| | February 20158CIOReviewCPG Megatrend: Unleashing New Value Streams with Better CIO / CMO / Sales CollaborationBy Gib Bassett, CPG and Retail Industry Principal, Oracle Corporation CIOs are not alone, yet because sales and marketing are so closely tied, their collaboration seems more naturalBeing a CIO is one of the most challenging executive roles in the corporate world. While extracting efficiency from people, processes and technology, CIOs are simultaneously tasked with helping their organizations adapt to a connected world that legacy systems were never engineered to address. CIOs in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry are arguably in the least advantageous position. Most large, multinational CPG companies possess brands many decades old that achieved success on the back of an IT portfolio canted heavily in support of manufacturing operations.While today's connected consumer has absolute impact on all business areas, the supply chain, plant, and distribution components lag sales and marketing in terms of understanding, engaging, and nurturing the consumer relationships coming to define brand value. Is it any wonder that prognosticators advise CIOs to reach out to their CMO and partner against a backdrop of digital consumers?Credibility challengesMany CPG marketers believe their IT organization is slow moving, controlling and lack a focus on the brand. I heard a senior IT leader in one of the world's largest CPG companies once say that because they had done things the same way for nearly 100 years, there was little need to change. It's this attitude which has marketers running for the door, out to commiserate with their digital agency partner or an innovative startup.Every CPG company leverages agencies and those specializing in digital. Most CPG companies have developed an almost symbiotic relationship with them. To continue their status as trusted advisors, agencies have incorporated greater technical, analytical and business consulting talent. Also in the mix are startups offering innovative advertising, mobile and social marketing capabilities available in the cloud on a subscription basis. All of which collectively make it even more challenging for a CIO to have a credible conversation with marketing. These trends promise only to accelerate; consider Gartner predicting the in myopinion
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