As we all work through the various impacts of the novel coronavirus – from the depressing and the serious to the merely inconvenient – it's vital that as much industry and business as is safe and possible continues. When thousands are dying, it can seem trite to even consider this, but it is not only important in terms of us having a vibrant post-virus world; IT is an important contributor to sustaining our lives and communications today, and also a vital element to finding ways to overcome the virus.
But that business-continuation demands some very different approaches and thinking; therefore, whenever possible over the coming weeks I'll be asking executives from IT vendors and partners to discuss their thoughts around the marketing changes, challenges, and - yes - also the opportunities that this pandemic is creating. I've called this series "Marketing in Challenging Times" - that's not to skirt around the issue of COVID-19, but to acknowledge the fact that the "challenging times" are likely to extend well beyond the point at which the pandemic is controlled, contained, or beaten...and also of course perhaps some of the lessons-learned and silver-linings-discovered will continue as well. Everyone brings their own perspectives to these conversations; as a minimum we hope they are cathartic, and at best they might provide a new idea or inspiration.
This conversation is with Eric Herzog, the CMO and VP of Worldwide Channels for IBM Storage. Eric's energy is palpable in any situation; in our discussion, he shows his customary enthusiasm by parsing the various - and necessarily different - optimum approaches to getting his job done in the current world. He parses out not just internal and external audiences, and not just the difference between the sales and marketing elements of his sort or role, but also focuses in on the different types of marketing audiences and objectives there are....some will benefit long-term from the changes we're currently having to adopt, while others will best be served by an eventual return to more of what we are used to.
