Chris Perry of Forbes recently posed the question, are CMOs the new CIOs? He writes, “Oracle announced yesterday that they’re buying social conversation platform Vitrue, according to TechCrunch to the tune of $300 million.  Following Salesforce’s acquisition of Radian6 and Adobe’s purchase of Context Optional parent Efficient Frontier, the demand for people-driven marketing enabled by technology shows no signs of slowing down. While hot, this market will continue to see its fair share of hot air too. Analysts, consultants and agencies all have a vital role to help leaders make sense of platform options as well as implementation required to make social an embedded element of business.”

He continues, “Gartner predicts in the next five years, the average chief marketing officer will spend more on IT than his/her company’s CIO. The demand for these platforms is further evidence that marketers are evolving their social media approach from a one-off, campaign-driven mindset to a more comprehensive business strategy. It also reflects that CMOs must deeply understand technology, or at the very least, work in close collaboration with those overseeing technology operations. The convergence between marketing and technology is undeniable, and it’s still in its infancy. Imagine a world where a brand’s success will ultimately come down to how well it can handle and leverage an infinite network of relationships and market interactions. That’s where this is going.”

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Image: Courtesy Vitrue