September 27, 2013 Brand Innovators by John Gaffney

Every now and again in the brand marketing business you get a chance to see a C-Level executive speak in an unguarded fashion with no product to promote and no agenda to push. At the Brand Innovators BtoB event at SAP on Monday, we had a chance to see CMO Jonathan Becher in just such an atmosphere as he addressed the audience at its NYC headquarters on a range of topics. He spoke not only to the current state of BtoB marketing, but about the mechanics behind the culture and philosophy of one of the world’s biggest global brands.

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September 11, 2013 BizBash by Mitra Sorells

German software company SAP AG has established itself as a leader in the creation of hybrid events and in using an online platform for year-round engagement. At the same time, it continues to innovate the design of its largest face-to-face event: Sapphire Now, held every May in Orlando. This year’s show had a record 20,000 attendees, which prompted organizers to redesign the layout by organizing content in industry “forums” and creating an open keynote theater.

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September 9, 2013 BizBash by Mitra Sorrells & Martha C. White

The strategy and design of conferences and conventions continues to evolve as hosts embrace new models for engagement, social media integration, pricing, and sustainability. Our list includes those from a broad range of sectors, but all share a common goal: to create an experience that provides value for attendees by addressing their needs and interests. Here’s how they are doing it.

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August 2013, SAP.com

Video of Jonathan Becher at  SAP Partner Summit

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August 19, 2013, BtoB Online by Kate Maddox

As b2b marketers begin their budgeting process for 2014, they say the top areas where they’ll increase spending are marketing automation technology, content marketing, social media and mobile.

“There are three areas at the topic level we’ll be investing in: strategic marketing, local or country marketing, and marketing efficiency,” said Jonathan Becher, CMO at software company SAP.

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August 13, 2012, Rick Mathieson: GENWOW.com by Rick Mathieson

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August 9, 2013, Mercury News by Steve Johnson

…Nonetheless, nearly two dozen businesses headquartered outside the Bay Area agreed to disclose some facts about their local tech operations, many of which have been built up by buying other businesses here. Their work forces alone, which total nearly 47,000 people, provide a partial picture of the massive impact such companies are having on the region, as they try to soak up some of Silicon Valley’s tech magic.

One example is software giant SAP of Walldorf, Germany.  It already has more than 3,500 Bay Area employees, mostly in Palo Alto. But “over the next five years, I think you’ll see a significant increase in the valley,” said spokesman Jonathan Becher. “We are essentially planting our flag and saying ‘we are here.'”

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August 8, 2013, Enterprise Irregulars by Brian Sommer

I attended SAP’s Channel Partner Summit in Miami last week.  While I generally applaud (and welcome) Jonathan Becher’s (SAP’s CMO) decision to reposition SAP’s brand, I believe some bigger issues have yet to be reconciled or subdued. These issues impact SAP’s channel partners, the company itself and its customers.

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August 6, 2013, Good Gear Guide by Chris Kanaracus

Today, consumers are “crowd-sourcing their decision-making,” said SAP chief marketing and communication officer Jonathan Becher. More than half of customers change their minds about buying a product after reading a negative review online, he added.

“What does this mean for companies?” Becher said. “What does it mean for brands? It means we have to listen and respond to a whole host of digital signals. We have to change our mindset from controlling customer relationships and automating them, to thinking about how to provide that holistic experience.”

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August 6, 2013, Forbes by Christopher Kim

…Correlation, not causation

Description: Such figures state that Variable A causes Variable B, when in fact they are merely correlated.

Example from daily life: Taken from SAP CMO Jonathan Becher’s recent blog on this topic:  When male college students wake up with a headache, a large percentage of the time they are still wearing their shoes. Does sleeping with your shoes on really cause headaches? Of course not, they are only correlated. You could play this game all day long.

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