded content marketing in the past year.

When asked what types of content they are producing, video was the top
response (49%), with blog posts (45%) following directly behind. Mobile
applications came in a strong third (41%). Longer form content, such as
e-books and white papers, did not make it into the top 10 responses.

? What types of content do you produce?

(Select all that apply.)

Videos 49%
Blog posts 45%
Mobile applications 41%
Infographics 37%
Conference presentations 36%
Interactive web elements 36%
Webinars 34%
Photography (original) 28%
Instructional programming 27%
Podcasts 21%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

21
Content Marketing Overview // A Study in Brand Transformation

WHAT TYPES OF CONTENT DO YOU PRODUCE? (FULL RESPONSES BELOW)

49% Videos
45% Blog posts
41% Mobile applications
37% Infographics
36% Conference presentations
36% Interactive web elements
34% Webinars
28% Photography (original)
27% Instructional programming
21% Podcasts
18% White papers
17% E-books
13% Virtual reality
12% Immersive gaming
1% None of the above

Note: Respondents could select multiple options.

22
Content Marketing Overview // A Study in Brand Transformation

Traditional marketing and content marketing share the same goals. Over two-thirds (68%) of enterprise
marketing teams said brand awareness is their main goal for the content their brand creates. Following
brand awareness, building audience and engaging that audience were both referenced by 47% of
teams surveyed.

? What are the main goals for the content your brand
creates? (Select all that apply.)

Brand awareness 68%

Building audience 47%
Engaging audience 47%
Educating the market 45%
Social media engagement 38%
Lead generation 35%
Promotion 34%
Strategic positioning 27%
Search-engine performance 24%
Retained margin 23%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

23
Content Marketing Overview // A Study in Brand Transformation

WHAT ARE THE MAIN GOALS FOR THE CONTENT YOUR BRAND CREATES?
(FULL RESPONSES BELOW)

68% Brand awareness

47% Building audience
47% Engaging audience
45% Educating the market
35% Lead generation
34% Promotions
23% Retained margin
24% Search-engine performance
38% Social media engagement
27% Strategic positioning
12% Video
1% Exclusive / None of the above

Note: Respondents could select multiple options.

24
Communicating Your Brand Story // A Study in Brand Transformation

Communicating
Your Brand Story
STORYTELLING

Having your audience remember a brand story going beyond products and services
and shaping your editorial strategy is critical to a brand publisher’s
success. More than half of the enterprise marketing teams surveyed
said people were extremely effective or very effective in telling their
brand story (54%). Only 1% said people were not at all effective at
telling their brand story.

? Overall, how effective are people in general at

telling your brand story?

Not at all effective 1%

Slightly effective 16%
Moderately effective 29%
Very effective 41%
Extremely effective 13%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

25
Communicating Your Brand Story // A Study in Brand Transformation

Content marketing is key to becoming successful at telling the brand story. The constant effort required
to produce and publish a steady stream of content provides the opportunities for repetition, iteration,
and refinement, strengthening the brand story. Through content creation, marketing teams find those
messages resonating the most with their target audience. As a result, 75% of effective storytellers first
report they are successful at content marketing, while only 35% of ineffective storytellers report
the same.

Ineffective Effective
Total Storytellers Storytellers
Total 190 46% 54%
Content Marketing Unsuccessful 43% 65% ˆ 25% ˇ
Content Marketing Successful 57% 35% ˇ 75% ˆ

Of the marketing managers who said their overall marketing was successful, 75% also said people were
extremely effective or very effective at telling their brand story.

OVERALL MARKETING SUCCESS VS. COMMUNICATING THE BRAND STORY

Overall Marketing Overall Marketing

Total Unsuccessful Successful
Total 190 36% 64%
Not at all effective 1% 1% 1%
Slightly effective 16% ˆ 32% ˇ 7%
Moderately effective 29% ˆ 50% ˇ 18%
Very effective 41% ˇ 16% ˆ 55%
Extremely effective 13% ˇ 0% ˆ 20%

26
Communicating Your Brand Story // A Study in Brand Transformation

If anyone should be effective at telling the brand story, it should be the marketing team. For 73% of the
respondents, they report their marketing team has extremely effective or very effective storytellers,
with 65% saying their executive team is just as effective.

? How effective is each of the following at telling your

brand story?
34% 39% 22% 4% 1%
Your marketing team

21% 44% 21% 12% 2%

Your executive team

23% 35% 31% 9% 2%

Your customers

17% 37% 34% 8% 3%

Your employees in general

18% 36% 28% 14% 4%

Your prospects

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

Extremely effective Very effective Moderately effective Slightly effective Not at all effective

27
Communicating Your Brand Story // A Study in Brand Transformation

HOW EFFECTIVE IS EACH OF THE FOLLOWING AT TELLING YOUR BRAND STORY?

NOT AT ALL SLIGHTLY MODERATELY VERY EXTREMELY

EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE

Your executive team 2% 12% 21% 44% 21%

Your marketing team 2% 4% 22% 39% 34%
Your employees in general 3% 8% 34% 37% 17%
Your customers 2% 9% 31% 35% 23%
Your prospects 4% 14% 28% 36% 18%

28
Taking the Story Global // A Study in Brand Transformation

Taking the Story Global

Thirty-six percent of the departments surveyed indicated their global
content marketing strategy was already in place, yet only 23% of these marketing teams
were creating content in five or more languages. With another 39% of marketers
planning to execute a global content marketing strategy in 2015 or 2016,
creating original content for different markets and in different languages
will be a challenge that needs to be addressed.

Most respondents were in the early stages of creating a global content

marketing strategy.

? In how many languages do you create content?

0 1%
1 21%
2 35%
3 14%
4 7%
5 12%
6-10 4%
11-20 4%
21-50 1%
51-100 2%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

29
Taking the Story Global // A Study in Brand Transformation

Thirty-six percent of the respondents characterized their global content marketing strategy as already
in place, while 39% said they were putting one in place in the coming year or so. Ten percent said they
don’t have a global content marketing strategy and don’t have plans for one either.

? How would you characterize your global content

marketing strategy?
Already in place 36%
Putting one in place in 2015 26%
Putting one in place in 2016 13%
Putting one in place in the future 13%
Don’t have one and don’t have plans 10%
Don’t know 2%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

Thinking beyond borders is a key way unsuccessful marketing teams can transform. Successful market-
ing teams have already put a global content marketing strategy in place: 43% of successful firms versus
24% of unsuccessful firms.

OVERALL MARKETING SUCCESS VS. GLOBAL REACH

Overall Marketing Overall Marketing

Total Unsuccessful Successful
Total 190 36% 64%
Already in place 36% ˇ 24% ˆ 43%
Putting one in place in 2015 26% 24% 27%
Putting one in place in 2016 13% 16% 11%
Putting one in place in the future 13% 18% 11%
Don’t have one and don’t
have plans to put one in place 10% ˆ 19% ˇ 5%
Don’t know 2% 0% 3%

30
Firmographics // A Study in Brand Transformation

Firmographics
MARKETING TEAM / ORGANIZATION

Among the enterprises surveyed, the marketing department size

greatly varied: 16% had 10 or fewer employees, 24% had more than
130 employees, with the average and most frequent number of
employees equaling 50.

? How many staff members are in the marketing

department of your organization?

1-10 16%
11-20 14%
21-50 27%
51-130 18%
131+ 24%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

31
Firmographics // A Study in Brand Transformation

More than three quarters of the respondents work for an organization primarily business to consumer
(78%), while 21% are business to business.

? Is your organization primarily B2B, B2C, or B2G?

Business to consumer 78%

Business to business 21%

Business to government 1%

Don’t know 1%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

32
Firmographics // A Study in Brand Transformation

The most common title was manager (9% of respondents), while marketing manager (7%) and CEO
(5%) followed.

? What is your title?

Other 47%
Manager 9%
Marketing manager 7%
CEO 5%
Marketing director 5%
Director 4%
CMO 3%
Director of marketing 3%
VP 3%
Analyst 2%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

33
Firmographics // A Study in Brand Transformation

All of the organizations had at least 500 employees, with almost half falling between 500 and 1,000
employees (49%); 14% had more than 10,000 employees.

? How large is your organization?

1-100 employees

101-200 employees

201-500 employees

501-1,000 employees 49%

1,001-5,000 employees 29%
5,001-10,000 employees 8%
10,000+ employees 14%
Don’t know

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

34
Firmographics // A Study in Brand Transformation

Respondents came from over 40 industries. Of this diverse range of verticals, 13% of respondents
reported they were in consumer goods, 12% in retail, and media and technology both at 8% each.

? What industry is your organization in?

(Select all that apply.)

Consumer Goods 13%

Retail 12%
Media 8%
Technology 8%
Communications 7%
Manufacturing 7%
Lifestyle 7%
Consulting 6%
Education 6%
Apparel 5%

% of marketers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Sample Size: 190 (All Respondents)

35
Firmographics // A Study in Brand Transformation

WHAT INDUSTRY IS YOUR ORGANIZATION IN? (FULL RESPONSES BELOW)

13% Consumer Goods Sample “Other” comments for: What industry is your
12% Retail organization in? (Select all that apply.)
8% Media
8% Technology ● “Marketing”
7% Communications
7% Lifestyle ● “Fitness”
7% Manufacturing
6% Consulting ● “Video Games”
6% Education
5% Apparel
5% Entertainment
5% Finance/Banking
5% Professional Services
4% Construction
4% Electronics
4% Energy
4% Healthcare
3% Agriculture
3% Automotive
3% Engineering
3% Food & Beverage
3% Government
3% Machinery
2% Chemicals
2% Environmental
2% Insurance
2% Recreation
2% Sports & Fitness
2% Telecommunications
1% Home Improvement
1% Hospitality
1% Lead Generation
1% Not for Profit
1% Pets
1% Pharmaceutical
1% Real Estate
1% Shipping
1% Transportation
1% Travel
1% Utilities
4% Other

Note: Only a single option could be selected.

36
Appendix A // A Study in Brand Transformation

APPENDIX A - RESEARCHSCAPE METHODOLOGY

Researchscape surveyed 190 marketers in There are many types of survey errors that
enterprises with at least 500 employees other can limit the ability to generalize a population.
than advertising agencies. The online survey was Throughout the research process, Researchscape
fielded from May 19 to July 23, 2015. The survey followed a Total Survey Quality approach
results were not weighted. designed to minimize error at each stage.
Researchscape is confident the information
Respondents were recruited from a third-party
gathered from this survey can be used to
panel. Each has had their identity validated and
make important business decisions related to
only one response was permitted per respondent.
this topic.
Each respondent was offered points toward
rewards in exchange for their participation. We only report differences between subgroups
when statistically significant at the 95%
As this was not a probability-based sample,
confidence level. While this is the industry
calculating the theoretical margin of sampling
standard for reporting results, it does mean
error is not applicable. However, as with
reported differences are simply due to chance
probability surveys, it is important to keep in
1 out of 20 times. Totals sometimes exceed 100%
mind that results are estimates and typically
due to rounding. Researchscape International is
vary within a narrow range around the actual
a market-research consultancy providing “Do It
value that would be calculated by interviewing
for You” surveys at Do It Yourself prices. For
everyone in a population. Again, as with
questions about this or other research, please
probability surveys, the results from a particular
contact us at +1-888-983-1675 x 1 or visit our
question will occasionally fall completely outside
website, http://www.researchscape.com/
a typical interval of error.

37
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation
APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS
1.  How large is the organization
you work for?
1-10 employees 0%
11-49 employees 0%
50-100 employees 0%
100+ employees 100%
Don’t know 0%
2. What department do you work in?
Marketing 100%
Sales 0%
Finance 0%
Operations 0%
Customer Service 0%
Technical Support 0%
R&D 0%
Other 0%
Don’t know 0%
3.  How many staff members are in
the marketing department of your
organization?
1-10 16%
11-20 14%
21-50 27%
51-130 18%
131+ 24%
38
4. What roles make up your internal or
in-house marketing team? (Select all
that apply.)
Advertising manager 59%
Analytics sciences 17%
Brand journalist 14%
Brand manager 41%
Copywriter 27%
Content marketer 28%
Direct response 18%
Editor 33%
Evangelist 4%
Graphic designer 39%
Lead generator 18%
Mailing list manager 19%
Marketing operations 58%
Media analyst 27%
Product marketing 38%
Public relations 34%
SEO expert 11%
Social networking marketer 33%
Storyteller 6%
User experience (UX) consultant 6%
Video producer 23%
Web designer 34%
Other 1%
None of the above 1%
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation

APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS

5. Where are you focusing your earned
media efforts? (Select all that apply.)
News releases 63%
Contributing 43%
Bylines 20%
Social media 79%
Word-of-mouth marketing 35%
Other 2%
None of the above 2%
6. Overall, how successful would you say
your organization’s marketing is?
Not at all successful 1%
Slightly successful 9%
Moderately successful 26%
Very successful 48%
Extremely successful 16%

7.  How successful is each of the following aspects of your organization’s marketing?

NOT AT ALL SLIGHTLY MODERATELY VERY EXTREMELY

SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL

Advertising 1% 12% 29% 41% 17%

Content marketing 2% 11% 30% 34% 23%
Email marketing 4% 16% 28% 33% 19%
Event 3% 6% 23% 39% 18%
Lead generation 2% 14% 28% 36% 20%
Product marketing 2% 8% 27% 39% 25%
Public relations 2% 7% 26% 43% 23%
Search marketing 2% 16% 27% 33% 22%
Earned social media 3% 13% 22% 41% 22%
Paid social media 3% 13% 25% 38% 22%

8. To what do you attribute this level of 11. To what do you attribute this level of
success for content marketing? success for earned social media?
[OPEN ENDED] [OPEN ENDED]

39
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation
APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS
9. To what do you attribute this level of
success for paid social media?
[OPEN ENDED]
10. To what do you attribute this level of
success for search marketing?
[OPEN ENDED]
11. To what do you attribute this level of
success for public relations?
[OPEN ENDED]
12. Of the following, what are your top
three measures of success for
marketing?
Audience engagement 40%
Brand awareness 64%
Building audience 34%
Created pipeline 14%
Quality of leads 36%
Quantity of client references 25%
Quantity of leads 17%
Retained margin 20%
Revenue 38%
Social following 28%
Other 1%
40
13. What changes have you made in the
past year? (Select all that apply.)
Reorganized marketing department 38%
Developed a global content
marketing strategy 27%
Adopted new technologies 58%
Expanded content marketing 40%
Increased internal stakeholders
creating content 16%
Developed thought leadership 23%
Added new roles that hadn’t existed 29%
Greater use of social networking 49%
Added new marketing channels 34%
Eliminated physical walls
in workspace 15%
Added partnership marketing 19%
Implemented marketing
automation 8%
Enhanced digital marketing 33%
Implemented mobile marketing 27%
Expanded e-mail marketing 28%
Expanded paid media 28%
Introduced programmatic
advertising 8%
Other 1%
None of the above 3%
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation
APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS
14. How did you expand content marketing?
[OPEN ENDED]
15. How did you reorganize your marketing
department? Why?
[OPEN ENDED]
16. What does your global strategy
look like?
[OPEN ENDED]
17. Which technologies did you adopt?
[OPEN ENDED]
18. How many technology providers do you Marketing automation 34%
work with for marketing?
0 1%
1 9%
2 22%
3 21%
4-10 27%
11+ 21%
41
19. How has this changed in the past year?
Decreased 4%
Stayed the same 45%
Increased 50%
Don’t know 2%
20. What technologies does your marketing
department use? (Select all that apply.)
Analytics 47%
Audience management 32%
Content marketing software 39%
CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) software 37%
Design software 52%
DSP (Demand-Side Platform) 11%
Paid amplification tools 17%
PR software 28%
Retargeting 23%
Real-time personalization 28%
Social media management systems 46%
Social media monitoring 51%
Video production 24%
Other 0%
None of the above 1%
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation

APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS

21. What is the most recent
technology you adopted?
Analytics 14%
Audience management 4%
Content marketing software 3%
CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) software 14%
Design software 10%
DSP (Demand-Side Platform) 1%
Marketing automation 8%
Paid amplification tools 2%
PR software 5%
Retargeting 3%
Real-time personalization 3%
Social media management systems 18%
Social media monitoring 13%
Video production 2%
Other 0%
None of the above 0%
22. How recently did you adopt
this technology?
Last 3 months 14%
Last 6 months 30%
Last 9 months 20%
Last 12 months 22%
Last 2 years 9%
Last 3 years 3%
More than 3 years ago 2%
23. How long did it take/will it take to
fully integrate this technology into your
marketing efforts?
1 month 12%
2-3 months 26%
4-6 months 29%
7-12 months 21%
1-2 years 7%
3+ years 1%
Don’t know 4%
24. Who is directly responsible for content
marketing in your organization?
[OPEN ENDED]
25. What is their background?
[OPEN ENDED]
26. When was your first content leader
hired to that role?
[OPEN ENDED]
27. Do they have a media background?
Yes 82%
No 18%

42
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation
APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS
28. What percentage of your employees
outside the marketing department
contributes to the content pipeline?
0% 4%
1-10% 15%
11-20% 20%
21-30% 15%
31-40% 19%
41-50% 10%
51-60% 6%
61-70% 5%
71-80% 2%
81-90% 2%
91-100% 2%
Don’t know 1%
29. How would you define content
marketing in a sentence?
[OPEN ENDED]
43
30. What are the main goals for the
content your brand creates? (Select
all that apply.)
Brand awareness 68%
Building audience 47%
Educating the market 45%
Engaging audience 47%
Lead generation 35%
Promotions 34%
Retained margin 23%
Search-engine performance 24%
Social media engagement 38%
Strategic positioning 27%
Video 12%
Other 0%
Exclusive / None of the above 1%
White papers 18%
Other 0%
None of the above 1%
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation

APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS

31. What types of content do you produce? 33. How would you characterize your global
(Select all that apply.) content marketing strategy?
Blog posts 45% Already in place 36%
Conference presentations 36% Putting one in place in 2015 26%
E-books 17% Putting one in place in 2016 13%
Immersive gaming 12% Putting one in place in the future 13%
Infographics 37% Don’t have one and don’t have
plans to put one in place 10%
Instructional programming 27%
Don’t know 2%
Interactive web elements 36%
Mobile applications 41%
Photography (original) 28% 34. Overall, how effective are people in
Podcasts 21%
general at telling your brand story?
Videos 49% Not at all effective 1%
Virtual reality 13% Slightly effective 16%
Webinars 34% Moderately effective 29%
Very effective 41%
32. How many languages do you create Extremely effective 13%
content in?
0 1%
1 21%
2 35%
3 14%
4 7%
5 12%
6-10 4%
11-20 4%
21-50 1%
51-100 2%

44
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation

APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS

35. H
 ow effective is each of the following at telling your brand story?
NOT AT ALL SLIGHTLY MODERATELY VERY EXTREMELY
SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSFUL

Your executive team 2% 12% 21% 44% 21%

Your marketing team 2% 4% 22% 39% 34%
Your employees in general 3% 8% 34% 37% 17%
Your customers 2% 9% 31% 35% 23%
Your prospects 4% 14% 28% 36% 18%

36. What brands in general do you think
are effective storytellers?
Brand 1 [OPEN ENDED]
Brand 2 [OPEN ENDED]
Brand 3 [OPEN ENDED]
37. Is your organization primarily B2B,
B2C, or B2G?
Business to business 21%
Business to consumer 78%
Business to government 1%
Don’t know 1%
38. What departments do your buyers work
in? (Select all that apply.)
Marketing 40%
Sales 44%
Finance 24%
Operations 36%
Customer Service 20%
Technical Support 24%
R&D 8%
Other 4%
Don’t know 8%

45
Appendix B // A Study in Brand Transformation
APPENDIX B - QUESTIONS
39. W
 hat departments do the purchasers of
your products and services work in?
(Select all that apply.)
Marketing 50%
Sales 47%
Finance 18%
Operations 32%
Customer Service 29%
Technical Support 18%
R&D 21%
Other (please specify) 3%
Don’t know 0%
46
40. What is your title?
[OPEN ENDED]
41. How large is your organization?
1-100 employees 0%
101-200 employees 0%
201-500 employees 0%
501-1,000 employees 49%
1,001-5,000 employees 29%
5,001-10,000 employees 8%
10,000+ employees 14%
Don’t know 0%
© Skyword 2016 | A Study in Brand Transfomation

+1.855.SKYWORD
+1.855.759.9673
learnmore@skyword.com
www.skyword.com
www.skyword.com/contentstandard/