BPM FORUM PRESS RELEASE

Product Marketers Basing Critical Decisions on Gut-Feel and Guesswork, Not Market Intelligence, BPM Forum Study Finds

Inaccurate Data, Poor Analytic Capabilities, Inadequate Technologies Cloud Visibility into P&L; Impact of Critical Customer and Product Decisions

PALO ALTO, CA – June 20, 2023 – Despite extensive investments in market intelligence tools and resources, today’s product marketing executives rely mostly on instinct and guesswork to develop business forecasts and make key product development decisions that drive top-line and bottom-line company performance, according to a new thought leadership initiative fielded by the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum.

The study arrives in a business environment where a single product marketing misstep—for example, incorrectly predicting market demand for a new product—can be disastrous. “Market Vigilance, Product Diligence,” a study sponsored by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and product marketing analysis solutions provider Vistaar Technologies, includes one-on-one interviews with 14 senior marketers from brand-name companies and a quantitative survey of product marketing professionals from a wide range of industries.

The study reveals significant pain points in the product decision-making process:

• 70 percent of respondents classify as ‘average’ to ‘very low’ their opinion of the quality of data being conveyed between product marketing and other internal constituencies
• Despite the implementation of big-ticket technology infrastructures, up to 80 percent of respondents rely on internal data generated and communicated through outdated spreadsheets 
• Almost 70 percent express displeasure with the technologies they use for product  forecasting, pricing, product portfolio planning, and competitor analysis
• Close to 40 percent of respondents say they could boost company revenue by double digits with better quality data and improved analysis and forecast alignment
• A similar number of respondents say that if their competitive response time could be reduced by half, revenue would jump over 10 percent

“From our work in this market, we’ve seen the pain points illustrated in this study first hand, but the extent of the problems clearly represents a wake-up call,” said Bala Srinivasa, senior vice president at Vistaar, which provides analytical software for product marketing and sales groups. ”Enterprises that take an analytical and fact-based approach to customer, product, and market decision making will gain a decisive competitive advantage.”

“Strategic initiatives should be based on analysis and outputs from product groups, not just gut feelings,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the BPM Forum. “The striking number of respondents who say that they could significantly raise revenue and margins if they had greater visibility into market data and P&L impact is a clear indication that this is a core business issue that needs to be addressed.” 

About Vistaar
Vistaar Technologies provides analytical software for product marketing, product management and sales groups. Vistaar helps companies manage complex product portfolios and make more profitable day-to-day decisions about pricing, product forecasts, product transitions and response to competitors. Vistaar offers a hosted solution with attractive subscription pricing, and provides services to access relevant data for fast start-up. www.vistaar.com

About BPM Forum
The BPM Forum helps advance the understanding of business performance management techniques, technologies, and process in global enterprises. The Forum brings together influential business line managers and senior executives overseeing enterprise finance, operations, and technology functions. Nearly 1,000 companies are currently represented as members of the BPM Forum, accounting for well over $500 billion in aggregated annual revenues. www.bpmforum.org

About CMO Council
The CMO Council is dedicated to high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building among senior marketing and brand decision-makers across a wide range of global industries. Over 2,000 top marketing executives are represented on the CMO Council worldwide, accounting for well over $50 billion in aggregated revenues. Visit the CMO Council Web site to find out about the initiatives geared to address executive marketers’ challenges at www.cmocouncil.org.