"The need for marketing accountability and measurable results is absolutely key. [At HP] we look at view time and interaction rate … back-end behavior, which varies program by program: whether people register, sign up for an e-newsletter, request additional information, even thing like pages views. Getty to what that whole portfolio of brand-end data is critical. I don’t think that [brand] engagement means one specific thing."

Mary Bermel, Director, Interactive and Emerging Media, HP | BtoB Magazine 13 November 2006

At some point, marketers will discover that “marketing” evolved beyond statistics and quantitative methods. My point?

All great brands tell stories about the buying and using experience of customers.

Great brand stories induce customers to step into the storyline or narrative of the brand, inducing communication, interaction, and collaboration--how human beings create the social context of belonging. Communication, interaction, and collaboration entail the qualitative dimensions of marketing brands.

The synthesis of quantitative methods and storytelling yields game theory (Tipping Point, Wisdom of Crowds, Long Tail, etc.)—a special brand of mathematics and how various incentives induced desired or positive outcomes.

The CMO of firms with digital brand offerings will have mastered the application of game theory: the strategic use of incentives within complex, dynamic social contexts. The game? Induce customers to lead and support potential customers in becoming satisfied new customers.