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The holy grail for marketers has always been to correlate spend with sales. In B2B, especially for larger purchases, measurement is further complicated given an average 14-month sales cycle involving five or more decision makers. Yet, a few chief marketing officers are getting closer, deploying a complex martech stack with more than two dozen separate technologies that help identify, track, nurture and qualify a lead before turning it over to sales.

One of the masters of this approach is Brian Kardon, CMO of Fuze, a cloud-based unified communications provider. As the former CMO of Lattice Engines and Eloqua, Kardon was an early adopter of martech and remains an evangelist for the science-side of marketing. In our conversation, he reveals what metrics matter most to him, specific details on the cost per marketing qualified lead, his testing approach and the acronym most boards cherish the CAC ratio.

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AT&T, one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S., had balked because offensive content too often accompanied its ads. Now it says YouTube has addressed the issue.

Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. You can get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Search for “Ad Age” under “Skills” in the Alexa app.

What people are talking about today

Who’s the most transformative figure right now in brand-building? It just might be a pop star. Rihanna shook up the beauty industry with her Fenty Beauty, and did the same for the lingerie industry with Savage X Fenty, drawing in fans with her embrace of diversity and savvy use of social media. Now WWD reports that she’s in talks to launch a luxury brand with LVMH, the parent company of Dior, Louis Vuitton and Fendi. The New York Times writes:

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(TrendHunter.com) The TRILIGHT is a multipurpose tool for cars that can be incredibly helpful in a number of road situations. The gadget is developed by Los Angeles-based firm TX Lighting INC. and it packs seven…

One of the biggest themes at this year’s National Retail Federation show (NRF) didn’t involve AI or robots. Instead, it was a new acronym buzzword: BOPIS, known as Buy-Online-Pickup-In-Store. And it’s a key part of what’s driving growth for retailers like Home Depot in the fast-fulfillment Amazon era. According to a new case study from…

Nos últimos anos, o Facebook reinou como o aplicativo mais popular do mundo. Mas agora, o WhatsApp superou o Facebook em número de usuários ativos mensais, tornando-se o app mais popular do momento. Segundo um relatório da empresa de análises App Annie, o WhatsApp bateu o Facebook em setembro passado. O gráfico sugere que os …

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Many of the hot brands in retail today didn’t exist a decade ago. But now, backed by big-time venture capital, new direct-to-consumer players are making enough waves in the retail landscape that heritage players are forced to pay attention. Larger brands caught dueling for consumer dollars might do well to adopt some of the marketing strategies that startup brands have deployed from infancy.

“Almost every category has these venture-funded, young, agile startups that are proving how effective they are at taking market share,” says Terence Kawaja, founder and CEO of Luma Partners, a digital media and marketing-focused advisory firm. “It behooves every major marketer to take a look at what they’re doing.”

What’s d-to-c?

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(TrendHunter.com) Rich Mnisi is a South African fashion designer who has gained attention for his latest furniture collection, dubbed ‘Nwa-Mulamula.’ The range consists of two pieces—a leather…

On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation that could give the Federal Trade Commission authority to update the nation’s privacy laws for the internet era. The American Data Dissemination Act, as it’s called, would task the FTC to update the nation’s 1970s privacy laws. However, unlike online privacy bills introduced last year, Rubio’s…

After sitting out the Super Bowl since 2011, Verizon rejoined the game last year with an emotional campaign thanking first responders. The brand will once again tap that theme, showcasing the stories of NFL players and first responders in its “The Team That Wouldn’t be Here” campaign. Verizon worked with agency McCann and director Peter…