I love my new job, and I love my new title. I am the “chief storyteller” for SAP. My official title is senior vice president marketing, customer central, SAP, “chief storyteller,” but the chief storyteller part is what I find the most fun. I can’t take credit for the name, as that was given to me by one of our co-CEOs. But the point in his mind, I think, was that B2B companies have great stories to tell, especially SAP. In this digital age where information is overwhelming, breaking through the clutter and differentiating are essential and often overly complicated...

For those of you under 30 years old, this headline might not make sense. To catch you up, I have copied the Wikipedia post on “Video Killed the Radio Star” – the song which is the inspiration for this blog. “”Video Killed the Radio Star” is a song by the British synthpop/New Wave group The Buggles, released as their debut single on 7 September 1979, on Island Records from their debut album The Age of Plastic.[1] It celebrates the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short bytelevision. The song topped the music chart in several...

January 23, 2012 marks the Chinese New Year which this year is symbolized by the Dragon. According to infoplease.com, “Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality. Those born in dragon years are innovative, brave, and passionate.” I happen to be a Dog.Pause for the jokes…ok, we all can’t be Dragon’s but this year we can act like one. I believe that...

So far, it is obvious that the Ad Men have been busy this holiday season. Some have been nice and some naughty but in general, it is a pretty unoriginal year for holiday ads. Below are a smattering of some of the best, worst and the one that I would say is the most shocking of them all. Most Cliched: Tommy Hilfiger – House Par-Tay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyyI3WtKMO8 I like watching half naked, sculpted men dancing around as much as the next girl, but seriously? This is the best they could do for the Holidays? The dog at the end is the real savior of this ad…make it stop! Most...

It is that time of year again – the “Best of” list time of year, that is. I have read a few and have now made my own list and because it is almost Christmas, I thought I might ask Santa to maybe rush forward some inventions that might be on the way. Item 1: Microsoft Kinect for XBOX 360: Yeah, yeah, I know this came out last holiday season but its full impact was not known to me until 2011. This fantastic invention has allowed me to spend some quality time with my kids on games that I actually enjoy. Call me old or whatever, but I CANNOT get into Modern Warfare 3. I CAN however...

I love Halloween. Something about the decorations, old horror movies on TV, make-believe, and candy all coupled in my favorite season of the year make it fun. And in keeping with that theme, I wanted to write a blog post that wrapped in some fun while maybe offering some good advice. So as I was reading my Twitter feed on one of my flights this week, I stumbled upon this graphic: Check it out here. I like the sentiment in here but would offer my own take on a couple of them. Let’s take them in order. 1. Don’t Be Afraid to Cross the Streams: I love this one. It could have said “1+1=3″...

I am an avid football fan and have to admit that I get excited to see what the marketers will put up during that first week of the NFL games – they are usually pretty good. Also, you may know that I was once the head of marketing communications at Chrysler (then DaimlerChrysler) so I have a soft spot for those guys. But as I was watching the games this past weekend and heard Jennifer Lopez (JLo) start singing, only to pop out the top of a Fiat 500 I was really puzzled. I knew I was not alone when I received a text message almost instantly, from my husband (I was traveling) who was...

As a marketer, you can’t help but watch the latest happenings in Washington and think about the marketing implications of this debt war and the high unemployment numbers. The job numbers may actually result in a huge opportunity for some. That opportunity is the fundamental changing of the traditional job resume or CV (curriculum vitae). If you have been in the job market for any time period and have both tried to be creative with your active word choice (developed, designed, delivered, created, generated) for that tired resume or if you have been on the hiring side reviewing these...

As we head out to buy the fireworks, brats and beer this holiday weekend, we undoubtedly will think fondly on 4th of July celebrations of our past. Remember running around the backyard through those oscillating sprinklers? How about cooling off with those red, white and blue rocket ship popsicles? Remember camping out with no possibility of contact with people back in civilization unless you were willing to driving to the local mom and pop convenience store that boasted the only payphone in town? As I was thinking about this I stumbled upon an article that was written in June 1982. This 29-year...

OMG: What Marketers Want from us in their social media campaigns. Ford’s is using a puppet named Doug in its social online campaign (YouTube). Watch the puppet. Like me. Buy the car. That is what some may think Ford wants us to do as a result of its latest social media campaign. And truth be told, that is just what the company is trying to do. Ford recently introduced a social media campaign centered around an orange puppet named Doug to drive fresh interest in the Ford Focus. The idea behind the social online campaign is to create humorous, if not slightly misogynistic, short videos that...