CEOs  •  CMOs  •  VPs and Directors  •  Managers  •  Young Professionals

Marketers Must Become Proactive Stewards of their Company Assets

Balancing the benefits of business enablement with business security, Information Security is a hot topic today at every level of government and business. The landscape has exploded and is now bigger and more complex than most people can begin to fathom.

Unfortunately, most companies are exposed. IT and security teams are underfunded and under empowered -- but it is not just an issue for IT. As owners of our data and brands marketers need to be proactive.

The threat is no longer general viruses and generic attacks, but highly targeted, multi-level, multi-year attacks on a specific company with specific assets as the prize. And some of the biggest prizes are your “big marketing data”, strategies, trade secrets, even your very brand.

There are two primary considerations. First, defensively, is to understand that Big Data, along with go-to-market plans and secrets, represent a primary target for the bad guys.

The second issue, offensively, is to understand what this means. Methods will be implemented to inhibit us from connecting, profiling and reaching prospects and clients. This will apply to all new communication methods, such as social or personal targeting. These new channels represent the same vectors now being used by attackers. They will be sealed by IT departments.

As marketers, we have a call to be relevant and personal, but not invasive or overly assumptive in our tactics. Opt-in and relevance at the point of research, as well as trust development and referral marketing in B2B will become critical to cut through filters and blocks.

Steve Perkins

Connect with SoCal BMA

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Read more about this topic in my best practices interview.
"Cybersecurity: Marketers Need to Defend Big Data".