#Hashtags, The Gartner Marketing & Communications Podcast

On this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Kate Muhl leverages Gartner’s proprietary quantitative and qualitative consumer research to paint a vivid picture of consumer life — and brand challenges — in the postinflation era. The discussion hones in on the consumer trends and cultural themes that will matter to CMOs and their organizations in 2025, as well as thought starters on making the most of those trends.

Kate Muhl is a Gartner analyst specializing in cultural and consumer insights. Kate has been researching and advising on the consumer and U.S. culture for nearly two decades.

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Augie Ray discusses how to consider customer attrition throughout the end-to-end journey. By assessing not just where customers are lost but the cost of that loss as well, CMOs can best identify the touchpoints where customer abandonment most harms business outcomes. Doing so permits them to proactively work to prevent churn or to monitor for signals to reactively prevent attrition, delivering growth and improved lifetime value.

Augie Ray is a Gartner Vice President Analyst covering customer experience (CX) for marketing and CX leaders. His coverage topics include the ROI of CX, CX strategy and governance, how CX leaders secure and retain sponsorship, the buy/own/advocate customer journey, voice of the customer (VoC) and survey strategies, customer journey mapping, CX analytics and measurement, the importance of word of mouth (WOM) in CX, persona development and marketing's role in corporate social justice initiatives.

In this episode, Gartner analysts Eric Schmitt and Mike Froggatt discuss the complexities of advertising, and what new data says about what really separates high-performing marketers from others. The discussion covers campaign and channel strategies, skills gaps and media agency management and insourcing.

Analyst Mike Froggatt helps marketers develop strategies for digital advertising, multichannel marketing and digital commerce.

Analyst Eric Schmitt counsels marketers on advertising strategy and planning, data and analytics, targeting, measurement, testing, identity resolution, privacy, attribution, data management, customer modeling and analytics, segmentation and marketing automation.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Joesph Enever discusses insights from Gartner’s latest research on what really makes a difference in whether CMOs get credit for the value they create. The discussion includes how CMOs can approach telling the story of value, strategically alter their relationship to marketing analytics, and adjust their approach to metrics and talent to solidify their standing with the C-suite.

Joseph Enever is a senior research director covering Marketing Data and Analytics. Joesph is focused on how marketing teams can evolve their marketing data and analytics capability, and navigate the key issues and technologies to achieve the best possible results. He has a deep understanding of digital analytics and optimization, from both digital transformation and practitioner perspectives.

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Ant Duffin discusses how top brands win in digital commerce. The discussion will provide insight into what top brands focus on and prioritize to create differentiated commerce experiences, as well as the key traits that top brands win with. The discussion will help digital commerce leaders to crystalize priorities and areas of focus as they head into annual strategic planning.

Ant Duffin is a Vice President Analyst in the Gartner for Marketing Leaders practice based in the U.K. specializing and leading Gartner's research efforts in digital commerce. Ant advises on and provides insights into the complete end-to-end digital commerce customer journey across digital marketing, routes to market, and operational capabilities (people, process, technology, structure).

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Kate Muhl discusses findings — including some surprises — from recent consumer research into how consumer targets and audiences in the U.S. are thinking about — and coping with — this election season. We also discuss what those findings mean for CCOs and CMOs trying to make the right kind of connection with them.

Kate Muhl is an Gartner analyst specializing in cultural and consumer insights. Kate has been researching and advising on the consumer and U.S. culture for nearly two decades.

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Jason Daigler discusses how CMOs and digital commerce leaders can use consumer insights to make better digital commerce decisions. The discussion includes insights discovered in recent consumer surveys and how the data paints a picture of where CMOs should invest and where they should pull back.

Jason Daigler is a vice president analyst at Gartner focused on digital commerce technologies, including topics such as launching a commerce site, multichannel strategy, B2B commerce, channel integration, digital shelf analytics and marketplaces. Jason has 20+ years of business experience in digital commerce, software development and product management.

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Rick LaFond discusses how to create compelling value propositions and marketing communications that address the emotional side of B2B buying. Conventional wisdom suggests that while B2C buying might be emotionally charged, B2B buying is highly rational. However, B2B buying is heavily driven by emotions, and buyer perception of “personal value” from a brand is nearly 3x more strongly associated with positive brand outcomes than perception of “functional value.”

Rick LaFond is a Gartner Senior Director Analyst for Gartner for Marketers. He leads Gartner's B2B customer acquisition & account growth research. As an analyst, Rick supports Gartner's clients with insights and guidance on various marketing topics, including demand generation, digital marketing strategy, sales enablement, content marketing and account-based marketing.

In this episode, Gartner analyst Audrey Brosnan shares how to build a clear vision for journey orchestration, highlighting key differences between campaign management and journey orchestration. The discussion offers practical advice on achieving results, using agile strategies, and overcoming challenges to position CMOs for success.

Audrey Brosnan helps marketing leaders and digital marketers understand, evaluate, and optimize first-party marketing technologies to deliver results. She analyzes how capabilities like multichannel marketing, customer journey orchestration, personalization, and customer data management contribute to successful digital marketing programs.

In this episode of #Hashtags, Gartner analyst Halle Stern discusses how to ensure that personas are created using prescriptive data to create customer understanding assets that improve marketing strategies. The discussion covers how to involve stakeholders from other functions in the creation of personas and to see the value in using personas in their day-to-day work. Halle also discusses how to keep personas relevant and refresh them to change as target customers change.

Halle Stern is a Senior Principal Analyst in Gartner’s marketing practice. She helps clients to better understand their customers’ needs and challenges to improve customer experience outcomes such as customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention and advocacy.