The Digest: Are traditional marketing models endangering blogger influence?

All the news that’s fit to click this week in the world of marketing, PR and communications:FADING OUT?Will the CMO role fade with the rise of the chief marketing technologist? - The era of ‘Big Data’ has definitely arrived and a data-driven way of working is becoming par for the course. Many marketers have now become au fait with leveraging data from all kinds of channels, be it from CRM databases, market research or data from real-time advertising.STATISTICALLY SPEAKING 15 mind-blowing stats about content marketing - We've all been to marketing conferences where at least one executive gets on stage and declares, "Content is king." For good reason. The industry is finally at a point where every marketer understands the value of great content. But while marketers have certainly made strides, their content marketing strategies are nowhere near perfect.THE CLASHTraditional marketing models are in danger of killing blogger influence - When bloggers began sharing the brands they loved and used in their everyday lives, readers found their endorsement authentic and relatable; it came from someone “just like them”. Research found such backing from “real people” was more successful in swaying purchasing decisions than celebrity endorsements, and marketers opened their eyes to a massive opportunity to leverage bloggers’ voices.A BAD MOVEThe worst PR moves in history - While Dr Mumbo is not a fan of the lazy stealing of content from the Reddit hive mind, he can’t go past a recent thread on the worst PR moves in history.

RULES OF ATTRACTION Attracting and retaining customers is the biggest challenge for Aussie retailers - Attracting and retaining customers is the leading challenge that Australian retailers face today, but 42 percent of retailers do not have a customer experience management strategy in place (even higher for small retailers at 51 percent), according to new research.

AD-THATInstagram set to surpass Twitter and Google's mobile ad revenue by 2017 - The Facebook-owned business hasn't supported advertising for very long, with the business tipped to generate $595 million in mobile ad revenues worldwide this year and over the next few years that is expected to grow exponentially. By 2017, that number is expected to hit $2.39 billion.

CAFFEINE HIGHSForget 'Coffee's for Closers.' Instead, Think: 'Content's for Closers' - “Put. That coffee. Down. Coffee's for closers only. If you work in sales or marketing, you know well that line from Alec Baldwin’s character in Glengarry Glenn Ross. Indeed, “always be closing” has long been the go-to battle cry of sales.MOVING HOUSE Spinning more plates than ever: my move from PR agency to in-house job - My decision to leave agency land raised colleagues’ eyebrows, but they were wrong to be so sceptical.