Marisa Riccardi, CMO of New York Stock Exchange, is in an interesting position. She’s been tasked with taking a 225-year-old organization and reinvigorating it with digital.
What’s a surefire way to anger any CMO?
Living in your own silo. You must think, work and collaborate with everyone in the organization as a marketer. While other functions might be able to work more independently, marketers must have harmonious relationships with everyone to be successful. It was Beth Comstock who said our role is to “instigate and implement.”
What are the qualities of a good marketer?
Be a business person who happens to enjoy marketing and storytelling and not the other way around. Numbers and metrics matter, and being able to illustrate how every dollar spent will help solve a real objective could not be more important. Also, really care. Whether you’re working on a specific business unit or complicated product, follow the competitive social media channels, learn about the group or product history, ask questions, speak the nomenclature, appreciate the technical acronyms and be a business partner.
What’s one key to success as a marketer?
Understand the big picture. Understand the “why” behind each project you’re working on and how it fits into the higher-level strategy and broader business goals. Don’t be afraid to challenge if it’s the right thing to do.
What’s the hardest and most rewarding part of your job?
The hardest and most rewarding at the same time is managing people. Keeping people motivated, trained, inspired and producing effectively and efficiently is a full-time job, especially during times of uncertainty.
What are NYSE’s digital priorities for 2013?
This year’s most significant investment in digital was through the launch of a branded-content property, NYSEBigStage.com. We created NYSE Big Stage to tell the stories behind the companies and market activities that intersect with our world. We also invest in digital from a partnership perspective. For example, The Wall Street Journal’s “Startup of the Year” documentary series launches on Monday, and we are the exclusive sponsorship partner. Paid opportunities that align with what we’re doing feel far more organic and ensure that we’re getting the results we’re aiming for through engaging with an audience via marketing vs. disrupting an audience’s experience with advertising.
What are your biggest challenges with digital?
Finding time to work with more of the emerging players in digital marketing. We have brainstormed with startups around a variety of capabilities from leveraging augmented-reality technology to using a video app to create interactive multimedia stories.
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