at work state o fmind

7/31/2019 At Work State o fMind

1/27

A collAborAtive mArketing reseArch And development project

led bygyro, the globAl ideAs shop

the @Work stAte ofmind project

engAging the most engAged


2/27

contents

Methdlgy............................................................................................................. 2

Acknwledgments.................................................................................................. 2

Frewrd .................................................................................................................... 3

Intrductin ............................................................................................................... 4

Prlgue ..................................................................................................................... 6

Key Findings.............................................................................................................. 7

Executive Summary ............................................................................................... 8

Wrk Is N Lnger a Place: Its a State Mind .......................................... 9

Returning t a New Wrld Ever-Present Wrk ......................................11

Readiness With a Human Face .........................................................................13

A Thughtul and Disciplined Scial Media Apprach ............................14

The @Wrk Reality................................................................................................15

Always Priritize .....................................................................................................19

A Blurring Wrk-Lie Bundaries ..............................................................20

Cnclusin:Hw t Put the @Wrk State Mind t Wrk r Yur Brand ..........23


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2 | THE @WoRK STATE oF MIND PRojECT

AcknoWledgments

Gyr and Frbes Insights wuld like t thank the llwing r their assistance, cunsel and cntributins t this reprt:

Honorable Elane Chao, U.S. Secretary Labr (2001-2009); Dalton Conley, Ph.D., Dean Scial Sciences, NewYrk University; Mae Jackson, urnalist and authr Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark

Age; Ralph Olva, Ph.D., Institute r the Study Business Markets, Smeal Cllege Business, Penn State Univer-

sity; Fred W. Roedl, Clinical Assciate Pressr Marketing, Directr-Business Marketing Academy, Kelley Schl

Business, Indiana University; the Busness Marketn Assocaton;Kenneth Hen, Marketing Directr NA, gyr,

and Patrck Danaher, Marketing Directr EMEA, gyr.

methodology

This reprt is based n a survey 543 executives and dzens ne-n-ne interviewscnducted by Frbes Insights. The survey respndents described themselves as decisin

makers, with mst cused n business peratins (62%) and strategy (60%).

Ten percent were business owners, 24% held C-level positions, and 41% were EVP/SVP/VP/director. The remaining 23%

were unit or department heads or managers. (Three percent were board members.)

Roughly one in three respondents (31%) worked or companies with revenues under $100 million, 22% worked or

companies with revenues o between $100 mil lion and $1 billion, and the remaining 47% worked or companies with

revenues o more than $1 billion, including the single largest grouping (19%), who worked or rms with revenues o

more than $10 billion.

The largest concentration o respondents came rom banking/nancial services/insurance (19%). The groups working

in manuacturing (12%) and proessional services (10%) were the two next largest.

The geographic breakdown included 316 respondents in the U.S., 105 in the U.K. and 122 in Continental Europe.

Some charts may not add to 100% due to rounding.


4/27

CoPYRIGHT 2012 Forbes InsIghts |

Work is no longer a place, but a state o mind.

There are no boundaries between work and leisure.

Its now just lie.

The customers who matter most to your successthe

decision makersnow have an @Work State o Mind.

This means that communications must evolve to reach

them. It means that messages must be more inspirational,

more humanly relevant.

Gyro partnered with Forbes Insights to create a clear

picture o how executives consume inormation and in

what way it inuences their business decisions. We also

asked, most importantly, how they eel about the @Work

State o Mind.

We surveyed more than 500 marketers and inter-

viewed CMOs at Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard

and many o the worlds other top companies.

Our pursuit is to understand this @Work State o

Mind better than anyone else in the world so that we can

best ignite emotions.

What you are about to read presents a clear picture o

how todays independently minded and highly connected

executive looks, thinks and eels.

We hope this deeper understanding o the @Work

State o Mind will inspire you.

What a time to be alive!

Nine-t-ve thinking is a thing the past, and this must be reected in hw brands

advertise with their custmers and clients.

foreWord

bY ChrIstoPh beCKer

Ceo a Ci Caiv oc, y

CHRISToPH BECKER

CEo and chie creative cer gyr, the glbal ideas shp.

Cntact him at [email protected].

our missin is t create ideas that are

humanly relevant. gyr is an Advertising

Age Tp 50 glbal ideas shp with 600

creative minds in 17 ces in nine cun-

tries. Glbally gyr wrks with Abbtt,

Audi, FedEx, HP, jhn Deere, Loreal,

USG and Virgin Atlantic. www.yro.com


5/27


introduction

In the summer 2010, gyr assembled a grup at Hyper Island, the wrld-amus digitaltraining center in Karlskrne, Sweden, r what we call the gyr Academy, an intense pres-

sinal develpment prgram r ur up-and-cmer clleagues. We expsed these students

t ur techniques and tls r ideatin and cllabratin. The grup was asked t select a

challenge against which they culd practice these tls. They chse wrk-lie balance.

Alas, I am not among our youngest colleagues. So, when

I came to the session as a mentor, I was gru and dismis-

sive. Quit whining! People have been complaining to

me or 30 years about the long and daunting hours o the

ad agency business. Do you want a job, or do you want

a career? This is no business

or clock-watchers. Its a act

o lie in the agency busi-

ness. Theres nothing new

about this work-lie balance

issue, I said.

Then one o them said,

Oh, yes, there is, and she

reached in her jeans pocket

and set her iPhone on the

table. This has changed. Its

attached to me. I cannot dis-

connect rom it.

It was or us a moment

o epiphany; o sudden reve-

lation and insight. It was not

as i we had been oblivious

to the spread o networked

communications and hand-

held devices, or even how

important it was to deliver

new orms o communica-

tion to reach people with

these media. But as people engaged in perecting mar-

keting communications, it struck us like a lightning bolt.Work has changedand people at work have changed

prooundly.

Oh, we had understood or many years that it was

technical ly easier than ever to identiy ta rgets, locate them,

reach them, engage them and transact with them; even to

spur them to exchange messages among themselves. We

understood clearly how technology had changed, but we

coness we neglected just how much it had changed them:

the people to whom we were marketing.

Being at work is a state o mind; no longer a place or

even a xed period o the day.

The Internet, mobile telecom, social network-

ing and a 24/7 global economy have eliminated the

boundaries o time and space that once deined the

workplace. Technology has

caused work to expand to

longer hours o the day and

has attached work to people

wherever they are.

Productivity-enhancing

technology has not served to

increase the amount o leisure

time we enjoyquite the con-

trary. Its caused work to spill

over its banks, ooding more

hours o the day and more days

o the weekcuriously, as a

matter o peoples own behav-

ior and choices.

Work goes home. Home

goes to work. People are con-

stantly toggling between

working and home-ing,

making decisions, personal and

proessional, at all hours o the

day. They master time, rather

than the other way around.

People in an @Work State o Mind today are exposed

to a constant, multi-point ow o communications romnot just customers, suppliers and co-workers, but also

rom amily, riends, would-be riends and network

members. They are not only engaged in considering

brand messages while at work, but also championing

them to their social networks.

People in the @Work State o Mind represent a pow-

erul theater or brand communications; perhaps the most

powerul. They exert double purchasing power on both

their own needs and those o their companies.

Technlgy has caused

wrk t expand t lnger

hurs the day and has

attached wrk t peple

wherever they are.

rICK segAL

Pi Wlwi a

Ci Pacic oc, y


6/27

CoPYRIGHT 2012 Forbes InsIghts |

Their eyes are on screens: small, medium and large.

They are already in engagement mode.

They are considering solutions careul ly.

They are making decisions.

And this @Work State o Mind is a shared state

o mind. People today are connected to and commu-

nicating with others in the same state o mind. This

makes them a switching station o enthusiasm and

endorsement channeled toward decision-makers and

inluencers, immediately.

Mining opportunity rom the rich vein o the

@Work State o Mind requires new methods and models.

The model must be much more real-time, agile and even

uncontrolled.

It is an approach that must be anchored in anthropol-

ogy and behavioral science, relying more heavily than ever

on understanding human-scale motives and at striking

responsive chords o emotionparticularly i people are

to be compelled to act and advocate spontaneously on abrands behal.

Mastering the @Work State o Mind promises break-

through success or marketers, exchanging the mediocre

perormance o conventional methods or the high peror-

mance o programs radically reset to the way people really

live, work, dream and prosper.

Gyro is delighted to have at its disposal the amazing

resources o Forbes Insights in the ongoing investigation

o this prooundly important area o inquiry. This report

is but the rst o several products to emanate rom The

@Work State o Mind Project, a collaborative market-

ing R&D project led by gyro that includes participants

rom business, government, the arts, healthcare, NGOs,

academia and entertainment. I you have an interest in

sharing in this discovery, we hope you will join us.

RICK SEGAL

President wrldwide and chie practice

cer gyr, the glbal ideas shp.

Cntact him at [email protected].


7/27


Three years ago I took up bicycling to stay in shape. I tr y

to get in our rides a weekSaturday, Sunday and two

more rides in the middle o the week.

The thing you try to avoid as a bike rider is a bad

encounter with a car or truck. Simple physics tells you

who will win that battle. Thus, or weekday bike rid-

ers, the saest hours to share the road with cars and trucks

are those between late morning and early aternoon10

a.m. to 2 p.m. The commuters are al l at work. The high

school drivers are still in school. The roads are as ree as

theyll get.

At this point you may ask, what kind o serious work-

ing proessional can take time to ride a bikeor chase

un o any kindin the middle o the workday, in the

middle o the week? Answer: Tens o millions o us.

Smartphones and Wi-Fi have set us ree.

The ipside o the reedom to play hooky in the

middle o the week is obvious. You cant get away rom

work. Not really. Not or more than a ew hours at a

time. Flying rom San Francisco to New York, even in

coach class, used to be a mini vacation. It meant six hours

alone with the latest John Grisham. Nobody can screw

with me while Im 35,000 eet over Nebraska, I would

happily think as I boarded the plane. Kiss those days

goodbye. Try telling your boss that, sorry, I was out o

email reach dur ing my long ight. Doesnt y anymore,

that excuse.

The @Work State o Mind is both a deeply researched

and very personal look at how the always-on workstyle

has changed our lives, or better and worse (but mostly

or better). I couldnt stop reading this report. Each page

gave me a resh insight into the biggest trend aecting

the workplace and the minds o the new 24/7 proes-

sionals, who are guring out their own seamless blend o

work and non-work.

I nothing else, ater reading The @Work State o

Mind, you will lose the guilt over declaring your own

independence. You will happily steal an hour to ride a

bicycle or visit a riend in the middle o the weekday.

Enjoy that reedom, and bestow it generously on your

colleagues. The best and brightest will demand these

new choices.

Just stay in touch, and remember to keep your smart-

phone battery charged.

I nthing else, ater reading The @Wrk State Mind, yu will lse the guilt ver

declaring yur wn independence. Eny that reedm, and bestw it generusly

n yur clleagues.

prologue

bY rICh KArLgAArd

Puli, F


8/27


9/27


Gyro, the global ideas shop, in association with Forbes Insights, the thought leader-

ship practice o Forbes Media, surveyed more than 500 g lobal executives about the

@Work State o Mind, and conducted in-depth interviews with marketing lead-

ers and experts.

The survey ound that in the @Work State o Mind world, execut ives resemble

24/7 news networksconstantly receiving, processing and sending inormation.

The aim o this report is to start a discussion about what might characterize the

most eective messagingthe type that cuts through the static o other messages

to reachemotion.

2%Never work weekends

or nhts

14%Rarely work weekendsor nhts

52%Receve busness

normaton round theclock, ncludn

weekends

27%Work most weekends

or nhts

17%Work weekends andnhts every week

executive summAry

The @Wrk State Mind means that mst glbal businessdecisin makers are n, irrespective time r lcatin.

Reaching them successully requires an understanding mre

than hw they blur the lines between wrk and persnal time

in terms their usage technlgical devices, time slts r

lcatins. T cmmunicate with @Wrk State Mind decisin

makers, its imperative t understand their mtivatins, em-

tinal attitudes and levels satisactin with rund-the-clck,

all-device messaging.


10/27

CoPYRIGHT 2012 Forbes InsIghts | 9

Work is no longer A plAce:

its A stAte of mindIn todays working world, most executives are always

on. Not necessarily actively engaged in work or think-

ing o work, but available, reachable, aware that they may

have to respond in a heartbeat. No place is sacrosanct.

Not lunchtime, amily dinners, weekends or vacations.

Even the once relative calm o an air voyagethe busi-

ness trip where erce road warriors could unwindwas

shattered years ago. Now desperate travelers hang on with

their ngernails to connectivity as their planes taxi down

the runway. A ew minutes

into ight, theyre on Wi-Fi,

exchanging emails and moni-

toring events in real time.

Executives are 365-day,

24-hour networks, ready to

parachute into any pressing

issue. Technology has enabled

the rapid response and made it

the norm. Executives who do

not engage with the inorma-

tion ow risk alling behind,

or worse, worry about what

they might have missed.

Theres no more o switch,

says Tom Nightingale, pres-

ident, sales and marketing,

or Waltham, Mass.-based

ModusLink Global Solutions,

a multiaceted technology

services provider. There are

very ew people who are not

checking emails or receiving social media while at work,

school, commuting, or at the sidelines o their kids sport-

ing events.

Indeed, or Lauren Flaherty, executive vice presi-

dent and CMO or San Diego-based technology provider

Juniper Networks, connec tions a re ubiquitous. Weare all much more real-time in our work habits, she says.

The @Work world is the result o a historic period o

technological advancement. In less than 25 years, man has

overhauled communication systems several times over.

The past decade alone has seen the rise o increasingly

powerul, more-multiaceted mobile devices that allow

people to touch base and be touched any time and rom

nearly any location. Social media sites have simultaneously

sprouted and mushroomed to encompass huge swatches

o the worlds population. Facebook now reports more

than 850 million users, roughly one-tenth o the worlds

7 billion people. Twitter and LinkedIn subscribers both

number over 100 million and are growing rapidly. There

are an estimated 5 billion subscript ions to cell phones.

Technology has created devices that present us with

an ever-increasing number o choices, says Laura Gross,

marketing SVP or Muriel

Siebert, compressing an

ever-decreasing amount o

what used to be known as

ree time. Gross thinks all

these choices have made the

task o the marketer more

difcult. What should we

do on our commute, or

example? she asks. Read

and respond to work email?

Decompress rom the day

with Angr y Birds or Sudoku?

Catch up on The Wall Street

Journalor the Economist? Listen

to our iPods? Turn on the

radio? Will we choose busi-

ness news, jazz, rock, or play

a CD or an audio book? Sur

the Internet or hotels or

next years vacation? Can we

even hear old-ashioned ads

anymore or have we become numb to them, regardless

o venue?

Adam Swann, head o strategy, gyro New York, says

this state o perpetual contact has sprouted rom a growing

sense o communitypeople responding simultaneously

to the same trend and adding to its momentum. Itshuman instinct to want to be involved, to know whats

going on, to eel part o a community, a tribe, to eel like

you have sign icance, he says.

But Swann adds that the @Work State has grown

because it has already proven a more eective way o

doing business by lessening stress later on. Sometimes

when you jump on an issue, it might be in the evening

Its human instinct t

want t be invlved,

t knw whats ging

n, t eel part a

cmmunity, a tribe...

AdAM sWAnn

ha say, y nw Yk


11/27


and you might be at home,

you can deal with something

quickly, and the issue is

resolved. It doesnt explode

into something more.An oten cited IDC

study sponsored by EMC

Corporation ound that

the amount o inormation

on the Internet will dou-

ble every 18 months. Many

executives consider the con-

stant access to increasing

quantities o inormation a business advantage. They no

longer have to spend as much time searching or what

they need, and that has made their jobs easier. The

inormation is right there as soon as you ask a question,

says Jennier Nealson, the CMO or the Denver Center

or the Perorming Ar ts.

Such easy accessibility has decreased the need or con-

ventional marketing and pointed toward approaches that

are more nuanced and proound. The days o passive con-

sumption o messaging are gone. Relationships in the

@Work era are more interactive and changeable. The

new marketer has become a listener who is adaptable to an

audiences hot spots more than simply the disseminator oinormation. The boundaries between our public (work)

and private (home) are collapsing, says Joan D. Khoury,

managing director and CMO at LPL Financial. But

almost rom the moment o birth, people want to learn.

We must change our marketing approach to less reect old

boundaries and to more reect the desire to know.

This new age has also necessitated an ability to pin-

point the right audience segmentsinuencersand

take advantage o their increased power in ongoing

debates about products, services and organizat ions. The

advent o the web and real-time communications has

upended engagement paradigms, says Andres Jordan,

Deutsche Telekom North Americas VP, innovation and

business development, international business. That,

paired with peoples innate desire to belong, requires that

the new engagement models be dynamic, genuine, and

How oten do you step away rom dinner and other amily gatherings to deal with business calls and other work issues?

The inrmatin is

right there as sn as

yu ask a questin.

JennIFer neALson

CMO,Denver Center or

the Perormn Arts

n 3% Multiple times at each event

n 9% Do so at least once per event

n 41% Do so occasionally

n 31% Rarely

n 17% Almost never


12/27


In 1926, Henry Frd instituted a cntrversial shit change

at his grwing autmtive empire: the weekend. T the ire

many ther manuacturers, Frd clsed shp n Satur-

days, giving his wrkers the new-angled ritual tw days

f a week. His mve was the high pint a shrt-lived

histric experiment. Remember the weekend, when men

and wmen valiantly tried t keep wrk and hme separate,

equal and unadulterated?

Nw, curse, we wrk anywhere, and mst the time.

Wrk is in ur pcket, spilling int hmes, weekends, vaca-

tins and bedrms. Nearly 40 percent mbile wrkers

with PDAs nw wake up at night at times t check them, at

least ccasinally, accrding t a quarterly survey mbile

enterprise wrkers by iPass.

Des this blurring bundaries signiy an easy return t a

pre-industrial past, when we lived ver the stre r n the

arm? Are we sliding seamlessly back int integrated lives?

N. Fr mst human histry, wrk and hme were blended

due t the restrictin experience. Gegraphic distance and

the rhythms sun and seasn limited the circumerence

ur wrk and hme lives. Trade, like war, ceased at sunset.

Entire lives centered n the same crner earth.

Tday we multitask in nansecnds n a glbal scale, mv-

ing restlessly in thught and bdy acrss the planet. Frty

percent ces lie vacant n any given day, accrding t

Delitte. Bankers shit their hurs t the midnight darkness

each mnetary mess. We rarely speak anything being

t ar away anymre. Lng weeks within a single cm-

munity are unusual; a ull day within a single neighbrhd

is becming rare, writes scilgist Kenneth Gergen in The

Saturated Self. The @Wrk State Mind arises rm an ex-

pansin experience.

What is the impact these extrardinary changes? Surely,

we are light-ted and nimble-minded. And yet always-n

wrk rces us t cnstantly negtiate what we are ding,

individually and cllectively. Wh changes the diaper when

bth spuses return rm wrk exhausted? Hw d yu sync

a team spread acrss six time znes and three alternative

wrk arrangements? Thrughut the day, the average wrker

switches tasks n average every three minutes; hal the time,

they are interrupting themselves, accrding t studies by Gl-

ria Mark, a pressr Inrmatics at the University Calir-

nia Irvine. Perhaps this is why the @Wrk study reveals that

amng tdays decisin-makers, a sense accmplishment

crrelates with an ability t separate wrk and persnal lie.

Withut at least a ew brderlines, we cannt nd terra rma

in an unshackled wrld.

A cnstant negtiatin attentin is ur remst challenge.

At heart, paying attentin well is a matter udicius bund-

ary-making. Fcus, r rienting in science parlance, is akin

t a sptlight the mind, allwing us t lter whats secnd-

ary and g deep int thught. Awareness pens ur sensry

dgates, making us sensitive t ur wider surrundings.

Finally, executive attentin uels ur abilities t plan, priritize

and weigh cnicting data. Attentin isnt singular, scientists

are nw discvering. Its a multiaceted skill set that is a secret

t thriving in an always-n era. Hw we attend shapes hw we

rest, play, create, manage, cmmunicate and lve.

Hpping rm task t task, uggling interruptins, layering

time is ur deault wrkstyle, althugh research cnclusive-

ly shws that we cannt multitask very well. Beynd simple

tasks such as lding laundry and watching televisin, we are

ten slw, prne t errr and intellectually hal-asleep when

we multitask. And thse wh d it the mst tend t d it mst

prly, accrding t a 2009 study by Stanrd University sci-

entist Clifrd Nass. The habit trains them t be suckers r

irrelevancy, says Nass. Skimming, surng, task-switching are

crucial literacies this new age. But they must be balanced

by time r deep cus, analysis, reectin anddare I say

it?calm. @Wrk neednt be a mntne state mind.

Remember the weekend? It varied the pace lie, placing a

bundary arund smething wrthwhile. Put in place t pr-tect peple rm the burden never-ending wrk, ver time

the weekend, nevertheless, came t exempliy the rigidity

the bundary-centric Industrial Age. Nw liberated rm the

cnnes space and time, will we be remembered by uture

generatins as the peple wh rgt the art the limit?

returning to A neW World ofever-present Work

bY MAggIe JACKsonAwa-wii clumi a au Distracted


13/27


dare I say, soulul. It presents a glorious opportunity or

brands to bui ld genuine two-way communications/eed-

back loops with advocate communities that can be pa rt o

the brands evolution.

Jordan says that the new instant eedback economyhas empowered everyone to be a recommendation engine

and critic. Thereore, customer touch points are now

becoming critical shapers o customer experience driven

by a new awareness and dig-

ital behaviors that eed into

our propensity to buy, he

says. Feeling empowered to

provide instant eedback on

that bad experience you had

returning that car in the air-

port is literally 30 seconds

away with your mobile app.

The importance o this

development has only been

heightened by the economic

downturn and the resulting

intense competition or cus-

tomers. Customer reviews,

whether positive or negative,

can be a lie-or-death issue

or many companies.

Many marketers and observers o this industry

believe that the sta kes have never been higher because

companies competitive advantage will rest increas-

ingly on barrages o inormation that appear rom an

increasing range o sources. These channels will be

increasingly unplanned and unsolicited, part o a con-

stant and constantly shape-changing conversation. The

relevance o inormation received one day may dimin-

ish starkly within months or weeks. This speed o

change stems rom the lightning rapidity o product

change and increased transparency, since it is more di-

icult than ever or companies to keep secrets about

what they are doing.

Customers dont need marketing so much to actually

tell them whats out there, says Kevin Allen, gyros inter-

national planning director. The sensible marketer will be

looking to change [customers] behavior, not necessarilyovernight, but they should have a plan or it.

Yet some marketers underst andably see a danger in

the amount o inormation available. They believe that

people may be so overloaded that they reeze or cannot

make the right decision. Manny Kostas, SVP marketing

and strategy, Imaging and Printing Group at Hewlett-

Packard, sees his role akin to a guide: I we understand

how the overload diverts us, we can better gure out

how to help the customer sort amongst all that dat a, and

turn that overload into helping us make a real meaning-

ul impact.

What should messages look like, and how oten

should they be sent? These are age-old questions that

have assumed an even larger signicance in the @Workworld. Some marketers worry that they will i rritate their

audience by sending too many communications or tim-

ing them poorly. With work taking over, that creates

an environment where there is less tolerance or other

interruptionsand like it or not, marketing and com-

munications typically all into the other interruptions

category, says Andrew Bosman, CMO o consultancy

Navigant. As marketing and communication proes-

sionals, we must be cognizant o this resentment, and

not only pay attention to the timing o our messages but

also ensure that our targets eel they are better o or

receiving our inormation.

Theres a ne balance that marketers have to strike

o requent but not too requent messages ramed in just

the right tone. This has underscored the importance o

more personalized methods in engaging audiences

at times, customizing methods by individuals or small

groups. Many still approach marketing communica-

tions as trumpeting one message across all channels,

typically rom a business perspective, says Jim Davis,

senior vice president and CMO or SAS. Those that

continue to broadcast will lose in the social envi-

ronment. Brands, even B2Bs, have to celebrate the

uniqueness o each channel and relate to the customer

as an individual.

Brands, even B2Bs,

have t celebrate the

uniqueness each

channel and relate

t the custmeras an individual.

JIM dAVIs

Senor Vce Presdent and

CMO, SAS


14/27


The transitin t a wrld where individuals increasingly

cnduct business utside the ce has been s seamless

that its dicult r many managers t pinpint where em-

plyees are making mst their decisins. They see the ad-

vantages r their rganizatins when wrkers can engage

at all hurs. As lng as they are making gd decisins, it

desnt generally cncern them hw and where they are

rendered. Mre yur waking hurs are devted t think-

ing thrugh sme ce elements, says Randy Brandf,

SVP and CMo Net jets, a Clumbus, ohi-based prvider

shared aircrat wnership. Theres s much activity rm

cnversatins, meetings, cnerence calls, travel in the

day-t-day b that, at this pint, ewer decisins are being

made in the ce.

Brandf says that he rarely i ever discnnects r mre than

a day rm his pressinal lie. Thats a lt, including vaca-

tins, he deadpans. Rather, Brandf escapes in small snip-

pets, a hal-hur in the mrning t spend time with his baby,

an hur r tw in the evenings t spend time with his wie and

child. on weekends, he usually respnds t emails in hal-hur

t tw-hur blcks.

This high level readiness is perhaps mre imprtant at Net-

jets, which has ets in the air at any time, than at sme ther

cmpanies. Last year the cmpany aced the added burden

assimilating Marquis jet, which the cmpany had acquired

the previus year. Brandf and his team had t wrk par-

ticularly hard creating new marketing materials t address the

rms cmbined resurces. Starting in the rst quarter, we

wanted t hit the grund running n integrating the brandsand the cmpanies and the team, and nt skip a beat rm

a marketing and business sales standpint, he says. There

was a great deal wrk t d and time pressure.

Brandf says that even skipping a day email can lead t

lengthy backlgs requiring hurs catch-up. I I were t

take a week and nt lk r respnd t emails, I culd literally

have 2,000 t 3,000 emails that I wuld cme back t, 15 t

20 hurs wrth catching up where, by the way, Id be get-

ting 200 t 300 mre emails.

Yet Brandf des nt expect his charges t respnd right

away. He says that part efective management in an al-

ways-n business climate is enabling emplyees t maintain

a sund balance between career and hme lie. Fr example,

he requires nly that his subrdinates respnd t emails in

an apprpriate amunt time, unless marked urgent. And

he tries nt t impse n individuals ree time. I yu get

an email at a mment when yure able t respnd, peple

respnd, but theyre nt in any way, shape r rm required

t, Brandf says. Ill smetimes be cleaning up emails while

smene I knw is n vacatin, and Ill say bere they g

away: Fllwing up n a handul things. Please wait until

yur return t deal with this.

Theres s much activity rm cnversatins, meetings, cnerence calls, travel in the

day-t-day b that, at this pint, ewer decisins are being made in the ce.

reAdiness With A humAn fAce

rAndY brAndoFF

sVP a CMo, nJ


15/27


While tw in three respndents (67%) said that input rm

wrk-related scial netwrks plays an imprtant rle in busi-

ness, scial netwrks still remain a less cmpelling resurce

than ther nline and traditinal utlets, including industry

and business websites.

Sme marketers expect that t change as scial media sites

nw separately targeting business r persnal lie blend. We

have started t think abut Facebk and LinkedIn as reality

TV channels with everyne curating their wn shws, says

Kirk Chartier, a vice president at nancial services rm Charles

Schwab & C.

A number cmpanies in the @Wrk wrld have recgnized

that scial medias efectiveness as a marketing tl depends

n a thughtul, disciplined strategy that cuses n reaching

the right individuals at the right time.

Cnsider Hewlett-Packards Imaging & Printing divisin. It re-

cently intrduced a new cmmercial digital printer that it sells

largely t small and midsize printing rms r abut $1 millin.

Sme these cmpanies may nt generate revenues much

ver $10 millin, s the expense replacing a printer is care-

ully cnsidered.

Manny Kstas, the HP Imaging & Printing Grups VP

strategy and marketing, says that his unit decided t launch

the newest prduct at a custmers plant bere a select

audience urnalists and ther individuals whm the

cmpany identied as inuencers. In the past, HP might

have staged the event at its wn site, but the cmpany elt

that a neutral envirnment gave it mre credibility. HP pr-

vided vide and ther materials that culd be used switly

nline t help spread interest. The inrmatin went ut

via tweets and re-tweets rm abut 1,300 peple whwere attending, Kstas says. They were helping ther

print-service prviders qualiy this big capital investment

they were abut t make, r they were print-service prvid-

ers themselves wh actively have a cmmunity discussing

amng themselves what the best new digital printing tech-

nlgy is. That ust stered an cial HP cmmunicatins

path. Whats mst critical is were chsing a medium that

the custmer has chsen.

Kstas says that nce the event tk place, his grup entrust-

ed the cntent and distributin messaging t the circles

inuencers and ther interested parties. But he believes that

the benets relinquishing sme cntrlpen discussin

and a mre engaged audienceutweighed the main dwn-

side ptential criticism in a public rum. The custmers

knw better whats mst imprtant t them, nt necessarily

the manuacturer r even the salespersn, Kstas says. S

when yu rely upn the industry analysts and members the

press that cus n this very small, distinct market as well as

the custmers themselves, they trust each ther mre than

they trust the manuacturer t help srt the mst relevant and

cmpelling data ut this inrmatin verlad thats cm-

ing t them. As lng as yu get the cntent in the rm, in the

vehicle thats relevant t them, but then they sel-select and

talk amngst themselves, then yu deliver the message ar

mre efectively.

Kstas says that the same principles apply in marketing t indi-

viduals and businesses. We dnt separate the pure B2B rm

the individual because the wner-manager r the pressinal

is inundated n the persnal as well as the pressinal rnt.

The explsin cntent, whether its email cming t them,

tweets, searching queries r blg psts, all that inrmatin is

cming at them whether theyre n their way hme, n a cell

phne, n a tablet r in the wrkplace. We have t manage that

in its entirety.

Kstas adds: The key is t embrace it and t understand the

right time, the right rm, and glean amngst all that inrma-

tin whats mst cmpelling.

A thoughtful And disciplinedsociAl mediA ApproAch

MAnnY KostAsVP ay a maki, hwl-Packa Imai & Pii gup


16/27


the @Work reAlity

Email, seemingly less intrusive than a phne call, has turned int an always pen channel cmmunicatin. just 3% executives said that they never send wrk-related emails while n

vacatin. Anther 12% said they rarely send r receive such emails. Cntrast these numbers

with the nearly tw in three respndents (63%) wh send r receive such emails n every, r n

mst, vacatins.

To be sure, this doesnt necessarily mean a signicant

commitment or decision makers. Michael Fertman,

CMO at Guidepoint, checks his email about once per day

during vacations. Im just looking or [emails] where I

know somebody really needs something, and theres no

one else whos going to be able to help them, he says.

Its around literally how to nd something or helping

crat a tiny little message, but not things that will be a

hal-day k ind o thing.

Still, the perceived need to monitor the ow oten

leads to compulsive behavior. Twelve percent o respon-

dents said they check email on a smartphone during

non-work hours at least ve times per hour. And 63% said

they check at least every one to two hours.

Even Europe, with its traditionally greater emphasis

on vacations than North America, now accepts downtime

interruptions as common practice. Indeed, almost seven in

10 respondents (69%) rom Continental Europe said that

they sent or received emails during all or most vacations

(this may bear some relationship to the length o many

European vacations). Thats eight percentage points higher

than among U.S. proessionals.

Gyros Allen says this may reect the continued inux

and inuence o international companies in Europe, which

have imported their work schedules rather than adopting

national practices. In European companies that are part

o international networks, you oten dont have a choice.

I you were working or a German engineering company

that did most o its business in Germany, Id be interested

to see i it was dierent.It might be. Car manuacturer Volkswagen recently

prevented some 1,100 non-management employees rom

sending or receiving emails between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30

a.m. on their company-issued BlackBerrys and other

smartphones. The move responded to employee com-

plaints about workdays extended by having to respond

to messages at any time.

How oten do you send and receive work-related emails

and have business discussions during vacations?

So

metimes

Mostvacations

Everyvacation

Occasionally

R

arely

Never

3

121011

25

38

Percentage %


17/27


But Volkswagen limited this rulingeectively rein-

stituting evenings oto non-management employees

only, and only to its German workers. Management types

dont all under this rule, as it was negotiated by a trade

union. That non-management employees were upset abouthaving to monitor email ater work hours should not come

as a surprise, as attitudes about email depend on a given

employees rank.

The Forbes Insights survey conrms this thesis.

Analyzing the responses o two groupsthose who

eel in control, who are driven to participate in the

@Work State o Mind by their own ambition; and the

Not-In-Control group, who are driven by company

expectations, such as the Volkswagen employees who

won email ree timedierences in attitudes become

clear. For example, even though 35% o respondents

reported eeling productive, only 22% o the not-in-

control set elt productive.

The composition o the groups varies by title, respon-

sibilities and company size. The higher up the ladder they

are, the happier the @Work State o Mind makes execu-

tives. Whi le 37% o the executives surveyed were C-level,

just 24% elt a lack o control. This ratio is reversed or

executives with titles below C-level. While 64% o exec-

utives surveyed had titles below C-level, 77% o belowC-level executives elt a lack o control.

In act, while those who eel in control are distributed

pretty evenly across the range o company sizes, the per-

centage o those who eel a lack o control over their work

ow increases airly steadily with company size.

John Cripps, ounding par tner and president o

Marketing Decision Science Inc., adds that attitudes

toward the glut o inormation depend on whether people

are more oten on the receiving or sending end o com-

munications. The receivers are more likely to eel negative

about it because they are more requently responding to

commands. I youre a net receiver o communications,

youre angry because youre not in control, Cripps says.

A good day or me is i I send 50 emails but receive 10 and

have no calls.

n The U.S. n The U.K. nother Eurpe

Every vacation SometimesMost vacations Occasionally Rarely Never

How oten do you send and receive work-related emails and have business discussions during vacations?

39

22

12 12 1214

9

3 3

7

10

7

11

8

23

34

39

35

Percentage %


18/27


TOTAL

35%

TOTAL

21%

TOTAL

10%

iN CONTROL

44%

iN CONTROL

26%

iN CONTROL

13%

NOTiN CONTROL

22%

NOTiN CONTROL

11%

NOTiN CONTROL

3%

TOTAL

33%

TOTAL

22%

TOTAL

11%

iN CONTROL

32%

iN CONTROL

15%

iN CONTROL

7%

NOT

iN CONTROL

44%

NOTiN CONTROL

36%

NOTiN CONTROL

21%

PRODuCTiVE

RESigN

ED

ENABLED

iRRiTATED

ENERgizED

SHACKLED

Postve Feelns

+

-Neatve Feelns

Nte: Executives culd select multiple respnses.


19/27


Email oten works in avor o C-level executives and

owners, notes gyros Swann, because it gives them more

control. Theyre copied on many emails, which means

they dont eel obliged to respond but still get a constant

ow o inormation, which helps with decision-making.It also helps with monitoring activity and conversation,

and now keeps very senior people, who once upon a time

would have been very detached, quite involved in whats

going on.

Apart rom control, email also aords them comort. I

check email during vacations, every morning and some late

aternoons, says Juniper Networks Flaherty, That doesnt

mean I speak to anybody, but it means that I monitor the

ow. It makes me more relaxed that everything is well at the

home ofce.

But even C-level executives can sometimes eel deluged

by email requests. For marketers, this means that they can-

not know the current state o mind o any receiver. The

challenge is knowing when to contact someone, and how

to shape a message. Cripps dierentiates between text mes-

sages and emails. He would send a text to a customer he

knows well, but would resort to the more ofcial ormat

o an email when bidding on a contract. You have to play

careully, he says.

In view o this nuanced reality, Michael Goldberg, senior

partner and CMO at public relations rm Porter Novelli,

says that although ever-improving sotware can help pin-

point how and when to communicate, a marketers success

rests on intuition, personal judgmentwhat he reers to as

the human touch.

An email one day ater a meeting may appear pushy i it

seems robotic, without substance. But contact that addresses

a particu lar issue, ramed graceully, can show sincere interest

and weigh positively on a potential customer. I dont think

its the time; its the relevance and the intent o the message,

Goldberg says. Whether its B2B or B2C, its still a human

dealing with a human.

What was your companys approximate revenue during

the most recent scal year?

n Lack cntrl n Cntrl

$500 million - $999 million

$1 billion - $4.9 billion

$5 billion - $9.9 billion

Greater than $10 billion

13

18

14

21

11

16

10

16

Less than $5 million

$5 million - $24.9 million

$25 million - $99.9 million

5

6

9

14

13

13

10

11

$100 million -$499 million

Percentage %


20/27


Lauren Flaherty sees the ready access t inrmatin and

dismantling the brders between persnal and pres-

sinal lie as benecial t her b. It was harder when

yu were ding this with wrkstatins and axes, says

Flaherty, EVP and CMo r juniper Netwrks. Yu had

t d it rm yur huse, s yu had t be tethered t a

wire. With the new devices, yu are able t be mre pr-

ductive. Yu are able t be mre respnsible. She adds:

With all these devices that liberate us, the reedm and

mbility are exceptinal.

Flaherty says that its imprtant t develp time man-

agement skills, and that these may be best learned partly

by bserving high perrmance clleagues. Its a cm-

binatin experience and picking up best practices,

she says.

As the w inrmatin and cmmunicatins has in-

creased, she has als imprved her ability t priritize. Pick

a perid time when there hasnt been a requirement r

peple in business t lter thrugh a lt inrmatin, dis-

till whats imprtant, get t the cre issues, cus n what

matters, Flaherty says. Maybe the tls and technlgy

have changed the vlume, but the undamentals are the

same. Yuve gt t hne thse priritizatin skills.

Businessowner

Boardmember

Chie executiveoicer/president/

managing director

Chie inancialoicer

Chie operatingoicer

Chie inormationoicer/chie

technology oicer

Other C-levelexecutive

EVP/SVP

VP/Director

Manager

Head o businessunit/development

Which o the ollowing best describes your title?

n Ttal n Lack cntrl n Cntrl

10

3

10

4

3

3

4

6

35

15

8

4

4

4

3

3

4

6

42

21

8

13

3

10

4

3

3

6

34

12

9

2

2

AlWAysprioritize

LAUren FLAhertYeVP a CMo,

Juip nwk

With all these devices that liberate

us, the reedm and mbility are

exceptinal.

Percentage %


21/27


A Blurrn o Work-Le BoundaresThe place o doing businessonce, the traditional ofce

is no longer a physical or stationary location, but a state o

mind. People address work issues whenever and wherever

they arise. The collapse or collision o work and homelie is a new world phenomenon that must be understood

by todays marketers in order to shape their communica-

tions, messaging and delivery methods, says Michael A.

Disser, president o MAD Marketing.

Asked i she was making more business decisions

outside the ofce than in the ofce, Juniper Networks

Flaherty said: I dont even know i I make that dis-

tinction. You make them where and when you need to

make them.

The survey detected some regional variation here:

Those in the U.K. spend less time on work decisions at

home, as well as less time on personal matters in the ofce,

and so are more likely to keep the two realms separate.

Executives interviewed or this report point to the

advantages o the blurring o the lines between work and

personal time. Gyros Allen notes that where and when

someone decides is uid, and that the locations where

business decisions are made are not always correlatedwith when or where they are conceived or evaluated.

Executives may be pondering business-related inorma-

tion during personal time, or they may test a potential

solution theyve reached outside the ofce at work.

Outside o work is oten one o the ew places where I

have a chance to actually think about something, gather

up the evidence, weigh the acts and come to a conclu-

sion, says Allen.

Porter Novellis Goldberg says that its an advantage

to be able to respond to the ash o inspiration anytime.

The light o it to me is that I have a right to participate

in anything that my head and heart are interested in at the

moment, he says. There is no open or closed sign.

95%Makn busnessdecsonsat the oce

52%Makn busnessdecsons en routeto work

59%Makn busnessdecsons at home

55%Makn at least 20% other work decsonsat home

9%Makn at least 50% other work decsonsat home

21%Makn less than 10%o work decsonsat home

Where are we when making business decisions?


22/27


Goldberg expounds on the reedom aorded by the

@Work State o Mind: I can accomplish all the matters

o heart and mind, and get them all doneultimately with

much more control than I ever had beore. It wasnt that

long ago, but at the same time it was a world ago, I had toocus on things that were proessional during the day, and

I couldnt get to [other things]. So, I had chores when I

got to work and I had chores when I got home, a to-do list

in two places. Now I can be in a coee line and reserving

tickets to a vacation, and at the same time, studying some-

thing in social media that I think is relevant to a client. Its

this mass blending.

The blurring o work and personal lie has inuenced

not only where and when, but alsoperhaps most impor-

tanthow people are making decisions. More than three in

our respondents said that personal values were important or

critically important in making business decisions, more than

said that return on investment or other nancial benchmarks

were important or critically important.

What percentage o time do you spend on work decisions at home?

>40 >30 >20 >10 50

11

6 5 68

16

12

18

27

24

20 1921

27

22

19

29

2 1 26

n The U.S. n The U.K. nother Eurpe


23/27


Since decision makers oten involve their personal

values in their business decision-making, a marketing

message has to reverberate with or inorm the value sys-

tem. Eective leaders have a strong set o values, and as the

@Work State o Mind evolves to more decisions beingtaken rom home or holiday, then personal values will

become more important actors in making decisions,

says Chris Combemale, executive director o the Direct

Marketing Association, a U.K.-based trade group. Sales

and marketing messages need to move beyond trans-

actional, rational decision making and ocus more on

brand values, tone o voice and subjective benets.

Combemale adds: In the technology space, brands

that are sexy or cool will win out versus brands that

are purely unctional, and psychographic actors will

become more important.

While reaching out to their audience, market-

ers need to take into consideration all the layers o the

@Work State o Mind, starting with the setting where

this message is received. The majority o marketers

might think, Were going to talk to someone in an ofce

setting, theyll be at work and theyll be in their ofce,

says gyros Swann. Well send them something, and its

all pretty traditional.

But that can be a mistake. The executive that you may

be try ing to reach could be in a taxi on his way to the air-

port, he could be at home, or on vacation.

The reception o the marketing message will vary

depending on the place and time, so youre going to get

a little bit o tension, says Swann, and whatever you do

with that tension, you have to make an impact.

Every day in America, 3.5 bill ion brand-related con-

versations take place, according to a report by Keller Fay

Group. Getting a message noticed and having it rever-

berate in that environment is a sophisticated process,

requiring understand ing o the @Work State o Mind.

The perception or marketers is that brands arent

being spoken about, says Swann, so what we have to do

is shout our message at this audience. The reality is that

people are speaking about brands over time. Theyre talk-

ing about them particularly in the course o work but also

in the course o their pr ivate lie. Thereore, its less about

yell ing and shouting and its much more about oeringsomething new to say about that brand. Give people some

clear value, and they wi ll ta lk about you.

Factors afecting business decision making

77%Personal values mportant

or crtcally mportant


24/27


conclusion

hoW to put the @Work stAte of mindto Work for your brAnd

From the thouht leaders at yroThe emergence o the @Work State o Mind necessitates some wholesale reconsideration o how marketing com-

munications programs are planned and executed. New best practices must emerge to accommodate such radical

reconguration o the business decision makers time and space. These new practices seem obvious, based on the

ndings o this research.

A new practce or drvn actonable resultsAt gyro we are working to develop new processes and tools to dene and visua lize the decision makers @Work State

o Mind. Through this v isualizat ion we seek to understand where our clients marketing eorts intersect with decision

makers and their inuencers, but more importantly we hope to identiy new opportunities or the client to engage and

support the individuals decision-making process. The outcome is an action plan or adjusting current marketing eorts,

altering existing message platorms and creating altogether new marketing strategies and programs.

@Work State o Mnd Acton Plannn

1. MAPPiNg THE @WORK STATE OF MiND

A. Modeln the Purchase Consderaton PerspectveThe gyro process st art s by building a model o the purchase consideration process based on input rom the clients

sales and marketing team. This consideration model is used as a guide or conducting qualitative research with

targeted decision makers and inuencers.

B. Buldn a Project Lst Persona

Our qualitative research asks participants to descr ibe their mental to do list comprised o work and personal tasks.

From this study we discover how decision makers accomplish the task o decision making throughout their daily

routine. We identiy critical interactions, dening where those interactions will likely take place (work, home,

other), how interactions are accomplished and what a re the likely outcomes rom those interact ions. Far more than

just a replay o the day, this investigation unlocks the pace and emotion that is at play dur ing these o ten rapid- re

exchanges. The results can be surprising when compared to the clients rational and l inear view o the process. Thi s

new view is captured in a Project List Persona that paints a rich picture o the individua l, their emotions, depen-

dence on others, use o technology and their r ame o mind throughout the consideration process.

C. Darammn the Actve Decson Flow

Accompanying the Project List Persona is the Active Decision Flow, which maps the activities o an individual based on

goals such as seeking solutions, validating sources and building consensus. This Active Decision Flow is oten circular

and includes many interactions typically not captured in the linear purchase consideration model.


25/27


2. VALiDATiNg AND ENRiCHiNg THE DATA

A. Capturn and valdatn Consumer-intated Connectons

Drawing rom the persona research, we are able to identi y keywords and topics that can be used to eed social media

monitoring and search tools that validate the qualitative research and determine the scale and depth o the conver-

sation in the marketplace. These tools also identiy the overall tone o the conversation and relevant authorities.Additional online tools are used to identiy destinations most visited by decision makers, thereby giving us a more

complete picture o their activities.

B. Szn up the opportunty wth a Relevance Rester

Combining results rom the qualitative tools with quantitative data allows us to identiy and prioritize destinations

and conversations where the decision maker is most engaged and wi ll nd the clients inormation most relevant to his

or her goals. This prioritized list o opportunities is reerred to as a Relevance Register and serves to guide our nal

recommendations.

3. SHAPiNg ACTiONABLE RECOMMENDATiONS iN THE @WORK STATE OF MiND REPORTThe combined output rom the process is summarized in a report that oers recommendations in three areas.

A. Adaptn current marketn eorts

Recommendations on how to adjust current marketing programs to better support the decision makers tasks, motiva-

tions and destinations.

B. Altern content stratees

Recommendations on how to create consumable content and shape relevant message platorms.

C. identyn new opportuntes

Recommendations on new engagement strategies ba sed on a better understanding o the @Work State o Mind.

A resh perspectve or a new conscousnessThe @Work State o Mind Project remains a collaborative eort: it is only acil itated by gyro. The practice is new and

rapidly evolving and we are looking or clients who are interested in learning with us. We invite you to contact us to

participate in the g lobal ideation process underway to shape a new strategic and tactica l approach.


26/27


ORGA

NIZAT

IONA

LPSY

CHOLOGY

PERSONA

LPOINTOFVIEW

INF

ORMAT

IONTECHNOL

OGY

BUSINESSPOINTOFVIEW

DIGITAL

DRIVERS

AREA OF CONCERN:

INTERCONNECTEDNESS

AREA OF CONCERN:

REPUTATION

AREA OF CONCERN:

TRANSPARENCY

AREA OF CONCERN:

PARTNERSHIPS AND ALLIANCES

The

@Work

State

of Mind

INTEGRATED EFFECTIVENESSBEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS

EMOTIONAL

DRIVERS

EMPOWERMENT

RESPONSIBILITY

AFFINITY

PERFORMANCE

METRICS

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

LEADERSHIP

MANAGEMENT

TEAMWORK

CAPABILITY

MISSION

VISIONVALUES

EXPERTISE

WEB/CONNECTIVITY

MOTIVATION

PERSONAL NETWORK

KCABDEEFSLAOG

DECISION

MAKIN

G

COLL

ABORATION

CAUSE

ALIGNMENT

DASHBOARDANALYTICS

SITUATIONALAWARENESS

ECONOMIC

DRIVERS

SOCIAL

DRIVERS

SOCIAL

MEDIA

BUSINESS

COMMUNICATION

Addressn the whole @Work State o Mnd?This ramework depicts the individual in the middle o the whole @Work State o Mind. The highlighted area in lower

let is where most business marketing activ ities have been ocused historically.


27/27

Aboutforbes insights

Forbes inshts s the stratec

research practce o Forbes Meda,

publsher o Forbes maazne

and Forbes.com. Takn advantae

o a propretary database o

senor-level executves n theForbes communty, Forbes inshts

research covers a wde rane o

vtal busness ssues, ncludn:

talent manaement; marketn;

fnancal benchmarkn; rsk

and reulaton; small/mdsze

busness; and more.

Bruce Roerschief insights officer

Brenna Sndermansenior director

Chrstaan Rzy

director

Kasa Moreno

editoriAl director

James P. Rubnreport Author

Taryn Seeckadesigner

60 f A, nw y, ny 10011 | 212.367.2662 | www.forbes.com/forbesinsights

at work state o fmind

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