[AS SEEN AT MARKETINGPROFS] "Omnichannel is a priority for B2B and B2C. How do executives think about resorting their marketing mix to put the client at the center? Here are tips and actual quotes from the C-suite."

[AS SEEN IN MARKETING DAILY] Customers continue to expect personalization, whether they're acting as a consumer or B2B client. At Marketing Daily last week, I shared some thoughts on what B2B companies should learn from B2C.

As you build your marketing plan for 2016, make sure you include investment in tapping into customer insights to gain important knowledge and inspiration. Here are three ideas to get started.

Business transformation and disruption are not new concepts. But our clients' advisory boards are expressing a new urgency to grapple with them. These boards are helping our clients (and us) understand what leaders believe they need to succeed.

Tony Zambito's "7 Elements of Customer Understanding the C-suite Must Master" addresses the critical need for CEOs and their C-suite teams to understanding customers. But there is an 8th element missing from his list: direct, face to face engagement with those customers.

[AS SEEN IN CUSTOMER THINK] The CMO and CIO roles are more closely connected and aligned than ever on the power of digital transformation, representing an increasingly synergistic opportunity to drive change together.

IBM recently released its 2015 C-suite study, which surveyed 5,000+ C-suite leaders from 21 industries and 70 countries. It emphasizes the same dominant theme we heard in the hundreds of c-level interviews we conducted this year—an obsession with disruption. We share some of the related issues—and specific quotes—from our own 2015 conversations that relate to and reinforce the findings in IBM’s newest study.

[AS QUOTED IN CIO | INSIGHTS] Thoughts on the origin and value of several unlikely B2B partnerships.

[AS SEEN IN LOYALTY360] Customers are more marketing savvy than ever and will immediately question whether your brand is authentic and motivated by their best interest or the company’s self-preservation. What do authentic customer-centric companies do differently than those motivated by self-preservation?

[AS SEEN IN CUSTOMER THINK] Will big data metrics be able to tell you what customers really want from your business?

[AS SEEN IN CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER]: "We have found three core ingredients in C-suite-worthy content: client relevance, credibility, and innovative value … and the elusive content trifecta is securing a topic in the sweet spot where those three come together."

Should you include prospects in executive engagement programs? The answer is a resounding “it depends.” Our recommendations differ depending on whether you're talking about an advisory boards, executive event, or market research.